hello everyone! reviving a thread here...
Recently have been doing much research (many long hours) on this site about trying different techniques for baking in a home oven.
Recently tried the broil technique with a dough I've had in the freezer for almost 2 weeks from Peter Reinhart's recipe guide AMERICAN-STYLE “NEAPOLITAN” PIZZA DOUGH. I obtained a wealth of knowledge and the recipe guide from the craftsy.com website tutorial video from Peter Reinhart.
http://www.craftsy.com/class/perfect-pizza-at-home/186• 221⁄2 oz. (638 g / 5 cups) KA bread flour
• 11⁄2 teaspoons (7.5 g) table salt
• 11⁄4 teaspoon (6.25 g) dry active yeast dissolved in 1⁄4 cup (60 mL) warm water – the water should be deducted
from the total water, below
• 2 teaspoons (10 g) honey
• 1⁄2 oz. (14 g / 1 tablespoon) olive oil
• 16 oz. (454 g) water, room temperature
The only thing I added was .60oz of Hodgson VWG. The total mass came out to about 40oz. I then split the dough into 3 balls. 2 - 12oz balls and 1 - 14oz ball. The dough was fermented for 24 hours in the fridge, and then I placed two dough balls in the freezer for later use. The two, 12oz doughs I cooked in my 'normal' fashion since learning my pizza adventure, on Bake at 550 on a pizza stone on the lowest rack, for 8 minutes. The dough from this recipe and my other recipes (
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,576.msg5635.html#msg5635) (Pete-zza Tom L NY style reply #65 recipe) were the best pies I've ever made and are what sparked my interest into making pizza! The 8 minute bake times were short, since I was used to the normal lower temp. 15-20 min bake times most american recipes call for (preposterous). I thought they came out great, crispy outside, slight browning on the cornicione, very nice airy bubbles on the crust, and overall pretty good. I have been experimenting with 10oz doughs for 12-13" pies and 20oz doughs for 13-14" pies. I liked the doughy texture of the larger pies, my girlfriend preferred the foldable crusts from the smaller pies.
I have been drooling over Tran's and Craig's pizzas, and decided to try a method I read here:
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,23362.0.htmlI placed my stone on the second from the top rack, preheat baked on 550 for an hour. Switched dial to broil and opened and closed oven to activate, and left on for about 20 min. I tried a different technique of preparing dough on bench and then sliding onto peel and having sides fold over as I saw here:
I topped with 4 oz of Reinharts favorite sauce recipe with SM Tomatoes, 4 oz of Trader Joes WM Mozz, and Turkey Pepperoni pieces.
I dusted the peel with KAAP flour (less than usual) and also a bit of cornmeal (less than usual)
Keep in mind this dough was the 14oz dough I had in the freezer for about 2 weeks, I placed it in the fridge yesterday night for defrosting (about 20 hours I think) and then let it warm to room temp for about 40 min before I spread it. I was worried it would be bad because it had huge bubbles (I read and saw a picture from Varasano showing over-proofed dough, not to do that). They were not popped so I carefully went ahead and made the pizza anyway (we were hungry too)
I have been making 8 minute pies weekly for the last 4 months, spinning the dough about 4 minutes through.
I didn't know what to expect with this new technique I was trying, and I was expecting maybe a 3-4 min bake time. I opened the oven after a minute and was amazed, quickly rotated the pie, closed oven, a minute and twenty second later I checked it again and it was charring and the cheese and sauce were bubbling I became scared as the dough was 'whiter' than my 'normal 8 min'. I removed from oven after.. wait for it... 2:20 min and placed on cooling rack and flipped a hoot.
My girlfriend was in shock, she said, usually when we experiment it could go bad or good, and this was awesome! I like this technique! LOL
The cornicione was amazing, my first leoparding spots, very foldable, and wowzers was it amazing. I did notice the interior of the dough tasted slightly undercooked, but what the hell it was so good. The outer layer was thin paper crust like, the interior was airy and moist. I do not have any photos of my previous pies, but whenever I made a pizza that was 20oz at 14" I liked the pizza, I ate the crust and all. When I made pies at 10oz 13" the crust was more crusty and I left them aside and my girlfriend ate them.
Needless to say, I think I found an awesome technique for what I have been desiring, just need to tweak my dough formulations to have a slightly less wet interior, and so it cooks evenly. No, I do not know the temp of the oven, All I know is it was def hotter than the 550 dial.
I have been lurking for 5 months and finally feel that I have something worth posting and somewhat proud of my results! The pics were taken with an iPhone 5 camera
