Finally made a good pie , Thanks all ! (pics)

[Jackie Tran]

Nice.  That glorious hole-y rim. 

[scott123]

James, you have some nice pies under your belt, but this one, imo, is in a class by itself.  Well done.

Did you document everything you did so you can repeat this again?

You mentioned that this is 'close' to a perfect bake.  In what way do you think this could be improved upon?

[PizzaSean]

Wow that last one is incredible!  So great to see so much progress in such a short time.  I only hope that I can do the same in my future experiments!  Nicely done...


How do you like working with the sourdough starter?  Would you recommend it?

[sear]

Thanks guys ! , i have the recipe i used and have repeated the results with the oven .
around 540 stone temp oven off for 5 minute, broiler on, load pie broiler off after 2 . rotate after 1 more minute broiler on for 30sec-1 min and off for the remainder.
about 6 minutes total.

dough recipe im going to do 2nite without any sugar which was only .2%
hydration at 62%, oil 1, salt 2, sd 8. bulk rise for 8 hours then into fridge.
the results between the 2 dough balls that were in the fridge for 8hrs vs 40 hr were pretty much the same.

when i say close to perfect, im my own toughest critic.. could have been stretched out a litter thinner, and the crust with a little more crunch 

i highly recommend using a SD starter, all it requires is taking out of the fridge 6-24hrs before use after weeks in the fridge.
and it adds way more flavor then commercial yeast. even after 6hrs .... 

[scott123]

Thanks guys ! , i have the recipe i used and have repeated the results with the oven .
around 540 stone temp oven off for 5 minute, broiler on, load pie broiler off after 2 . rotate after 1 more minute broiler on for 30sec-1 min and off for the remainder.

One thing I've been noticing about my own and others pies is that oven spring is both a component of intense bottom AND top heat at the start of the bake.  It's a little thing and probably won't make much of a difference, but I'd try:

oven off for 5 minute, broiler on, wait 15 second, load pie broiler off after 2

so that the broiler element is glowing red as the pizza gets launched.

when i say close to perfect, im my own toughest critic.. could have been stretched out a litter thinner, and the crust with a little more crunch

I think you'll definitely see a slight improvement with a thinner stretch.  Earlier, I was tempted to recommend increasing your hydration a bit, but, generally speaking, with more water comes less crunch.

I know, for a fact, that oil promotes more even browning.  I also believe there's a chance it may promote crunch. I know it tenderizes the gluten for a softer crumb, but it might help the exterior dry out/crisp up a little better. Maybe.  One of these times, you might want to try an extreme oil (for NY) pie in the 4% realm.

[sear]

Thanks for the advice, i've got a pie to make 2nite. so im going to let the stone get to 550-560 then turn off oven and load the pie while the top element is red hot.

next batch of dough i will try upping the oil, want to see if that little bit of sugar changes anything 2nite...

[sear]

so i tried some bagged sorrento shredded moz, and it burned quickly like i thought it would on a pizza, could not cook it the extra minute i wanted to.

but it did seem like the .2%sugar browned a little more...

never made a calzone since leaning how to make pizza, so i made a moz, meatball,broccoli, pepperoni,pepper, onion cal zone with a little tomato sauce inside.
pressed this out by hand and rolled it a little bit, loaded it up, poked it with a fork a few times and sent her in for about 10 minutes @540,cycling the broiler a couple times and came out great ! ... wish i had ricotta 

[jever4321]

MMMM. That calzone looks GREAT. Nice job.

[sear]

MMMM. That calzone looks GREAT. Nice job.

Thanks 

for these pizzas i used same recipe w/ 4% oil, came out really good !
will probably back it down to 3% for the next round 

[jever4321]

Pie looks GREAT Sear. I would make it disappear...

[scott123]

So, James, what's the word on the impact of extra oil?  I'm guessing it did not give you the extra exterior crunchiness you were looking for, right?

What's your thickness factor these days?

[sear]

So, James, what's the word on the impact of extra oil?  I'm guessing it did not give you the extra exterior crunchiness you were looking for, right?

What's your thickness factor these days?

it did add more crunch, maybe a little too much.
for my thickness factor, not sure. but i have been leaning toward not seeing much "window pane" when i stretch it out ... 13 oz dough for about 13-14 inch pie

[Jackie Tran]

Nice job Sear. Ive been wanting to test the effects of oil myself but haven't been able to. Looking forward to the differences with the 3% pie.

[sear]

Nice job Sear. Ive been wanting to test the effects of oil myself but haven't been able to. Looking forward to the differences with the 3% pie.

Thanks ! 
i made some dough 2 nights ago changed the oil to 3% and upped the hydration to 63%.
will be baking one up tonight. next step would be throwing some sugar back into the mix ...

[sear]

alright so even 3% is too much. i thought it was making the pizza a bit tougher and making a calzone confirmed it.
so im going to bring it back to 1, and try 1% sugar as well.

i had a thin crispy outside shell on pies i made before, i might be switching back to the pillsbury HG that came out like this

[sear]

Been awhile since my last post, but im still making 2 pies per week.
i have increased my hydration to 63-64%  and am finding the perfect amount of sugar.
1.5% was too much .7% was close .. so next will be 1%.
adjusted my bake temp to about 520 on stone for 5-6minutes.
the last few have came out great with a thin crispy shell and moist chewy inside.
i got a couple pics ill put up later 

[norma427]

Been awhile since my last post, but im still making 2 pies per week.
i have increased my hydration to 63-64%  and am finding the perfect amount of sugar.
1.5% was too much .7% was close .. so next will be 1%.
adjusted my bake temp to about 520 on stone for 5-6minutes.
the last few have came out great with a thin crispy shell and moist chewy inside.
i got a couple pics ill put up later 

James,

Great to hear your last pizzas turn out well.    Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Norma

[sear]

James,

Great to hear your last pizzas turn out well.    Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Norma

Thanks Norma 

Attached are a couple of the latest

[norma427]

James,

Your pizzas look tasty.    How did you like them compared to the others you made before?

Norma

[sear]

James,

Your pizzas look tasty.    How did you like them compared to the others you made before?

Norma

Thanks Norma, I'm finding im liking these latest the best.
when i did the experiment with a lot of oil, i could really tell how it changed the texture it was very tough/leather like and crunchy.
now with the sugar, im getting the crispness i like on the outside, while keeping a soft chewy center.

im using about 13 oz dough 5 oz sauce and 8oz of cheese each time (large chunks)
still in the 5-6 minute bake range, 520F stone temp , still perfecting my broiler use.

avoiding any par-bake, i have found that shaking the peel too much is counter productive, especially with higher hydration dough. I now flour my peel (half semolina/half AP flour (also use this mix before stretching)
put the dough on , put the sauce, and cheese /other toppings then and only then, right before loading into the oven , i shake it and it comes loose.  Shaking before hand just makes it harder to come off the peel when i actually need to put it in the oven.
 

also i didn't take a pic, but i made my best white pie 2 weeks ago.  heated garlic and onion in some EVO, added ricotta,white wine, oregano,thyme and a package of frozen spinach (defrosted).
it was just as good as the local place that got me hooked on it, they use artichokes too but i couldnt tell much a difference without