Pizza making. Your tips, tricks and traps.
 

I'm quite good at making pizzas. But certainly not very good. What are your tips, tricks and traps when making the perfect pizza?

Wife makes our crusts with her sourdough. It adds a very unique element to the pizza, and it's pretty awesome.

Aside from that, I have no special secrets...just white sauce instead of red for me.

The best pizza I ever made came from a Ooni Pro 16. Store bought dough, canned sauce, really good cheese.

I have always said the sauce and the cheese are the key. I use a Sicilian style sauce that I found online and then perfected. I always use a good quality mozzarella... NEVER the bag stuff. The crust I always go homemade and I use cornmeal. I always pre cook the crust just a bit before I add toppings. While adding toppings, I let my grill and stone come up to around 550 then it all goes back in.

The most important tip for making pizza at home:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1651884816.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/King-Arthur-Flour-Pizza-Flavor/dp/B00GCDPLC6/ref=asc_df_B00GCDPLC6?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80607997944581&hvnetw=o&hvq mt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid =pla-4584207577296780&th=1

Some excellent tips!!!

My friend Hamish has an outdoor wood fired pizza oven that he heats up to 400 Celsius (that's 750 F). Does a ciabatta dough, random toppings, loads it in with a big wooden paddle. Then he only cooks it for a couple of minutes. They are amazing.

I use bought, but good quality bases, good toppings, but they are definitely a poor cousin to Hamish's pizzas.

Type 00 flour, lots of gluten. After it raises let it age 3 days.

700 degree pizza stone.

After that? Nothing but crushed and drained tomatos with garlic and italian herbs, buffalo mozzarella, and peperoni and mushrooms. :)

Grill it...

2/3 mozzarella and 1/3 munster cheese is what we used, iirc.

Dough was beaten to sticky gluten mix in an industrial mixer 5-7am, weighed, cut, and folded up into rounds on a olive oil stainless sheet, placed into freezer to settle.
Take out a cold dough ball,
Squash it out in a circle,
Grip around the edges while rotating until a fat edge is made with a big lump in the middle,
Slap onto the flowered plastic countertop, push and rotate until a basic shape made, repeat any steps as necessary.
Toss and turn on both your knuckles while spinning. One guy could bounce the things on a single finger.

Ladle sauce in a circle and smooth out. Same with cheese.

Oven was 450 on stone. hot and fast. iirc

That's all I can remember atm.
It was a damn good detroit-based pizza company which served a fine product.
All their food was great.

cook bacon crisp, crumble on top of pizza prior to cooking

this will improve everything but a vegetarian pizza

acquaintance has a wood fired pizza oven in his backyard, which is pretty sweet, I have done them over mesquite on a weber kettle and had them turn out fantastic.

Less is more.

Here in New Zealand pizzas are "more, more, more" which ruins a pizza. Some of our (bought) pizzas are more like a quiche they are so loaded up with ingredients. I need to stop myself to keep the pizza as it should be.

Pizza steel in oven, heat with broiler for 1 hr.

Dough is sourdough starter fed, 3 days in fridge to ferment.

Good tomato, good mozz. Also like Rabe and sausage, and figs w/ prosciutto.

What didn't work: the pizza stone thing from Pampered Chef. I used it on grill one time and it split in half.

I've been up in Vermont visiting my mom... no laptop, and sketchy cell service...

For the last few years making a really good simple pizza margherita has been akin to Sisyphus... I make in my mind a perfect pizza... then the next one is a disaster.....

Anyhow: Less is more...

It takes at least 3 days to make the dough...00 flour (Caputo, Anna, King Arthur, Anson Mills)...yeast, salt, water... that's it.. Initial rise at room temp.. then at least 2 days in the fridge.. get the dough back to room temp before preparing the pizza..

Sauce: San Marzanos, hand crushed..

Cheese: Drained fresh Mozz. not the pre-shredded garbage...

Cooking: As hot and quick as possible...Over 700f if possible..it makes a difference..

Finishes: basil and olive oil.....grated grana padano, parm.......

To fancy it up: pesto....

I do have an oven I can get up to almost 900f... I got a gen 1 Ooni when they were offered on Kickstarter... It's crude compared to what they offer now... but it works...

Ooni

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1651962676.jpg

Basic


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1651962866.jpg

Ramp and Garlic scape pesto


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1651962866.jpg

Off the res... on this one

Roasted beets, balsamic caramelized onions...goat cheese


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1651963236.jpg

+1 for Typo 00 flour.

Damn you Tim. I haven't eaten and that looks amazing LOL

I kid of forgot a "Money Shot" LOL

You can see the sauce through the bottom of the dough


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1651964307.jpg

Sorry, I had to fix that for you! :)

LOL


I like the sound of these Ooni machines like Tim's. The gas one would suit me.

Mine too! I thought the first one was defective and tried another one - also broke.

I have switched to a big cast iron pizza pan for making pizza in the kitchen oven and on the grill.

Ooni-I have one. The 2nd gen one-during covid, their burners were out of stock so I used a high pressure burner from amazon (youtube has videos on this) and converted it for like 30 bucks. Its ok, but I don't like being limited to the 10 in pie. You also have to spin the pie or it cooks unevenly. Still, an ok oven to play with.

Type 00? I think its somewhat overrated. I can get a good pie out of normal KA, but I do prefer an Ankasarum/Electrolux DLX style spiral mixer.

This is a great piece on making Neapolitan pie at home-http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm-Jeff Varasano really goes down the pizza rabbit hole.

I hadn't made zaa in a few weeks so...

this dough was 70% hydration, a bit much...the dough was hard to handle...and I didn't have any basil

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1652370152.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1652370206.jpg


Are you guys putting the stone into a cold oven and letting it heat up as the oven preheats??

Also the stone you get from places like pampered chef are too thin.

Get a thicker stone..

https://www.californiapizzastones.com/pizza/stones/custom-cut-pizza-and-baking-stones.php

that crust looks surprisingly thick. Is that just around the crust, but thin in the center?

Just pick up the phone, and call Hideaway Pizza and order an ATW (around the world) . Go fetch the pizza and eat. They have a better pizza than I could make for 1/3 the cost of buying all the toppings.

I love my ooni oven as well. I’ve got a wood fired one, but I think I’m going to pick up a gas burner for the nights I want to do more than a few pies.

Like everyone has said, the crust and sauce are key. Use 00 flour and make sure it develops that glorious gluten!

Ooni has a great basic crust and sauce recipe on their app/website. Once I started making pizza at home, we rarely pick it up!

Yep, I got the OO flour.

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My stretching out the base needs more work LOL

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The following ones were a little better. I did them on a pizza stone on the Weber, but I had trouble getting it hot enough.

On a (possibly ethanol-aided) whim I bought a pizza steel. 14x16" and 1/4" thick. It's been seasoned a few times in the oven but perhaps tonight it will finally see battle in the gas grill. Those pizza-specific ovens look really cool, I'd love one, but I don't knead (heh) another deck-toy in the house.

And my trick is a slow cool fermentation on the dough. ....which means I'm late for tonight's pies.

RE: Pizza stone failure

YES - I would put mine in a cold oven, preheat, and heat soak before transferring to the grill. I still broke two of them.

I've cried those tears - and trying out a steel tonight. I'm a metallurgist so I'm pretty confident that I cannot break a 1/4" steel plate, but we'll see...

I feel like maybe you aren't trying hard enough then. As a metallurgist, you should be able to to it. It may require liquid N and some liquid hot magma, but I believe in you.

If you got the big bucks, you buy a pizza oven. For us po' Folke, you buy some Chef boy-r-dee pizza kits, make up the dough, let it rise, flour it up, spread it out, you can do the crust however the heck you want. Since my grand pappy was a full-blooded Italian from Salerno, he says keep it original with the colors of Italy's flag green white and red. Mozella, tomato sauce, and green peppers will do. Adding more makes less authentic. Truth be known, I digs the deep dish meat pizzas and the NY thin crusts, but no Can-Bac..bleech, and no friggen pineapples, yeccchhhe! LOL!http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1652458564.jpg

Some success guys!

I got a Ooni Kona 12.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1653638447.JPG

Mixed up the dough and the other bits.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1653638546.JPG

And made up the best pizza ever (EVER!) sure it's the vino speaking but it was very good.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1653638660.JPG

Had the urge for some Zaa... its been a week or two...

This one checked all the boxes... Tried 60% hydration...24 hour room temp ferment, 24 hour cold temp.. Divided the dough. froze some...shaped and brought a ball to room temp..

Cento organic San Marzanos... fresh smoked Mozz from a Salumeria down the road..

And got my Ooni screaming hot...like a freaking blast furnace

Cook time probably a minute...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1655856160.jpg

I have a little bush with those San Marzano tomatoes in my back yard right now, basil too, hmm

Looking good Tim.

I like doing Pizza Friday around here. My pizzas have got a little more elegant since I took those pics. And yes, the secret is to get the Ooni screaming hot. I'm still very much on a learning curve so I like the tips - thanks.

I need to get one of those Ooni pizza oven's!

Do any of you ever make Panzarotti's? One of my favourites.

If you have a weber, try the "Kettlepizza" attachment. I was doubtful, got mine as a gift, but it really works, especially if you use wood. Turns the weber into a pizza oven. I get mine to about 800F and it cooks the pizza in a couple minute Napoli style. Night and day compared to trying to do it on a base weber with coals.

What is wrong with you people? When you grill a pizza, GRILL it! Put it on the grill grates and let it go! If they're too far apart, get a cookie cooling rack, and put it on there. Freaking primadonnas with their stones and pizza ovens and Oonis and such...

But... It's more Italian to do it this way. It's important to be more Italian.