Made my first pizza today

[DrPizza]

Not too bad, kinda making my mouth water. Then again, I'm always in the mood for decent looking pizza. Made 70 large 16" pizzas from scratch last week at the school. That was a chore - teaching kids how to do most of the work. Dough's the most important part though - I took care of mixing and proofing the dough. Excellent pizza; I should have taken pictures. Bread flour is the magic ingredient - higher in gluten.

 

[Artdeco]

Not too bad, kinda making my mouth water. Then again, I'm always in the mood for decent looking pizza. Made 70 large 16" pizzas from scratch last week at the school. That was a chore - teaching kids how to do most of the work. Dough's the most important part though - I took care of mixing and proofing the dough. Excellent pizza; I should have taken pictures. Bread flour is the magic ingredient - higher in gluten.

I buy gluten and add it to the flour so I don't have to keep bread flour on hand. Have started buying flour by the 25 lb bag.

 

[Scarpozzi]

nice, I am getting a blackstone pizza oven and maybe their griddle for my outdoor kitchen that hopefully will get started next March.

Before you order, know this...I've got a MasterForge smoker. I got it as a Christmas gift... I've used it to smoke a thanksgiving turkey and a few chickens. \
Edit: I meant to say, it's a propane smoker.

I'm going to see how it does making pizza because I think it would actually do a good job as a pizza oven too. It has multiple racks and the temp will shoot up to 450 degrees pretty quick when on high. The extra plus is that since it's a smoker, you may be able to use apple wood or something mild to get the wood fire pizza flavor.

 

[Fritzo]

0 CARB PIZZA CRUST!!!!

Freakin' delicious for us people getting rid of Christmas blubber:

- 1 12 can of chunk white chicken
- 1/2 cub shredded cheddar
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 egg

Mix all together in a mixing bowl, then kneed the mixture with your hands until it forms a paste. Form into a ball, then flatten it into a crust on a baking sheet w/ parchment paper. Bake at 375F for about 12 minutes or until the edges start to brown a bit.

Remove the crust and let it cool for a few minutes. The flip the crust over directly on the baking sheet (no paper), and add your sauce and toppings. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

It's almost better than regular pizza! The egg and chicken bind together to make a nice bread-like texture, and the cheese gets crispy around the edges. If you use MID's pizza sauce, it's only 3 carbs per tbs, so you could eat an entire pizza under 10 carbs

 

[Vdubchaos]

Looks good!

Cast Iron works wonders as well......

 

[Ns1]

wow that's an incredible before/after.

 

[JM Aggie08]

thought i'd update this with my latest effort, home made dough with 24h cold fermentation. much progress in the last year

Hell yes. That looks fantastic. Proofing makes all the diff-er-ence, Mr. Freeman.

 

[Kaido]

Not too bad, kinda making my mouth water. Then again, I'm always in the mood for decent looking pizza. Made 70 large 16" pizzas from scratch last week at the school. That was a chore - teaching kids how to do most of the work. Dough's the most important part though - I took care of mixing and proofing the dough. Excellent pizza; I should have taken pictures. Bread flour is the magic ingredient - higher in gluten.

and they shall call him -

JOHN CENA DOCTOR PIZZA

 

[ModerateRepZero]

found this NYT article about a pizza dough (based off Brooklyn restaurant Roberta's):

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/dining/a-little-pizza-homework.html

 

[DrPizza]

found this NYT article about a pizza dough (based off Brooklyn restaurant Roberta's):

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/dining/a-little-pizza-homework.html

Homemade pizza starts with homemade dough: flour, water, yeast and salt.

They missed a fat - usually shortening or lard. But, at least they didn't mention sugar. Good dough doesn't have sugar in it. Good dough has time in it.

 

[Kaido]

Been meaning to try this overnight dough for a 10" cast-iron pan:

http://imgur.com/gallery/cr4P4ZT

 

[Fritzo]

Been meaning to try this overnight dough for a 10" cast-iron pan:

http://imgur.com/gallery/cr4P4ZT

Not sure I would wait a whole day to make pizza

 

[Kaido]

Not sure I would wait a whole day to make pizza

No-knead bread is actually the BOMB dude. Super easy (you can literally mix it with your hands) & tastes awesome! It was originally made famous by the NYT:

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

I have a ton of other recipes here:

http://catch42.pbworks.com/w/page/100722157/No-knead bread

I have a 6-quart cast iron dutch oven for making the bowl bread & a smaller 2-quart cast iron pot for making Panera Bread-style bread bowls for soup. Sooooooo good & SO EASY!

 

[Kaido]

Been meaning to try this overnight dough for a 10" cast-iron pan:

http://imgur.com/gallery/cr4P4ZT

I made this tonight (prepped the dough yesterday, you literally just mix it up with your hands). I used pepperoni, 4-cheese shredded Mexican blend, sauce, and some pizza spice topping. Unlike the tutorial, it only made enough to fill a single 10" cast-iron skillet. The dough was a bit hard on top (I covered it with a baking cloth), I'm re-making it tonight & will do a sealed saran wrap cover to see if that solves it (as per the tutorial).

From the side: (short slice, will have to modify the recipe for a 12" skillet)

Excellent crust:

Despite cooking at 550F, it did not achieve the inner body puff that Kenji showed in his original tutorial:

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archiv...iest-pizza-no-knead-no-stretch-pan-pizza.html

I didn't get the same rise as the tutorial either, so either I need to do the saran-wrap trick or maybe my yeast is going bad. It was a bit more bready than his picture:

At any rate, I had family over and cooked this up as kind of a late appetizer after dinner (the 10" skillet slices are only about palm-sized). It was a HUGE hit & everybody requested that I make it again, so despite it not being as perfect as the original guide, it still came out great.

Also for people in the NE, if you have a Stop & Shop in your area, try their store-brand canned pizza sauce. Seriously. I tried like 15 different jars & a couple of cans and this was hands-down the pre-made sauce winner.

 

[Kaido]

Got hungry & stopped in the city today for some pizza. I hadn't been to Lombardi's before; their claim to fame is that they are the oldest licensed pizza shop in the U.S. Bonus, it's coal-fired, which makes for a nice crust. My waitress was pretty cool & took me on a quick tour of the shop. This thing was like the gates of Mordor when they opened it:

The pizza was pretty good, just a simple pizza Margherita:

Crust was okay (I make it better at home), but their sauce was really really tasty. I don't know what was in it & regret not thinking to buy some bulk sauce to go. If you ever get the chance to swing by, also hop across the street to Rice to Riches, which is like the Baskin Robbins of rice pudding :thumbsup:

 

[Ns1]

that oven looks wrecked, but I guess since it's 111 years old...

I've been meaning to check out this pizzeria by me - compared to your pic, this is like a brand new italian sports car vs a 100 year vintage ford

 

[Carson Dyle]

that oven looks wrecked, but I guess since it's 111 years old...

I've been meaning to check out this pizzeria by me - compared to your pic, this is like a brand new italian sports car vs a 100 year vintage ford

Worst analogy ever. Are you really that clueless about how a wood-fired pizza oven operates? You throw wood into it and burn it. End of instructions.

 

[Kaido]

that oven looks wrecked, but I guess since it's 111 years old...

I've been meaning to check out this pizzeria by me - compared to your pic, this is like a brand new italian sports car vs a 100 year vintage ford

Yeah, it was actually a pretty small oven. They pop those pizzas out quick tho!

Someday I'd like to get a ventless TurboChef Fire pizza oven for my kitchen. Same idea as a Blackstone (14"), but for indoor use with a 10-minute preheat time & as low as a 90-second pizza bake. Downside is the $5k pricetag

 

[MongGrel]

This is the last cast iron one we made I guess.

We kinda went full scale deep dish.

I liked it at any rate.

We normally use the stone. It's pretty well seasoned by now.

I even used to make the dough myself from scratch, but most of the times just having a Publix on the corner, it is simple to just go and buy fresh dough from the Deli there for it.

The Italian sister-in-law makes from great sauce from scratch we use, usually have some of even frozen most of the time, in the local Italian family food chain between the wife and sister and my mother in law.

 

[Ns1]

Worst analogy ever. Are you really that clueless about how a wood-fired pizza oven operates? You throw wood into it and burn it. End of instructions.

Aesthetics bro. I like eye pleasing ovens.

And if what you say is true high end pizzerias wouldn't be spending 4-5 digits on awesome ovens from Italy.

 

[Carson Dyle]

There was a local pizza joint that I think was only open for about a year and a half. Their (dumb) name was "900 Degrees Wood Fired Pizza" and they treated the fact that they had a 900° oven it like it was the most unique thing in the world. Big f'n deal. You can fire a thin pizza in 90 seconds. Now... How's the pizza? How's the service? Not very good, apparently.

I talked to a friend who managed another local pizza shop in town while she was in college. One that's been here for probably 30 years and makes some great pie. I asked how hot they got their oven (typical commercial pizza oven). She told me 375°. I was a little surprised after all that I'd read about how you can't make really great pizza at home because you can't get your oven nearly as hot as the pizza joints.

 

[Kaido]

Aesthetics bro. I like eye pleasing ovens.

And if what you say is true high end pizzerias wouldn't be spending 4-5 digits on awesome ovens from Italy.

It all depends on the style - there's like a dozen different recognized types, from NY to deep-dish to Neopolitan to Sicilian, which means different ovens, temps, and baking procedures. I got a bunch of coworkers into pizza-making with me over the Christmas holiday last year & we all have different setups - charcoal/gas/pellet grills, cheap electric turntable appliances, baking stones/perforated round pans/baking steels, Blackstones, cast-iron, gas/electric ovens, etc. You can make a good pizza using virtually anything, so if you like visually attractive ovens, there's not really a downside.

Personally, I like the straight-up pizza flavor you get from an electric or even a gas-fired oven like the Blackstone more than wood or oven-fire, where the cooking medium flavor can sometimes overpower the taste of the pizza itself. Plus I've had really good success with the various no-knead recipes I've tried as well, in terms of dough flavor. It's been fun to try out different styles of pizzas too...prior to really getting into the homemade stuff, pizza was just pizza to me, never gave it much thought beyond that, so it's definitely been eye-opening to give all these different flavors & styles a shot over time!

 

[Kaido]

There was a local pizza joint that I think was only open for about a year and a half. Their (dumb) name was "900 Degrees Wood Fired Pizza" and they treated the fact that they had a 900° oven it like it was the most unique thing in the world. Big f'n deal. You can fire a thin pizza in 90 seconds. Now... How's the pizza? How's the service? Not very good, apparently.

I talked to a friend who managed another local pizza shop in town while she was in college. One that's been here for probably 30 years and makes some great pie. I asked how hot they got their oven (typical commercial pizza oven). She told me 375°. I was a little surprised after all that I'd read about how you can't make really great pizza at home because you can't get your oven nearly as hot as the pizza joints.

It really is interesting how widely ovens can vary in temp. I don't remember the exact numbers, but my 12" Pizzaque propane oven does a floor temp of 750F on the stone & 850F for dome temp for best results, but my buddy's Blackstone is like 400F air temp and, I dunno, 650F on the floor temp - so his not only runs lower, but also flips the higher dome temp for a higher floor temp, and gives really amazing results.

 

[MongGrel]

There was a local pizza joint that I think was only open for about a year and a half. Their (dumb) name was "900 Degrees Wood Fired Pizza" and they treated the fact that they had a 900° oven it like it was the most unique thing in the world. Big f'n deal. You can fire a thin pizza in 90 seconds. Now... How's the pizza? How's the service? Not very good, apparently.

I talked to a friend who managed another local pizza shop in town while she was in college. One that's been here for probably 30 years and makes some great pie. I asked how hot they got their oven (typical commercial pizza oven). She told me 375°. I was a little surprised after all that I'd read about how you can't make really great pizza at home because you can't get your oven nearly as hot as the pizza joints.

It really is interesting how widely ovens can vary in temp. I don't remember the exact numbers, but my 12" Pizzaque propane oven does a floor temp of 750F on the stone & 850F for dome temp for best results, but my buddy's Blackstone is like 400F air temp and, I dunno, 650F on the floor temp - so his not only runs lower, but also flips the higher dome temp for a higher floor temp, and gives really amazing results.

One of the most popular pizza places where I grew up in the 70's, that had all ready been around awhile, also made some pretty killer roast beef sandwiches.

They would just have open pans of beef roasts, marinating in peppers and whatever they used on the tops of the commercial ovens all day.

Was a popular place for no bigger than it was, but they had a three small ones around town, if I remember right. Were just walk in pickup places, they didn't deliver.

 

[Kaido]

Two items:

1. The Blackstone Pizza Grill is currently on sale for $295 shipped, the lowest I've ever seen it at. Being a charcoal junkie, it took me awhile to come around to it, but the fact is that this is the absolute best pizza oven for under a thousand dollars: (makes 14" pizzas)

http://www.amazon.com/Blackstone-1575-Outdoor-Pizza-Oven/dp/B00CELFJ4A

2. The Roccbox pizza oven launches in a week:

https://www.roccbox.com/

This is a portable outdoor wood-fire pizza oven that makes 12" pizzas, with temps in excess of 900F. It's pretty neat because it uses a rocket stove for heat & can be taken camping & stuff. Right now I use a PizzaQue portable gas oven for tailgating type of activities, but that also means I have to lug around some propane as well. Curious to see what the launch price is...