The Home Made Pizza Thread

[xandersaml]

You can't cook the top side with a cast iron pan. You could cook the crust on one side first, flip it and then fill it, but it's not really practical and the results are not always great.

You have to have a very hot lid that radiates a lot of energy from as close as possible.

If you have a shallow pan and a lid, or use two of the 3/4" deep lids, I think it would work great. I just might have to try it. Do you have any pics of what you're developing?

 

[NinjaMig21]

I'm betting that a heavy cast iron pan with a heavy cast iron top, preheated in a very hot oven, would cook pizza evenly top and bottom, and better than any stovetop arrangement. But I have not tried it.

Well, preheating cast iron lid kind of defeats the point of not needing an oven

I will post some pics in a week or so. I have to polish it a bit more before showing it in public

 

[hotwatermusic]

Had a dough ball in the freezer, I decided to par bake so I could see how the spring would go. It had a big rise, however the shape of the pie is a statement on my peel skills. Sad. Egg, arugala, sundried tomatoes, pine nuts (stuff in the fridge). Cooked on steel.

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[Yeastieboy]

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Fresh Mozzarella, Shaved Brussel Sprouts and Red Onion, Pancetta finished with Arugula, Garlic Olive Oil, Romano

 

[Yeastieboy]

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'Course I always gotta make a Formaggio for the kiddos.

 

[TallDan]

'Course I always gotta make a Formaggio for the kiddos.

"Just" cheese?

 

[Yeastieboy]

Haha... Yeah. Beating a dead horse. The previous pic above was for the wife and I...

 

[treacheroustexan]

Going to attempt the no knead recipe tomorrow morning. Bake a pie tomorrow night after work and freeze the rest. The last few posts have made me extremely hungry and I'm sad I didn't get a chance to make anything today. I have some sun dried tomatoes, spinach and mozzarella laying around I'l probably throw together.

 

[Homercidal]

Grilled Pizza Pie was on the agenda yesterday until I decided I didn't have time to mix up the dough and let it rise.

We made Stir Fry instead.

Must get the dough prepared for next time!

 

[applescrap]

My buddy used a 5 minute Quick dough said it was okay. Anyone else try it? I will give it a try before too long, because I'm bound to want pizza and not have dough at some point.

 

[Yeastieboy]

Totally against cutting corners with pizza. Probably have to reserve further comments of 5-minute dough. [emoji17]

 

[hotwatermusic]

5 minute pizza. Not 5 minutes. 7. 7's the number. Step into my office...

 

[ericbw]

A friend of mine got a pile of these 12X12 pans at an auction and gave me two. They're old Little Caesar's pans. I cleaned them up, re-seasoned and made a couple sicilian pies last night. Plain cheese and pepperoni.

Any special tricks for the dough? What about time and temp to cook?

 

[z-bob]

I haven't baked a homemade pizza in a couple of years, cuz Wife is on a strict diet and I don't wanna sabotage her. But I'm enjoying looking at y'all's pics.

My oven has kind of crappy temperature control; it runs *really* hot but not by a consistent amount Terrible for baking cakes, but perfect for pizza. (to bake cakes, I preheat the oven, put the cake in, and turn the temperature down 50 degrees and start checking it 10 minutes before it's supposed to be done. For pizza, I just set it for 450 and let it do it's thing)

My dough is really simple. 2 cups of bread flour, 1 cup of water, 1 tsp salt, pinch of sugar, a tablespoon or so of olive oil or bacon grease, and 1/2 tsp of instant dried yeast. I mix it up and put it in the fridge (covered) to rise slowly for a couple of days; no kneading necessary. The slow rise makes all the difference.

Heinz or Hunt's (can't remember which it is) pizza sauce in #10 cans from Sam's Club for $3 is not as good as what I can make from scratch but it's close. And it's cheaper. And a lot easier. That's usually what I use, and I freeze the extra.

Whole milk mozzarella is a lot better than the part-skim you usually find. It's worth looking for. But use the part-skim cheese if you're using a lot of greasy meat toppings. Definitely use whole milk mozz or provolone if you're making a veggie pizza.

The toppings I usually use are pepperoni (but not a huge amount) and sliced fresh jalapenos. But mushrooms and sausages is a good combo too. Or just salami and fresh tomatoes. I keep the toppings simple; the crust is what really makes it.

 

[Staestc]

In my opinion the only pizza that beats pepperoni and Jalapeno is Canadian Bacon and Jalapeno, and that is only because that is what I used to make a lot to go with a pitcher of beer when I worked at Shakey's when I was a kid!! Lol

 

[Evets]

Any special tricks for the dough? What about time and temp to cook?

I was afraid someone might ask about the dough, so I must confess I didn't make it. The friend who gave me the pans also gave me two frozen dough balls. I do know the basic formula is 75% bread flour, 25% semolina so
flour 100%
water 75% (it's a really wet dough. you ferment it in the greased pan in the fridge overnight then spread it out and proof before baking.)
Instant yeast .5%
salt 2%
each dough ball for 12x12 pan is 18oz.
Thickness factor of .125
If you plug all that into the Lehman dough calculator on pizzamaking.com it'll tell you how much of everything to use.
I baked for 10-12 minutes @ 475, 180 spin halfway through.

 

[hotwatermusic]

Made a couple pies. Calabrese and mushroom, and a whole wheat with butternut squash, kale, pine nuts and sun-dried tomato. I used whey for the ww dough from some mozz I botched.

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[brewbama]

Another Forkish (thick) and a Breadtopia (thin) skin. Dressed with Bacon and Pepperoni on both but the thick had sauce while the thin had San Marzanos

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[Yeastieboy]

It's not delivery. It's DiGiorno.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

A friend of mine got a pile of these 12X12 pans at an auction and gave me two. They're old Little Caesar's pans. I cleaned them up, re-seasoned and made a couple sicilian pies last night. Plain cheese and pepperoni.

I love pan pizza but your crust in these photos is what ive been searching for, care to share that recipe??

 

[hopbrad]

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Pepperoni, onion, red pepper, eggplant with mozz.
BBQ chicken, Carmelized onions with cheddar.

 

[Evets]

I love pan pizza but your crust in these photos is what ive been searching for, care to share that recipe??

I did as best I could in reply #2956

 

[hotwatermusic]

Cheese pie cause I too, am a vanilla ice cream fan.
I've had a steel for a couple weeks now. Like everything, there is a learning curve. It does super charge a regular home oven. I'm gonna start wearing oven mitts just to use my peel. Seriously.
I paid $130 for the big Stoughton one. Which is a lot for me.
I had a pie burn onto it. Goes from a nice char to a huge disaster quick.
However it's an awesome tool for sure and an inexpensive option for guys like me that would burn the neighborhood down if I tried building a brick oven. FWIW.

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[applescrap]

Cool I'm glad you're happy with it, I'm happy with mine. If you make artisanal Breads and stuff like that it's really good for that too. How long did you let it heat for? Also I have never had a pizza burn in the oven?! When I put it on the grill it did in like 1 minute without cooking the top. But man I bet it makes a nice steak

 

[hotwatermusic]

Yeah, it just bonded to the steel and my thick wooden peel was useless. Pried it up with a knife. I imagine it was heating for over an hour. I've always just cranked my oven all the way up, but i'm realizing it may be a better cook around 475-500˚F. I would also stick to the recommended 45min to 1 hour pre-heat. I haven't been a very disciplined cook in the past but I'm learning to be one.

 

[ong]

Cheese pizza? Honestly, what's the point? Discuss.

It's all I ever make/eat. Sublime and perfect in its restraint.

It's like, why work to come up with the perfect Vienna lager when you can make a big huge IIPA with tangerine zest and cloves and half a tube of Tom's toothpaste in secondary? Because you're crafting the perfect example of a style, not just hurling excess at a canvas.

 

[Yeastieboy]

It's all I ever make/eat. Sublime and perfect in its restraint.

It's like, why work to come up with the perfect Vienna lager when you can make a big huge IIPA with tangerine zest and cloves and half a tube of Tom's toothpaste in secondary? Because you're crafting the perfect example of a style, not just hurling excess at a canvas.

Amen! Well said.

 

[WI_Wino]

It's all I ever make/eat. Sublime and perfect in its restraint.

It's like, why work to come up with the perfect Vienna lager when you can make a big huge IIPA with tangerine zest and cloves and half a tube of Tom's toothpaste in secondary? Because you're crafting the perfect example of a style, not just hurling excess at a canvas.

Too extreme of an analogy. Cheese only pizza - bleh. Sausage and cheese pizza (perhaps some onions) - yummy! Don't need the entire fridge on it but just cheese, not my thing.

 

[ong]

Too extreme of an analogy. Cheese only pizza - bleh. Sausage and cheese pizza (perhaps some onions) - yummy! Don't need the entire fridge on it but just cheese, not my thing.

To me it's that perfect Napoli pie that I strive for, and the more junk that goes on it, the more those iconic flavors are muted. Tomato, basil, garlic, mozzarella di bufala -- it's like barley, yeast, and hops. I don't need a bunch of pineapple, cacao nibs, or bacon in either case!

 

[ericbw]

To me it's that perfect Napoli pie that I strive for, and the more junk that goes on it, the more those iconic flavors are muted. Tomato, basil, garlic, mozzarella di bufala -- it's like barley, yeast, and hops. I don't need a bunch of pineapple, cacao nibs, or bacon in either case!

For me, it's not one thing. Sometimes cheese pizza is great. Sometimes pepperoni. Sometimes a bunch of stuff. Thin, thick, pan, cold leftovers. It's all good.