The Home Made Pizza Thread

[bleme]

So my daughter just started working at a new pizza place. Tonight was their soft opening. They called her in at 1pm and mixed up a big batch of dough then showed her how to work it. By the time I got there at 5pm, she was turning out pretty good looking pizzas but about 7:30 she said the dough was too wet to work with any more and it kept tearing. I’m pretty hopeful that several of you know exactly what is going on and how to fix it.

Update: I was talking with the owner tonight and he mixes up the final dough a couple hours before they start making pizzas but he makes a “starter” at least 18 hours earlier. They also haven’t had the ‘too wet’ problem since that first day.

 

[bwible]

Homemade pizza. Clockwise from left: Yellow peppers + pepperoni, ham + pineapple, our attempt at deep dish pepperoni.

 

[WesBrew]

I still have a way to go. Didn’t nail it. Have to work on hydration % w a starter and better kneading. The starter was good, pizza was tasty but a little too thick/thin in places, resisted sliding off the peel. I might give that up and just use a steel pan

 

[z-bob]

Sourdough crust made with 00 flour. Cheese and a little eggplant.

Nice. I was just coming here to ask about using sourdough starter instead of yeast for making pizza dough. Anything special you have to do?

 

[Oldskewl]

Not really that different. Sourdough takes longer to ferment and it is best to use a recipe to make sure your hydration levels are correct since sourdough starter has water in it. I use this one:

https://alexandracooks.com/2020/05/01/simple-sourdough-pizza-a-step-by-step-guide/

A few recipes have olive oil in them. I need to try one sometime to see what it brings to the dough.

 

[WesBrew]

Nice. I was just coming here to ask about using sourdough starter instead of yeast for making pizza dough. Anything special you have to do?

Well, you have to make a starter. Water and flour, slowly building the culture up over a week. Lots of simple directions online to do that.

 

[z-bob]

Well, you have to make a starter. Water and flour, slowly building the culture up over a week. Lots of simple directions online to do that.

I have the starter already, LOL. I bake a loaf of SD bread about once a week. I mean is there anything special you have to do with it for pizza. I can figure out what the starter brings to the hydration because it's half water and half flour (100%)

I haven't read the link that @Oldskewl posted yet. Going there now...

 

[WesBrew]

I have the starter already, LOL. I bake a loaf of SD bread about once a week. I mean is there anything special you have to do with it for pizza. I can figure out what the starter brings to the hydration because it's half water and half flour (100%)

I haven't read the link that @Oldskewl posted yet. Going there now...

I'm working that out myself . 60% plus the starter was wet!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Nice. I was just coming here to ask about using sourdough starter instead of yeast for making pizza dough. Anything special you have to do?

Hey I’ve just seen this today. Here is a link for guidance https://foodbodsourdough.com/pizza-dough/

As for myself, I use 00 pizza flour, it doesn’t need to be Italian, right now a have several pounds from KA. It just seems to handle better with shaping. I follow the proportions on the bag, but use about 25g of sourdough starter instead of yeast for a long fermentation, if you want dough more quickly use more active starter. I omit sugar and use olive oil. I just saw a recipe with butter, LOL. I’m sure it tastes good, but it may not taste authentic. But hey, different strokes for different folks. I hope this is useful to you.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

 

[hottpeper13]

resisted sliding off the peel.

I push out the rounds on parchment paper(oil it first) If it resists, cover and rest 10 min or so. I've also found dough that is 80* spreads better without spring back.

 

[Peteinno]

I use this handy chart from pizza making.com to predict how long to ferment the dough. I can adjust the amount of starter to the ferment time I desire.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I use this handy chart from pizza making.com to predict how long to ferment the dough. I can adjust the amount of starter to the ferment time I desire.View attachment 875734

You need to get out more

 

[Peteinno]

I can't go anywhere, I've got dough fermenting!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I use this handy chart from pizza making.com to predict how long to ferment the dough. I can adjust the amount of starter to the ferment time I desire.View attachment 875734

Ya, that looks real handy . . . it's probably easier to read on an 85" screen.

 

[Peteinno]

Geez, sorry guys. Me and my pizza making buddies find the chart very helpful with our sour dough starters. Just thought I'd post it here for the greater good.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Geez, sorry guys. Me and my pizza making buddies find the chart very helpful with our sour dough starters. Just thought I'd post it here for the greater good.

Seriously, it is a handy chart! Thanks for sharing it, really.

Anything posted here is fair game for some humor.

 

[Oldskewl]

Peteinno, thanks for posting that chart. I looked up a few examples of temps with starter ratios and it is within an hour or so of my experiences. Obviously these times will vary based on the health of your starter.

 

[acrowe]

I actually thought it was really interesting - it definitely seems useful to me.
I didn't try viewing it on a small screen though

 

[Peteinno]

Thanks guys, I didn't take it personally. I'm from originally from Boston where we give each other crap as a sport. I'm glad some of you found it helpful. I did learn a valuable lesson though, future posts will be enlarged to help out all us optically challenged old bastards.

 

[Immocles]

Pizzas! Been slacking on posting lately but these are two of the latest.

Cast iron pan pizza. Cheese sauce basil olives and a few stray pepperonis

And tonight’s. A premade and frozen crust with pepoeroni, pepperonchini, and a semi lethal amount of basil. Next time, more basil.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I still have a way to go. Didn’t nail it. Have to work on hydration % w a starter and better kneading. The starter was good, pizza was tasty but a little too thick/thin in places, resisted sliding off the peel. I might give that up and just use a steel pan

Do you use course cornmeal on the peel? Be fairly generous with it. Or use semolina for the work area.

 

[bleme]

Dropped in tonight to grab one of my daughter’s pizzas. Since that first night she has learned that they (and now she) make the dough with a poolish. They started keeping the dough in the fridge until they needed it and haven’t had a problem since. It was just getting too warm and fermenting too much.

 

[day_trippr]

And I just learned a new word!

Cheers!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Rhubarb Pizza!

There's a little bar bear me, their light sign posted that. I haven't tried it, still trying to imagine it. I love pizza and I like rhubarb but I would never dream of them together.

Thoughts?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Rhubarb Pizza!

There's a little bar bear me, their light sign posted that. I haven't tried it, still trying to imagine it. I love pizza and I like rhubarb but I would never dream of them together.

Thoughts?

I’d pass, how tart should a pizza be?

 

[Kent88]

Rhubarb Pizza!

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Made a couple meatlovers and a Hawaiian... homemade sourdough crust, still working on getting better structure in the dough. Made in wood fired pizza oven. 2nd batch in this stick burner, liking it so far.

 

[Peteinno]

How's the Pizzello working for you? Have you dialed it in yet? I read some reviews that stated the bottom burns before the top is cooked.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

How's the Pizzello working for you? Have you dialed it in yet? I read some reviews that stated the bottom burns before the top is cooked.

So yeah, this is my second batch with it.. what I've found so far is that you want to get some sticks burning and have some coals so the heat it steady. I heat my house with firewood so I have an abundance. This time I lit it about 20 to 30 minutes ahead of cooking time and established a decent coal bed with the chimney flap open all the way. Once I was ready to put in the first pie I closed the flap, opened the door, pizza in, checked at about 2 minutes and gave it a 3rd minute.. the stone was at about 600f .. the bottom did get a little dark but wasn't charcoal haha.. I still have a little tweaking to do but I think it's gonna do just fine, and for the price point I can't complain. Basically if you shove wood in it and your flame is kissing the stone your gonna burn the bottom, I may even do a combo of wood and lump charcoal next time to see how it does with that.

Side note, the first time I used it was in the winter, it was freezing cold and breezy but I wanted to try my new toy haha.. I burnt the first of 4 that I did that day but the other 3 came out nice. Again I had to get the heat established and since it was cold I had a fire ripping in there when I threw the first one in.