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[vcb]

Hello, all! This is my first post on pizzamaking.com, but I have been reading about deep dish pizza on here for weeks.
Loo! Thank you for posting that amazing dough recipe and for the additional info about seasoning the pans, and thanks to everyone on this forum for providing a treasure trove of research and information about deep dish pizza.

I've managed to hit the nail on the head on the first try, and am thrilled with the results!
I've posted photos of my first deep dish pizza on my blog, virtualcheeseburgerDOTblogspotDOTcom/2009/04/chicago-style-deep-dish-pizza-successDOThtml, and will be posting additional information about my experience in the next week or so.

The basics about my first pie:
I used Loo's - Lou Malnati's Dough recipe, only did 1 rise instead of 2 before tossing into the fridge overnight. Next day, I greased up only the bottom of the pan with oil and butter flavor crisco.
I took out the dough and pressed it into the pan 10 minutes after I took it out of the fridge. I figured that since the dough is more biscuit-like and doesn't have the gluten of regular pizza dough due to the short knead time, it wouldn't have much spring-back. I was right.
Sliced mozz on the bottom, sweet italian sausage pressed out to a patty on top of that, then covered with drained Muir Glen crushed tomatoes (28 oz can with basil); sprinkled a bit of salt on top of that; topped half of the pie with Boar's Head pepperoni, pressed slightly into the sauce to minimize burning, sprinkle with parmesan and bake.

Preheated the oven to 500F.
I used an AMCO silicone-coated aluminized steel 14"x2" cake pan (bought on amazon.com), baked the pizza directly on pizza stone on bottom rack of gas oven turned down to 475F for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pie halfway thru the baking.

Although nearly perfect taste-wise, I think next time I will drain the tomatoes a little bit longer, as they left a slight watery puddle in the pan after I pulled out the first slice.

I've compiled a step-by-step recipe based on my experience (and Loo's dough recipe from "Possibly my prettiest...with pics!" and information acquired from you all) and it is available for download here: wwwDOTedhellerDOTcom/DeepDishPizza-holy-grail-2009.pdf

If the links don't work, let me know and I will post the links on my blog.

[Pete-zza]

The active links are:

http://virtualcheeseburger.blogspot.com/2009/04/chicago-style-deep-dish-pizza-success.html, and
http://www.edheller.com/DeepDishPizza-holy-grail-2009.pdf.

Peter

[loowaters]

Nice job, Ed.  The pie looks great.

I was looking at the pdf where you posted the recipe and noticed you used the corn oil and olive oil in amounts that I changed later in the thread.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4070.msg36735.html#msg36735

Try going to 19% on corn oil and dropping the olive oil to 4% next time.  Same total percentage of oil but a different ratio of those oils.  While the recipe you used is very good, it's much closer to Malnati's with that change. 

Loo

[vcb]

Thanks for the update. I'll make the adjustment in my next pie.
I was also considering leaving out the olive oil altogether and going with all corn oil. Has anyone tried that yet?

[loowaters]

Thanks for the update. I'll make the adjustment in my next pie.
I was also considering leaving out the olive oil altogether and going with all corn oil. Has anyone tried that yet?

Yes.  Add a touch of salt, up the yeast, and you can call it the Home Run Inn dough. 

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6112.0.html

[vcb]

re: DeepDishPizza-holy-grail-2009.pdf.

the PDF has now been updated to the 19% corn oil / 4% olive oil adjustment.

[sweetstylist_67]

My 1st time on this sit and looking for the use of the cornmeal in my recipe. I got the recipe from FoodNetwork "Chicago style pizza" and it doesn't tell you when to use the cornmeal. Anyone know??? The dough is resting as I am looking for the answer.

[vcb]

My 1st time on this sit and looking for the use of the cornmeal in my recipe. I got the recipe from FoodNetwork "Chicago style pizza" and it doesn't tell you when to use the cornmeal. Anyone know??? The dough is resting as I am looking for the answer.

Don't use the cornmeal unless you like to put it on the bottom of the pan. Just make sure to grease the bottom of your pan really good.
Corn meal is a myth started by Jeff Smith (the frugal gourmet) and that food reviewer from the Sun Times (Pat Bruno?).
 When you're ready to make the real thing, the real recipes are in this forum.

Good Luck!

[Pete-zza]

My 1st time on this sit and looking for the use of the cornmeal in my recipe. I got the recipe from FoodNetwork "Chicago style pizza" and it doesn't tell you when to use the cornmeal. Anyone know??? The dough is resting as I am looking for the answer.

I assume the recipe you used is the one attributed to Marc Malnati and given at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/follow-that-food/chicago-style-pizza-recipe/index.html. If you read the comments on that recipe, you will see that one person added the cornmeal to the dough and another person put the cornmeal on the pan. The recipe is not an authentic recipe as used by Malnati's in their stores. Malnati's uses neither cornmeal or salt in their dough.

Peter

[vcb]

^^^^  what he said!  :-)

[sweetstylist_67]

Thanks vcb & Pete-zza for the info.
 Strange that u mentioned the no salt....I forgot it in the recipe and was concerned, but I guess I won't worry.

[loowaters]

My 1st time on this sit and looking for the use of the cornmeal in my recipe. I got the recipe from FoodNetwork "Chicago style pizza" and it doesn't tell you when to use the cornmeal. Anyone know??? The dough is resting as I am looking for the answer.

Welcome to the board.  If it's Malnati's you're trying to reproduce there's several threads around here doing that and none will have cornmeal.  However, there are some recipes on the site that do use it.  I personally do not like cornmeal in the dough at all but some believe it provides a nice texture.  Semolina is getting more play around here of late and is a very nice addition to deep dish formulations.  It's popularity even required the first "sticky" or "pinned" thread on the Chicago Board.  The recipe VCB used is here http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4070.0.html  or volume measurements here http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5402.0.html and the semolina one is hard to miss but here you go http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6480.0.html

Any questions, many here can respond to them...then Peter gives you the correct answer.    He's a stud!

Loo

[vcb]

Welcome to the board.  If it's Malnati's you're trying to reproduce there's several threads around here doing that and none will have cornmeal.  However, there are some recipes on the site that do use it.  I personally do not like cornmeal in the dough at all but some believe it provides a nice texture.  Semolina is getting more play around here of late and is a very nice addition to deep dish formulations.  It's popularity even required the first "sticky" or "pinned" thread on the Chicago Board.  The recipe VCB used is here http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4070.0.html  or volume measurements here http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5402.0.html and the semolina one is hard to miss but here you go http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6480.0.html

Any questions, many here can respond to them...then Peter gives you the correct answer.    He's a stud!

Loo

Loo's step-by-step photos on: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4070.20.html are extremely helpful as well!

[loowaters]

sweetstylist, if you've already made that dough, you may need to scale it down.  It may not be the best recipe around but if you end up with too much dough for a pie it makes it that much worse and you'll be totally disappointed.  Let us know the total weight of the dough ball and how big a pie you want to make and we can tell you how much of that dough to use.

Loo

[sweetstylist_67]

sweetstylist, if you've already made that dough, you may need to scale it down.  It may not be the best recipe around but if you end up with too much dough for a pie it makes it that much worse and you'll be totally disappointed.  Let us know the total weight of the dough ball and how big a pie you want to make and we can tell you how much of that dough to use.

Loo

6.4 oz is the weight I can come up with. I don't know the conversion weight. sry!
ok I got the weight at 130.5 g
your making me think....LOL

[loowaters]

6.4 oz is the weight I can come up with. I don't know the conversion weight. sry!
ok I got the weight at 130.5 g
your making me think....LOL

How big is the pan?

[sweetstylist_67]

How big is the pan?
It's a 10 inch deep dish baking stone. I ended up cutting the dough in half. It was a little thick crusted around the edges, but tasted great. baked 425º for about 1 hr.
used the 2nd 1/2 of the dough as a reg. pizza on a cookie sheet.
All was good. Yum!

[nmg22]

what if we dont have semolina flour?  is there some other kind that we can use and if so, what would be the kind and amount?  Also, do most grocery stores sell semolina flour (I have never heard of it before)?  Thanks for the help!

[vcb]

what if we dont have semolina flour?  is there some other kind that we can use and if so, what would be the kind and amount?  Also, do most grocery stores sell semolina flour (I have never heard of it before)?  Thanks for the help!

The recipe I've compiled that Peter has kindly posted links for in this thread are for a deep dish pizza that uses
All-Purpose Flour, not semolina.

If you're asking about the recipe where members of this forum are using semolina in part with all-purpose flour, there is another thread you should be asking this in.

If you want to know the difference between types of flour, I've found a page that explains the difference:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/FlourTypes.htm
" Semolina flour is used in making pasta and Italian puddings. It is made from durum wheat, the hardest type of wheat grown. The flour is highest in gluten."

[nmg22]

I am sorry, I saw one with semolina and started reading more and posted a comment in the wrong area....sorry, its my 1st time with this and didnt realize I was in the wrong discussion thread.