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[burn8]

I have only seen the raw dough problem when the top layer was too thick. A thin top layer cooks just fine at 400 degrees for me.

[chicagoboy]

I am a Giordano's regular and have no problem with the top crust.  I used buzz's recipie on page 1  for the crust and added a top thin layer and it turns out quite close to the real thing. 








Tell me what you all think

[IlliniPizza]

It may not be raw dough, it may be that your sauce is a little watery.  The first time I made Buzz's recipe, I just scooped 6-in-1 out of the can, and baked.  A little too soggy for my taste.  From then on I started draining my 6-in-1 with a double fine strainer.  The top crust has been perfect from then on.  Giordano's sauce seems quite thick to me, I'm betting they drain theirs as well.

Another reason may be that your top crust is too thick, Giordano's is barely noticeable.  I have noticed that the crust seems to puff quite a bit, for me the perfection is to roll the bottom crust using 1 1/2 cups flour, to about 12  - 13 inches so that it easily drapes over a 9x2 pan.  The top crust I roll thinner, usually 11inches using 1 cup of flour.

 

[itsinthesauce]

looks great! What type of pan did you use?

[burn8]

And what temp for the oven? Your crust browned beautifully.

-Allan

[chicagoboy]

I used a round kitchen-aid cake pan (from tj-maxx for about $7) 9" non-stick and it works beautifully!  Seasoning non-stick pans is futile,  nothing ever sticks!  Cook the pizza @ 425 for 25 minutes give or take a few minutes depending on your oven. 

One question for anyone:

Do you all use shredded or sliced cheese and how thick does the cheese layer have to be.  Thanx.   

[burn8]

I use shredded and so do all of my favorite shops.

-Allan

[itsinthesauce]

On deep dish, I use sliced just because it's easier, but on thin I use shredded.

[lilbuddypizza]

It may not be raw dough, it may be that your sauce is a little watery.  The first time I made Buzz's recipe, I just scooped 6-in-1 out of the can, and baked.  A little too soggy for my taste.  From then on I started draining my 6-in-1 with a double fine strainer.  The top crust has been perfect from then on.  Giordano's sauce seems quite thick to me, I'm betting they drain theirs as well.

If Giordano's drains theirs, then they must be undercooking the pizzas. Time is a big deal here 'cause a lot of people want everything NOW. I'd gladly wait for any amount, as long as it's cooked the way I ordered. I have to order "extra well done" usually, and sometimes it will be okay. OR, I ask that they don't cut it and then toss it on the pre-heated stone at home, but ideally, I shouldn't HAVE to do that.
In an side digression, I think the main reason for the situation of undercooking in Chicago is because of the Hispanic workforce. My job puts me in the food business, and I have talked to some cooks, and the whole "well done" concept kind of goes over their heads. They seem to think that it is burnt. I have experienced too many pizzas that had pink sausage still and white cheese. This didn't happen 20 years ago, ever, and this is the only explanation I can deduce.(I've even learned how to say "well done" in Spanish for my burritos.)
 

[Randy]

Crust doneness has as much controversy as a rare of well done steak.  Like you I prefer a nice brown crust but my wife doesn't.  What I think is perfect she thinks is burnt.  I make a wonderful Portuguese sweet bread(Hawaiian bread to some) that has a beautiful mahogany crust.  I love the crust she doesn't.  Our family is fairly divided on what is done and what is not.  I am sure the pizza places try to find a balance to please mosts of the people.
And I use sliced cheese only out of saving time.  I shredded poly-o part skim for everything else.  If I have cheese already shredded in the freezer I use that sometimes.

Randy

[buzz]

Nice bread, Randy!

Giordano's does vary a bit with their crust--sometimes it's better than others.

They use shredded cheese.

[Randy]

Thanks Buzz.  I am making my Papa John style pizza this week but next week I am going to try Steve's Papa Del's recipe.  I was thinking of using powdered milk since I suspect Papa Dels would use that over fresh milk.

Randy

[abc]

Crust doneness has as much controversy as a rare of well done steak.  Like you I prefer a nice brown crust but my wife doesn't.  What I think is perfect she thinks is burnt.  I make a wonderful Portuguese sweet bread(Hawaiian bread to some) that has a beautiful mahogany crust.  I love the crust she doesn't.  Our family is fairly divided on what is done and what is not.  I am sure the pizza places try to find a balance to please mosts of the people.
And I use sliced cheese only out of saving time.  I shredded poly-o part skim for everything else.  If I have cheese already shredded in the freezer I use that sometimes.

Randy

wow... sad to say i never heard of such a bread... but it's intriguing... can you advise how it's made, like your recipe?

[pyegal]

Tonight I made Buzz's recipe for Authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and it turned out very well! The dough for the crsut went together very easily. The only change I made was to add about 2 TB of cornmeal to the dough, just because I like that crunch. I baked the pizza in a 10 1/2-inch cast iron skillet that is a family heirloom - it was my grandmother's.

I used a blend of cheeses, Monterey Jack, Provolone, and Mozzarella. Next I put on browned Italian sausage and sauteed onions, green bell peppers, and crimini mushrooms. The sauce was one I took from the freezer that I made a few weeks ago and lastly grated on some hard cheese that I don't know the name of, but, it's good. The 35 minutes bake time was maybe a little long for my oven, so I'll make a note of that. The crust is deliciously biscuit-y and crunchy on the top edge.

Thanks, Buzz! My taste buds salute you!

Teresa (not sure if my pics are going to show up, things aren't the same since I last posted a photo)

pizza in cast iron pan

<img src="http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL93/969683/3470095/127331791.jpg" >
pizza out of pan

<img src="http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL93/969683/3470095/127331790.jpg" >

one delicious slice cut

<img src="http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL93/969683/3470095/127331792.jpg" >

[itsinthesauce]

Looks great! I've got one of those pans....must be fifty years old.

[Kulstad]

Hello everyone...long-time lurker, first time poster here.

I've been craving Giordano's pizza ever since my last trip to Chicago (about 6 years ago).  Here in Calgary, there is absolutely nothing remotely close to this "pizza of the Gods", so I decided to try to make it for myself (I *hate* working with yeast...never been good with it).

When I first found Buzz's recipe on Page 1, I couldn't differentiate between tablespoons and teaspoons in his notation (TSP usually infers tablespoons to me), so I found this recipe the other day on Andrea Meyers's website:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. yeast
6-8 TBS water (depending on the age of the flour, humidity, etc.)
4-4.5 TBS (not tsp.) canola oil Giordano’s use a 95% canola/5% olive oil combination–if you don’t want to use that much oil, you can get away with 3 TBS)
.75 tsp Kosher salt
.75 tsp sugar

After having compared Buzz's recipe to this one, it looks virtually the same to me (sorry Buzz  )


Having limited access to most specialty baking supplies, I used a springform pan instead of a true deep dish pan.  This seemed to work ok for shape, depth, and cooking time.  I thought I would surprise my family with this tasty treat, but euphoria turned to tragedy when the following happened:

• cooking the pizza at 450 for 40 minutes turned the unprotected crust black
• the crust was harder to cut than plywood, and even harder than that to bite/chew
• I made the *horrible* assumption that a small envelope of yeast (sold in 3-pack strips) was the proper measurement required.  Not only did the crust have small brown swirls through it when I tried to roll it out (that should have been my first clue), but it tasted like I was chewing raw beer (I hope that makes sense to you).

The stuffing, however, seemed to turn out just fine...as long as I avoided the crust-covering.  The cheese melted perfect, and was very well cooked throughout.

I'm going to try my luck with this again very soon (perhaps even tonight after work), but just thought I'd share my "newbie" experience with you all.  I'll post pictures of the second experiment, regardless how it turns out.