Sorrento created a puddle on my pizza!

[alasdair]

Today I made my third "Papa Johns 2HR clone dough" based off rough specs by pete-zza.

Flour (100%):    189.57 g  |  6.69 oz | 0.42 lbs
Water (58%):    109.95 g  |  3.88 oz | 0.24 lbs
IDY (.8%):    1.52 g | 0.05 oz | 0 lbs | 0.5 tsp | 0.17 tbsp
Salt (1.75%):    3.32 g | 0.12 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.59 tsp | 0.2 tbsp
Olive Oil (3%):    5.69 g | 0.2 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.26 tsp | 0.42 tbsp
Sugar(Brown) (5%):    9.48 g | 0.33 oz | 0.02 lbs | 1.36 tsp | 0.45 tbsp
Total (168.55%):   319.52 g | 11.27 oz | 0.7 lbs | TF = 0.1435

Makes one 12" .14 thickness dough.

I used shredded whole milk mozzarella from winndixie on the first two.
I shredded a block of Sorrento whole milk mozzarella for the third pizza.(Not the "fresh" super-soft cheese)

All pizzas were cooked on consecutive days under the same conditions with the same temps, times and oven rack positions.

At first glance the sorrento looked great; fully melted, slightly golden(just how I like it) and even.

After three minutes on a cooling rack I sliced the sorrento pizza and under the melted crispy cheese was a layer of a water-type-liquid that soaked through into the crust, down through the slices, onto the cutting board and the bottom of the crust. Effectively ruining the pizza.

What gives?
Plenty of people on here like sorrento on their pizzas.

[scott r]

Sometimes sorrento cheese is watery.   The flavor is excellent, though.   I think it is how the cheese has been kept (always cold, or warmed and left on the loading dock etc), and also the age that will cause this.   I always squeeze the package when im at the store, and if its too soft I don't buy it.   Usually I can find a few blocks  that feel tight and they always work great.   

Good luck!

[alasdair]

Normally I go for the softer mozzarella.
Ill have to try squeezing next time and get a firmer block.

[scott r]

One of the reasons sorrento cheese works nicely on many forum members pies is that we as a group tend to go a little higher in temp than many professional establishments, even for NY style.  Sorrento's normal block mozzarella is somewhat like a fresh mozzarella.   Its shelf life is much shorter than other block mozzarellas and it can handle high heat without burning where others would over brown.   It also develops a better flavor with fast bakes than a normal dryer mozzarella would.   

[dmcavanagh]

I buy nothing but Sorrento, always in a 5lb.brick and I never have a problem with it.

[scott r]

I just wanted to point out, that for some reason even though the 1 pound retail blocks and the 5 pound wholesale blocks for sorrento mozzarella have the EXACT same label on them, they are actually totally different cheeses.   After calling them about this based on my suspicions, I finally ended up on the phone with the head cheese maker at sorrento (I couldn't believe they actually put him on the phone) who told me that they were indeed different formulations. 

I have never run in to a wet commercial 5 pound block.   

The 1 pound blocks are almost half way to a fresh mozzarella, and the wettest of all aged mozzarellas I have found.....but.... the flavor is well worth it if you can control the situation.   

[petef]

What gives?
Plenty of people on here like sorrento on their pizzas.

I use a 50:50 mix of Sorrento whole milk Mozz and Maggio whole milk mozz.
Sorrento is a softer gooier cheese than Maggio and the combo gives me the texture I'm looking for.
See pic below.

I also drizzle a bit of Bertolli Classico olive oil over the cheese to get the result shown in this pic.

[scott r]

What a combo,  you are so lucky.   Maggio was the cheese that won my first ever cheese shootout, which I performed in 1991 with about 10 brands of mozzarella.   At that time Maggio cheese was widely distributed In Boston where I live.  By the late 90's they stopped distribution up here, and as far as I know it, everywhere but the NY,NJ,PA,MD areas.    Every now and then when im in the Maggio zone I bring some back and relive the old times again.    I can only imagine that the combo of that and the 1lb block sorrento must be out of this world good.

[petef]

What a combo,  you are so lucky.   Maggio was the cheese that won my first ever cheese shootout, which I performed in 1991 with about 10 brands of mozzarella. 

Does anyone know which brand comes closest to the same texture as Maggio whole milk mozz cheese?

[scott r]

nothing that I have found.   Grande has a really great texture, but the flavor is no where near maggio or sorrento

[dmcavanagh]

I just wanted to point out, that for some reason even though the 1 pound retail blocks and the 5 pound wholesale blocks for sorrento mozzarella have the EXACT same label on them, they are actually totally different cheeses.   After calling them about this based on my suspicions, I finally ended up on the phone with the head cheese maker at sorrento (I couldn't believe they actually put him on the phone) who told me that they were indeed different formulations. 

I have never run in to a wet commercial 5 pound block.   

The 1 pound blocks are almost half way to a fresh mozzarella, and the wettest of all aged mozzarellas I have found.....but.... the flavor is well worth it if you can control the situation.   

I also buy Sorrento in 5# block and have never had a soft, wet block, always very solid.

[Ardent1]

:EDIT: Nevermind.