Epic Pizza

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Homemade dough, sauce, and italian sausage (next time homemade mozzarella)....

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nom, nom, nom

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Looks fine.
Do you use a stone to cook on, or do you use a screen? I use a stone.

I have a metal peel that I use and find it great. How does the wooden one stack up?
 
I need to get a new peel too. My wooden one split and there is a big gap right in the middle.
 
I hate my wooden peel and would much rather have a metal one.

What's your dough recipe?

For 12 inch pizza

8 oz flour
4.8 oz water at 120f
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp yeast

Mix flour and salt and put yeast and half flour mix in bowl. Mix honey water and oil and add to flour. Mix well adding the rest of flour a bit at a time. Knead well.
Refrigerate 24 hours in a bowl coated with olive oil, remove 3 hours before using.
 
mine is somewhat similar

2 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp yeast
1 Tbsp olive oil

3/4 cup water ~105*
 
I use the back of a cookie sheet for a peel. Seems to work fine to the the pie onto my stone.
 
I love my wooden peel - mostly for serving though. It is a pain to transfer pies to and from my stone with it... but I'll keep using it anyway.
 
gah.. now I want to make pizza.
Maybe I'll do this on Friday since it's supposed to be cooler outside...

I really need to get myself a peel.

(ohh. and +1 for the guy who used "pwned" in a post)
 
I hate my wooden peel and would much rather have a metal one.

What's your dough recipe?

Actually, a wooden peel is supposedly better for putting the pizza into the oven. It's hard to coat metal evenly with flour/semolina/etc., and dough sticks to metal like a sonuvabitch.

Metal, though, is preferable for removal from the oven.
 
I love my wooden peel - mostly for serving though. It is a pain to transfer pies to and from my stone with it... but I'll keep using it anyway.


Throw a handful of finely ground polenta(corn meal) under the pizza when you're building it, it slides right off the peel then and onto the stone.
 
I hate my wooden peel and would much rather have a metal one.

What's your dough recipe?

Make sure you have plenty of flour on your peel that you spread it around by hand before putting your pie on.

I've also found the pie moves around best with slight flicks of the wrist. I didn't like my peel much at first but now it's indispensable.
 
Actually, a wooden peel is supposedly better for putting the pizza into the oven. It's hard to coat metal evenly with flour/semolina/etc., and dough sticks to metal like a sonuvabitch.

Metal, though, is preferable for removal from the oven.
Egg-zactly. I use a big Fibrament stone and slide the pie in with a wood peel. I don't have a metal one yet, but I do have a wooden one with a very thin edge on it. That works very well for taking the pies out of the oven.

Ever do a Chicago-style pie? The biscuit-like crust is really interesting. Growing up in NYC I'm more of a thin crust, fold-the-slice sorta guy, but this was a fun departure. I didn't have a proper pan, but a 12" cast iron skillet worked perfectly.

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-Joe
 
Throw a handful of finely ground polenta(corn meal) under the pizza when you're building it, it slides right off the peel then and onto the stone.
I've come to prefer semolina flour for this task, but same idea. You want little wheels under the dough :)

And MAKE SURE the dough is loose on the peel before moving over to the oven. Trust me. It will save a disaster on your baking stone.

-Joe
 
And MAKE SURE the dough is loose on the peel before moving over to the oven. Trust me. It will save a disaster on your baking stone.

-Joe

yep. I hate when that happens. I let one sit too long on the peel, and went to "shake" it onto the stone - and I shook all the toppings onto the stone :drunk:
 
I made pizzas (but never the dough) at a pizza joint as a teen and their deep-dish pizza with bacon haunts me to this day. Best I ever had ainec so I try to emulate it. They/I use a regular, rectangular, metal casserole pan. I lube the pan with clarified butter. If you want the dough to rise more don't let the sauce touch the dough (i.e. Sicilian style with the sauce in glopped on top, that's a Sicilian term).

The bakery at my grocery sells pizza dough balls for <$2 and there is enough left over for breadsticks. It's just OK, I need to get a mixer.
 
Oooh yeah... cast iron skillet FTW!! +1

I grew up in the Chicago area, and got spoiled eating the deep dish "butter crust" fat bombs with chunky tomato sauce glooped on top.
The stuff is amazing, especially with the right beer.
I didn't even think to use the cast iron skillet, but that makes perfect sense to me - will get perfect even heat distribution (not to mention, can take higher heat levels just fine).
Semolina flour is also a fantastic idea - I've made semolina bread a few times and I just love the texture.
I haven't made pizza in a very long time, but you guys have given me some great ideas.
 
In case anyone is interested, this is the best place I've found to learn about all things pizza:

pizzamaking.com

In particular, the Lehmann dough calculator for making NY-style dough is spot-on; the calculator is based on this recipe. I use a slightly modified technique to bring the dough together, but it's more or less the same.

One other site that is helpful as well is Jeff Varasano's pizza page, but it's a bear to read due to the format of the page. Lots of good info in there!!
 
Oooh yeah... cast iron skillet FTW!! +1

I grew up in the Chicago area, and got spoiled eating the deep dish "butter crust" fat bombs with chunky tomato sauce glooped on top.
The stuff is amazing, especially with the right beer.
I didn't even think to use the cast iron skillet, but that makes perfect sense to me - will get perfect even heat distribution (not to mention, can take higher heat levels just fine).
Semolina flour is also a fantastic idea - I've made semolina bread a few times and I just love the texture.
I haven't made pizza in a very long time, but you guys have given me some great ideas.

+42 to Chicago-style pizza. ;)

Actually, cast iron is the same way my wife makes her breads nowadays. She just tosses a 5 quart cast iron pot straight into the oven to pre-heat it, adds the dough when it's ready, then bakes it in the pot. Out pops perfectly awesome bread every time. (She makes a fantastic pale ale beer bread, and uses the same technique to make bread over the camp fire.)
 
If you guys haven't seen this already, thought I would point out this great article about pizza dough in the NYT:

The Slow Route to Homemade Pizza

All about the best doughs around, yeast starters, slow rising the dough, etc., sort of a perfect fit for a homebrew beer nerd :)

Just got a pizza stone for my bday...am pumped to use it this weekend!! Pairing with a Flat Tire clone from MWS. Mmmmmmm.
 
I have tried for years to get pizzeria quality crust at home. I use a stone and a peel and bake my pizzas at 550 F., the hottest my oven will go. I have perfected my tomatoes and my toppings, but still have a long way to go with the crust. It seems that one of the biggest things is to have an oven that is hot enough. My gas grill gets really hot if I crank up the burners to full and close the top. Could I put my pizza stone in it and use it for pizza?
 
Here's mine, I just need to source better cheese (I've been happy with the trader joes sauce).

&#8226;8 ounces of malty beer - usually a maibock, or Rogue DGA
&#8226;1.5 cups bread flour
&#8226;1.5 cup all-purpose flour
&#8226;1 tablespoon sugar
&#8226;1 tablespoon brown sugar
&#8226;1 teaspoon salt
&#8226;1/2 tablespoon italian herbs
&#8226;2 tablespoons cheese
&#8226;1 packet of yeast
&#8226;Olive oil - brushed on to crust before cooking and let sit for 15 minutes.

Cook it at 550&#730; on a stone for 4 minutes before adding sauce and toppings, then add everything and do it for another ~4 minutes (this is because I make my crust thick)
 
I have tried for years to get pizzeria quality crust at home. I use a stone and a peel and bake my pizzas at 550 F., the hottest my oven will go. I have perfected my tomatoes and my toppings, but still have a long way to go with the crust. It seems that one of the biggest things is to have an oven that is hot enough. My gas grill gets really hot if I crank up the burners to full and close the top. Could I put my pizza stone in it and use it for pizza?

Check out pizzamaking.com. You might have problem using the stone on a gas grill but 550-600 over should be fine for a NY style.
 
I have tried for years to get pizzeria quality crust at home. I use a stone and a peel and bake my pizzas at 550 F., the hottest my oven will go. I have perfected my tomatoes and my toppings, but still have a long way to go with the crust. It seems that one of the biggest things is to have an oven that is hot enough. My gas grill gets really hot if I crank up the burners to full and close the top. Could I put my pizza stone in it and use it for pizza?

Getting NY style pizza crust requires a high gluten flour. King Arthur's bread flour works well. If this is not available, gluten should be available in the baking section of your local grocery store. The gluten lends elasticity to the dough and in turn allows it to stretch thin. I've also taken to a cold rise for the dough.

I use this recipe for my dough

http://www.hungrycravings.com/2008/10/pizza-dough.html

For pizza on the grill, try this pan...

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitche...Lodge_Logic_Cast_Iron_Pizza_Pan___P14P3?Args=

It's expensive, but we use ours for EVERYTHING!:mug:
 
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