the progress of the regular Lehmann dough for market

[Chicago Bob]

Good to hear you dodged a big repair bullet(or worse) Norma.  Your refrigeration technician looks young enough to be paid with pizza's! 

[norma427]

Good to hear you dodged a big repair bullet(or worse) Norma.  Your refrigeration technician looks young enough to be paid with pizza's! 

I am also glad the fridge could be fixed.  The refrigeration technician talked to someone at headquarters a few times after he tested different stuff.  I am not sure how much my bill will be yet (probably in the 200.00-to 300.00 dollar range), but the young technician told me I wouldn’t be paying as much for him an hour than if they would had sent a more senior technician out to look at my fridge.  I didn’t know they were different levels of refrigeration technicians and from the same business and then you paid more by the hour for them.  The young technician told me he just graduated last August from learning to be a refrigeration technician.  The technician told me he works out in the cold a lot.  Today when the technician was at market it felt like 12 degrees F outside with all the wind and coldness.  I sure wouldn't want to work outside in those conditions as they were today.

Norma

[adletson]

I can say as a guy who worked outside in those kinda conditions when I was as young or younger than him, being paid in in hot pizza would have been warmly welcomed! 

[norma427]

I can say as a guy who worked outside in those kinda conditions when I was as young or younger than him, being paid in in hot pizza would have been warmly welcomed!  

adletson,

That young technician told me that in addition to working in really cold temperatures he also works in really hot temperatures (up to 155 degrees F) in the summer sometimes on roofs of supermarkets on their refrigeration equipment.  I don't see how they can stand those kind of temperature changes and I did ask him how he could work in so many different temperatures and all he said was you just keep working.

Norma

[norma427]

Well my friendly young refrigeration technician was at market again this morning to looked at my pizza prep fridge.  The other week (Friday) when the technician was there I thought my problems were fixed, but the following Tuesday when the food inspector came she said my pizza prep fridge was a little higher in temperature than it should be.  I thought what the heck is going on with that now and told the food inspector I just had the pizza prep fridge repaired a few days ago.  I then turned the dial down more and the temperature did go down.  Well this past Tuesday the temperature started going up again and my regular NY style dough balls almost fermented too much near the end of the day.  I knew I would need to call again for more repairs.  The refrigeration technician checked different things today and said maybe there was a small leak in the tubing somewhere and if there was maybe the refrigeration needed Freon or gas.  He checked and my number was only 10 when it should have been 20.  He said everything else appeared to be working well from the tests he did.  The technician said sometimes if there is a little leak somewhere it can take years for the problem to surface from Freon leaking out slowly and then temperature not staying steady after enough coolant leaked out, but there still is enough coolant for the fridge to start out at the right temperature when it is turned on.  After he put in more Freon or gas it is working and the temperature went back down to 33 degrees F on number 2 on the dial.  The technician had a special gauge he used to check if there were any leaks in the top and bottom of the fridge, but he couldn’t find any evidence of any leaks.  I left the fridge on and am going back over to market this afternoon to check on it.  Hopefully the problems are fixed now.

Maybe I should have tried to be some kind of technician in my former life.  At least by the tests they gave me in high school they said I was mechanically inclined, but I sure didn’t listen to those tests and ended up just being a pizza maker at my old age. 

Norma

[norma427]

Hopefully my pizza prep fridge is fixed now.  Another higher up technician called me back this morning and said he got my message that the pizza prep fridge still wasn’t working right.  I told him I couldn’t figure out what was wrong because on Monday the temperature stayed at the right temperature and even Tuesday morning the temperature was good, until I started opening and shutting the doors more on the pizza prep fridge.  I told the technician that the temperature then went up from there and stayed above where it should be.  The refrigeration technician asked me if he should come out and look at it again.  I first asked how much I owed so far because I had called last week and they there wasn’t a bill for the repairs yet.  I said I don’t want to spend more money on repairs than it would cost to purchase a new pizza prep fridge.  He looked at my bill so far and said it was about 205.00.  I said that wasn’t too bad.  The technician said his visit today would be included in that price unless there are more parts needed.  I said it would be okay to look at the pizza prep fridge again to see if it can be repaired.  I had looked at new pizza prep fridges recently and they sure aren’t cheap. 

The higher up technician put more gauges on my fridge and I asked him lots of questions.  I asked him if maybe it could be that my thermostat is bad and he said it could be that.  He checked for gas leaks again and couldn’t find any.  He then did some tests and said the thermostat wasn’t cycling off and on as fast as it should.  The technician did replace the thermostat and said that should fix the problem. 

I asked the technician how long he had to go to school to learn to be a technician.  I was surprised at his answer.  He said he didn’t go to school at all to be a refrigeration technician and just learned himself since he started working a place that made commercial dessert pies since the age of 14 in Lititz, Pa.  I got to talking to him about how frozen pies are made in a commercial environment and what he had to say was very interesting to me.  He talked about how everything went to being automated and how everything quickly went into blast freezers.  He said that when he started working there the pies were just baked there and then send elsewhere to be sold.  He told me that he had worked there for 25 years and so how automation took over and then they started making all the pies frozen instead of fresh.  I told him I was on a pizza making forum and knew something about how frozen pizzas are made, but didn’t know a lot.  He said he did go to Tony’s frozen pizza facility and helped them different times.  http://www.tonys.com/home.htm  I asked him more questions about that.  I then mentioned Tom Lehmann and the technician said he did meet Tom at AIB when the technician Tom and others were working on making pizza cones.  I thought what he told me about pizza cones was very interesting.  We talked about commercial dough enhancers and how they work and he told me sometimes when he was working in places that made frozen stuff how much those fumes from the dough enhancers stuck to him.  He was familiar with Caravan Ingredients.  He said he can’t believe that people want to purchase that frozen stuff.  He also talked about going to supermarkets to repair refrigeration things and how they all almost use frozen stuff to begin the bakes of many products.  The technician didn’t even know there was a fresh pizza stand at market and he comes to market many times during the year.  He said he is going to visit my stand someday when it is opened and try my pizzas.  At least I had an enjoyable conversation while my pizza prep fridge was being fixed and also learned some new things.  I was doing stuff to clean up and other stuff while we talked.  It took him about 3 hrs. to fix my pizza prep fridge.  The back and insides were taken apart this time.  At least I think this refrigeration repair company is being fair with me.

Norma

[norma427]

I forgot the pictures.

Norma

[Chicago Bob]

Norma,
 You are quite a gal....you should be a PR person for a big company, no joke.

                    "To be a PR person, I feel you need to posses a certain skill set that can be broken down into two categories: human skills and professional skills. Human skills include things such as patience and congeniality, while professional skills include the ability to speak publicly and write professionally."

Bob

[norma427]

Norma,
 You are quite a gal....you should be a PR person for a big company, no joke.

                    "To be a PR person, I feel you need to posses a certain skill set that can be broken down into two categories: human skills and professional skills. Human skills include things such as patience and congeniality, while professional skills include the ability to speak publicly and write professionally."

Bob

Bob,

Thanks for your kind words, but my grammar and usage is way off target here on the forum and really when I speak to someone in person.  I don’t have correct punctuation in my writing and you can ask Steve about my pronunciation a lot of the time.  I don’t carefully choose words and don’t know when to begin and end paragraphs when writing.  I just like to talk and find out what people know.  You can also ask Steve about that too. 

I do have patience most of the time.  I could never be a public speaker though.  I shuddered in high school when I had to get it and give a report in front of my classmates.  I am still the same if I don’t really know someone.  If I find someone has a common interest then I can go on and on.

Norma 

[Chicago Bob]

  I just like to talk and find out what people know. 

And that is a valuable gift....most people like to talk just to hear themselves talk. Believe me, I know talent when I see it.

OK, I'll leave you alone about this now....before you loose patience with me! 

Bob

[norma427]

This is what a pizza should not look like!    At least my pizza prep fridge worked fine today.

Norma

[Chicago Bob]

No way that was made by your loving hands Norma....  
Was Mr. Ev there today?  

[norma427]

No way that was made by your loving hands Norma....  
Was Mr. Ev there today?  

Bob,

Yes, that pizza was made with my hands.  Mr. Ev was there today too.  We both forgot the pizza was in the oven while we were talking.  

This one also got a little too brown too.  I don't have any pictures of the goods ones though.

Norma

[Johnny the Gent]

Sunday morning, 10:10 am, and so far I'm nearly halfway through this epic thread

Thanks for all the great info - I'm feeling inspired to mix up some dough with 15% durum flour. 

[norma427]

Sunday morning, 10:10 am, and so far I'm nearly halfway through this epic thread

Thanks for all the great info - I'm feeling inspired to mix up some dough with 15% durum flour.

Johnny the Gent,

Lol, that this thread made you feel inspired to mix some dough with 15% durum flour. 

Your pizzas always look great and I appreciate everything you have shared here on the forum.

Norma

[Johnny the Gent]

Norma, I'll tell you why I felt inspired  - you see, I'm rather limited in my flour selection, and have noticed that while aesthically some of my pies look "up to par", they leave something to be desired in terms of texture and flavor.  I have noticed that when using semolina and semola remacinata di grano duro, flavor improves a lot.  Some of these pies were made with 100% semolina/or 100% s.remacinata di grano duro.  I'm positive that with the addition of one or the other flavor will improve with my NY style pies.

Also I enjoyed the "lesson" about classic, pre 1970's NY pies - that were customarily made with lower protein flours, before the advent of high gluten flours.  Well, that's basically what I have available - low protein flours. It's been a bit of a challenge trying to get adequate coloration, much more so charring, with this type of flour. Having said that, I've come to accept my limitations.  I've also come to accept that I can try and follow many of the wonderful NY recipes on this forum, but adaptations will have to be made in order to get a decent result. 

At any rate, I learned some things thanks to this thread, and the back and forth between yourself and Peter is making for an interesting read.

Thanks for your kind words - cheers!

[norma427]

Norma, I'll tell you why I felt inspired  - you see, I'm rather limited in my flour selection, and have noticed that while aesthically some of my pies look "up to par", they leave something to be desired in terms of texture and flavor.  I have noticed that when using semolina and semola remacinata di grano duro, flavor improves a lot.  Some of these pies were made with 100% semolina/or 100% s.remacinata di grano duro.  I'm positive that with the addition of one or the other flavor will improve with my NY style pies.

Also I enjoyed the "lesson" about classic, pre 1970's NY pies - that were customarily made with lower protein flours, before the advent of high gluten flours.  Well, that's basically what I have available - low protein flours. It's been a bit of a challenge trying to get adequate coloration, much more so charring, with this type of flour. Having said that, I've come to accept my limitations.  I've also come to accept that I can try and follow many of the wonderful NY recipes on this forum, but adaptations will have to be made in order to get a decent result. 

At any rate, I learned some things thanks to this thread, and the back and forth between yourself and Peter is making for an interesting read.

Thanks for your kind words - cheers!

Johnny the Gent,

I understand why you are inspired since you are rather limited in your flour selections.

If Peter is on a thread explaining things it is always interesting, because he knows so much about different pizzas.   

If you want to look at another thread where JimmyG uses semolina and also Jim and I try the epoxy method, it is at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,19129.0.html  JimmyG is a very accomplished pizza maker.

I think there is also a lot of good information on my other thread about NY style pizza of awhile ago when I was doing experiments at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,17417.0.html

Best of luck to you!     I am always on the journey to make a better pizza.   

Norma

[Johnny the Gent]

Johnny the Gent,

I understand why you are inspired since you are rather limited in your flour selections.

If Peter is on a thread explaining things it is always interesting, because he knows so much about different pizzas.   

If you want to look at another thread where JimmyG uses semolina and also Jim and I try the epoxy method, it is at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,19129.0.html  JimmyG is a very accomplished pizza maker.

I think there is also a lot of good information on my other thread about NY style pizza of awhile ago when I was doing experiments at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,17417.0.html

Best of luck to you!     I am always on the journey to make a better pizza.   

Norma

Norma,

Agreed - Peter has done so much for so many people. What can I say, he's the man!

 Ahh, the journey! We're all on that journey, in one form or another .  Thanks for
providing the links- I'll definitely take a look!

[Polo1523]

Hello Norma,

I don't normally post that much in the Forum, but I read it all the time, my god your pies look fantastic everytime you post pics, I will follow your recipes and start posting pictures, I am building a wood fire oven will be ready on the next couple of days and will start doing experiments.   

[norma427]

Hello Norma,

I don't normally post that much in the Forum, but I read it all the time, my god your pies look fantastic everytime you post pics, I will follow your recipes and start posting pictures, I am building a wood fire oven will be ready on the next couple of days and will start doing experiments. 

Leo,

I appreciate you like my pizzas and also appreciate your kind comments. 

Your WFO looks really nice!    If you want to try out any of the formulations posted on this thread at a higher heat in your WFO you might need to drop the sugar from when I posted formulations with sugar.  Maybe also drop the oil some.  Also baking in a WFO and a deck oven are a lot different.  What temperatures do you expect to use in your WFO, or don’t you know what temperatures it might achieve?  Most members use OO flours in their WFO’s.

I have a friend Steve (Ev) here on the forum that did build his own WFO and also has a WFO in his old Airstream camper.  I have baked in Steve’s WFO’s different times.  Steve usually uses doughs without any sugar or oil when making pies in his WFO’s.  I think you might get better replies if you posted the picture of your WFO under another thread and then asked members what they would suggest for your oven. 

I am not saying that one of the formulations I used in this thread might not work, at lower WFO temperatures, but it would take some experimenting to know how long to let the pie stay on the oven floor and then dome it.  Steve does a NY style pizza and a Neapolitan pizza at the same higher oven temperature, but the NY style pizzas are tricky.

I look forward to you posting more and seeing your pizzas.

Norma