The Home Made Pizza Thread

[ChshreCat]

You callin my pizza ugly?

I dunno. Was it good?

 

[ChshreCat]

Oh people have probably died over the thin crust/thick crust debate.

I remember a co-worker eagerly awaiting my response when I was asked which I prefer one time......

Ah said... THICK CRUST

 

[FastAndy]

I dunno. Was it good?

Yeah it was!

 

[ChshreCat]

Yeah it was!

'nuff said. Did you see my pizza I posted? I couldn't even manage a rectangle. heheh

 

[cheezydemon3]

+1 for "ugly". If it is symmetrical, you are too anal.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

As of yet New York style pizza and the occassional coal oven pizza have been favorites. I tend to shy away from thin crust. If I'm ever in chicago I'll give deep dish a try, but I am suspicious at best (I had "chicago style" in connecticut that could have chipped a tooth)

It is sad what places try to pawn off as "Chicago style" deep dish. True deep dish has a rather thin crust with edges that has more in common with a levened pie crust if you could imagine such a thing; tender and flaky on the outside with a light bready texture nestled up against cheesy meaty goodness on the inside. The toppings are also of the highest quality, and the sauce (traditionally raw crushed canned tomatoes) is on the top to keep the cheese and other ingredients from burning.

Honestly the only place you will find truly Chicago style pizza (besides small niche shops that rarely get it right anyway) is in Chicago because only Chicagoans have been conditioned to patiently wait 45 minutes for a "pizza".

Now that I live in Houston, I have spent the last 4 years trying to perfect my recipe since obviously I cannot find it here. I have come close, but its still not right. I think I am still kneading it too much. Next time I go the Chicago style route, I'll share pictures and technique. It is quite a bit different from any traditional pizza preps.

 

[TrickyDick]

As of yet New York style pizza and the occassional coal oven pizza have been favorites. I tend to shy away from thin crust. If I'm ever in chicago I'll give deep dish a try, but I am suspicious at best (I had "chicago style" in connecticut that could have chipped a tooth)

What is a "coal oven" pizza? surely not an oven heated with coal?

TD

 

[Evets]

What is a "coal oven" pizza? surely not an oven heated with coal?

TD

Yes, it is. Most are very old large bakery ovens. I'm not sure how they work but I know that the cooking chamber is isolated from the fire chamber because burning coal emits some pretty noxious gases. Typically they are massive so that once they get hot the heat is very even and stable.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Yes, it is. Most are very old large bakery ovens. I'm not sure how they work but I know that the cooking chamber is isolated from the fire chamber because burning coal emits some pretty noxious gases. Typically they are massive so that once they get hot the heat is very even and stable.

What he said. Also, one of the hallmarks of a coal oven pizza are the little scorch marks on the bottom of the pie. I know that usually burn or char marks are a sign of overcooking (or uneven cooking) but for whatever reason it is heavenly on a coal oven pizza. If you ever find yourself in New York, I HIGHLY suggest paying a visit to Tottanos in Manhattan or Coney Island or Sac's in Astoria.

 

[DisturbdChemist]

I'm excited to make a few pies this weekend. I dont know what to top them with but it'll be awesome especially if i find time to brew this weekend.

 

[TrickyDick]

Just made a pie last night on my pellet grill. I had been given a small round pizza stone a while back, and thought I would use it. It was too small for my pie. Made a mess. No pics. Pie came out incredible. Used the dough calculator from the pizza making . Com website. Awesome!! Planned to just throw out the dough I mixed up on Tuesday night and wanted just to see how it handled. Wednesday night I had it out and warming up, so it was well after dinner time by the time I could try to turn out the skin. It was definitely the easiest handling dough I had ever made. So I decided than at about 9 PM, that I was going to bake it. Unfortunately the stone and grill too about 45-50 minutes to heat up to baking temp, and by the time I was ready to bake the pie, getting in onto peel it had relaxed quite a bit and was easily 16-17 inches diameter. Of course, it stuck to the peel a bit and I ended up dumping a bunch of ingredients and sliding most of the pepperoni over to one side along with much of the cheese. The chees was a little old and clumpy and the sauce was about a month old as well. You know what? That pie came out mis-shaped, with grill grate marks in spots, with a light cheese and scanty sauce topping, but was probably one of the best pies I've ever made! It's the crust! It was awesome! My wife and I couldn't stop eating it and polished it all off at 10 PM!!! The part of the pizza that slipped off onto the grill where most of the avalanche of pepperoni and cheese slid off to was absolutely awesome! I rolled it up and it was like a gigantic pizza roll!

Highly recommend that dough calculator tool! Need to find a way to use the sourdough in that though.

TD

 

[Evets]

Just use the preferment calculator. http://www.pizzamaking.com/preferment_calculator.html

 

[TrickyDick]

Just use the preferment calculator. http://www.pizzamaking.com/preferment_calculator.html

Hmm.. Thanks! Will try!

I need a primer in sourdough culture management. I think I might also want to change vessels (currently using wide mouth mason jars).

I read the Ed wood book. First off, the proofing chamber he builds doesn't have much room for more than 1-2 mason jars after the light bulb is installed. I have taken another disposable cooler and use a a lid on top of my mini dough tray packed with 6 culture jars, and two jars filled with ice to get temps lower than room (75° is room. Temp in FL).

It seems that for making a batch of dough if I only use 1% culture or up to 3% that's a very very small amount of culture. Then I could just take a small sample from my culture jar, rather than activating the entire main culture and feed that small sample until it is fully active. It doesn't seem that this is necessarily a time saver however.

One of the problems I've had is the bacteria overpopulated the culture and it has to be washed. This happens quicker at room 75° temp than fridge temp.

I tend to keep my cultures in the fridge with the lids on. When I want to use one, I pull them out, mix and dump half, then feed them all, then put into the dough tray with cooler lid and some jars filled with ice, the culture jars with lids removed, but cover mouths with napkin and metal band to keep fruit flies out (they're everywhere in FL and are attracted to the aroma of the cultures). Typically I'd do this at night, and then check them again when I'm home from work the next day (no time to fiddle with them in the morning for sure). Usually one culture has erupted by this time. If they lookd pretty active I might use them, or else give them a small dose of flour and water and let them go a few hours to see if they responded to feeding and are what I would consider fully active. Then that evening i would prepare some dough. The 50% rise is for impossible to catch, and seems like just a guessing game. Anyways, once I've made my dough, I might give the cultus another feeding and put them ack into fridge until the next week (or two). Should I be feeding them more regularly? Sometimes they might go 2 weeks without a feeding, such as for vacations or because I'm working.


Any suggestion?

 

[cheezydemon3]

I make my dough in a BIG pot on the stove. I turn the burner on VERY low and start with warm water. The dough ends up warm when I am done and gets a slight head start on rising.

 

[Evets]

I only have one active culture which I keep in a wide mouth qt. mason jar. For my neapolitan pies, I make the dough on Thurs. morning to be used on Friday. My culture comes out of the fridge on Monday and gets fed Monday night, Tuesday night and Wed. night. After I make the dough on Thur. the culture goes back in the fridge til the next Monday, etc.
I use cold water to make the dough and almost immediately put it in my fermentation chamber. I use my sous vide controller to maintain 65°. I bulk ferment for 12 hrs, then ball and put them back in the cooler overnight. The next day I usually will fridge them until I need them. They warm up pretty quickly.
For my N.Y. style dough, I ball them right out of the mixer and right into the fridge for two days.

 

[DisturbdChemist]

Hot out of the oven while waiting for the mash to be over

Margarita pizza. No sauce just tomato, cheese, basil, and a little pesto



Sausage\pep this is my lunch for the week

 

[LakesideBrewing]

This is where the pizza went... Sorry, no finished pic, I'm kinda drunk...

 

[bob1852]

Whipped up a poolish for tomorrow's 'zza. I'll top it with homemade Canadian bacon, mushrooms, and maybe kalamata olives.

 

[TrickyDick]

Made 9 pies tonight.

3 NY style, 6 Neo style.

I'll post pics (not all got photographed) when photostream catches up with my iphone.

NY style was awesome stuff!
Neo style, had some burnt peel lube on bottom of crust. when I tried to omit dusting the peel with semolina, I had a near-stick at pie launch. Has anyone tried the perforated peel? I may even consider the perforated disc like some pizzerias use. I think the real thing to do is to use the perforated peel.
Baked the NY style at 500-650 and the Neo style at 850-950 - deck temps.

TD

 

[TrickyDick]

The first two are the New York pies, the last ones are some Neo pies. I had a launch failure on a Neo anchovy pie, and half stuck to peel ruining most of the pie. I still ate a couple slices anyway! Last two pics are the same pie, and show the crumb texture a little.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Beautifully not pretty!

I mean it. Good work man.

 

[Bensiff]

Whipped up a poolish for tomorrow's 'zza. I'll top it with homemade Canadian bacon, mushrooms, and maybe kalamata olives.

Mmmm, kalamata olives. So far I like the ones from Safeway they have in the delis olive kiosk the best. But, I have my fingers crossed that Santa Barbara Olive company will start selling them that aren't stuffed with feta as their martini olives are excellent.

As a side note to the thread, I made some amazing saag naan Saturday night with leftover pizza dough that has been fermenting away in the fridge for the last week.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

What do you call assault with Indian flatbread?

Naan violence.

 

[cheezydemon3]

What do you call assault with Indian flatbread?

Naan violence.

There is a FANTASTIC unspoiled wilderness an hour and a half from here called the Red River Gorge.

Nestled in the gorge is a primitive little town called Nada.

In town you have nada store, nada church and avery unique tunnel carved through the very mountain that is nada tunnel......True story.

 

[ChshreCat]

Ever make rectangular pizza but want triangular slices?

 

[smccarter]

This thread is making me hungry!!!!

 

[bob1852]

Just about ready to heat the oven...

 

[Swarley88]

The first two are the New York pies, the last ones are some Neo pies. I had a launch failure on a Neo anchovy pie, and half stuck to peel ruining most of the pie. I still ate a couple slices anyway! Last two pics are the same pie, and show the crumb texture a little.

Those all look amazing.

 

[smccarter]

I may have posted this pie already somewhere, but what the hay, right?

What is your dough recipe? You may have posted it, but I don't really want to go through all of the posts in the thread. Looks really good. Makes me very hungry.

 

[bob1852]

Nom nom nom