Do you make your own pizzas from scratch?

[vi edit]

Followed some advice in this thread and made my own pizza this weekend. FREAKING DELICIOUS.

Made my own dough Saturday morning mostly following this guide (also did mine in the processor):
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/10/new-york-style-pizza.html

I also made up my own sauce using canned whole tomatoes and some minor tweaks to my taste (bit more spicey) from that site.

Pulled it out Sunday night. Tossed a pizza stone on the grill and cranked it up. 20 minutes later the grill was 550 degrees, the pizza stone was smouldering hot and all the pizzas were made up and ready to cook.

About 5-7 minutes a pizza and they came out awesome. Excellent, crispy bottom of the crust, but soft and chewy in the middle. Toppings melted down great. I don't know if I'll be able to do another pizza in the oven again.

 

[dank69]

I am glad you bumped this thread because I decided to try the skillet pan pizza this weekend. Came out fine but I don't think it was really worth the extra effort vs. the pizza stone. Maybe if I put a little extra dough in there it would have been better. Also tried the turkey pepperoni. Now, I've had turkey pepperoni before and I like it, but pizza is one place where it just tastes wrong to me.

 

[Wyndru]

I haven't read all the way through the thread, but does anyone have a good method of transferring a pizza from a cutting board to a hot pizza stone in the oven?

Every time I make pizzas I have this issue. I've tried cooking spray and corn meal on the cutting board before spreading the dough, but by the time I have it sauced and topped, when I go to transfer it onto the preheated pizza stone it sticks to the cutting board and I have a hard time moving it over, usually making a big mess of the pizza and my oven.

I was thinking about getting one of those big wooden boards with the handle and using it as a spatula.

 

[vi edit]

Want a cheater method? Parchment paper. It won't burn, doesn't add a flavor (that I can tell) and it's an easy way to get a limp pie onto a stone.

 

[Wyndru]

Want a cheater method? Parchment paper. It won't burn, doesn't add a flavor (that I can tell) and it's an easy way to get a limp pie onto a stone.

Oh, I forgot to mention that is another method I've tried. For some reason whatever I try the dough sticks to it.

Although I think I used waxed paper, it might not be the same as what you are referring to.


[edit] oops, I see you mean to leave the paper under the pizza. I'll see if I can find some of this paper that is safe to bake. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Uppsala9496]

I haven't read all the way through the thread, but does anyone have a good method of transferring a pizza from a cutting board to a hot pizza stone in the oven?

Every time I make pizzas I have this issue. I've tried cooking spray and corn meal on the cutting board before spreading the dough, but by the time I have it sauced and topped, when I go to transfer it onto the preheated pizza stone it sticks to the cutting board and I have a hard time moving it over, usually making a big mess of the pizza and my oven.

I was thinking about getting one of those big wooden boards with the handle and using it as a spatula.

I use a pizza peeler to remove my pizza from the oven when done. I don't use it to get the pizza in. i found that those super thin flexible plastic cutting boards work best to get the pizza onto the stone. A little flour on the cutting board, then put the dough on the floured board and build from there. Slides right off with no stick.

http://www.amazon.com/MIU-Flexible-C.../dp/B00011RTE8

Not sure on the size of those, but you get the idea.


EDIT:
http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Cut-N-Slice-Flexible-Cutting-Boards/dp/B0000VLU62/ref=pd_sbs_k_1
These are the ones I use. Nice and cheap too.

 

[dank69]

I use a peel to put it in and pull it out. :sneaky:

 

[DigDog]

Why yes, i do make my own pizza from scratch ...

depending on whether i have a good gas oven or not.

Gas ovens, as they use -gas- to heat the oven (god bless them), need a hole in the back so that air can cycle in after it's been burned by the flame;
Electrical ovens (boo) don't have flames (fire!) inside them, so a hole in the oven would be a disadvantage.

Now, when making pizza, a speedy cooking time, high temperature, and most of all *a way for humidity to escape the oven* are key factors to obtaining a crisp crust.

And we all know that thin & crispy > thick and gooey. This is a fact beyond doubt as it is both in the Bible, and has also been proved by science, so Yay! for gas ovens and Booh! to electric ovens.




Wood fired even better but hey, you can't have everything.

 

[ControlD]

Want a cheater method? Parchment paper. It won't burn, doesn't add a flavor (that I can tell) and it's an easy way to get a limp pie onto a stone.

This. Makes the entire process much, much easier.

 

[Codewiz]

I recommend everyone making dough to get a scale. It is silly to talk about cups of flour when making pizza dough because you will make wildly different doughs every single time. A digital kitchen scale will enable you to make perfect dough every time.

I am in the middle of building my own brick pizza oven in my backyard. I make my own dough, sauce, and I have considered making the cheese but it is hard to get the moisture content right on cheese.

 

[NetWareHead]

I recommend everyone making dough to get a scale. It is silly to talk about cups of flour when making pizza dough because you will make wildly different doughs every single time. A digital kitchen scale will enable you to make perfect dough every time.

Good advice

I am in the middle of building my own brick pizza oven in my backyard. I

Pics please! I'd love a wood burning outdoor pizza oven one day

 

[W.C. Nimoy]

Although I prefer a traditional deep walled cast iron skillet, just fyi I noticed on the dealsites this pizza specific shallow cast iron lodge pan is $30
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product//B0...76_UG1Y3_0_0_0

 

[Codewiz]

Good advice



Pics please! I'd love a wood burning outdoor pizza oven one day

I don't have much to show right now. Next weekend, weather permitting, I will be pouring a concrete slab that will be for my oven.

Here is a picture of the welded frame prior to painting.

I will be pouring a 3" concrete slab on top. Then on top of that, I will be pouring a 6" mix of portland cement and vermiculite as an insulation layer.

Once that is done, I will be building a brick oven like this:

You might ask yourself why I did a steel frame. Well my city and HOA require anything that is permanent to have prior approval. Since my oven is on wheels, it will be considered a grill

 

[Jaepheth]

That's NY style how exactly?

the extra cheese cost $2

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I don't have much to show right now. Next weekend, weather permitting, I will be pouring a concrete slab that will be for my oven.

Here is a picture of the welded frame prior to painting.

I will be pouring a 3" concrete slab on top. Then on top of that, I will be pouring a 6" mix of portland cement and vermiculite as an insulation layer.

Once that is done, I will be building a brick oven like this:

You might ask yourself why I did a steel frame. Well my city and HOA require anything that is permanent to have prior approval. Since my oven is on wheels, it will be considered a grill

Now that's impressive. I completely agree about weighing for any bread. The only thing I measure are ingredients like yeast which are generally used in amounts not accurately measurable by most scales.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Oh, I forgot to mention that is another method I've tried. For some reason whatever I try the dough sticks to it.

Although I think I used waxed paper, it might not be the same as what you are referring to.


[edit] oops, I see you mean to leave the paper under the pizza. I'll see if I can find some of this paper that is safe to bake. Thanks for the suggestion!

Parchment is great. You cannot sub waxed paper ever. Parchment will discoloration and crumble at high heat but I've used it at 550F and it's fine.

 

[TheFamilyMan]

You can also make pizza crust with chicken breasts. We've done that before and it turned out incredibly well. Can't google the exact details right now but if I remember correctly, we used about 12oz worth of chicken breasts and a touch of olive oil and italian seasonings. Pulse the chicken breast(s), oil, and spices together in a food processor until the mixture resembles paste...spread onto your cast iron skillet or other pizza device and bake it to remove majority of the moisture from it. Takes about 20mins. Depending on how thick you want your "crust", you can get more than one pizza from the mixture.

It's well worth the try as it is a great sub for traditional crusts.

 

[DrPizza]

Snip

Awesome. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Note - letting the dough rest before shaping into the pizza - you can very lightly rub it with some oil to keep it from drying out.

Also, the temperature of the dough, flour, water, etc., is incredibly important during mixing. If the air is cold and dry (winter), you'll want just a touch more water & warmer water. If the air is hot and humid (summer, non-air conditioned room), you'll want just a touch less water, and not quite as warm of water. As the dough rises, it gets softer; too stiff sucks (time helps), too un-stiff = that sucks too.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Awesome. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Note - letting the dough rest before shaping into the pizza - you can very lightly rub it with some oil to keep it from drying out.

Also, the temperature of the dough, flour, water, etc., is incredibly important during mixing. If the air is cold and dry (winter), you'll want just a touch more water & warmer water. If the air is hot and humid (summer, non-air conditioned room), you'll want just a touch less water, and not quite as warm of water. As the dough rises, it gets softer; too stiff sucks (time helps), too un-stiff = that sucks too.

Do you retard your dough?

 

[surfsatwerk]

Do you retard your dough?

*chortle*

 

[Born2bwire]

Now that's impressive. I completely agree about weighing for any bread. The only thing I measure are ingredients like yeast which are generally used in amounts not accurately measurable by most scales.

I have a small scale that I use for tea that is perfect for yeast and salt. This is the one that I use:
http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-400-zh.html

I do a lot of recipes out of the Bread Baker's Apprentice and all the yeast measurements are for instant yeast which can be rather small amounts. The trouble I have though is finding instant yeast because of all of the various brand names that are used. I noticed, contrary to the ratios used in the book to convert from fresh yeast to instant yeast, that the instant yeasts that I was using had the rise power of active dry yeast (but unlike active dry they could be added directly to the dry ingredients, skipping proofing). So I was inadvertently using too little yeast. Now I convert the recipe to fresh yeast back to the yeast as given on the yeast's packaging. I just got a new jar of rapid rise yeast, closest I can find for instant, from the grocery. If I can use this up in a timely manner then I'll go ahead and order a 1 lbs bag of SAF instant yeast. Then I know it's exactly what I want (and a 1lbs bag costs the same as a jar, I just don't use a jar quickly enough to need more).

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I have a small scale that I use for tea that is perfect for yeast and salt. This is the one that I use:
http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-400-zh.html

I do a lot of recipes out of the Bread Baker's Apprentice and all the yeast measurements are for instant yeast which can be rather small amounts. The trouble I have though is finding instant yeast because of all of the various brand names that are used. I noticed, contrary to the ratios used in the book to convert from fresh yeast to instant yeast, that the instant yeasts that I was using had the rise power of active dry yeast (but unlike active dry they could be added directly to the dry ingredients, skipping proofing). So I was inadvertently using too little yeast. Now I convert the recipe to fresh yeast back to the yeast as given on the yeast's packaging. I just got a new jar of rapid rise yeast, closest I can find for instant, from the grocery. If I can use this up in a timely manner then I'll go ahead and order a 1 lbs bag of SAF instant yeast. Then I know it's exactly what I want (and a 1lbs bag costs the same as a jar, I just don't use a jar quickly enough to need more).

I have 1kg of SAF gold which is osmotolerant and lasts years, far beyond expiration of stored airtight and frozen. If you like the BBA, you might like Jeff Hamelmans book. It's terrific.

 

[Born2bwire]

I have 1kg of SAF gold which is osmotolerant and lasts years, far beyond expiration of stored airtight and frozen. If you like the BBA, you might like Jeff Hamelmans book. It's terrific.

I always read that the manufacturer gives it a one year life after opening while being kept in the freezer.

How does the SAF gold behave in place of regular yeast for a normal rustic bread? I'm actually making Reinhart's Portuguese Sweet Bread right now, but it takes much MUCH longer for my bread to rise than what is given in the book (all told, the ferment and rise is supposed to be 5.5-6.5 hours and it took me 8-9 hours for it to rise to the correct size). So I'm intrigued about the gold label since it is supposed to be formulated for the sweet breads but I'd never use enough of it to justify buying both red and gold.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I always read that the manufacturer gives it a one year life after opening while being kept in the freezer.

How does the SAF gold behave in place of regular yeast for a normal rustic bread? I'm actually making Reinhart's Portuguese Sweet Bread right now, but it takes much MUCH longer for my bread to rise than what is given in the book (all told, the ferment and rise is supposed to be 5.5-6.5 hours and it took me 8-9 hours for it to rise to the correct size). So I'm intrigued about the gold label since it is supposed to be formulated for the sweet breads but I'd never use enough of it to justify buying both red and gold.

The Gold is perfect for something like that, but for everything else as well. You can't tell the difference between red and gold for other breads. Using that and making sure your finished dough temp is right should make things perfect.

 

[Born2bwire]

The Gold is perfect for something like that, but for everything else as well. You can't tell the difference between red and gold for other breads. Using that and making sure your finished dough temp is right should make things perfect.

Thanks. It's one of the trickiest recipes that he has. Right now, it always finishes much earlier in the oven then the recipe states too. Total time is 50-60 minutes, but when I check at 30 minutes the temperature says that it is more than done. The interior doesn't suffer for it but the crust always burns (I'm hoping that by omitting the egg wash this time it won't).