Ultra-Thin Pizza 1/16"..Any Ideas?

[Pete-zza]

Did you have time to see what the losses in baking were in the pizza Steve and I tried yesterday?
Did we do it right this time?

Norma,

I did note the loss but forgot to mention it. The weight of the pizza, with the 7.4 ounces of crust, 5.5 ounces of sauce and 5.5 ounces of cheese, was 18.4 ounces. The baked weight was 16.3 ounces. Consequently, the loss was 2.1 ounces, or 11.4%. That number is useful but the more important number for our purposes is the loss of weight of an unbaked skin.

What I also found interesting was the fact that the par-baked crust weighed 7.4 ounces rather than 8.5 ounces. That is an almost 13% difference. I hope that some of the other crusts you have weigh 13% on the upside, or 9.6 ounces.

Peter

[norma427]

What I also found interesting was the fact that the par-baked crust weighed 7.4 ounces rather than 8.5 ounces. That is an almost 13% difference. I hope that some of the other crusts you have weigh 13% on the upside, or 9.6 ounces.

Peter

Peter,

I also found that interesting that the real Ultra-Think crust weighed that much less.  In the future, I will measure the weights of each par-baked crust, before I try them.  Maybe at the end of using the shells, I will call or email the Ultra-Thin Company and tell them I weighed each shell, before using them, if I find too many discrepancies in the weights of their crusts.

Norma

[Pete-zza]

Norma,

It is normal for dough ball weights to vary, whether they are divided and scaled by hand or by using a divider/rounder. I mentioned in my last post that the 13" skin should weigh 7.70 ounces. That is easier said than done. It would mean rolling the larger skin (14") exactly out to 14", with a perfectly round shape, and then cutting out the 13" skin. I suppose the good news is that even Ultra-Thin can't make all of their skins the exact size and weight.

Peter

[norma427]

It is normal for dough ball weights to vary, whether they are divided and scaled by hand or by using a divider/rounder. I mentioned in my last post that the 13" skin should weigh 7.70 ounces. That is easier said than done.

Peter

Peter,

I know I will have trouble when rolling the dough.  I need more practice to get it right. 

Well, at least tonight I ended up with a better dinner, because of learning about the “dead yeast” and L-Cysteine.  Since I decided not  to purchase the tortilla shells, I had just the pizza sausage.  fresh sweet corn, brushed with loads of butter, picked up at a local Amish farmers, and a salad. 

Norma

[widespreadpizza]

Norma,  dinner looks great.  especially that super young super fresh corn!  Have a couple weeks to a month left till it rolls out of the farms here in southern NH.  If you can't tell,  I can't wait!  there is no substitute.  -marc

[norma427]

Norma,  dinner looks great.  especially that super young super fresh corn!  Have a couple weeks to a month left till it rolls out of the farms here in southern NH.  If you can't tell,  I can't wait!  there is no substitute.  -marc

marc,

Thanks for saying dinner looks great.    Our sweet corn just came in last week.  I also love the sweet corn.  I probably will eat so much this summer.  I am not sure how many places in the US grows sweet corn, but it is so tender and juicy.  I also believe there is no substitute. 

Hope yours comes in soon, so you also can enjoy it,

Norma

[norma427]

Peter,

I was just going to build a proofing box, but am unsure about what to use, when trying to make the proofing box.  I took the 14" cutter pan out to the shed and put it into 3 coolers.  The top two coolers shown in this picture, can fit the 14 "cutter pan in diagonally.  I really don’t want to mess with my bigger cooler shown underneath the other two.  I did also try to fit the 14" cutter pan in my microwave and it fits in there diagonally, too.  Did you or anyone you know on this forum ever use a storage plastic container to make a proofing box?  I have some big plastic storage containers I could use for a proofing box, but am unsure how well they would keep the temperature inside.

I would like to try out the formula you set-forth Sunday if time permits. 

Do you have any ideas how you are going to proceed with a proofing box to fit the 14" cutter pan inside?

Any ideas would be appreciated,

Norma

[sear]

ive seen people use the big plastic containers.  2 on top of each other with water & fish tank heater in the bottom one. it works well

[norma427]

ive seen people use the big plastic containers.  2 on top of each other with water & fish tank heater in the bottom one. it works well

sear,

Do you know of a link, that I could look and see how they are built?  Did you ever try this method for a proofer?

Thanks for the idea, 

Norma

[sear]

i havent tried it yet, i made mine in a small cooler. it will just fit my sourdough jars and a bowl or 2 of dough.

looks like you've been in this thread, check the new posts Matt made one


http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,11220.20.html

[Pete-zza]

Do you have any ideas how you are going to proceed with a proofing box to fit the 14" cutter pan inside?

Norma,

I am in the same boat as you in that my 14" cutter pan won't fit in my proofing box either. So, I was thinking along the lines of using the proofing box to ferment the dough in a ball along with a cup of hot water for humidity. Once the dough is rolled out and cut to size (13"), I think I would just put the skin into the cutter pan and put the cutter pan in my microwave unit (it fits) with a cup of hot water for humidification purposes. If it didn't fit in my microwave unit, I think I would just wrap some plastic wrap over the pan and let the skin proof at room temperature. Of course, that means that there won't be humidity for the second proof. I don't think that would be fatal.

Peter

[norma427]

i havent tried it yet, i made mine in a small cooler. it will just fit my sourdough jars and a bowl or 2 of dough.

looks like you've been in this thread, check the new posts Matt made one


http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,11220.20.html

sear,

I did see that thread and what Matt did.  I didn't see he tried it out for his dough though. 

Thanks for the link and taking the time to answer my questions.

Norma

[norma427]

Peter,

Thanks for your ideas on how you are going to proof the dough and unbaked crust.  I think I will just put the styrofoam cooler together for now and use it for the dough.  If need be, I can still fit the rolled out crust somewhere, either in my microwave diagonally with saran wrap over part of the crust to keep it in place (with hot water), in my oven (with the light on and hot water), or not a second proof. If all else fails, I will look into building another kind of proofing box.  I have some plywood and could make something out of that, but I want to keep it as simple as possible until I see how the first experiment goes. I already have the basic electrical things I need, so I will see what happens.

Norma

[Matthew]

sear,

I did see that thread and what Matt did.  I didn't see he tried it out for his dough though. 

Thanks for the link and taking the time to answer my questions.

Norma

Hi Norma,
I am bulk fermenting a Neapolitan dough in it as we speak.  It works great, the temperature is very stable.  I'm hoping to fire up the oven tomorrow if the weather cooperates.  If not then plan B. (once I figure out what plan be is  )

Matt

Matt

[norma427]

Matt,

Great to hear your proofing box is working great.     Hope you can post some pictures of your pies in the WFO, if the weather cooperates.  One of these days I will get to try a pizza made in a WFO.  Sure would like to be able to taste one and see what I am missing.

Maybe I also will have to go to plan B, (your idea) if this proofing box doesn’t work out. 

Norma

[Matthew]

Matt,

Great to hear your proofing box is working great.     Hope you can post some pictures of your pies in the WFO, if the weather cooperates.  One of these days I will get to try a pizza made in a WFO.  Sure would like to be able to taste one and see what I am missing.

Maybe I also will have to go to plan B, (your idea) if this proofing box doesn’t work out. 

Norma

This is just over 2600 grams of dough (9 dough balls @ 290grams) that has been bulk fermenting for about 8 hours.  I'll take some pictures once I am done the bulk fermentation so that you can see the difference.  The 14" cutter pan will fit in the proof box without any issues.  The boxes that I have will accomodate up to a 16" diameter pan.

Matt

[norma427]

Matt,

Wow, that looks really nice.  Thanks for showing a picture.  I can see the 14" cutter pan would fit inside the box.  Where did you buy that kind of box? 

I was just outside trying to put my proofing box together with the materials I have now..  Like I said before, I might need to go to your idea. 

I am not getting to far with my proofing box, because yesterday when I was mowing the lawn, I almost ran over a baby robin that fell out of its nest.  I picked it up, dug some worms. fed it and put it in the one flower bed.  At least, I think it is the father (because it has a red breast, but I am not sure) keeps coming into the flower bed and feeding it.  I had taken some pictures yesterday, when I didn’t know if the robin would feed it after I picked it up.  I just came inside to get the camera again, because the robin keeps coming back and feeding the baby.  I am more interested in watching that than working on the proofing box. That poor robin comes back about ever couple of minutes to feed its baby. LOL

I would enjoy seeing some pictures when the proof is finished.

Thanks,

Norma

[Matthew]

Matt,

Wow, that looks really nice.  Thanks for showing a picture.  I can see the 14" cutter pan would fit inside the box.  Where did you buy that kind of box? 

I was just outside trying to put my proofing box together with the materials I have now..  Like I said before, I might need to go to your idea. 

I am not getting to far with my proofing box, because yesterday when I was mowing the lawn, I almost ran over a baby robin that fell out of its nest.  I picked it up, dug some worms. fed it and put it in the one flower bed.  At least, I think it is the father (because it has a red breast, but I am not sure) keeps coming into the flower bed and feeding it.  I had taken some pictures yesterday, when I didn’t know if the robin would feed it after I picked it up.  I just came inside to get the camera again, because the robin keeps coming back and feeding the baby.  I am more interested in watching that than working on the proofing box. That poor robin comes back about ever couple of minutes to feed its baby. LOL

I would enjoy seeing some pictures when the proof is finished.

Thanks,

Norma

Hi Norma,
They're pretty common boxes that you should be able to get anywhere.  I would start with Walmart.  They're the ones that are made to be stored under a bed.  Just make sure that there is at least a 4" gap of air when you place once inside the other or it will not work.  The ones that I bought are Sterelite & they have a hard plastic handle on the sides.

Matt

[Pete-zza]

Norma,

Having a proofing box on hand is always a good thing. But I was wondering what you will do if you succeed with your experiment. Will you try to make a case count of 50 par-baked crusts using your single proofing box, your single food processor, your single rolling pin, your two cutter pans, and bake the crusts one by one in a single oven? And then freeze the par-baked crusts for future use when the urge strikes you to have an Ultra-Thin clone pizza? 

Peter

[norma427]

Hi Norma,
They're pretty common boxes that you should be able to get anywhere.  I would start with Walmart.  They're the ones that are made to be stored under a bed.  Just make sure that there is at least a 4" gap of air when you place once inside the other or it will not work.  The ones that I bought are Sterelite & they have a hard plastic handle on the sides.

Matt

Matt,

Thanks for telling me where to find the boxes and how much gap is needed when you place one box inside another.   

Norma