Greek pizza

[CDNpielover]

cmyden, I just found this video on youtube which shows pizza prep in Atlas Pizza kitchen.  The pizza part begins at 0:40. 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UUVCldmEEs" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UUVCldmEEs</a>

  you might want to save this video somewhere in case they take it down (which has happened with Lou Malnati's kitchen videos).

He says "every time a pizza order comes in, we bring out our dough."  I would take this to mean that the dough is pressed out into pans, perhaps allowed to rise for some time, and then stored in a cooler until the pizza is made.  It looks like he presses the dough out again just prior to making the pizza.

you can see that the sauce is very thick, like a paste.

The use regular deck ovens, not standard home ovens like that one guy (who claimed to have worked there) told you on some other forum.  The pizza is cooked for "20-25 minutes."  He points out the nice golden crust, but doesn't say how it gets that way (they do not appear to use a heat gun to get that effect).

[Ev]

How about mid-bake, after the cheese has pretty much melted, you brush on a coat of melted butter and finish the bake?

[norma427]

This is only a guess about how Atlas Pizza gets the cheese to look like it does and also how the nice golden brown bottom crust is done at the same time.  Since the pizza takes 20-25 minutes in a deck oven to bake, I would guess they are using a lower oven temperature than normal.

Norma

[CDNpielover]

This is only a guess about how Atlas Pizza gets the cheese to look like it does and also how the nice golden brown bottom crust is done at the same time.  Since the pizza takes 20-25 minutes in a deck oven to bake, I would guess they are using a lower oven temperature than normal.

Norma

Thanks for your insight, Norma.  Yes if they are cooking for that long, the oven would probably be a bit cooler.   Maybe this allows the cheese to crisp without too much browning.

I can see at 1:28 that the oven turns on, and I can see the temperature in red (i think), but I can't make out what they say.  however, I can see what way the dial is pointed, I wonder if it's possible to find out what they have it set to by looking at photos of Garland ovens on google.

EDIT:  from what I can tell, they are using a Garland E56P oven.  http://www.garlandcanada.ca/products/cook/ovens/deck-pizza/electric/air-deck-electric-pizza-oven-model-e56p

[norma427]

Thanks for your insight, Norma.  Yes if they are cooking for that long, the oven would probably be a bit cooler.   Maybe this allows the cheese to crisp without too much browning.

I can see at 1:28 that the oven turns on, and I can see the temperature in red (i think), but I can't make out what they say.  however, I can see what way the dial is pointed, I wonder if it's possible to find out what they have it set to by looking at photos of Garland ovens on google.

EDIT:  from what I can tell, they are using a Garland E56P oven.  http://www.garlandcanada.ca/products/cook/ovens/deck-pizza/electric/air-deck-electric-pizza-oven-model-e56p

CDNpielover,

The reason I mentioned a lower bake temperature and gave that guess is I recall eating this pizza at Reply 1 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,17816.msg172578.html#msg172578  I don’t know what their bake time was, but think if that pizza was baked longer and the cheese was spread to the edges it might have been something like the Atlas Pizza.  I will look into the Atlas Greek style a little more.

Norma

[norma427]

CDNpielover and cmydem,

You are right on track with the cheese for the Atlas Greek style pizza.  On chowhound there was a poster (pizzapro) that said he worked at Atlas Pizza. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/597549  It can be seen what pizzapro posted there.  I don’t know if this article is right about how the cheese gets the way it is, but this article says “Thanks to a blast of high heat in a convection oven, Atlas’s pizza sports a thin and crispy coating of cheese that forms over the top of the entire pizza, as well as the outer edges“. http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/life-style/food/pizza-pursuit-atlas-pizza-sports-bar-6934/

These are also other things pizzapro said if you click on his other 6 replies under the first link I showed above.

 pizzapro Jul 27, 2009 09:54 AM
1. First off yes it's 100% mozzerella cheese. The only reason that it may be stringy is the cheese is fairly hard to grate and sometimes when not enough pressure is applied you get that stringy feel.

2. As far as i remember the pans were greased with plain ole canola oil

3. For the sauce, Franco's Crushed Tomatoes canned are used. As for spices i really honestly dont know...it's a well kept secret.

4. Cooking is really easy...a regular commercial oven is used with regular pizza pans. The dough is made up of baking powder, sugar, salt, yeast, oil, flour, and club soda.

Good luck trying to make the Atlas version of pizza! Let me know if this hepls at all

Norma

[CDNpielover]

wow Norma, thanks for this!  you are quite the internet sleuth!   

[norma427]

wow Norma, thanks for this!  you are quite the internet sleuth!   

CDNpielover,

I have been learning from the best internet sleuth Peter.  I will never get up to his level though.   

Norma

[CDNpielover]

CDNpielover,

I have been learning from the best internet sleuth Peter.  I will never get up to his level though.   

Norma

haha!     So I just looked at the Chowhound link, and funny enough, it was cmyden who started that thread, and I was the poster "nonlinear" in that thread.  its too bad though that poster "pizzapro" never came back to answer our questions!

[norma427]

haha!     So I just looked at the Chowhound link, and funny enough, it was cmyden who started that thread, and I was the poster "nonlinear" in that thread.  its too bad though that poster "pizzapro" never came back to answer our questions!

CDNpielover,

It is funny that cmyden started that thread on Chowhound and your were the poster “nonlinear” on that thread.  I agree, that it is too bad that pizzapro never came back and answered more questions.  Sometimes information can be found on the web in the most unusual places.  Searches can takes weeks or even months and then sometimes all the information can’t be found. 

Hope you and cmyden are successful in your journey into making the beloved Atlas Greek Pizzas.

Norma

[cmyden]

Wow, thanks CDNpielover, Ev, and norma427 !

That YouTube video is a great find! 

I guess what I can add to my notes are:

1. Bake at a lower temperature, for longer, approx 20-25 minutes. 

CDNpielover: Here's a screen capture from the video, along with an inset of a dial from a similar oven....

http://s17.postimage.org/x2eek9ydb/Clipboard01.jpg

Am I correct in thinking that notch that appears to be pointing to the lower left on the white dial is the temperature setting? 

It seems to be pointing at somewhere between 400-450F if the inset of the dial on the righthand side from a different pic is similar to the one in the screen capture.

I have experimented with lower temperatures and longer baking time before, but still wasn't able to replicate the effect.


2. I just have a regular oven with a large slab of cordierite at the bottom. 

Using a convection oven may work better when trying to replicate the Garland E56P oven and it's 'patented airflow technology which forces hot air through hundreds of 'jet ports' above and below the product, providing even, rapid cooking.

from the brochure.

Perhaps that really is the key to their crispy cheese effect.  Not sure what a regular Joe at home can do to try and replicate this.


3. The Atlas owner *really* seems to think the sauce is the key to their pizza.  Will have to run some taste tests and try to get this right!

4. Press dough out into pan, let it rise for some amount of time, then store in a cooler until pizza is made.  Press it out again just before the pizza is made.

5. Will try Ev's suggestion of adding butter to the top halfway through baking.



 

[CDNpielover]

Hey cmyden,

Great job finding the photo of the oven dial.  I tried to find a similar photo, but gave up after 60 seconds or so haha.  It looks to me like the dial could be set in one of two ways... I see a black line on the metal ring that looks to be pointed at about 425, however I also see a white spot and ridge on the black knob, which appear to be pointed at 550.  The photo you found does a great job of showing the numbers around the dial, but doesnt really show the knob (ie is the black line or the white dot where we should be looking).  I think Norma might be right about the low cooking temperature (425), but then again I wonder is these pies could not be cooked at the higher temp since they are quite thick and wet?  Others who frequent this thread (live Norma, ev, Pete) have way more experience than I do and would be able to know which temp is more likely though.  But like I said, Norma is probably right about the lower cooking tmp, I'm just not sure how to decipher what I think I see in the photo haha

Edit: as for the sauce, you should see if you can get some from them, then take it home and try to recreate it.  Go off visual cues as well, and not only taste.  I say this because Pete did it with papa johns sauce, and it turned out perfect.

Yes, it could be that the cheese crust is a side effect of a long bake time in the convection oven.  maybe what you could do is brush butter on half, and use a heat gun on the other half, just to see what results you get.

[Ev]

FWIW, that butter suggestion was just an idea I had at the time. I've never tried it myself. I would be curious to see how it would work though. One of these days I'll try it myself. Good luck with your experiments!

[norma427]

Others who frequent this thread (live Norma, ev, Pete) have way more experience than I do and would be able to know which temp is more likely though.  

CDNpielover,

I am not an expert in baking different styles of pizzas in different ovens, but it would seem to me that the bake temperature would be lower for the long bake that was posted before.  I don’t have any idea either is pizzapro saying that Atlas Pizza used baking powder, sugar, salt, yeast, oil, flour and club soda to make their dough is right either.  It could be a higher hydration dough if you think the crumb was wet even if the pizzas had a longer bake, although the dough in the pan you posted the video of really didn‘t look that high in hydration.  I don’t have any ideas of what club soda would make a dough like, if it is really used.  Maybe you or cmyden could ask Tom Lehmann how cheese looks like it does from what both of you posted.  I never saw cheese brown like that before.  Tom Lehmann might have an idea of how cheese browns that way.  He might also have ideas about bake times and temperatures.

Norma

[CDNpielover]

good points, norma.  I don't live in Calgary any more so unfortunately I can't go to Atlas and check out the crumb moisture.  I don't remember it being an especially wet crumb, though.  I don't know about baking powder and club soda in the dough.  I did post about this some pages back in this thread, however I had so much success with the other formulations in this thread that I never really followed up on it.

cmyden, Norma makes a great point about asking Tom Lehmann for his advice.  There is a section of the forum called "ask the dough doctor" (or something like that).  Maybe you should ask him there about the cheese and bake time, and perhaps also about the baking powder and club soda.  I can ask him too, but i'm busy at work today.  If I get some time and see you haven't asked him, i'll try and ask though.

 

[Ev]

I remember trying baking powder and club soda quite a while back. Also with milk and egg. IIRC, I just used small amounts and didn't see any changes from what was my normal dough at the time. I guess I lost interest at that point and didn't pursue it any further.

[CDNpielover]

Here is another photo of the dial.  The scale is the same but the knob is a bit different.  However, the knob does have a black notch.  http://images.aquinegocio.com.mx/128936_w640_h640_p4150877.jpg

Yep, I'm thinking they have their oven at 425.

EDIT:  looking at is again, the temp may even be closer to 400 (?)

[norma427]

Steve,

You tried baking powder and club soda at Reply 359 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,691.msg173473.html#msg173473

Cmyden also posted more pictures of the Greek pizza at 107 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,691.msg118006.html#msg118006  and at Reply 109 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,691.msg118012.html#msg118012

Norma

[Ev]

Thanks for finding that, Norma. You're like a machine!

[CDNpielover]

gosh, Ev's baking powder pizza looks delicious!