The Home-made Pizza thread

[old goat]

So what do you call that soupy shit from Chicago?

If you're talking about deep dish pizza--if it's soupy they're doing it wrong. Good deep dish is a lot harder to do right than regular pizza--the dough is a lot less forgiving and you have to get the fillings just right or it will be too wet. The first deep dish I had was in the 70's at Pizzeria Due, which was an offshoot of Uno, back when there was only uno Uno and Due across the street. I've had a fair amount since but none nearly as good. In Sacramento some people like Zelda's but I'm not a fan. Chicago Fire should be set on fire. In Truckee Village Pizza makes a pretty decent deep dish although it used to be better. I think they changed the sauce recipe--it used to have a touch of sweetness.

IMO, in order for a pizza to be named as a style, first of all it has to be pizza, which means baked on a raw yeast dough--not bread, not english muffins, not a roll, not Ritz crackers or Girl Scout cookies. Second, it has to have some distinguishing feature besides coming from a particular place. Third, if it lacks any distinguishing feature then it's just pizza, generic pizza, not a named style--which IME is 90% of the pizza in the parts of America I have visited. And there's nothing wrong with generic pizza if it's made well.

But if we want to be liberal in naming pizza--what about ski resort pizza? Distinguishing feature--baked on a conveyor belt.

[MakersTeleMark]

I've never seen conveyor belt made pizza at a ski resort.

[old goat]

I've never seen conveyor belt made pizza at a ski resort.

Sugar Bowl and Alpine Meadows both do it. Slowing moving belt--the cook puts the pie on one end, it goes through the oven which is open at both ends, comes out the other end baked.

[Tele 'til You're Smelly]

+1
My dough is 70% and it shapes with very little effort. Lots of good vids on YouTube on dough shaping.

ok I checked my recipe with a scale and it was actually about 70% hydration so ok there. I watched some videos and after the dough was in the fridge for a couple days I flattened them a bit to about frisbee size in a flour bath and really warmed them up to probably 80 degrees all the way through for while, then they stretched just fine and came out great. I think flattening them some so they'd warm all the way through was a big help (warmed them by putting them in the lower thin oven with it off while the main upper oven preheated to 550 for an hour).

[jmedslc]

Ok I never had leftover pizza like this.

[Powder Ho]

ok I checked my recipe with a scale and it was actually about 70% hydration so ok there. I watched some videos and after the dough was in the fridge for a couple days I flattened them a bit to about frisbee size in a flour bath and really warmed them up to probably 80 degrees all the way through for while, then they stretched just fine and came out great. I think flattening them some so they'd warm all the way through was a big help (warmed them by putting them in the lower thin oven with it off while the main upper oven preheated to 550 for an hour).

Nice, after cold proofing I let my dough sit at room temp for 2 hours. I use the back of the hand steering wheel method for shaping. It takes a minute or so.
I also bake at 550.

[Supermoon]

Ok I never had leftover pizza like this.

Is that an egg?

I’ve been reheating my pizza lately in my cast iron. Get it ripping hot, put the slice down, then after a minute or so I add some water to the pan, stop a lid on and steam the top. Almost as quick as a microwave, but the crust stays crispy and the cheese gets gooey again.

[grskier]

Cast iron is one of the best ways to reheat. And an over easy egg on a leftover slice is my breakfast of preference


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[shroom]

i was a cast iron guy until i found the air fryer, it’s epic

[caulfield]

couple efforts with my parents' ooni

anyone have tips for dealing with pistachio puree base? It usually burnt before the crust cooked all the way. Probably can be managed with different ratio in the puree (pistachios, olive oil, parmesan), but I don't know which direction to guess.

[skiskiskiskiski]

But if we want to be liberal in naming pizza--what about ski resort pizza? Distinguishing feature--baked on a conveyor belt.

Most cheap, fast food pizza is baked on a conveyor belt

[Phall]

couple efforts with my parents' ooni

anyone have tips for dealing with pistachio puree base? It usually burnt before the crust cooked all the way. Probably can be managed with different ratio in the puree (pistachios, olive oil, parmesan), but I don't know which direction

Your stone is most likely not hot enough if whatever on top is burning before the crust is done. I’m still working on mastering this myself.


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[Cruiser]

I use a non contact infrared thermometer (under $20 on ebay) to check the temp of the stones in between pizzas. In my experience the stones should be a touch less than 800* but I'm sure the ideal temp varies based on your dough and toppings. Still, being able to instantly and accurately temp the stones is key to getting the crust and toppings cooked at the same time.

[Dantheman]

anyone have tips for dealing with pistachio puree base? It usually burnt before the crust cooked all the way. Probably can be managed with different ratio in the puree (pistachios, olive oil, parmesan), but I don't know which direction to guess.

I'd try adding a little water to it, maybe go 50/50 olive oil/water and adjust from there. The water will have to evaporate before the nuts and parm will burn.

[caulfield]

noted on both temp and water, thanks. Stone was just over 800 in the middle, and I was staying in the cold corner to prevent the burn, sounds like I had that backwards

[Buke]

I make pizza at home once in a while. I have a 3/8" thick steel, which I put near the top of my wolf oven heated to 550. I get some weird issues. As you would expect with that big, thick steel in the oven, it takes forever to heat up to 550. The first pizza cooks pretty quickly (6-7 minutes) and comes out browned on the bottom and blistered on the top. After that, each successive pizza takes longer and longer. Last night, before putting the 5th pizza in, I turned the oven off and back on and it reported that the internal temperature was only 415 degrees, despite having been set to 550 for several hours. I gave it another 20 minutes to reheat before throwing the last pizza in and got much much better results (see photo below). The oven behaves as if it just gives up on trying to keep the oven temperature up but turning it off and back on resets the system and it tries to heat up again.

Anyone have any idea why the oven doesn't stay hot? I'm guessing that the problem really is just the large pizza steel throwing off the electronics that control the system but who knows.

[old goat]

I don't think there's anything unusual about what your oven is doing. It's not doing anything funny to keep it from reheating rapdily or completely, it's just reheating as fast as it can, which isn't that fast. What with opening the door to put the pizza in and again to take it out, multiplied by however pizzas you are making your oven is not powerful enough or well insulated enough to maintain the temperature close to 550 and to reheat to 550 rapidly between pizzas. The steel has a lot of mass--it loses a lot of heat to the pizza and reheating that mass between pizzas takes time as well. Residential ovens are not designed to preheat and reheat quickly (or to reach the temps a commercial pizza oven reaches. If making pizza for a group I would share the first pizza while the oven was reheating, then bake the second. Plan on dinner to be a slow drawn out affair. Or order from Domino's.

I haven't used an Ooni or the like, but isn't that a big part of the appeal, besides portability--the ability to make pizzas in relatively rapid succession?

[grskier]

I don't think there's anything unusual about what your oven is doing. It's not doing anything funny to keep it from reheating rapdily or completely, it's just reheating as fast as it can, which isn't that fast. What with opening the door to put the pizza in and again to take it out, multiplied by however pizzas you are making your oven is not powerful enough or well insulated enough to maintain the temperature close to 550 and to reheat to 550 rapidly between pizzas. The steel has a lot of mass--it loses a lot of heat to the pizza and reheating that mass between pizzas takes time as well. Residential ovens are not designed to preheat and reheat quickly (or to reach the temps a commercial pizza oven reaches. If making pizza for a group I would share the first pizza while the oven was reheating, then bake the second. Plan on dinner to be a slow drawn out affair. Or order from Domino's.

I haven't used an Ooni or the like, but isn't that a big part of the appeal, besides portability--the ability to make pizzas in relatively rapid succession?

reheat time is not too bad.. plus, if my stone is starting mid 800*... I can fire a pizza at 750* that'll just take another few seconds to cook or wait until fully back up.

[CantDog]

Some more GF pies, thin and thick crust pepperoni and then a pesto based pizza w pork belly, goat cheese and delicata squash.

Run out of the Caputo flour and had to use some almond flour for sliding the pies around—absolute trash. Need to try some of their other GF products.


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[bendtheski]

reheat time is not too bad.. plus, if my stone is starting mid 800*... I can fire a pizza at 750* that'll just take another few seconds to cook or wait until fully back up.

F’ing wind has been blowing mine out a lot lately, but otherwise gets back up to 800-1k by the time I’ve prepped pie #2.

Next week is National Telecommunicators Appreciation Week, so making a bunch of pies for staff. Will be sure to cross-post in Free Shift Meal.


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[Cruiser]

Ooni lovin'

[bendtheski]

Ooni lovin'

Like. The gas burner was worth every cent.


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[Cruiser]

I'm sure some folks achieve good consistent results with wood or charcoal but I can't imagine trying to assemble and cook multiple pies while also tending to a tiny fire in the oven. 20 minutes on high and the stones are cresting 800* with 0 fiddling.

[Mustonen]

I make pizza at home once in a while. I have a 3/8" thick steel, which I put near the top of my wolf oven heated to 550. I get some weird issues. As you would expect with that big, thick steel in the oven, it takes forever to heat up to 550. The first pizza cooks pretty quickly (6-7 minutes) and comes out browned on the bottom and blistered on the top. After that, each successive pizza takes longer and longer. Last night, before putting the 5th pizza in, I turned the oven off and back on and it reported that the internal temperature was only 415 degrees, despite having been set to 550 for several hours. I gave it another 20 minutes to reheat before throwing the last pizza in and got much much better results (see photo below). The oven behaves as if it just gives up on trying to keep the oven temperature up but turning it off and back on resets the system and it tries to heat up again.

Anyone have any idea why the oven doesn't stay hot? I'm guessing that the problem really is just the large pizza steel throwing off the electronics that control the system but who knows.

Or your oven control board is failing. Have been having similar issues with mine (not pizza related) that finally got bad enough that the control board is the obvious culprit. It will stop heating mid-cooking, turn itself off completely, and sometimes when I turn it on cold it tells me the preheat temp is already reached (lies!).

Not saying that’s it, but perhaps worth looking into.

[bendtheski]

^exactly. I’ll mess around more with wood when it’s warmer out. If it’s not windy, the gas burner will heat to 900F+ in about 20 min, even if outdoor temp is in the teens.

Charcoal has produced the most consistent heat besides gas, but seems like I need to add wood chips or pellets to get a good flame-over, and there’s a much narrower window of optimal firing conditions. Too soon, and the wood adds too much acrid smoke, too late and the bottom burns before the top browns.


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