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I make pizzas using Jeff Varasano's method, as in, baking them on the self clean cycle. I have a infrared thermometer (critical if you're going to do this) and only bake when the oven is around 800-820 degrees. There's pictures of my pies in the previous pizza thread. For this you need a serious pizza stone. I got a custom width Fibrament-D 3/4" stone. Even at 800 degrees, a drop of sauce on it won't cause it to violently explode like a cheaper pizza stone will. Unless you are super careful and good at making perfectly formed crusts, spend the extra cash on one of these. It also hugely helps maintain the heat in the oven, because you will actually lose about 150 degrees between every pizza due to opening/closing the door. My stone weighs about 15 lbs and the oven can bounce back up to 800 by the time the next pizza is formed and ready to go. Kneading the dough goes in two parts. Put all of the water, sourdough starter, salt, and baking yeast into the mixer's bowl. Using the paddle attachment, turn it onto medium. Using a big tablespoon, work in a couple spoonfuls of flour at a time and don't add more until the previous addition is completely mixed in. This accomplishes two things. One, the dough is actually kneading in this batter-like phase. A lot of gluten develops. Second, this makes the autolyze period much faster. Once you've got about 3/4 of the flour worked in (it should be thicker than batter, but not quite a dough), take the paddle out, cover, and let it sit for 20 minutes. Continue kneading with the hook, slowly adding flour, until it forms a nice tight ball which pretty much just rotates around the hook. A sourdough culture is basically required. If not for flavor, but for strength. I actually use a mixture of sourdough poolish and plain old active dry yeast, because my sourdough culture does not rise much in the fridge. The bacteria, however, do produce acid at fridge temperatures. The slightly acidic dough is MUCH stronger than one that isn't. It will spread much more evenly and thinly without breaking. My dough sits in individual portions in plastic, lightly oiled glad cointainers for a minumum of 3 days. 6 days gives better flavor but runs the risk of being over-risen. For shaping/spreading, a WOODEN pizza peel is absolutely required. Take about a teaspoon of flour and dump it on the peel. Spread it around with the palm of your hand. This gets flour into all of the nooks and crevices of the wood without over-flouring it. Don't use cornmeal it tastes like poo poo, burns, and ruins the texture of the crust. Flour is all you need and if you do it this way you'll never have a pie stick to the peel. You'll have to develop your own shaping procedure, but start with a floured disk and punch out a "crust" around it with your knuckles. Sauce - use a blender/food processor to crush whole, plum tomatoes. Cut the ends off and rinse them under a drizzle of water to get all the seeds out as well as remove some of the bitter "canny" flavor. You shouldn't need to add much juice, but use your best judgement. I only put salt and romano cheese in the tomatos. Costco sells a really solid cow's milk fresh mozarella (Belgioso brand). It has very predictable melting characteristics and even at high heat doesn't dissolve into ricotta. Into the oven. I use a flashlight to just watch the pizza, and pull it when it looks done. This is really the only way to do it, and it will cook in less than 2 minutes anyways. Here's my recipe, you might need to adjust the flour amount depending on your ambient humidity/etc. 800g KA bread flour 550g Water 60g sourdough poolish 30g salt 3.5g baking years That's enough for about 5 12" pizzas. forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Oct 7, 2011 |
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Oct 7, 2011 18:11
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Thanks for mentioning this. The amount of obsession displayed there is impressive. There really is no risk of burning the house down, I accidentally forgot about a pizza in there once and it just turned into cinder and ash. No fire or anything. The oven is designed to be able to withstand those temperatures. Just don't let any sauce hit the glass on the door. As for the energy, well, don't just make a few pizzas! I regularly have get-togethers and make 10-15 pies. Pizza is a great party piece because you can do all the prep before hand, and people are usually pretty interested in watching you shape/form the dough.
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Oct 8, 2011 00:23
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mindphlux posted:just gonna throw this out there : I live literally across the street from Jeff Varasano's pizza place (aptly named Varasano's.) - the pies are just ok - sometimes soggy crusts, and I know it's not his fault but the service is horrible, prices over the top. And they've recently taken the old 'death throes' route of posting lots of happy hour posters outside, along with live music, free validated parking, etc etc. I have also heard that his pizzeria isn't that good. And actually, a lot of his site is over-spergy and insane. But his three basic rules are 100% on point. High heat, sourdough starter, wet kneading with autolyze period. What really bothers me about him is his insistence on "AUTHENTIC PIZZA". He has so much right "...pizza inspires passion..." but goes so overboard with his ulillillilia-esque sperging about poo poo that is literally a pissing contest about food. Which is meant to be enjoyed by diners and creators, not endlessly raged over by internet tough guys.
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Oct 8, 2011 08:51
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mindphlux posted:yeah I don't doubt he's a tremendous dick. my industry friends in town have said so, since I've asked around after this thread came up Even though they have a lovely Web 1.0 website, http://www.bakingstone.com/. I spilled an entire pizza's worth of sauce on it at 800 degrees and it didn't make a peep.
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Oct 14, 2011 05:21
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Well I did a thing     Bechamel, Emmental cheese, caramelized onions, finished with fresh thyme. These pies baked at ~850 degrees and cooked in under 2 minutes; natural sourdough starter, King Arthur bread flour. 3 day cold rise.
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Jan 8, 2012 05:40
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88h88 posted:I've been using a mild variation on Varasano's method, basically the only thing I measure is the water and that's done me fine for a good 12 months or so, leaving it to ferment in the fridge makes it so so good. Are there any other particularly good ways to do a base which tastes like that? Make the jump to a sourdough culture. I got the "Italian" one from http://www.sourdo.com. The difference in flavor is very significant. Additionally, the slightly acidic dough is much stronger and easier to spread. I usually rise for 4-5 days in the fridge, and depending on how much it rises (I mark the plastic containers with dry erase markers to judge), I'll give it anywhere from an hour to 4 hours out of the fridge to get a bit more lift.
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Apr 12, 2012 20:42
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angor posted:Now, I have a question. I've been using Tipo 00 and cooking at ~500f on a pizza stone. I've heard that Tipo 00 really shines when it comes to ovens that get hot as gently caress, but isn't great for home setups. Would moving to a bread flour yield better results? If I'm using Alton Brown's recipe, should I be tweaking anything (water, etc.) when using Tipo 00? Depends on your definition of "better"! 00 flour is very low gluten - around what US sells as "cake flour", around 9%. It's also milled much finer than standard AP or Bread flour (or even cake flour!). 00 flour has some very advantageous qualities when you're baking at >700 degrees. First, it absorbs significantly less water by weight than a coarser milled flour. This gives awesome oven spring with big, soft bubbles. Second, since the dough has less gluten and more water, it takes longer to brown (and burn) allowing your watery toppings (crushed tomatoes) to cook before the crust starts to burn. This produces a very specific style of pizza - what you'd find in and around Naples. The crust is very light, airy, soft, and since it doesn't have much hard, gluteny structure to keep it from flopping around, you might want to use a fork and knife. It's specifically tailored to an extremely dry bake in a wood-fired, 800++ degree oven. In general, I would not recommend using it unless you are baking at 800+ degrees. It will never brown, you won't get much spring, it might even be soggy. If you want foldable, NY-style slices, you will have MUCH better luck with Hi-Gluten Bread flours. It will brown nicely in a 500 degree oven and give you a a very stable, chewy crust. I currently use a mix of 00 and plain old bread flour, but I'm baking at ~825ish degrees. The flour/water absorbtion is huge if you're in that ballpark. forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 22:46 on May 31, 2012 |
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May 31, 2012 22:40
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The Fibrament stone is 100% worth it just for peice of mind alone. Even at 500 degrees if you get a drop of sauce on a cheap rear end pizza stone it will shatter in the oven. I had an unintended calzone split and spill its entire innards onto my Fibrament stone at 850 degrees and absolutely nothing came of it.
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Jul 20, 2012 20:58
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WhatEvil posted:One thing that's puzzled me a bit is how the hell you're supposed to get a really thin crust pizza onto a stone. I have a wooden chopping board, I covered it with cornflour and just about managed to get my somewhat thin pizza onto the stone, is there any special technique to getting REALLY thin pizzas in there? Yes, ditch the cornmeal and just use regular bread flour. Sprinkle the flour onto the peel and rub it into the nooks and crannies of the wood. This provides a much "slicker" surface than cormeal will, since the flour gets into all of the wood texture and wants to stick to the board, allowing the (also floured) dough to slide right off. Make sure you're using enough bench flour. You probably need to use more than you would think.
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Sep 11, 2012 06:16
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The curse of the goon pizza thread: alternating good pizzas (like yours), with malformed abortions with 3 lbs of pork on them.
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Nov 4, 2012 08:07
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Not one of my best looking (forgot to pound it out to get all the big bubbles out, so they burned a bit), but definitely one of my best tasting. Pure sourdough on this one, no baking yeast. A WARM rise experiment. This batch rose for about 36 hours at room temperature. And some structure. Really happy with the rise on this one. 
forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 10:05 on Nov 10, 2012 |
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Nov 10, 2012 10:02
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NLJP posted:Ugh I wish you hadn't quoted that. I said it before but that is literally my dream pizza and I am currently very hungry and you reminded me this perfection existed somewhere Thanks, I've been making pizzas for about 2 years now and these are a result of A LOT of failed attempts and experiments. Who likes anchovies? ME. I do. I like the anchovies.  A char pattern I'm proud to call my son.  All bechamel, one half has pancetta, romano, parmesan, cracked black pepper, the other half has caramelized onions, emmental, and fresh thyme.  Cross sections.   And what makes it all possible (this was after the oven was turned off): 
forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Nov 21, 2012 |
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Nov 21, 2012 03:46
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geetee posted:Those really look fantastic. Reminds me of Totonno's. What type of voodoo is this oven operating on? Cleaning cycle? Yep, self-clean. I just snipped the locking mechanism off and jammed some tin foil in the door sensor. The oven takes about 1 hour to heat up to 800 degrees. I also use a Fibrament-D baking stone that is a loving indestructible champion.
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Nov 21, 2012 04:17
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Mach420 posted:Is there a secret to making an ultra-thin crust pizza that still has crispy AND chewy crust? Yes, there is. Bake at 800+ degrees with a 65-70% hydration dough.
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Nov 21, 2012 07:06
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geetee posted:Is cleaning cycle pizza worth risking burning down my apartment for? Times likes these it would be helpful having someone living with me to say no. First of all, if you live in an apartment (and you rent)- it's not your oven, it's not your building. Don't mess with it! Having said that, ... The risk of fire is basically zero. If your oven has a self-clean cycle, it was designed to withstand those types of heat. I've "forgotten" (i.e. imbibed considerable quantities of booze) about pizzas in there and they smolder and smoke WAY before they catch on fire. You do have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen, anyways, RIGHT? For the stone - unless you have a Fibrament (or equivalent, of which, I know of none) stone, it can't handle the heat. Yes, it will break violently. 1 loving milliliter of sauce will cause it to explode in a terrifying way. Likewise for the glass on the oven door (this is experience talking, bud). I have folded a pizza upside down, sauce side down, onto the Fibrament stone at 850 degrees and it took it like a champ. Get one, they're pretty cheap and will literally last forever. If you're going to attempt this, you WILL gently caress up a pizza. Or have water on your hands. Or sweat a drop onto the oven glass door. Wear eye protection. You don't want shards of glass or stone shooting into your eyeball. Here's one of the first pies I cooked on the self-clean cycle. Notice anything odd?  That mother fucker turned into cinder in less than 30 seconds. The dough was way under 60% hydration and I had absolutely no idea what I was dealing with. If you let it sit for 2 hours, the self clean cycle (in my oven) will hit over 900 degrees. For a frame of reference, that is hot enough to melt a solid block of zinc. The difference between baking a pie at 425 degrees and cooking a wet, sloppy, pizza at 800+ is staggering and takes practice, and, in my case, over $400 in repairs for my oven. So if pizza isn't worth that much to you, don't go down this path. I'm not trying to discourage people from attempting this, but please, learn from my mistakes, and be safe. Make sure you hands are BONE DRY when you're moving pizzas in and out of the oven (I ended up buying a commercial pizza peel with a 3 foot handle for exactly this reason); a drop of water on your hands that you just washed to form a new pizza WILL drop onto the glass door of your open oven and cause tiny glass shards to explode all over your kitchen! Wear eye protection! I wear nearly a full welder's suit at this point. That oven is hot and you aren't going to want to stand in front of it too long, which will cause you to hurry things and make mistakes which can blow things up in a really horrible way. Take your time! Make sure that pizza isn't sticking to your peel (hint: use a LOT of flour for dusting and forming, your dough should be extra hydrated for exactly this reason) BEFORE you move to the oven! Also, I would advice you to not drink during pizza cookery. But as James May put it once, "I don't really know what I'm talking about, to be honest, usually by the time I get this far, I'm so drunk, I can't remember what I've done." Q: "James, do you always drink like this when you're cooking?" A: "It dulls the horror of the food that I'm going to eat later on, you see." forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 08:37 on Nov 21, 2012 |
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Nov 21, 2012 08:06
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So I tried my hand at making a more NYC-ish, pizzeria style pie tonight. I used exactly the same process that I normally do, only with a 60% hydration dough and the oven only at 500 degrees. They turned out pretty good; pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.  They take 8 minutes 30 seconds to cook and are nice and crispy, soft in the center, with perfect stringy cheese. 500g water 825g bread flour 4g yeast 30g salt Makes 3 pizzas. Sauce is just crushed whole tomatoes, salt, romano cheese, dried basil, black pepper, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Grated dry mozz.
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Jan 21, 2013 08:42
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While I love Neapolitan, New Haven, and NY style pizza, I also like to change things up a bit. While not strictly a PIZZA (and hopefully not an affront to this thread), I gave Chicago style deep dish a try (from here: http://www.realdeepdish.com/RDDHolyGrail2012.pdf)    Verdict? Very tasty, the crust was perfect. Buttery, a little crunchy, flaky. Very biscuit-like. The two-piece 12" x 2" tart pan, while not completely authentic, is definitely the way to go. However, I committed the mortal sin of pizza making: I used too much of each ingredient. Too much cheese, too much sausage, too much tomato. Thus the layers didn't meld together because there was too much water. Also, the bottom was too thin and the sides were too thick. I'll have to work on the spreading method. Maybe a rolling pin with 1/4" rings on it and some hand forming to finish. Also, I disagree with the pdf about pinching the dough up 1" to 1.5". Next time, I'm going to take it up all the way to the top of the pan, and then roll it over the edge a little bit. That will help alleviate the thickness and also prevent tomato from seeping down the side of the pan and burning. If you are using a non-stick, aluminum, 2-piece tart pan there is no reason to lube the bottom of the pan. It makes spreading in the pan marginally easier but I really think a rolling pin, outside of the pan, is a better option. There is plenty of oil (and actually, another tablespoon of oil is something I'll try next time) in the dough so it's not going to stick to anything remotely non-stick. Oh well. I'll definitely try it again. forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 09:10 on Apr 14, 2013 |
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Apr 14, 2013 02:04
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Goodbye http://www.millarswoodovens.com/wood-ovens/product/view/1/1 (Yes I know you can build one for like $150 but I hate building things AND I move a lot AND just look at that thing) forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Apr 19, 2013 |
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Apr 19, 2013 01:33
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keygen and kel posted:I was all stoked on making infused oils then i started to read about botulism reading around this seemed to be the way to go. This is correct and safe. Botulism spores and toxins are soundly destroyed and inactivated above 240 degrees for 4-5 minutes. The oil in the frying pan will easily reach over 300+ which will definitely kill everything. Strained, it will last and be safe until the oil turns rancid (a long time, especially in the fridge). This is similarly integral to the canning process, which if done incorrectly, is a haven for botulism.
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Apr 20, 2013 21:39
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Killer robot posted:I can't comment on that specific mix, but one thing I've learned when working with flour is to always get a recipe figured out in weight, not volume. It's just so prone to packing and settling that I can never get it consistent otherwise. I usually use about a 3:2 weight ratio for flour:water but I also usually use a mix of whole wheat and bread flour rather than 00 so I don't know how that affects it. This is especially true of a 00 flour which had a much finer mill.
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Jun 21, 2013 21:24
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Le0 posted:Made pizza dough yesterday and then made two pizza. Everything was very tasty. If the dough is difficult to spread by hand, you almost certainly have too little water in your recipe. Shoot for something like 60% hydration by weight. Plenty of water for spreading, but not so much that it won't get brown and crispy. How long are you letting it rise for? I'd go at least a day, although you can deal with a short rise if you have enough water. Gluten is almost never the problem since any decent mixer will knead the dough enough for that.
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Jan 15, 2014 03:04
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Le0 posted:I think my recipe called for enough water however it asked for only 1 hour of rise which honestly is quite convenient for me. Would it really improve the dough a lot by letting it raise overnight? Should I let it rise at ambient or in fridge? Let it rise in the fridge, it will overrise at room temp. Yes, it makes a very big difference.
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Jan 15, 2014 20:19
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indoflaven posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2uGmk0kYC4 Got to "fine ground cornmeal" and shut it off. There's no cornmeal in pizza, much less Chicago deep dish  . Here's a good recipe:http://www.realdeepdish.com/RDDHolyGrail.pdf Try using a 2 piece non-stick 2" deep tart pan. Makes de-panning extremely easy.
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Apr 4, 2014 01:25
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Mu Zeta posted:Lou Malnati's has it with cornmeal. Yep! And it's really bad. There's no way it's the recipe he uses in his restaurant, unless people like eating pizza with sand in it. Or he's sold out and makes bad pizza. Either way, cornmeal does not belong in or around pizza. Let me stress that: Cornmeal is mutually exclusive to pizza. If you're using cornmeal, you're doing something else wrong. Sorry! 
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Apr 5, 2014 07:31
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I'm in St. Louis this week and out of sheer morbid obesity...I mean, curiosity, I'd like to try the quinticential St. Louis style pizza. Is there a particular place that serves the best one? Yes I am seriously asking for the best cracker covered in ProvelŪ.
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Sep 17, 2014 13:14
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Jewmanji posted:I'm getting ready to prep my first stone, from http://bakingstone.com/. Their FAQ is slightly vague about how to temp it the first time, can someone give me more specific instructions about what temperature/time to cook this thing at before I properly use it? It comes with instructions on how to do this. Basically just start it in a cold oven then every half hour or so crank up the heat until you hit I think 350, then leave it for like 2 hours.
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Nov 22, 2014 19:32
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global tetrahedron posted:Anyone have good tips re: transferring from peel to stone? I swear, one day I'll make a video about this. But let me lay it on you, the only reason pizzas stick to the peel is: 1.) Your peel is seriously hosed up, splinters everywhere, like a grenade went off on it. 2.) You didn't have your mise en place and you took waaaay too long putting your toppings on. What are you doing, man? Less is more. 3.) You didn't flour your dough enough, OR you didn't flour your peel enough. I've tested this over and over again. You need much MUCH more flour on your peel than you think you do. No, gently caress you Alton Brown, the flour won't stick to the pizza and burn in the oven. Take a bunch of flour in your palm and rub it into the peel like you're seasoning a cast iron pan. You want to get flour into all of those crevices. The bottom of your pie should also be floured. It'll slide right off. But please, please, please for the love of all that is sacred in pizza making, don't put cornmeal or semolina on your peel. One, if you're having sticking problems, it won't help you one little bit unless you put a godawful shitload on the peel; second, it completely fucks up the texture of the crust and gives it a "discount bowling alley/children's fun zone" kind of texture. Which blows. Burn some flour, gently caress up the toss, fold, whatever. Worst case you end up with a $.75 ghetto calzone or stromboli that is still totally worth eating, since well, you loving made it from scratch. But the bottom crust of a pizza is sacrosanct; it should be an almost impossibly thin membrane of crispness, followed by the crumb texture of whatever style you're going for. Just give it a shot, all I'm saying. Flour is cheap as gently caress. As for peels, buy the biggest goddamn one that you think can comfortably fit in your oven. And get a long handle. Mine's 18x18" with a 2' handle. It was $13. http://www.webstaurantstore.com/3273/wood-pizza-peels.html forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 12:48 on Jan 1, 2015 |
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Jan 1, 2015 12:41
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sirbeefalot posted:One more from tonight. Finally getting some consistency with shaping the dough, and getting that poo poo off the peel without incident. Hot drat that's a great looking pie.
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Jul 10, 2016 01:12
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ogopogo posted:Seconding Pizza Party, great ovens and have held up well over the years. Their price point is drat good too, especially being shipped from Italy. Which model is that? The 70x70?
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May 21, 2018 20:27
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How hot does the PIzza Party oven get on the outside? Mine just arrived and I foolishly didn't buy the stand for it. Now I'm trying to figure out where to put it and the best I've got at the moment is a commercial grade plastic folding table that can hold ~250 lbs static weight. I'm just worried about the oven melting through it.
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Jul 8, 2018 19:27
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Doom Rooster posted:I have never felt the bottom, where the insulation may be thinner, but the top only gets to maybe 120f at full burn for an hour. I was thinking of just putting the pallet that the box came on between them, but this is a much better idea. Thanks!
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Jul 9, 2018 20:23
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Alright first batch out of the pizza party. Learned a lot, and they actually turned out pretty well. 65% hydration dough, Caputo 00 Pizzeria flour. 1 hour autolyze, 1 hour bulk room temp rise, ~18 hour portioned fridge rise. Next time I'll probably skip the bulk rise and go a little higher hydration.   
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Jul 19, 2018 02:01
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Doom Rooster posted:Those look stellar! Great work. Are you using the included floor bricks, or the saputo ones they sell? The included ones. I am definitely interested in trying the saputo ones at some point, but I need to practice my fire management a bit more and do a few more bakes to really get a good idea how the floor/dome temperature effects my bake.
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Jul 19, 2018 17:58
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KRILLIN IN THE NAME posted:godDAMN these look good, what are you cooking them in? outdoor pizza oven? Thanks! Cooking them in the Pizza Party 70x70. 
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Jul 19, 2018 22:31
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For those of you with the Pizza Party oven, do you guys use 1.) the flame separator and wood stand, 2.) just the flame separator, 3.) neither? I've seen videos of people doing all of the above, and to be honest, I'm definitely leaning towards #2. The wood stand just seems to get in the way and make it more difficult to control how high the flame is once you've got a nice solid bed of coals. My last couple batches have been...ok. But I've been experimenting every time with different mixing techniques, different rising techniques (especially bulk vs. ball), and different yeast content (the most recent batch? a 24 hour rise with only 0.2g of IDY). Here's one from a recent batch that was with a 1 hour autolyze period and a 3 day cold, bulk rise. About 3 hours as balls in a proofing container.  Just finished getting a batch ready for tomorrow that will be a 12+12 bulk/ball, all ~72F rise. No autolyze, but I mixed the yeast into the dough instead of starting it in the water (which oddly seemed to make a huge difference). I did about 12 total stretch and folds with a ~10 minute rest period in between each group of 3. We'll see! 
forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Aug 19, 2018 |
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Aug 19, 2018 02:47
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The 12+12 batch turned out pretty well. I still don't quite have the fire management aspect of the oven down - timing putting a log on the coals with firing a pie is still tricky for me. Out of 6 pies, only one was worth taking a photo of, but it turned out really well.  Have a strong urge to get the Saputo tiles. Balancing the fire is hard enough without having to worry about the floor being 900+ degrees and incinerating the bottom of the pizza.
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Aug 20, 2018 05:16
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Doom Rooster posted:That's a beautiful pie! I bought this thing: https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200647343_200647343 It should let me break down my logs into much smaller strips. I've seen people "pre-heating" a log after they pull a pie, so when you're ready for the next pizza, you can plop the smoldering log on the coals and it ignites instantly. Going to try this method for the next batch. I've been using apple since it's the cheapest around here, can't say I've noticed any flavor. I think apple and pizza probably go well together anyways?
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Aug 26, 2018 21:34
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Alright I think I've got my technique down. Very close to my "grail" pizza. 1000g Caputo 00 650g Water 30g Salt 1 g IDY No autolyse, I've found it didn't make any difference. Just mix the salt and water, use the paddle attachment, and add flour until a very thick batter has formed. Sprinkle in the yeast while the mixer runs to distribute it (this seemed to make a huge difference). Then swap to the hook and add the rest of the flour. Pour out, let it rest, and do a 4-way stretch and fold. Cover, rest 10 mins, stretch and fold. Repeat until the dough looks silky smooth. Rise at room temp 12 hrs, ball, proof for 12 hrs, checking every now and then to see if the balls have over-risen. In my proofing tray, the balls will just start to touch each other when they've hit their peak rise. If they look like they're going too quickly, retard a bit in the fridge. This batch I sliced the basil into ribbons and mixed it into the sauce before topping - half my guests liked it, half (including myself) liked the whole leaves better. In the PP oven, I had significantly underestimated how much flame I needed. The floor should be at 800+ with a roaring fire.  
forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Sep 19, 2018 |
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Sep 19, 2018 03:52
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ogopogo posted:This is a very choice pizza and it looks stunning, bet it tasted just as good! I'm using kiln-dried apple from a local guy that makes wood specifically for cooking (http://www.cookingwoods.com). After preheating and moving the coal bed to the side and putting in the heat separator, I usually put a couple logs on the right side away from the fire. They get hot and smoulder, so when I plop them on the coals they ignite instantly. This helps a lot in the lulls between pies when the flames tend to die down a bit, but the floor is still plenty hot.
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Sep 19, 2018 16:48
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We've had ghastly weather here for the last...6 months, and to top if off, the wind blew the door off of my outdoor oven and shattered the glass - while I'm waiting for tolerable outdoor temperatures (and a plate of tempered glass from Italy), I bit my thumb, bought a bag of regular bread flour (I've tried this before with Caputo 00 and it just doesn't work), and gave a "greasy, corner slice" style of pie a shot (my wife likes it better than neapolitan anyways). I also needed to get rid of about a lb. of traditional pepperoni I bought way too much of at the butcher: Made 3 pies, about 375g of dough each. 63% hydration, plain old King Arthur bread flour. 3% salt, ~.15% yeast, 3% oil.     About a 3 day bulk cold rise, almost a whole day room temperature rise as balls. I messed up and should have bulk proofed the dough at least an hour or so before putting it in the fridge - my IDY is like 2 years old and is definitely not as strong as it used to be. I pulled the dough out of the fridge and panicked a bit; it had barely risen at all. I balled it, and let it sit at room temperature for like 8 hours - still almost nothing. Really panicking, I put the proofing tray in the oven I had heated to about 90 degrees - then let the tray sit on top of the oven while it pre-heated to 550 for an hour or so. By 8PM, the balls were still really under-risen, but the pies turned out surprisingly good. I'd go another % on the oil, actually; I had to bake them a bit too long (no idea the time, I just watch them) - so they were more crispy and less "foldable" than the Sbarro kind of pie I was going for. Still really good, and drat the real-deal pepperoni is insanely worth it if you can get it. forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 07:00 on Mar 25, 2019 |
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Mar 25, 2019 06:26
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