Pizza

kris_26531

How do you make the perfect pizza when it comes to dough, sauce and topping?

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Nicky_J_17040

there's so many factors that go into that question.

I will say start off with Caputo "00" flour. It's given me the best crust/texture that I can find.

and simplify.....no deluxe, no meat lovers, no stuffed crust, no cheeseburger pie, no fritos on top, (eh heh, papa john). sorry, i had to vent a bit.

that being said, make whatever tastes good to you!

Brandon_34695

00 is nice, getting easier to find in your regular market. However after a bunch of tries, the best dough I had so far was made with the standard loaf recipe from Tartine Bread. They use it for their own pizza projects fired in a home-brew Kettle Pizza setup.

My biggest challenge has been loading the pizza onto the baking steel, today, a Super Peel arrived. It has great reviews and I expect it will help me out.

If you want to practice the basics of baking the pie w/o spending 2 days fermenting dough, Whole Foods sells pizza dough made with proper ingredients and has a nice flavor. No shame in it for learning, I think.

Never ever use pre-shredded cheeses. They are coated in cornstarch and make a disgusting mess. I personally like slices of fresh mozzarella and maybe a cured meat product. American pepperoni is not a very good product IMO!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Amen... I can't stand pepperoni, way too greasy.

Then I didn't grow up with it.

Pepijn_31744

I agree, no pepperoni on my pizza. I prefer salami

codyrodriquez

I've always used a high gluten flour, but then again I make a new york style. 00 is great for neapolitin style. To make the dough a little special I use a sour dough starter as well, and let it cold proof for three days in my fridge.

For sauce I use canned san marzanos, tomato paste, fresh basil, oregano, garlic, parm, a pinch of crushed red pepper, salt and pepper.Blend it all together, no need to cook, the magic happens in the oven.

For cheese, as Brandon said, definitely don't do the preshredded stuff. Whatever cheese you decide on, try to find a low moisture variety (moisture, other than the sauce, is the bane of pizzas... no one likes a floppy pizza) I usually just use a log of mozz and shred it my self.

As far as toppings, one of my favorites is a white pie: Mozz, parm, ricotta (mixed with some parsley and basil) and a little garlic oil, no sauce. If I'm in the mood for something with some meat I go for Italian Sausage and some peppers I pickle, or some Meatball, roasted tomatoes, and pickled peppers is a good one too (I really like pickled peppers on pizza

) But as Nicky pointed out, the more you simplify the better your result will be.

Manfred_18311

The grade

and type standards are most probably different form what is offered in in US

ver Germany store shelves. For the dough I using a Type 405 which, as far as I have

researched T405, is equal to the 00 type, dry Yeats, salt and some water well

kneeled. Let it rest for 1hr. I’m not using anything to roll out the dough but

rater stretch it or flip it in the air which create rather un-geometrical forms.

Sauce:

Tomatoes, basil onions some garlic, concentrated tomato paste. Some reduced

vegetable stock and salt and pepper. Toppings,

mostly Italian salami, ham, tomatoes sliced onions, red and yellow pepper, mozzarella

and fresh pepperoni.

Once baked

I add fresh basil, sliced tomatoes, pepper dices and sprinkle shortly before

serving the oregano it gives the pizza a nice and fresh taste.

Originally

Pizza was the classic “end of the week storage /refrigerator cleanout” I think

it was Wolfgang Puck who lifted up Pizza in the gourmet range a decade ago in

his LA restaurant with toppings like orange marinated chicken breast and lobster.

The dough really

is a caravan almost any topping works well. Turkish pizza I just make frequently

its originally made of minted beef, a huge roasted pepperoni and garlic infused yogurt

much like a Greek Tsatziki.

Joe_S_35619

I'm using Anita's organic white flour (available in canada) and the overnight pizza dough recipe from Ken Forkish's Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast book, with great success. I'm also using the bakingsteel product, cooked at 500 for 7-9 minutes.

It's just your basic neapolitan style - san marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil.

Next time this year I should be baking in a wood fired pizza oven!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

That is an epically good book.

The Calzone I did was from the Pain de Campagne dough from the same book.

The pizza looks awesome too!

prince_of_porcelain

I am a big fan of the Forkish book.

Matt_67991

Agreed. It's a super solid book. Good techniques, good recipes. The accompanying videos he has on his website are also really helpful.

It makes me wish I had a working oven.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

@Henri - I got the big GE Induction one with the oven

Just so you can be even more envious

Johan_Edstrom_5586

As someone working in the field of tech - (Shameless plug) http://www.oracle.com/javaone/rock-stars/index.html#jedstrom

He took book authoring to a tech mode, recipe description to a testable and outcome desired level.

Brandon_34695

This is a really good product for bread and pizza.

http://www.amazon.com/General-Harvest-European-Enriched-Unbleached/dp/B00ES44U46/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396013343&sr=8-1&keywords=harvest+king+flour

Nicky_J_17040

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/04/essential-tips-for-better-pizza-how-to-make-pizza-at-home.html?ref=excerpt_readmore

com-chefsteps

I use 00 flour and add vital wheat gluten, straight from MC@H. It upped my pizza game from "smushed dinner roll with sauce and cheese on it" to "holy wow crunchy thin" in one day.

nasv

I second the comment about using the Tartine Country Bread loaf dough for pizza, easily the best pizza I've made at home. I typically like to freeze doughs as well, and the one draw-back of the Tartine dough is that I have found it does not recover well from the freezer. Commercially yeasted doughs have done better for me that way.

I am on a quest for a better tomato sauce for a margherita-like pizza. I've been blending canned whole tomatoes with sea salt and some olive oil. There's something missing.

Nicky_J_17040

@Nico

maybe some dried oregano?

nasv

@Nicky J, that's a good suggestion, I'll try it. I think I may need to try different canned tomatoes as well (I've used the unsalted Trader Joe's one), I think the sauce needs more "pop", perhaps acid. Some red-wine vinegar, or maybe even some tomato paste. Have others done this?

Nicky_J_17040

I think you're on the right track with the whole canned tomatoes.Maybe just source out some real San Marzanos?

Good luck!

trev_teich

Here are some ways to go.

For the dough: http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/neapolitan-pizza-dough/

For the sauce: http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/classic-pizza-sauce-recipe/

Or, go the Heston route. I'm not sure but you might even see Chef @Chris in the episode http://vimeo.com/34433092

Johan_Edstrom_5586

He is in there, around 8 minutes just jumping around.

com-chefsteps

I didn't know Chris had worked there. Awesome.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

He is probably the guy behind every recipe

Lou_34544

Keep it simple.

Dough: Flour, water, salt, yeast.

Sauce: Good California plum tomatoes. You don't need San Marzano. No garlic or oregano or cooking it down.

Cheese: Fresh mozzarella.

Other: A sweet basil, a mild and buttery EVOO.

Cooking method: Check SeriousEats or use Jim Lahey's method from my pizza. Cooking on a thick steel helps.

That being said, my favorite way to eat pizza at home is cooked in a sheet pan at the highest temperature your oven will reach. I'll generally superheat a stone or steel on the bottom of the stove, place the pan on the stone to get the bottom to my liking, and move off the stone to the middle of the oven for the rest of the bake.

stew_78557

An interesting place to start would be this site about the search to make the perfect New York Style pizza
http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm
and then there's a site which compares 12 different cooking surfaces
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/06/the-best-surface-for-baking-pizza-finale.html
and last but not least a site about preheating a cast iron pizza stone on the stove top
http://www.breadsecrets.com/pizza.html
it's not up right now, but if you use the wayback machine or google search you can see it.

stew_78557

I just finished watching the pizza episode of a strange show from New Zealand called "The Food Truck" How does Venison Pizza with smoked mushrooms, onion jam, and salsa verde sound?

http://tvnz.co.nz/the-food-truck/ep-4-venison-pizza-4174333

Nicky_J_17040

Anthony Mangieri NYC

http://youtu.be/mz91GfoZ-Zs

ttpoker

I just finished taking a pizza crash course in Sanremo, Italy just this past week from an pizziola that was Vera Pizza Napoletana trained. Here are some general observations from my personal experience as well as my recent training.

00 Antimo Caputo Flour is necessary, use Blue, not Red unless you want a higher gluten content - most pizziolas chose blue.
Vital Wheat Gluten is not advised, he experimented but had poor results
Buffalo Mozzarella is not always used, its optional . Typical Buffalo Mozzarella we can get in the USA is too wet for pizza, they use a special formula that is drier for pizzas so they do not soak the dough from the moisture. If this wetter style is used, they typically add the cheese AFTER the pizza is out of the oven. The most common cheese used is normal brick mozzarella 80/20 - cut into cubes. This really shocked me... but after some taste tests I determined he was right. I tried each option possible, his guidance was spot on to my tongue.
Similarly I was surprised to learn that San Marzano tomatoes are not always used. Although they use canned tomatoes, they still consider the seasonal nature of the produce and source from different regions as the year progresses. Currently he is sourcing from Pompeii. He says NO to oregano, that is an Italian American thing - its not true to the source. The Tomatoes from the can are hand squished to make the sauce, and as others have pointed out the sauce is not precooked. He adds olive oil and salt to taste, and a tiny bit of shredded basil in the sauce - nothing else. The shredded basil also surprised me, haven't seen others do that before.
Dough recipe : 1000g flour, 600g water, 2g fresh yeast - proof in 90f water first. add 25g oil when the mix looks blended, last step is 25g salt - salt kills yeast! Add that at the end of the mixing cycle - around 15 mins (I didn't take a note on the time, so I need to experiment to make sure my 15 min assumption is right) - then keep mixing only until the salt is incorporated.
The final dough's saltiness is actually the yeast/flour maturity, the salt plays less of a role than it appears to.
Dough takes 72 hours to mature. 250g balls, much smaller than I had previously seen recommended (except for Modernist Cuisine which advises 200g balls). Do not coat the balls with oil - just give them space and keep them covered. A loose fitting Tupperware box will work. After 24 hours in the refrigerator take the balls out of the fridge, and let them sit out for an hour - then place them back in. Do this again at 48 hours. You will know when the dough is ready by the change in the skin, the elasticity of the dough, and little tiny specs of dark spots in the surface mean the dough has matured to the proper flavor.
Always use a 50/50 blend of white flour and 00 flour when working on the table withe the dough. This also surprised me, I was always using 00 - he explained that the different thicknesses and gluten content are benefits to the mouthfeel and flavor.
LIBERALLY flour the work space with the 50/50 blend. When shaping start with the finger tips to press down, The use the left fingertips to hold the dough while stretching with the right. When you have a small circle, start slapping the dough from left hand to the right hand - this will make the dough expand while removing excess flour from the dough.
Place the pizza on the table, using the back of a spoon rub in the sauce, there should not be much but every part of the pizza must be wet. Be careful to not weigh down the center of the pizza, this area should have the least product. Always wipe away any excess sauce where the crust is, this could damage the pie as you use the peel. Add cheese lightly and spaced out, if making a Buffalo Mozzarella pizza consider adding after the pizza is done - or add mozzarella now and buffalo after complete - your call.. Fresh Basil should be added after the pizza is removed, do not cook with it.
This is the hardest part for me - using a jerking movement get the pizza on the peel. Its not easy!
For home use nothing beats a Baking Steel. Place at the top of the oven, set convection to 500F. Walk away for an hour. Use an infrared thermometer to test the temp in 1 hour, should reach around 540F. Not turn on the broiler for 10 mins - you might exceed 560F - and this is around as hot as a typical home oven will get. Time to make the pizza.
You will know when the pizza is ready by using the peel to lift up and see the bottom of the pizza, look for small amounts of char. If you can, try to rotate the pizza mid-cook... this might be too hard for home cooks to do though.
Avoid all other toppings until you nail a basic margarita. My teacher is a purist, as am I - you want to taste each ingredient separately, any toppings messes with that experience.
A peel requires two hands, hold the handle on the left hand side of your body, left hand facing down, right hand facing up - like a broom. Its a bit awkward at first, but you will have much better control as you quickly slide the pizza on the peel, as well as control of the location you wish to place the pizza in the over as you jerk it out.

Two example test pizzas, the one on the left was for shape optimization, on the right was for flavor balance and my first one made in a real pizza oven from Naples using the proper tools to lift the pizza and rotate it mid-cook. This process is mostly eye and experience but I found it to be less complicated than it looks, any cook cook should be able to instinctually figure this part out - just pay attention.

Example of my first crust test

Side notes -

In my preparation for this class I have experimented making pizzas at home for the past year. The best recipe I found to date came from the book Flour Water Salt Yeast, but the size proportions were wrong, and there is no need for a poolish or bigga if the dough leavening occurs the way I advised in the refrigerator. I tried Scott Heidinger's no-rise pizza recipe but I hated it, it reminded me of frozen pizza - I'm too much of a pizza snob to like that option. I also tried Modernist Cuisine for Home's recipe, the added gluten made the pizza dough have the wrong type of crumb that I want in a perfect pie, and the sauce recipe was all wrong... a pre-cook alters the fresh as the sun flavor I can get straight from the can - let the oven cook the sauce for you.

PS: I think Anthony Mangieri and I would get along ;-) Fantastic video!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

We should post this more permanently somewhere. Excellent writeup.

Nicky_J_17040

@In theCards.

Thank you very much for giving us an inside into your pizza course. What is the difference between blue and red (00 flour)?

And if I can't get my hands on fresh yeast, what do you recommend?

I'm sure I will be picking your brain more!