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Author Topic: Pizza Fatta en Casa  (Read 53459 times)

Offline bluesman

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #90 on: November 07, 2010, 02:51:56 pm »
I think if you start with a nice round ball of dough it's easier to get a rounder pie.
Although the shape isn't as important as the taste and the texture of the dough IMO.
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Offline Pawtucket Patriot

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #91 on: November 07, 2010, 05:49:16 pm »
Whatever the pros and cons of using a screen in the commercial context, I don't think they necessarily translate to making pizza at home.  I can think of at least two good reasons to use a screen at home.  First, it's a helpful guide for stretching your pizza to the proper diameter.  It also helps keep a nice round shape.  However, I've made probably in excess of 50 NY-style pies in the past year and have gotten really good at stretching my dough.  So, I don't necessarily use a screen for shaping purposes (incidentally, while the shape isn't as important as the taste/texture, there's nothing wrong with being able to make a nice round, visually attractive pizza at home -- wonkier doesn't = better as a matter of course  ;)).

The second reason -- the biggest reason for why I personally use a screen -- is that it makes it possible to evenly cook the pizza to the proper doneness.  Consider that the height of most professional pizza ovens (e.g., Baker's Pride) is probably less than half the height of your average home oven.  This allows commercial pizzas to cook incredibly evenly.  Cooking a NY-style pie that evenly just isn't possible in a home oven (at least as far as I've discovered).  But I can achieve an evenness similar to commercial pizza joints if I start the pizza on the center rack of my oven (on a screen so the dough doesn't fall through the rack), then slide it off the screen and onto the hot stone on the bottom rack (when the crust is cooked enough), and, finally, finish it under the broiler to finish cooking the toppings.  
« Last Edit: November 07, 2010, 05:51:22 pm by Pawtucket Patriot »
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #92 on: November 07, 2010, 07:17:29 pm »
The second reason -- the biggest reason for why I personally use a screen -- is that it makes it possible to evenly cook the pizza to the proper doneness.  Consider that the height of most professional pizza ovens (e.g., Baker's Pride) is probably less than half the height of your average home oven.  This allows commercial pizzas to cook incredibly evenly.  Cooking a NY-style pie that evenly just isn't possible in a home oven (at least as far as I've discovered).  But I can achieve an evenness similar to commercial pizza joints if I start the pizza on the center rack of my oven (on a screen so the dough doesn't fall through the rack), then slide it off the screen and onto the hot stone on the bottom rack (when the crust is cooked enough), and, finally, finish it under the broiler to finish cooking the toppings.  
That's an awful lot of moving the pizza around.  Have you considered putting some tiles or another stone on the center rack and then just putting it on the stone on the bottom to start?  Evenness hasn't been a problem for me.  Bouef.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline Pawtucket Patriot

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #93 on: November 08, 2010, 06:08:19 am »
It sounds like a lot of moving around, but I've done it so many times, it's second nature.  Do what works for you.  As the photo shows, this method works very well for me. ;)
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Offline bluesman

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #94 on: November 08, 2010, 08:01:00 am »
The second reason -- the biggest reason for why I personally use a screen -- is that it makes it possible to evenly cook the pizza to the proper doneness.  Consider that the height of most professional pizza ovens (e.g., Baker's Pride) is probably less than half the height of your average home oven.  This allows commercial pizzas to cook incredibly evenly.  Cooking a NY-style pie that evenly just isn't possible in a home oven (at least as far as I've discovered).  But I can achieve an evenness similar to commercial pizza joints if I start the pizza on the center rack of my oven (on a screen so the dough doesn't fall through the rack), then slide it off the screen and onto the hot stone on the bottom rack (when the crust is cooked enough), and, finally, finish it under the broiler to finish cooking the toppings.  
That's an awful lot of moving the pizza around.  Have you considered putting some tiles or another stone on the center rack and then just putting it on the stone on the bottom to start?  Evenness hasn't been a problem for me.  Bouef.

The bottleneck here is temperature.  Most home ovens will max out at 500F.  If I could get my oven to 600, I would be able to make a really fine NY Style pizza in one position but, we must adapt to that by moving it around the oven to get the desired end result as Matt has described. I use a very similiar method as Matt and get decent results.  Short of getting bricks laid in my oven I use a pizza stone which works fairly well.
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Offline flapjack

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #95 on: November 08, 2010, 09:59:05 am »
Here's a pic of a margherita pizza I made a while back. I live in Chicago and we have many styles of pizza. Thin, Pan, Deep Dish (what Lou Malnati's serves) & Stuffed (similar to a deep dish but with a layer of dough on top like a pie and then sauced). Do other areas of the U.S. have multiple styles as well? when I think of New York style I think of only the thin stuff, do they have any other types out there? Another pizza debate is the cutting of the pizza. In chicago we cut our thin pizzas in squares and in New York they do a pie shape cut.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2010, 06:05:37 pm by flapjack »
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #96 on: November 08, 2010, 10:15:53 am »
The bottleneck here is temperature.  Most home ovens will max out at 500F.  If I could get my oven to 600, I would be able to make a really fine NY Style pizza in one position but, we must adapt to that by moving it around the oven to get the desired end result as Matt has described. I use a very similiar method as Matt and get decent results.  Short of getting bricks laid in my oven I use a pizza stone which works fairly well.
The Scott's Pizza Tour guy gets over 500 degrees with a standard oven by funneling the heat with tiles and putting a layer on top.  Check out the video . . . toward the end he measures over 575 with an infrared thermometer.
http://www.economybites.tv/episodes/2010/10/episode-48-scotts-pizza-tour
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #97 on: November 08, 2010, 10:20:33 am »
Here's a pic of a margherita pizza I made a while back. I live in Chicago and we have many styles of pizza. Thin, Pan, Deep Dish (what Lou Malnati's serves) & Stuffed (similar to a deep dish but with a layer of dough on top like a pie and then sauced). Do other areas of the U.S. have multiple styles as well? when I think of New York style I think of only the thin stuff, do they have any other types out there? Another pizza debate is the cutting of the pizza. In chicago we cut our thin pizzas in squares and in New York they do a pie shape cut.

No pic . . .

We don't really have many different styles in terms of the crust, but the toppings are where the variation comes in.  Most of the pizza here is "thin crust" although none is really as thin as NY style.  There is some pan pizza.  It pretty much all gets get like slices of pie, with an exception or two I'm sure.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline redbeerman

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #98 on: November 08, 2010, 10:31:46 am »
I use a stone and am quite happy with the results.  I cook the pies at 500, although I believe my oven will go higher.  I'll have to look into it.
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Offline euge

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #99 on: November 08, 2010, 10:37:56 am »
There are some specialty places down here with brick ovens but the majority available seems to be the Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and Dominos style pizza. These type of pizzas look to me like they were designed by committee to satisfy "perceived" American tastes.

I don't order it anymore unless the peeps are clamoring for it at work.
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Offline jeffy

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #100 on: November 08, 2010, 10:44:27 am »
In Tampa there are a couple of local, independent Pizza shops that make both N.Y. thin crust and Chicago style pies, but we also have something else, which I just googled and found out it's name is Scachatta.  It's got a thick crust, usually has a ground meet topping with very little tomato sauce and I don't remember it having any cheese.  Generally served cold in squares.  I don't think I've seen it anywhere else, but I don't get out to Italian restaurants very often.  bouef
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Offline bluesman

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #101 on: November 08, 2010, 10:50:15 am »
Here's a classic example of "New York Style Pizza" from Lombardi's.



Note: This is not what a Pizza Hut or Domino's pizza looks like.
Not that I don't like a PH or Domino's pizza just very different pie.
Ron Price

Offline euge

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #102 on: November 08, 2010, 11:13:40 am »
^^^^That's something I strive for^^^^

I do deep dish sometimes but haven't hit on the right crust for it. Think one of ya'll posted the cornmeal recipe a few pages back. My regular crust is more akin to french bread, and sometimes I try to get it as thin as possible. I believe high-gluten flour is important for success with this type of dough/crust.

Plans now are for a deep dish also in the BGE. Sausage sounds good.
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Offline MrNate

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #103 on: November 08, 2010, 11:16:38 am »
We don't really have many different styles in terms of the crust, but the toppings are where the variation comes in.  Most of the pizza here is "thin crust" although none is really as thin as NY style.  There is some pan pizza.  It pretty much all gets get like slices of pie, with an exception or two I'm sure.

Do they cut it into 16 slices up there? I hated getting pizza out in CA when I was living there. I actually used to insist that they cut it into 8 slices at the one Papa John's. Ocho? Si, Ocho. No mas. Ocho.
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Pizza Fatta en Casa
« Reply #104 on: November 08, 2010, 11:22:39 am »
We don't really have many different styles in terms of the crust, but the toppings are where the variation comes in.  Most of the pizza here is "thin crust" although none is really as thin as NY style.  There is some pan pizza.  It pretty much all gets get like slices of pie, with an exception or two I'm sure.

Do they cut it into 16 slices up there? I hated getting pizza out in CA when I was living there. I actually used to insist that they cut it into 8 slices at the one Papa John's. Ocho? Si, Ocho. No mas. Ocho.
There's no rule - I've seen as few as four slices on a large pie  ;D  I see 6 or 8 commonly, but sometimes 12 or 16.  You might have to ask for 16, I usually only see that when someone orders pizza for a meeting or something.  That's the only time I see a round pie cut into "squares" too.
Tom Schmidlin