Homemade Pizza Tips...Just the Tips

[Sam Lin 3559]

3 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Now what the hell am I going to do with 4.99 lbs of Ezzo pepperoni sticks. 

Truss them into nunchucks. Pepperoni nunchucks. And battle your friends.

 

 

[Baboontyme 2813]

Here are some pics of the experiment. Delallo always on left, Ezzo on right. 

[dad 557]

11 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

I'm not quite following you, but I think you want more char on the crust? Are you wanting more on the ring of topside crust, or on the bottom? (or both?) For bottom, easy way is preheat more, or preheat a stone or steel and cook on it. That'll get more heat into the crust.

For topside, it's a little more tricky balancing toppings cooking with crust cooking, but from your pic, it looks like the ring of crust is very thick and wide. Try pulling it thinner and see if that helps.

Yes more char on the crust. Specifically on the ring of the topside crust. The bottom is perfect due to the pizza oven I'm using utilizing a metal plate as the base. The issue is that I'm baking around 500-600 deg and the results I want happen more like 750+ if not more I think. 

I show an unusually large ring of crust because that's how my son likes it but I prefer a more normal size for myself. 

My pizza oven is sooo convenient. I can have it up to temp in less than 5 minutes and it's ready to make more as soon as I'm done with the next pizza. I think I might be able to make them mostly in my oven and then perhaps char them for a minute in the broiler if I wanted to be fancy or make them in bulk for a pizza party. Otherwise I'm too lazy to get the oven going that hot just for a quick broil.

[Landomatic 3813]

11 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

I'll have pictures to support tomorrow but I want to post initial impressions. No dog in the fight, in fact if I wanted to take sides I would side with the brand that I just bought ~ 5 lbs of. I think DeLallo is better. It curls more if that's your criteria. The Ezzo had more of a richer, beefier flavor and was a little more spicy. Not much. I found that the heat seemed to grow with the DeLallo the more I consumed, whereas with the Ezzo it was immediate.

Pepperoni wars. Covid. So stupid.  But yeah I prefer DeLallo and even though I didn't do a direct comparison I think I would prefer Vermont. Now what the hell am I going to do with 4.99 lbs of Ezzo pepperoni sticks. 

Well, if you'd given it a better review, I'd have offered to buy one from you.  But, fuck that...I'm off to buy some DeLallo now.

[HouTex 1878]

I’m making several pizzas this weekend for a dinner party. I’ll do a margherita and one with pretty much everything. What are your favorites?

[Anastasis 23475]

2 minutes ago, HouTex said:

What are your favorites?

Margherita, NY style cheese slice, simple pepperoni. 

[Landomatic 3813]

17 minutes ago, dad said:

Yes more char on the crust. Specifically on the ring of the topside crust. The bottom is perfect due to the pizza oven I'm using utilizing a metal plate as the base. The issue is that I'm baking around 500-600 deg and the results I want happen more like 750+ if not more I think. 

I show an unusually large ring of crust because that's how my son likes it but I prefer a more normal size for myself. 

My pizza oven is sooo convenient. I can have it up to temp in less than 5 minutes and it's ready to make more as soon as I'm done with the next pizza. I think I might be able to make them mostly in my oven and then perhaps char them for a minute in the broiler if I wanted to be fancy or make them in bulk for a pizza party. Otherwise I'm too lazy to get the oven going that hot just for a quick broil.

By the looks of the pic, dough definitely too thick around the edges (as @Sam Lin said).  @Baboontyme posted a great video on page one of this thread that helped me a ton.  Here it is again.  Pay special attention at about the :30 mark where he talks about forming the lip.  Keep that lip the whole time and I think that will make all the difference.

That said, I also think you're pulling it too soon.  Try to leave it in until you start to see quite a few of those pretty brownish cheese crunchy bubbles starting to form.  Crust should follow along with it.

If that results in burning the bottom of the crust, depending on the pizza oven, I have seen a couple people have to lift their pizza a few inches and hold it closer to the top to get what you're going for.  Some ovens don't need that, but some apparently do.  Just right when you're about to pull it, slide your peel under it and raise it so it's about an inch from the top (where all the heat is) for about 30 seconds or so.

 

[Landomatic 3813]

7 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Margherita, NY style cheese slice, simple pepperoni. 

This ^

Brother from another mother

[dad 557]

Made these with less of a crust ring even though my kid prefers a monstrous one lol. It’s not conventional but kids aren’t supposed to be!







Then the wife called and wanted one for her so I had to make this one without letting the dough warm up enough.



Good eating!

[Landomatic 3813]

4 hours ago, dad said:

Made these with less of a crust ring even though my kid prefers a monstrous one lol. It’s not conventional but kids aren’t supposed to be!







Then the wife called and wanted one for her so I had to make this one without letting the dough warm up enough.



Good eating!

No offense but second one looks better than the first one.

[cam4mav 771]

agreed

[elfenix 34310]

i'm wondering if the difference is the oven being more preheated with the second

[dad 557]

None taken! I'm still learnin! I agree the color in pictures looks better. But in person the first was plenty crunchy as you can tell from the bottom crust pic. Not bad for a black and decker pizza oven that reaches 600 deg F in minutes for $25 on facebook marketplace lol.

Also this recent batch of pizzas I experimented with using half 00 flour and half organic unbleached all purpose flour from costco. I was trying to figure out how the various levels from only all purpose to only 00 flour affected the crust. My suspicion is that 00 flour is more ideal for a higher temp oven and me baking at 600 deg seems to be ideal for a mix and not pure all purpose or 00 flour.

I'm addicted to the Rao's Margharita pizza sauce. Also I top the whole pizza with a mix of red pepper flakes, chili piquin, salt, black pepper and oregano that I ground to a fine powder. I prefer that consistency and increased heat to just pepper flakes. The learning journey continues. 

[dad 557]

7 minutes ago, elfenix said:

i'm wondering if the difference is the oven being more preheated with the second

I don't think so, i even turned it off for a while before I knew she wanted one. I use a laser thermometer to check and it really quickly reaches max operating temp. This last one I just happened to leave longer b/c i'm never timing the pizzas and am always juggling pizza making with parenting and software development. 

[Baboontyme 2813]

It's all personal preference, of course. The more I read up on NY and Neapolitan styles and crust recipes, the more I became a convert to a less sauce approach. When I do a round, I just barely put enough sauce on so that I can spread it thinly across the whole pie minus the crust. I don't want any areas where it is thick enough that I can not see the crust through the sauce. I also like the grease. It's pizza. If I were trying to eat something healthy I'd have a garden salad with chicken breast. So give me the full on whole milk mozz. 

[dad 557]

I’m still a fan of a good amount of sauce but I’m definitely using a lot less cheese than I thought I would. I like the grease also seemingly serving as a way to keep the cheese a little more melty and less viscous. I’d like to venture more into what combinations of cheese and other stuff leads a cheese that stays melty the longest.

[Sam Lin 3559]

2 hours ago, dad said:

Also this recent batch of pizzas I experimented with using half 00 flour and half organic unbleached all purpose flour from costco. I was trying to figure out how the various levels from only all purpose to only 00 flour affected the crust. My suspicion is that 00 flour is more ideal for a higher temp oven and me baking at 600 deg seems to be ideal for a mix and not pure all purpose or 00 flour.

Note that if you're mixing flours and keeping the same recipe (same amount of water), what you're really adjusting when you play with ratios is the hydration ratio of the dough (how much water to how much flour). Different flours contain different amounts of gluten and require different amounts of water to achieve the 'same' result.

If you want to nerd out a bit, this link on hydration has some nice comparison photos and details. Note the last pic showing a pizza that was oven cooked and then finished under a broiler; while I think the pic shows overcooked, you can adapt that strategy if you want more top crust browning.

https://pizzaotherbread.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/pizza-dough-hydration-trial

[Baboontyme 2813]

58 minutes ago, Sam Lin said:

Note that if you're mixing flours and keeping the same recipe (same amount of water), what you're really adjusting when you play with ratios is the hydration ratio of the dough (how much water to how much flour). Different flours contain different amounts of gluten and require different amounts of water to achieve the 'same' result.

If you want to nerd out a bit, this link on hydration has some nice comparison photos and details. Note the last pic showing a pizza that was oven cooked and then finished under a broiler; while I think the pic shows overcooked, you can adapt that strategy if you want more top crust browning.

https://pizzaotherbread.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/pizza-dough-hydration-trial

Sam are you Kenji's alter ego? 

I'm suspicious. 

[Anastasis 23475]

1 hour ago, Sam Lin said:

Note that if you're mixing flours and keeping the same recipe (same amount of water), what you're really adjusting when you play with ratios is the hydration ratio of the dough (how much water to how much flour). Different flours contain different amounts of gluten and require different amounts of water to achieve the 'same' result.

If you want to nerd out a bit, this link on hydration has some nice comparison photos and details. Note the last pic showing a pizza that was oven cooked and then finished under a broiler; while I think the pic shows overcooked, you can adapt that strategy if you want more top crust browning.

https://pizzaotherbread.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/pizza-dough-hydration-trial

I've been doing some reading while I am waiting on my Koda to come.  In Mastering Pizza they discuss the relationship between the right hydration level and the temperature of the pizza oven.  Lower hydration ~60% is sufficient for a high heat cook, but a lower heat cook @ 500-550 typical oven temps benefits from higher hydration ~70%.  I didn't see the influence of temperature discussed in that link on quick skim.  

[Baboontyme 2813]

Making a Detroiter right now. If it turns out ok I'll post pics. 

[Landomatic 3813]

2 hours ago, Anastasis said:

I've been doing some reading while I am waiting on my Koda to come.  In Mastering Pizza they discuss the relationship between the right hydration level and the temperature of the pizza oven.  Lower hydration ~60% is sufficient for a high heat cook, but a lower heat cook @ 500-550 typical oven temps benefits from higher hydration ~70%.  I didn't see the influence of temperature discussed in that link on quick skim.  

Whoa...if I gotta start thinking about all that shit, it’s lost all the fun for me.  I’m much more of an art than science guy when I do pizza.  This ain’t meth we’re cookin

[dad 557]

3 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Note that if you're mixing flours and keeping the same recipe (same amount of water), what you're really adjusting when you play with ratios is the hydration ratio of the dough (how much water to how much flour). Different flours contain different amounts of gluten and require different amounts of water to achieve the 'same' result.

If you want to nerd out a bit, this link on hydration has some nice comparison photos and details. Note the last pic showing a pizza that was oven cooked and then finished under a broiler; while I think the pic shows overcooked, you can adapt that strategy if you want more top crust browning.

https://pizzaotherbread.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/pizza-dough-hydration-trial

I'm doing 750 g of 00 flour and 500 g of water so i'm sitting at a 66% hydration with the recipe I'm following from  vito iacopelli's youtube channel for Neopolitan which is intended to be used for all purpose flour. This makes me around 5 pizza dough balls give or take. That would land it in the range suggested in the link for this type of flour.

I'm gonna up the hydration levels even more to see how far I can go. I'm thinking 75% range is feasible for my newb dough forming hands. 

[dad 557]

2 hours ago, Anastasis said:

I've been doing some reading while I am waiting on my Koda to come.  In Mastering Pizza they discuss the relationship between the right hydration level and the temperature of the pizza oven.  Lower hydration ~60% is sufficient for a high heat cook, but a lower heat cook @ 500-550 typical oven temps benefits from higher hydration ~70%.  I didn't see the influence of temperature discussed in that link on quick skim.  

Yeah I also would have liked for the link to discuss temperature. As I was shopping for 00 flour I noticed that there were many different types for different suggested baking temperature ranges so to me that tells me that there is a perfect mix out there of 00 flour, all purpose flour and hydration level that produce the ideal crust at my cooking range of 500-600 deg F.

[dad 557]

21 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

Whoa...if I gotta start thinking about all that shit, it’s lost all the fun for me.  I’m much more of an art than science guy when I do pizza.  This ain’t meth we’re cookin

I hate to break it to you but .. YOU'RE ALREADY A PIZZA NERD lol. You're way past throwing a totinos pizza in the microwave level here.

[Anastasis 23475]

36 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

Whoa...if I gotta start thinking about all that shit, it’s lost all the fun for me.  I’m much more of an art than science guy when I do pizza.  This ain’t meth we’re cookin

Everything is math. 

[Anastasis 23475]

or meth...

[Anastasis 23475]

16 minutes ago, dad said:

Yeah I also would have liked for the link to discuss temperature. As I was shopping for 00 flour I noticed that there were many different types for different suggested baking temperature ranges so to me that tells me that there is a perfect mix out there of 00 flour, all purpose flour and hydration level that produce the ideal crust at my cooking range of 500-600 deg F.

FWIW, Mastering Pizza recipes are based on KA bread flour and not 00.  00 is very very fine, and handles the hydration differently.  

[dad 557]

1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

FWIW, Mastering Pizza recipes are based on KA bread flour and not 00.  00 is very very fine, and handles the hydration differently.  

Interesting, I definitely noticed the moisture differences when I compared my doughs made from 100% AP, 50/50 and 100% 00. The 00 was almost too easy to stretch and form if I let it warm up to room temperature too much before forming. Also the baby powder fine-ness was noticeable.

The link that Sam Lin posted above was interesting. I was even more fascinated by a reference they made within it to https://slice.seriouseats.com/2011/06/the-pizza-lab-on-flour-foams-and-dough.html which sparked my curiosity into bread flour as either an alternative for pizza making OR maybe i'll experiment with mixing it with 00 instead of mixing AP with it. The potential for pairing its chewiness with the crispiness of the 00 sounds fun. 

[NoName 16354]

7 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Everything is math. 

 

7 hours ago, Anastasis said:

or meth...

[Baboontyme 2813]

11 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Making a Detroiter right now. If it turns out ok I'll post pics. 

It was very tasty and looks nice, but I kind of rushed the dough out of the fridge and into the oven. I warmed it in the oven because I didn't have a lot of time. I should have planned better. The rise wasn't very good. 

[Landomatic 3813]

On 7/16/2020 at 4:50 PM, DDD Dad said:

This is the "stick" I was trying to remember from up thread.

 

On 7/16/2020 at 5:32 PM, elfenix said:

this is the stuff they use in columbus, oh, to make pizza that looks like this, just have to find a place to buy it:

http://www.ezzo.com/

 

 

hormel is selling cupping pepperoni so i grabbed a bag of that at HEB, haven't tried it out yet

 

On 7/22/2020 at 9:45 AM, Baboontyme said:

Here are some pics of the experiment. Delallo always on left, Ezzo on right. 

Pepperoni wars, begun they have.

Is it a red flag that I woke up all geeked out and excited about this shit?  Thanks a lot @DDD Dad, @elfenix and @Baboontyme.  I now have a lifetime supply of pepperoni I'll never be able to finish.

Aaaaanyway...two equal balls of dough proofing for later.  Will report back with pepperoni details.  There will be four of them (pepperonis) and they will be spectacular...

 

On 7/22/2020 at 1:27 AM, Baboontyme said:

Pepperoni wars. Covid. So stupid.

Yeah, no doubt.  Fuck

 

[DDD Dad 14339]

Everything is math. 

[Landomatic 3813]

21 hours ago, Landomatic said:

 

 

Pepperoni wars, begun they have.

Is it a red flag that I woke up all geeked out and excited about this shit?  Thanks a lot @DDD Dad, @elfenix and @Baboontyme.  I now have a lifetime supply of pepperoni I'll never be able to finish.

Aaaaanyway...two equal balls of dough proofing for later.  Will report back with pepperoni details.  There will be four of them (pepperonis) and they will be spectacular...

 

Yeah, no doubt.  Fuck

 

Got hammered.  Forgot pics.  Forgot everything about that experiment.

I’m sorry.  I’ll try harder next time.  

Might still be drunk...

[DDD Dad 14339]

Got hammered.  Forgot pics.  Forgot everything about that experiment.
I’m sorry.  I’ll try harder next time.  
Might still be drunk...

I’ve been drunk since late March.

[dad 557]

Lol I haven’t stopped smoking every few waking hours since April. WFH = dangerous. Short term memory is non existent. Who knows maybe my pizza sucks ass when I’m not stoned.

[dad 557]

Check out this massive bubble on a dough ball I am thawing out. Made them on Tues. Froze on Thur. Left another in the fridge the whole time to compare the taste. I’ll make both for lunch.

[Mac8111 2107]

That Tres Agaves is delicious


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[dad 557]

That Tres Agaves is delicious

 

 

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Wife loves it, I’ve only sipped a few and thought it was good but I don’t ever drink margaritas. I’m just a boring beer drinker.

 

Tried several new things at the same time. A Mutti pizza sauce someone suggested on here and also tried bbq brisket pizza for the first time. Mutti sauce was solid. Wife said it tasted basic. I took that to mean it’s not overly done with too much stuff in it. I’ll need to try it on cheese pizzas so the toppings don’t interfere too much in the taste comparisons. The chicken was getting a little old so it didn’t taste as great as fresh chicken and that affected the whole thing with the ole taste buds.

 

 

Blue = aged in fridge for almost a week.

Red = frozen for half of that

 

Started in the pizza oven to get the dough cooked.

 

 

Added grilled chicken on the boy’s pizza.

 

Wife and I did bbq.

 

 

Tried my oven in the process for the first time. Quick heat to 500 deg F then broiler. Pizza stone only showed 450 F but I didn’t really need the stone at this point. Mainly needed that extreme broiler to get a charred crust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wife and kid were both like WTF why did you burn the pizza. I told them to go watch some YouTube videos on Neopolitan pizza before they come talking mess in my kitchen throwing around disrespek.

 

Wife ended up smashing the bbq pizza. Was a hit. Son hated the crust. He’s a big fat golden brown crust kind of kid and that’s fine.

 

I gotta say I prefer the non charred crust myself as well so far as well even if it’s not traditional. It’s plenty crunchy and still chewy inside. But of course aesthetically the char makes it look like you used a brick oven and has more of a wow factor (to those that know shit about pizza). I’ll keep doing it at varying ratios of time in each oven and see if it’s with involved the big gas oven at all just to get a little nicer looking crust.

[CycleTex87 2972]

BBQ pizza looks pretty damn good.

[Mac8111 2107]

Outstanding post


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[dad 557]

Creativity fueled by the devil’s lettuce lead to this amazing concoction. I present to you Barbacoa chorizo bean pizza.

This time I tried a new hydration level of 73%. Very hard to handle in dough Fleming stage. Had to use wet hands instead of flour to mold shit. This is after two days in the fridge.







Pre cooked dough without the beans in case they dried out too much.


Beans, Barbacoa, queso fresco, jalapeños, a little shredded pizza cheese.






Top it off with salsa. It was fucking amazing. Crunchy exterior. Light interior. Amazing flavor. My thought was this is going to end up exactly like a Barbacoa flour tortilla taco and that’s about the badass flavor levels we reached.

[Anastasis 23475]

Been waiting on my koda delivery, watching pizza cooking videos and shit, and lost my patience. Decided to do a pizza night.   70% hydration.  Might have cut the fermentation a little short.

dough balls

Par cooked the crust dad-style with armybrat-style photography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a cauliflower crust...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DDD Dad 14339]

Creativity fueled by the devil’s lettuce lead to this amazing concoction. I present to you Barbacoa chorizo bean pizza.

This time I tried a new hydration level of 73%. Very hard to handle in dough Fleming stage. Had to use wet hands instead of flour to mold shit. This is after two days in the fridge.







Pre cooked dough without the beans in case they dried out too much.


Beans, Barbacoa, queso fresco, jalapeños, a little shredded pizza cheese.






Top it off with salsa. It was fucking amazing. Crunchy exterior. Light interior. Amazing flavor. My thought was this is going to end up exactly like a Barbacoa flour tortilla taco and that’s about the badass flavor levels we reached.

Is that Jade’s chili?

[Mac8111 2107]

In regards to sauce, we have used this thing for years.  In fact, it may have been posted on the other site. 

 

It is from America's Test Kitchen

 

EASY PIZZA SAUCE
Makes 2 cups, enough for four nine-inch pan pizzas

 

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained with juice reserved.  ( I use the San Marzano's I find at HEB)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano (a lot of time I just use Italian Seasoning)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Throw all ingredients together and blend together. 

[dad 557]

Looks good man. What sausage do you use? I have yet to try any. I started a weight loss challenge so no more flour for me. Bought two cauliflower crusts at Costco. Where did you get yours? Any tips for cauliflower pizzas?

[Anastasis 23475]

32 minutes ago, dad said:

Looks good man. What sausage do you use? I have yet to try any. I started a weight loss challenge so no more flour for me. Bought two cauliflower crusts at Costco. Where did you get yours? Any tips for cauliflower pizzas?

Its just a spicy italian sausage from HEB. The cauliflower crust is honestly not totally terrible. Trying to save my carb blast for the week of pizza I am planning when my oven gets here. My wife made it using some recipe on the internet.  I tried to order some from HEB but they were out, so she just made it.  I'll ask her for the link. 

[Mac8111 2107]

This was my Fathers Day gift. Looks interesting. Anyone else have one ?


https://www.pizza-porta.com


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Finally tried this out. Was easy to put together and then it fits on your green egg and you close the lid over it. The Pizza Porta has its own lid on the front. The whole point is that you don’t lose all your heat opening the green egg lid.

I will say that it did it’s job very well. My temp never wavered. Pizzas turned out pretty well. There are always things I will adjust and also make sure I do the grocery shopping next time.


My suggestion - the Pizza Porta is a luxury To have. If you are cooking pizzas three times per year,probably not going to be worth it for you. If you are cranking out pizzas every month, would be a nice gift to ask for.













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[Etexhorn13 3051]

Did some pizzas on my egg for the first time tonight with great success. Most definitely the best pizzas I’ve ever made. I worked at a pizza place for a semester in college and had plenty of practice, but I’ve always found it harder at home to get a really good crust. 
 

honestly, I used Robertas as a starting point for the dough to change it up a bit, but I never really use recipes so I just approximated everything. reading about hydration points was something I hadn’t noticed before, and a wetter dough I think definitely helped. Also, for y’all saying cornmeal/flour on the peel, you need to use semolina flour. Cornmeal texture without the flavor. That’s what’s used in restaurants on the bottom of the pizzas that gives it that crunchy grainy texture. Also, did it for the first time tonight where I brushed the whole crust with olive oil and then salted it. Hadn’t done that before and it was such a difference maker as far as adding flavor to what’s been before a kindof bland crust. 
 

While canned Marzano tomatoes drained, added salt pepper garlic red pepper and basil, then blended in my ninja. Used fresh whole milk mozz for sure. Also couldn’t find Italian sausage at Kroger so I just added fennel sage oregano and some other seasonings and made my own. This was kinda life changing. I made a lot of small pizzas.

 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Etexhorn13

[Landomatic 3813]

Ceramic egg pizzas: great crust...raw toppings.

Those both look gross.

Edited August 2, 2020 by Landomatic

[Anastasis 23475]