The Home Made Pizza Thread

[Ostomo517]

What would you like to know my friend...I work for beer.(or tips how to brew it better )

Thats jist insane how huge that is without falling apart and looks to hold its shape, its effin beautiful

 

[gwapogorilla]

Thats jist insane how huge that is without falling apart and looks to hold its shape, its effin beautiful

Tanks sooo much for the compliment. The pans I got from ebay...some pizza place in Chicago going out of business. Also....use whole milk mozzorella chese...GOD..I'm starting to get a little drunk here. AND ITS ONLY MONDAY!

 

[gwapogorilla]

Guys, really....pizza is sooooo easy. The hardest part of pizza....not getting the crust soggy from the juices of the meats and veggies. So, precook them and drain the grease/water and you will have better luck with you outcome. Also, ONLY use whole milk cheeses. The skim/part skim don't melt well at all. That gooie, stringy stuff you get at a restaurant...it is whole milk cheese. So, only use that.

As far as crust, mine is basically beer bread.
6 cups flour
1 1/2 bottles of the nastiest beer you can think of...cuz you want to get rid of it!(this is where my Boston Lager goes to mind )
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch salt
1 tablespoon bread yeast

When you oil your pan, use olive oil! It doesn't build build up that thick nasty crap, and the taste is better.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Okay boys, you might wanna step back so you don't get hurt.

Here is my................no........ "THEE" ultimate pizza! 18.5 LBS. of colossal heavenly goodness. 18.5 LBS. REAL WEIGHT!!! All meats and veggies were precooked and drained of their juices, and put on top of a beer dough crust.
I weighed the pan before and after the goodies were put on top, it came in at 18.7 lbs....so 18.5 for good accurate measures after evaporation of cheeses juices.

Here it is in my pellet grill. The pellet grill gives it a very nice "wood fire oven" flavor.


And, here it is all cooked sitting on top of my stove. This is NOT a small stove! The pan the pizza is cooked in is 18 1/2" diameter by 2" deep. Plus, I build up the goodies to fill the crust....see next pic!







See what I mean? 3 inches thick!!!





Here is 1 slice...an average of 2.31 lbs per slice!!!!



Sure, you guys can prolly brew better than I can. But I can teach you this! Cheers!

That looks like 18.5 lbs of pure awesomeness!
Regards, GF.

 

[headbanger]

Can any of you guys using a starter explain the process to me? I use regular yeast and cold ferment which is good but I dont get a true sourdough taste

www.sourdo.com

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Some of the pies here look ok. I'm not a boaster on many accounts, but I urge you to try a new method. You need a longer bulk fermentation for higher gluten development. I bulk ferment for up to 4 hours, folding every 30 min. Its a great thing to do on brew day. No sugar, honey, or any of that other crap. I'll post the process next time I bake, prob this monday. I dont' take credit for the method, it's from Tartine Bread.

1000g flour
700g sugar
200g starter
20g salt

Attached is the cross section of the loaf as requested, then the best goddang croissants you've ever not had.

 

[headbanger]

Some of the pies here look ok. I'm not a boaster on many accounts, but I urge you to try a new method. You need a longer bulk fermentation for higher gluten development. I bulk ferment for up to 4 hours, folding every 30 min. Its a great thing to do on brew day. No sugar, honey, or any of that other crap. I'll post the process next time I bake, prob this monday. I dont' take credit for the method, it's from Tartine Bread.

1000g flour
700g sugar
200g starter
20g salt

Attached is the cross section of the loaf as requested, then the best goddang croissants you've ever not had.

Looks ok.

 

[mtnagel]

Made another pizza on the grill. Split veggie and buffalo chicken. Used pizza stone this time. Worked great except I have a hot spot on the grill, so either I need to turn the heat down from high, rotate the pizza half way through, or just try to avoid that area (but it's in the middle).

Except for some being burned on the bottom, it turned out very good. I had frozen dough that I took out this morning and left on the counter. About 1 hour before baking, I stretched it out and then let it sit. I don't normally do this, but I've heard people mention another rest before putting on toppings. I wonder if that what's made it the closest to pizzeria style I've ever had??

Anyway, here's the pizza (it's no 18 pounder...):

 

[ChugachBrewing]

I would argue (respectfully) that the 18 pounder is not the goal. Crisp crust, lots of crumb structure, and a suitable crunch. Hard to get this on a grill, you really need radiant heat from above. Interesting article in Cooks Illustrated about creating a microclimate in your oven for suitable temperatures.

The best results I've had is from the aforementioned dough, shape into round, then stretch, set oven to 550, pre bake 6 min, top, bake 6 min, broil 2 min, on a pizza screen. I know it sounds weird, but believe me, it works. Unless it's a day where i take the big green egg to 800. then I do that, but still hard to get the radiant heat for a searing cook.

Just my 3 cents.

 

[mtnagel]

Maybe it's not as good as the oven, but when it's 80F+ out, I'd rather use the grill than heat up the house with the oven.

 

[Chuginator]

From 2011; first attempt at homemade dough. Oven-made. Yum.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I would argue (respectfully) that the 18 pounder is not the goal. Crisp crust, lots of crumb structure, and a suitable crunch. Hard to get this on a grill, you really need radiant heat from above. Interesting article in Cooks Illustrated about creating a microclimate in your oven for suitable temperatures.

The best results I've had is from the aforementioned dough, shape into round, then stretch, set oven to 550, pre bake 6 min, top, bake 6 min, broil 2 min, on a pizza screen. I know it sounds weird, but believe me, it works. Unless it's a day where i take the big green egg to 800. then I do that, but still hard to get the radiant heat for a searing cook.

Just my 3 cents.

Don't worry, I have pretty thick skin...you aren't gonna hurt my feelings.
The crust bakes very well with my set up. We don't like a hard crispy crunchy crust. We prefer a good sturdy body that you can still tear apart with your teeth.
As far as heat from above...pellet grills have a fan in them to circulate the air/heat. It's basically a wood fired convection oven. My foods all cook evenly on top/bottom and sides. Not only do I cook pizzas and bbq on it, I have also done breads and even cheesecake. Yes, CHEESECAKE.

Maybe it's not as good as the oven, but when it's 80F+ out, I'd rather use the grill than heat up the house with the oven.

AMEN! That's part of the reason I bought that huge pellet grill I have...and the results excellent!

 

[gwapogorilla]

Made another pizza on the grill. Split veggie and buffalo chicken. Used pizza stone this time. Worked great except I have a hot spot on the grill, so either I need to turn the heat down from high, rotate the pizza half way through, or just try to avoid that area (but it's in the middle).

Except for some being burned on the bottom, it turned out very good. I had frozen dough that I took out this morning and left on the counter. About 1 hour before baking, I stretched it out and then let it sit. I don't normally do this, but I've heard people mention another rest before putting on toppings. I wonder if that what's made it the closest to pizzeria style I've ever had??

Anyway, here's the pizza (it's no 18 pounder...):

The pizza looks good! I love the colors from the veggeies! I'd eat it.

 

[mtnagel]

Thanks. My pizza hobby has almost become like my beer brewing hobby - constantly tweaking things till I'm satisfied

 

[headbanger]

As far as heat from above...pellet grills have a fan in them to circulate the air/heat. It's basically a wood fired convection oven. My foods all cook evenly on top/bottom and sides. Not only do I cook pizzas and bbq on it, I have also done breads and even cheesecake. Yes, CHEESECAKE.


AMEN! That's part of the reason I bought that huge pellet grill I have...and the results excellent!

Agreed, although my pellet grill (PG500) cooks top down on the indirect side (zone 4) which makes it perfect for cooking pizza. It is crucial though to use a stone and preheat it religiously or the pizza will be undercooked on the bottom by the time the top is done.

 

[ChugachBrewing]

How long do your pizzas take to cook?

 

[headbanger]

How long do your pizzas take to cook?

About 7 minutes.

 

[gwapogorilla]

How long do your pizzas take to cook?

For that huge 18.5 lb pie...I set my grill at 320* and cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

 

[FermentNEthinG]

Here some pizza I cooked up on the charcoal grill.

The first one, I over cooked a little.

I am using the pizza que I got from Williams Sonoma, it has a temp gauge on it that was reading 700*

Boy did they turned out good.

To hell with temperature probes this week..I am buying one of those boxes to try out!

 

[headbanger]

To hell with temperature probes this week..I am buying one of those boxes to try out!

Spoken like a guy who's never shopped at William Sonoma. I did get my coffee maker there though and wouldn't trade it for anything, but it did cost me 300 bucks and it was about the cheapest thing I saw in the store save a 175 dollar cutting board that I kind of fancied too.

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Infrared thermometer is the way to go. As for baking time, my target is under 4 minutes. Have only achieved that in wood fired oven.

 

[FermentNEthinG]

Spoken like a guy who's never shopped at William Sonoma. I did get my coffee maker there though and wouldn't trade it for anything, but it did cost me 300 bucks and it was about the cheapest thing I saw in the store save a 175 dollar cutting board that I kind of fancied too.

Come on man, it's not that bad! For some reason I thought the pizza was cooked within a stoneware box of some sort. Not on top of a stone and stand.

Instead, I ordered the square pizza stone with frame for my grill this morning. Only 36.00 bucks on sale. I will be making some pizza's tonight for the family for the first time on the grill. I was getting great results with my wall oven but I would like more heat!

Looks like I will be getting my temp probes still...:rockin:

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Here are a few articles for thought on creating a "real" pizza oven without actually building a structure near your house. Temps pushing past 800.
This is the goal, in my opinion.

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archiv...-the-ultimate-home-pizza-setup.html?ref=title

 

[Evets]

I'll have to get my pizza grill out of the shed one of these days and take it for a spin. I haven't used it since last summer. Propane and wood combo.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Beautiful pics! That orange bell really makes it pop visually! Need to get some of that! Visual is not as important as taste, but if it is yummy, good visuals can make it even better!

 

[TrickyDick]

Pepperoni, onions, robusto, parm, and black olives..

What's robusto? I thought it was a cigar...

5:

 

[TrickyDick]

By the way, was wondering if anybody has tried making pizza dough using lager yeast with a cold ferment, or with a combo of sourdough culture (to add lactic acid bacteria) and lager yeast (so as to do a cold ferment)??

TD

 

[GRBC]

My current sourdough culture started out with some Denny's Favorite 50 ale yeast. As you feed the culture by adding flour and water, you get plenty of lacto and whatever else makes it "sour". Made some dough with it last night that is in the fridge until I make a pizza with it sometime this weekend. Even though it is/was ale yeast, it does ferment cold & rise in the fridge.

 

[cheezydemon3]

My current sourdough culture started out with some Denny's Favorite 50 ale yeast. As you feed the culture by adding flour and water, you get plenty of lacto and whatever else makes it "sour". Made some dough with it last night that is in the fridge until I make a pizza with it sometime this weekend. Even though it is/was ale yeast, it does ferment cold & rise in the fridge.

Good to know! Mine wasn't around long enough to get "sour"

 

[headbanger]

What's robusto? I thought it was a cigar...

5:

Some really good cheese, similar to romano.

 

[DisturbdChemist]

Because of this thread i made some dough last night for some pizza's tonight with the girlfriend. First attempt and hopefully it'll turn out well. Will take pics.

 

[finsfan]

i almost had a pizza catastrophe last night! I made the pie dough and had the stone heating up in the oven, i always pre cook the crust 5 minutes cuz my oven only gets to 550, so i pulled the crust out went to top it and my sauce was molded! fortunately i had alfredo sauce haha the first one i made was just alferdo pepperoni sharp and mozzarella and turned out good. the second one i made though was a masterpiece. I had leftover smoked 4 cheese macaroni i made on fathers day (parm, cream cheese, sharp and gouda, smoked for an hour with hickory!) so i thought what the heck, this will be good with alfredo on a pizza, and it was amazing! i wish i would have taken pictures but it was late, i had a huge mess to clean up, and i had been mowing/cleaning/polyurethane-ing my bar, so i skipped the pictures. glad i made this pie though, SO GOOD!

 

[TrickyDick]

Good save!


When I make pizza I usually do my own sauce. It takes very little time. I use Cento brand usually of canned whole tomatoes. There are other DOP tomatoes which are more expensive but to my unsophisticated palate, I cannot tell the difference.
I discard the basil leaf, remove the skins and stem pieces. Then I take the remainder, including the liquid, seeds and all, and crush with my bare (well washed) hands and then if you like you can hit it with a few seconds of immersion blender. I like it a little rustic with different sized chunk, so I take it easy with the immersion blender. I then add some salt and if needed sugar. I have previously used Penzey's (a spice company) pizza seasoning about 1.5 tablespoons. I think that it adds some layers of flavor but detracts from the tomato flavor somewhat. I will try to refrain from using this on my Neapolitan type pizzas therefore. The tomatoes stand pretty well on their own, but if you don't have the seasoning and some some extra flavors, you can add some oregano, garlic powder or even fresh garlic, and red pepper and fennel plus the salt and sugar and you should be pretty close. That way you never need worry about moldy jarred sauce again!

TD

 

[cheezydemon3]

SAUCE

The absolutely easiest and tastiest sauce I do is actually thinly sliced RAW tomatoes seasoned with salt pepper and oregano single layered where sauce would be, top as usual.

I have had people tell me that they hate tomato on pizza and I serve them this and they can't even tell. It cooks and seems like sauce.

 

[finsfan]

well i wish i woulda had the resources to make my own sauce but the fridge was running low and it was almost ten when i was making these pizzas, i need to start trying sauce recipes tho

 

[TrickyDick]

I've done jarred sauces too for variety.

I like the tomato pie pizza. Cheese goes on first then other toppings, take fresh preferably very ripe tomato slices and lie on top or better crush in your hands holding over pie.

Will try it backwards some time and see if the tomatoes dissolve into a sauce

Getting hungry...

TD

 

[cheezydemon3]

I've done jarred sauces too for variety.

I like the tomato pie pizza. Cheese goes on first then other toppings, take fresh preferably very ripe tomato slices and lie on top or better crush in your hands holding over pie.

Will try it backwards some time and see if the tomatoes dissolve into a sauce

Getting hungry...

TD

they don't exactly dissolve, but your teeth cut right through them with little resistance, much like sauce. It is SO easy.

 

[Gutpunch]

they don't exactly dissolve, but your teeth cut right through them with little resistance, much like sauce. It is SO easy.

Love this idea. Do the skins break down enough that they don't peel away in stringy rings when you bite into them?

 

[cheezydemon3]

Love this idea. Do the skins break down enough that they don't peel away in stringy rings when you bite into them?

I won't say that you never get a bite that seems like a tomato, but it really is almost the same as pureed sauce. I slice them pretty darn thin.

 

[GRBC]

Here's my pizza tonight from my Denny's Favorite 50 sourdough starter. Tasted great.