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[Susan]

I just had Lou Malnati pizza last night (had it Fedx'd to Phoenix).  My husband and I are originally from Chicago and huge Lou fans.  I'm sure I tasted wine in the sauce and the tomatoes seem like a combination of stewed tomatoes and crushed.

On the cornmeal issue, a cousin who owns an italian deli said the cornmeal makes the crust crisper and is not for taste.  Hope this helps.

[Randy]

Susan how close in taste and looks was the one you FedX with the one at Lou's?

Randy

[Susan]

The pizzas Fedxd are exactly the same as the restaurant.  They come par baked (partially cooked), then you thaw for 2 hours in the refrigerator and bake for 40 minutes in the oven.  That said, the pizzas we ate last weekend, one was delicious and one seemed mushy and tasteless.  This was the first time that has ever happened to us and I contacted Lou Malnati's about it and they are sending me another to arrive tomorrow.  

I haven't tried any of the crust recipes posted I want to make it to test against the genuine Lou's pizza.  I'll let you know.

[dankfoot]

DKM,

I have a question. So do you not use the recipe that is under pizzamaking.com front page "DKM's Chicago Style Pizza" ?

Has it changed since then? I made your dough last night using that recipe. Also, where did every one find a 15' deep dish pan? I went every where looking one then I finally talked a Pizza Hut guy out of a 14' inch.

[Pete-zza]

Dankfoot,

I recently bought a 12-inch deep-dish pan from http://www.pizzatools.com.  Pizzatools also sells a 15-inch deep-dish pan.  The version I bought has the PSTK coating, which eliminates the need for seasoning.  While I haven't yet tried the pan, I have several other types of pans I bought from pizzatools with the same coating and I think they are great.   The biggest negative is their high price. Pizzatools has other deep-dish pans without the PSTK coating (e.g., aluminum) that are cheaper, in both nesting and stacking designs.  You should be careful to note the depth of the pans you look at. The sides come in different heights (depth) but it seems to me from what I have read on this site and elsewhere that you may want at least 1 1/2 inches and maybe even 2 inches or 2 1/4 inches (the size I have) for the deep-dish pans to allow sufficient room for expansion (upward) of the dough during baking.  

Another possibility is to consider using a pan with a removable bottom.  I know that Steve has one and used it recently to make DKM's deep-dish pizza.  The matter of removable bottoms has been discussed before in a thread at http://www.pizzamaking.com/yabbse/index.php?board=6;action=display;threadid=67.  You may want to take a look at the posts in that thread and some of the sources linked in the posts.  Having a removable bottom certainly makes it a great deal easier to remove a deep-dish pizza from its pan (as I discovered recently when I made the "lite" version of DKM's deep-dish pizza in a dark baking pan without a removable bottom), but the pan might not be effective for use in making pan pizzas or other pizzas that require a lot of oil under the pizza (unless you take additional steps to be sure that oil doesn't leak from the bottom).  

The biggest problem I have experienced with my deep-dish pizzas is getting them out of the pan without gouging or scratching the pan with a knife or other cutting/removal tool and without causing the fragile crust to crack.  DKM says it's in the wrist action, but I have yet to master it .

You may also want to do a search on this site, using the search feature, for additional information on deep-dish pans.    

Peter

[DKM]

DKM,

I have a question. So do you not use the recipe that is under pizzamaking.com front page "DKM's Chicago Style Pizza" ?

Has it changed since then? I made your dough last night using that recipe. Also, where did every one find a 15' deep dish pan? I went every where looking one then I finally talked a Pizza Hut guy out of a 14' inch.

I use the one on the website.  I got my 15" pan on e-bay I think.

DKM

[dankfoot]

Ok thanks,

Well I made my deep dish last night and it was very good. Lots of people enjoyed it and said it was very good.

[CHAD]

Hi there, I have just recently moved down to Florida from Chicago this past Christmas. And the pizza down here just plain sucks. I miss my lou's and Gino's. So thanks to this site I have found many different recipies to try out. Now I found this one on line as well, this guy claims to know the exact recipe for Lou's, Gino's, and Uno's and so on. The website is http://www.mailbag.com/users/jgrath/pizza.htm Now I baught this recipe and was wondering if one of you Pizza God's can try it out. Or possibly make it even better. I'm no pizza artist so I have know idea if it would be right or not. So here it is and let me know how it turns out....Thanks again......Chad.

Congratulations, you have just purchased the world
famous Chicago Deep Dish Pizza recipe. If you follow
the directions below you will enjoy the taste of the
world famous Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Please let us
know what you thought of our recipe. Enjoy....

PAPA GEORGIO’S CHICAGO-STYLE DEEP DISH PIZZA

For Two 12” Deep Dish pizzas. (Takes 3 hours with all
ingredients ready)
THE CRUST (You will need an electric mixer or a food
processor with a dough hook for this.)

1 Tbl. Sugar
2 cups tepid water (90 degrees F)
2 Packages dry yeast (Quick Rise)
½ cup salad oil (that is one half cup)
4 Tbl. Olive oil
½ cup yellow cornmeal (that is one half cup)
5 ½ LEVEL cups flour (dough should not be sticky or
“wet”) (5 and one half cups)

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water in the
mixing bowl for 5 minutes. Add the salad oil, the
olive oil, the cornmeal and 3 cups of the flour. Mix
about 3 minutes or until dough clings to hook and
cleans sides of bowl. Add Remaining 2 ½ cups of flour.
Knead another 2 minutes. (Or knead by hand on floured
surface until soft and elastic, but still slightly
sticky. Put the dough in a glass bowl and cover it
with a damp towel. Allow dough to rise until double in
bulk. While the dough is rising the first time,
prepare the tomato filling as directed below and let
sit. When the dough has doubled in size, punch down
and allow it to rise again. Punch down again. Divide
dough between the pans. Roll dough into two equal
balls and use rolling pin to roll out evenly to the
shape of the pan. Generously olive oil two 12” round
deep dish pizza pans OR three 9” cake pans. Sprinkle
some cornmeal on the bottom of the pans. Lay the dough
into the pan and push the dough to the edge. It is not
necessary to push it up the sides of the pan. Cover
the pan with a damp cloth and Let rise in pans 20
minutes, then add filling.

THE FILLING

2 lb. Grated mozzarella cheese
2 28 oz. Cans of plum tomatoes, coarsely crushed
(Progresso Crushed with Puree) DRAIN!!!
2 tsp. Basil
2 tsp. Oregano
2 Tbl. sugar
5 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
1/4 tsp. Salt and pepper
Grated parmesan cheese

Make the tomato filling by combining the DRAINED
tomatoes, basil, oregano, sugar, garlic, salt and
pepper. After the dough has risen in the pan for 20
minutes BRUSH THE EDGES WITH OLIVE OIL, layer the
mozzarella cheese all over the bottom of the pies.
Next, add the tomato filling. Now, add any toppings.
Liberally sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and
drizzle olive oil on the top.

Bake the pizzas in a Preheated 475 degree F oven for
35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden and gooey
and the crust is a light golden brown. Remove from
oven and let the pizzas cool for 20 minutes before
eating.

[buzz]

Chad--

I bought this, too, about 5 years ago. if you make it this way, it comes out very bready, which is not what Chicago deep dish is all about. Read through the various posts and start experimenting!

[IlliniPizza]

I know this is a pretty old topic, but I have had Lou Malnati's on the brain lately.

I finally got around to trying the Lou Malnati's recipe that the foodnetwork posted on their site.  I thought it was very good, but its not Lou Malnati's.  I found the taste to more closely match that of Connie's Deep Dish, which I also like very much.  Connie's uses Olive Oil and tends to have a light airy, but not bready texture. 

Lou Malnati's has a very greasy, crispy texture.  At the restaurant Oil is present in the pan when they bring it to the table.  I taste the presence of butter and Crisco in the pizza.  But everytime I use crisco to coat the pan, the pan comes out dry, not oily.  I read that Lou Malnati derived his recipe from Ike Sewell's Uno's Recipe.  I picked up a Authentic Uno's Pizza at the local grocery store, and the directions said to oil the pan with Canola Oil before baking.  Lou Malnati's oily texture reminds me of Vegetable Oil, but I can't say for sure. 

Lou Malnati's uses a sausage patty over their entire pizza.  Its on top of the cheese, but how much of the oil in the pizza do you think comes from the sausage? 

I have found the Chicago Style Sausage recipe in the recipe section of this website to be very good, but does anyone have any other Chicago Style sausage recipes out there?

I think the foodnetwork recipe is close on texture.  I think by exchanging Oils in the recipe and maybe the quantity of the oils we would be right on. 

I went to the Taste of Chicago, in early July.  I grabbed up 3 slices of deep dish from various vendors and ate them side by side.  One thing I notice is that all Chicago deep dish has a distinctly yeasty flavor too it.  In my opinion I don't think Deep dish gains anything from a 24hr. refrigerated proof.  I personally use a 4 - 8hr. room temp. rise.  Would anyone agree with this?

I was at Uno's (the real one on Ohio St.) a couple of month's ago.  Its definitely not my favorite.  It was so yeasty it would almost knock you down.  It tasted like some one had dropped the doughball behind a radiator for 8 hrs.

[buzz]

I don't like either Uno's or Lou's because of the greasiness. They do taste like they use some kind of shortening, but this may not be the case--it could be just loads of cheap oil. I think--and it's been a while, so don't hold me to this--I duplicated their taste once by using Crisco and letting the bread machine knead the dough. This is obviously a very long knead, so the result will be bready and not biscuit-like, but I seem to remember that the result was that greasy taste. But Chicago deep dish is biscuit-like, so that precludes a long knead which promotes gluten formation, which turns it into bread.

 So lots of oil and a short knead--probably. I believe that all these places grease their pans with gobs of margarine (Giordano's does, anyway). My last trial with Crisco and oil turned out to be much more like Giordano's than any others-- but it wasn't greasy at all (and I used lots of Crisco). Maybe if you kneaded the dough for around 4 minutes or so it would come out more like Uno's/Malnati's--it's worth a try, if you fel like experimenting!

I've seen the Uno's deep dish at the grocery store, but haven't tried it yet, having been burned by Connie's frozen pizza, which doesn't taste even remotely like a Connie's pizza. Does it taste like Uno's?

As for Connie's, I know it's made with all olive oil, but I haven't been able to crack it yet! It's a bit more crispy, having almost  'fried" taste, which would indicate lots of oil (or oil in the pan).

[Randy]

Take a look at the pizza hut pan pizza recipe on the recipe page.  It adds a 1/2 cup of oil to a 14" pan to get that crispy crust.  Lou's may add more oil to the pan than you think.


Randy

[IlliniPizza]

The grocery store I shop at carries 2 types of uno's.  The generic chain restaurant frozen variety.  I had one of these at O'Hare Airport once.  No Thanks!  I believe they are made by a food distributor out in the suburbs.  My grocery also sells an Authentic Uno's Pizza.  Its a little pricier, and claims to be made at the real Uno's restaurant.  It has a picture of the Ohio St. Location on a white cardboard box.  Unless the box says Fedex on it, I am suspect.  I just picked up the box, and read the ingredients list, and directions and put it back.  I'm not a fan of Uno's anyway.

I am not a fan of a real greasy pizza either.  That's why I make a strong distinction between Giordano's and other pizza restaurants in Chicago.     But once in a while I start craving a oily, cheesy, tomatoe mess.  Lou's it is (in small quantities).  The difference between Uno's and Lou's for me is, Uno's tends to have a bready texture too me.  Its like they add too much oil and instead of the crust getting crisp it gets a little soggy.  Overall the ingredients don't blend well for me.  I think of Lou's like a layer cake.  You bite into a slice of Lou Malnati pizza the first thing you taste is sweet, wet, almost cold to the tongue whole peeled tomatoes, torn into pieces, no spices whatsoever as far as I can tell.  Next you taste the barely cooked, spicy Chicago style sausage patty.  Then, you taste the greasy crispy crust.  Sweet, Spicy, Greasy.  That's it in a nutshell.

I concede one thing to Uno's they have the better decors, I love the little buildings that Uno's & Due have.  Lou Malnati's in Elk Grove looks like a hunting lodge, they have a moose head, and stuffed pheasants in a all wood interior.  Hardly pizzeria like.

This brings me to the cornmeal debate.  I have made the pizza hut recipe.  It may be the difference between flours or knead time, but the crispiness is different.  I compare the texture of Lou Malnati's Crust to cornbread.  It is a strong crust, you can pick up a pretty big slice and eat it with your hands.  But if you break off a piece, the texture and crunch is more like southern cornbread, not the cake variety, that many restaurants serve.  I do believe that their is cornmeal in the crust.  I don't know if its added to the dough, or if its added to the pan, and the oil bonds it to the crust. 

For a dollar more they you can get a butter crust.  I'm guessing they just add butter to the pan.

A friend of mine makes a pizza.  He rolls the wet finished dough ball in cornmeal, and when it cooks it blisters the crust, leaving almost like pimples on the outer crust. 

As for frozen pizzas, I love pizza.  Some days I will even settle for a Jacks or Tony's.  Connies is OK, I like their sauce.  Frozen, their pizza doesn't stand up.  The only frozen pizza I really think exemplifies a chicago deep dish pizza is one put out by Home Run Inn.  Its call Perino's Deep Dish.  It has Whole Peeled Tomatoes covered in Basil & Oregano, Authentic Chicago Style Sausage.  Crust leaves alot to be desired, baking powder, I'm guessing.  But the toppings make up for it.   

I am going to play around with the oils a little and see what I come up with.  Maybe look at a few southern cornbread recipes for inspiration. 

[buzz]

The Uno's frozen is probably like the Connie's frozen--they hire some huge company to make an inferior pizza and then slap their name on the box. I'll have to try the Perino's.

Illini--have you tried Leonardo's frozen? It's a Naperville pizza place that has now changed hands, but the deep dish is still available at the Jewel in the suburbs.

The last time I had Malnati's, it was so greasy I couldn't eat it.

[DKM]

I have a Malnati's recipe (not the Foodnetwork one) whisch is almost the same as my Unos.  I'll see if I can find them.

DKM

[CHAD]

IS IT THE FIRST OR SECOND RECIPE YOU POSTED ON THE FIRST PAGE? OR HAVE YOU PERFECTED ANOTHER ONE? IF SO I'D LOVE TO TRY IT!! BOY I SURE MISS MY LOU'S!!!

[IlliniPizza]

This weekend I am thinking about using DKM's Deep Dish recipe, but exchanging the Canola Oil for Vegetable Oil, Lathering the pan with Crisco & Butter, and using a 1-2 min. Knead time for the dough.

I have a feeling it will get us close to Lou's

For Sauce I will use Whole Peeled Plum Tomatoes crushed by hand.  No spices.

[CHAD]

Hello to my fellow pizza gods. I'm finally going to order some 6-in-1 tomatoes for the Lou's pizza I'm going to try and make. Which kind should I order? Peeled or unpeeled? Or another type of 6-in1? I hear that the secret is in the sauce when you make a chicago style pizza like Lou's, Gino's, or Uno's. What do I need to add to the tomatoes? Spices and such. Do I need to drain them? Or just scoop them right out of the can? And one more question. If I can remember correctly, Lou's sausage was a patty that covered the whole bottom of the pizza. Has anyone tried this? Or should I just stick with the basic pieces? Do I have to cook the sausage first before I put it in the pizza? I apologize for all of the questions, I'm just wanna try and make the best pizza I can. With all of your guys help that is...Thanks again guys.................Chad.

[Steve]

Hello to my fellow pizza gods. I'm finally going to order some 6-in-1 tomatoes for the Lou's pizza I'm going to try and make. Which kind should I order? Peeled or unpeeled? Or another type of 6-in1? I hear that the secret is in the sauce when you make a chicago style pizza like Lou's, Gino's, or Uno's. What do I need to add to the tomatoes? Spices and such. Do I need to drain them? Or just scoop them right out of the can? And one more question. If I can remember correctly, Lou's sausage was a patty that covered the whole bottom of the pizza. Has anyone tried this? Or should I just stick with the basic pieces? Do I have to cook the sausage first before I put it in the pizza? I apologize for all of the questions, I'm just wanna try and make the best pizza I can. With all of your guys help that is...Thanks again guys.................Chad.

I use the unpeeled. And, I only add some basic ingredients to my sauce. Fresh basil. Fresh minced garlic. That's about all. Add ingredients directly to the can (DO NOT COOK OR DRAIN), mix, then spread on the pizza.

[Pete-zza]

I have found when using vegetables like sauteed green peppers, onions and mushrooms in a deep-dish pie that it helps to drain the tomatoes (I use the 6-in-1s unpeeled with puree) to remove a bit of the liquid since the vegetables give off some liquid during baking. I add Penzeys pizza seasoning to the tomatoes as well as fresh garlic, some basil if I have it fresh, and a bit of added dry red pepper flakes. When using sausage, I cook it to the pink stage and drain the fat, at the cost of giving up some flavor. If you are using pepperoni slices and you also want to reduce the fat content of the pie, you can precook the pepperoni slices in the microwave between sheets of paper towels--but only for a few seconds since they heat up really fast. If you go too far you will end up with pepperoni crisps. They are actually quite tasty, but not what you want in a pizza. If'd you'd like, you can add a bit of non-saturated fat (e.g., canola or olive oil) to the sauce to make up for what you give up in saturated fats.

Peter