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Pizza Obsession

GOHOX69

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Sep 26, 2009
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Anyone else obsessed making pizzas? Most of you know I am a scientist and I think that is a terrible profession for the kitchen. I am also OCD and a variety of other things. So lately I've been learning to make different pizza styles. I finally mastered NYC style for the home oven. Anyone want recipes, hit me up. Next is a clone of my childhood favorite, Rocky Rococo's, which is basically a Sicilian Pizza. Don't worry @torbee this summer, the qca is on the list. Ordered my malt from amazon!

So fellow pizza freaks, post away.
 
Anyone else obsessed making pizzas? Most of you know I am a scientist and I think that is a terrible profession for the kitchen. I am also OCD and a variety of other things. So lately I've been learning to make different pizza styles. I finally mastered NYC style for the home oven. Anyone want recipes, hit me up. Next is a clone of my childhood favorite, Rocky Rococo's, which is basically a Sicilian Pizza. Don't worry @torbee this summer, the qca is on the list. Ordered my malt from amazon!

So fellow pizza freaks, post away.
I have dabbled over the years and made some decent ones, but the dough recipe was some basic thing I got from a google search. I have been watching Finding Italy with Stanley Tucci, and this has me wanting to start up with it again. I would love to read your recipes, techniques, etc.
 
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Ok here's the NYC Pizza. Couple of caveats. A seasoned pizza steel will outperform a pizza stone any day of the week, so get one from the Zon. Clean and season it as you would a cast iron pan. It will last forever. Put pizza steel in oven and crank it on 500 to 550F for one hour. Resist the temptation to keep opening the door. The dough recipe follows. Use all purpose flour if you like a more floppy slice. Use bread flour if you like less flop. Quantities remain the same. I've adapted this from John Arena, who was instrumental in the NYC pizza scene in the 60's and 70's. If you use a pizza stone you will get nice leopard spots on the underside, which Davey Pageviews on Barstool sports creams his pants for. Here's the dough.

Oh yea, don't be cheap and get a freaking scale. A cup of this etc means nothing. Add your dry ingredients, then water, then mix at stir speed on your kitchen aid for 4 min. Add the oil, mix for 4 more min. Dough should be nice and uniform. Place in covered container in your fridge for 2 days. Never make pizza from freshly proofed dough. It will taste bland. When you cold proof things, not only do they ferment, you create short chain amino acids etc that give you that umami flavor. So let it go for 48 hrs.

At the end of that time frame, remove your dough ball and using scale, subdivide into 2. Make sure the balls are taut (like your testes) and put them in a covered container or they will develop a skin. Go get a beer and crank up the oven for at least an hour with your steel in it. I use the top rack. Your oven might be different.

Take your dough ball after about 3 hours at room temp and stretch it. Most will do a horrid job of this but there are youtube videos. Flour both sides well and use your fingers and light pressure. This is a very forgiving dough and you can stretch and toss it quite easily. Hell if I can do it, so can you. I am inept but I was whirring this puppy like a frisbee.

When you have a nice round disc, put it on a pizza peel that has flour or corn meal on it. Add toppings. I make it traditional so just sauce and moz cheese. Do not use fresh moz and do notuse shredded crap. It will either run watery or burn. Buy brick moz or moz from the deli and use that. Slices are just fine.

Lots of people make their so-called own sauce. I think that is dumb. I finally found a sauce that is thick, delicious and requires no modification and is cost effective and hell its from NJ. Bada bing.

The brand is Don Pepino. It's on the zon.

If you are putting pepperoni, put it on top of cheese. Whatever you do, don't make it superheavy. It won't come off the peel. Put that sucker in the oven and every 10 min, rotate it by 90 degrees. Depending on your oven it should be done in about 15 min tops. If you have an outdoor oven, even less.

For 2 16 inch pizzas
Percentages
607.518​
gramsFlour
60.15%​
376.6625​
gramsWater
37.29%​
1.518795​
gramsDry Yeast
0.15%​
12.15036​
gramsSalt
1.20%​
12.15036​
gramsOlive Oil
1.20%​
1010​
TotalDry Yeast Version
 
I enjoy pizza making too, I like to try new dough and sauces. Unfortunately my family is picky so the toppings aren’t too wild.

the preference here is thin crust so I ought to go that direction.

now that’s it warning up I’ll do some pizzas on the grill. My neighbor build his own outdoor wood burning pizza oven but I haven’t reached that level.
 
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Anyone else obsessed making pizzas? Most of you know I am a scientist and I think that is a terrible profession for the kitchen. I am also OCD and a variety of other things. So lately I've been learning to make different pizza styles. I finally mastered NYC style for the home oven. Anyone want recipes, hit me up. Next is a clone of my childhood favorite, Rocky Rococo's, which is basically a Sicilian Pizza. Don't worry @torbee this summer, the qca is on the list. Ordered my malt from amazon!

So fellow pizza freaks, post away.
For me, the most important parts of any pizza is the crust and the sauce. I'd be thrilled to hear what you're doing for both of those components.
 
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I enjoy pizza making too, I like to try new dough and sauces. Unfortunately my family is picky so the toppings aren’t too wild.

the preference here is thin crust so I ought to go that direction.

now that’s it warning up I’ll do some pizzas on the grill. My neighbor build his own outdoor wood burning pizza oven but I haven’t reached that level.

Eagle Court?
 
I love making my own pies, but haven’t done it much the last 5-6 years (diet). When we have “make your own pizza days” with the kids, we usually take the easy way out with pre-made crusts and store bought sauce and toppings. Papa Murphy’s will sell you one of their crusts for a few bucks and that works pretty well. There are tons of good sauce recipes out there, just gotta find one you like. Totally agree about using quality cheese. Most delis will slice you mozzarella and is actually close to the same price as the pre-shredded bagged crap.
 
it is unfortunate that the best pizza dough making processes consume a lot of time in terms of multiple rises and stuff. this sicilian recipe is somewhat simpler but still very good. be sure to use a good cast iron or steel pan of substantial gauge.
 
We usually use this dough http://www.sodiumoptional.com/barbecue-chicken-pizza/ on a sheet pan

Eyeball the typical sauce ingredients into no sodium tomato sauce, make a no sodium added pork italian sausage, and use fresh mozzarella rather than shredded.

It probably turns out to be as healthy of a pizza as you're going to find while still getting a nice crust/sauce/flavor
 
Anyone else obsessed making pizzas? Most of you know I am a scientist and I think that is a terrible profession for the kitchen. I am also OCD and a variety of other things. So lately I've been learning to make different pizza styles. I finally mastered NYC style for the home oven. Anyone want recipes, hit me up. Next is a clone of my childhood favorite, Rocky Rococo's, which is basically a Sicilian Pizza. Don't worry @torbee this summer, the qca is on the list. Ordered my malt from amazon!

So fellow pizza freaks, post away.
Rocky Rococo recipe if you have it...because I can only get it when I go to Wisconsin. I literally didn't have it for 25 years until about a year ego in New Berlin. Thanks a ton!
 
Anyone else obsessed making pizzas? Most of you know I am a scientist and I think that is a terrible profession for the kitchen. I am also OCD and a variety of other things. So lately I've been learning to make different pizza styles. I finally mastered NYC style for the home oven. Anyone want recipes, hit me up. Next is a clone of my childhood favorite, Rocky Rococo's, which is basically a Sicilian Pizza. Don't worry @torbee this summer, the qca is on the list. Ordered my malt from amazon!

So fellow pizza freaks, post away.
Cheesesteak Pizza
Cheeseburger Pizza
Meatball Pizza
Ground Beef Pizza

Anything made with cow, actually, are the best.
 
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Rocky Rococo recipe if you have it...because I can only get it when I go to Wisconsin. I literally didn't have it for 25 years until about a year ego in New Berlin. Thanks a ton!
I am close to cloning that one. I'll post in the next week or so :)
 
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Ok here's the NYC Pizza. Couple of caveats. A seasoned pizza steel will outperform a pizza stone any day of the week, so get one from the Zon. Clean and season it as you would a cast iron pan. It will last forever. Put pizza steel in oven and crank it on 500 to 550F for one hour. Resist the temptation to keep opening the door. The dough recipe follows. Use all purpose flour if you like a more floppy slice. Use bread flour if you like less flop. Quantities remain the same. I've adapted this from John Arena, who was instrumental in the NYC pizza scene in the 60's and 70's. If you use a pizza stone you will get nice leopard spots on the underside, which Davey Pageviews on Barstool sports creams his pants for. Here's the dough.

Oh yea, don't be cheap and get a freaking scale. A cup of this etc means nothing. Add your dry ingredients, then water, then mix at stir speed on your kitchen aid for 4 min. Add the oil, mix for 4 more min. Dough should be nice and uniform. Place in covered container in your fridge for 2 days. Never make pizza from freshly proofed dough. It will taste bland. When you cold proof things, not only do they ferment, you create short chain amino acids etc that give you that umami flavor. So let it go for 48 hrs.

At the end of that time frame, remove your dough ball and using scale, subdivide into 2. Make sure the balls are taut (like your testes) and put them in a covered container or they will develop a skin. Go get a beer and crank up the oven for at least an hour with your steel in it. I use the top rack. Your oven might be different.

Take your dough ball after about 3 hours at room temp and stretch it. Most will do a horrid job of this but there are youtube videos. Flour both sides well and use your fingers and light pressure. This is a very forgiving dough and you can stretch and toss it quite easily. Hell if I can do it, so can you. I am inept but I was whirring this puppy like a frisbee.

When you have a nice round disc, put it on a pizza peel that has flour or corn meal on it. Add toppings. I make it traditional so just sauce and moz cheese. Do not use fresh moz and do notuse shredded crap. It will either run watery or burn. Buy brick moz or moz from the deli and use that. Slices are just fine.

Lots of people make their so-called own sauce. I think that is dumb. I finally found a sauce that is thick, delicious and requires no modification and is cost effective and hell its from NJ. Bada bing.

The brand is Don Pepino. It's on the zon.

If you are putting pepperoni, put it on top of cheese. Whatever you do, don't make it superheavy. It won't come off the peel. Put that sucker in the oven and every 10 min, rotate it by 90 degrees. Depending on your oven it should be done in about 15 min tops. If you have an outdoor oven, even less.

For 2 16 inch pizzas
Percentages
607.518​
gramsFlour
60.15%​
376.6625​
gramsWater
37.29%​
1.518795​
gramsDry Yeast
0.15%​
12.15036​
gramsSalt
1.20%​
12.15036​
gramsOlive Oil
1.20%​
1010​
TotalDry Yeast Version
Thanks Tribe.
 
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Anyone else obsessed making pizzas? Most of you know I am a scientist and I think that is a terrible profession for the kitchen. I am also OCD and a variety of other things. So lately I've been learning to make different pizza styles. I finally mastered NYC style for the home oven. Anyone want recipes, hit me up. Next is a clone of my childhood favorite, Rocky Rococo's, which is basically a Sicilian Pizza. Don't worry @torbee this summer, the qca is on the list. Ordered my malt from amazon!

So fellow pizza freaks, post away.
I haven't had the success you have but like you, I'm a tough critic. The recipe I used is from one of NYC's best pizza's (Roberta's) and is also on the NYT recipe page. I wish my oven could get up to 1000+ degrees. It would make it much easier.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016231-pizza-margherita?action=click&module=Collection Page Recipe Card&region=Our Greatest Pizza Recipes&pgType=collection&rank=1

It's really all about the dough.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough
 
So as I am waiting for my Rocky's sauce, I thought I would clone the "Lou" of Lou Malnati's fame in Chicago. Simple enough pie, flaky, crispy, chicago kind of style but missing the upper dough layer of Giordanos or Ginos East or Pizzeria Uno. I'll bake em off Sunday and post recipe here later. Who likes Lou Malnatis? I've had it and I do like its lightness.
 
So as I am waiting for my Rocky's sauce, I thought I would clone the "Lou" of Lou Malnati's fame in Chicago. Simple enough pie, flaky, crispy, chicago kind of style but missing the upper dough layer of Giordanos or Ginos East or Pizzeria Uno. I'll bake em off Sunday and post recipe here later. Who likes Lou Malnatis? I've had it and I do like its lightness.

Got into pizza making a while back, haven't done it recently. Spent a lot of time on https://www.pizzamaking.com/

Like you identified, crust is the trickiest. Good fermentation is key. I spent most of my time making chicago style as NY style is a lot harder to pull off. Also don't readily have high gluten flower (want more than typical bread flour) in grocery stores. With Chicago you can use simple AP flour.

Couple more things I discovered:
1. Full fat (whole milk) mozzarella is what is needed for cheese.
2. You can make awesome at home red sauce. You need to use San Marzano tomatoes, and you have to stew them in a bit of fat until they break down. (2 or 3 hours) Then add your salt/herbs. You can find cans of them imported at most grocery stores.
 
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What’s funny? Pizza is overrated, I’d rather have most other things.

giphy.gif
 
I haven't had the success you have but like you, I'm a tough critic. The recipe I used is from one of NYC's best pizza's (Roberta's) and is also on the NYT recipe page. I wish my oven could get up to 1000+ degrees. It would make it much easier.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016231-pizza-margherita?action=click&module=Collection Page Recipe Card&region=Our Greatest Pizza Recipes&pgType=collection&rank=1

It's really all about the dough.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough

That’s the recipe I use, it’s pretty damn good if done right. All about the dough is absolutely right. Letting it cold rise over a few days makes a huge difference.

I recently ordered a big deep dish pan to make pan pizzas with. I made some dough today over lunch and we are trying it out Friday night. Fingers crossed.
 
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That’s the recipe I use, it’s pretty damn good if done right. All about the dough is absolutely right. Letting it cold rise over a few days makes a huge difference.

I recently ordered a big deep dish pan to make pan pizzas with. I made some dough today over lunch and we are trying it out Friday night. Fingers crossed.
Trickiest part of the deep dish, IMO, was making sure the dough is of the right thickness in relation to toppings.
 
If you folks make a good pizza, please post a photo. I love burgers but to say the za is overrated is just plain ignorant.
 
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