The best of the best....recipes..

[Witt]

I check this site every so often..and there always seems like new info and such.  I was wondering if someone (who is a frequent user) could attach links or just the recipe here to the most proven recipes out there for Ginos East, Lou M, Homerun Inn (thin), and Giordanos.  I've tried reading through the threads, but they seem to go in many directions..and the recipes get altered, etc. 

(I've been making deep dish for years now..but a lot of the time the product doesn't seem like a near-perfect match with what I'd find at Gino's, etc)

Thanks.

[loowaters]

Well, there's plenty that will disagree with some of this, particularly this first one but...

The Malnati's clone that we all kinda came together to figure out from the "Girls" video is IMHO the best of that style.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,10161.msg89174.html#msg89174

Foodblogger did an excellent job on the Gino's that I tinkered with.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2620.0.html and http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5047.0.html

Home Run Inn was Peter doing some serious investigating and me doing some testing and coming up with a really good formula quickly, again, thanks to Peter's work.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6112.msg52467.html#msg52467

Giordano's? I just can't do stuffed really well but most efforts around here are based on Buzz's recipe.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1478.0.html

Loo

[mrmojo1]

Well, there's plenty that will disagree with some of this, particularly this first one but...

The Malnati's clone that we all kinda came together to figure out from the "Girls" video is IMHO the best of that style.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,10161.msg89174.html#msg89174

Foodblogger did an excellent job on the Gino's that I tinkered with.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2620.0.html and http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5047.0.html

Home Run Inn was Peter doing some serious investigating and me doing some testing and coming up with a really good formula quickly, again, thanks to Peter's work.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6112.msg52467.html#msg52467

Giordano's? I just can't do stuffed really well but most efforts around here are based on Buzz's recipe.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1478.0.html

Loo

WOW! An unbelieveable treasure trove of pizza expertise in 4 links!  really really impressive stuff in these recipes! thank you all who worked so hard and were soo generous!

[Bobino414]

Loo

What is your opinion of the best of the Unos recipes.

Bob

[loowaters]

Bob, I really don't have any thoughts on Uno's at all.  I'm not blowing you off but I've only eaten at the "real" Uno's two times and haven't been there since '94.  I do know that their relationship to Malnati's is pretty well documented so using that formula and tinkering a bit with oils and thickness may give you what you're looking for.  A couple suggestions of popcorn butter as the fat in the dough comes close to Uno's but I'm not sure of that, and, truthfully, probably won't try it myself.  This may come off a bit hypocritical but...it sounds a bit rich.

Loo

[DKM]

Uno and Maltanti's are very close, with Uno's crust being a little thicker on the bottom.  Like Loo said, start with a Malnati crust and play with it.

[Bobino414]

Thanks for the heads up.  I will try the Malnati.

[donnamarie]

loo--

The comment you linked to had the proportions.  Do you have the actual weights?  And the technique?  Since the last of the 6 Lou's pizzas a friend from Chicago brought me are now gone, I'm going to have to try my hand at it again.  For me, it's all about the crust.  I'm good on the cheese, sauce and sausage.


Thank you!

Donna

[loowaters]

All the information is there just use the deep dish dough tool and you'll get all the weights and volume conversion you need for your pan size.  Bakers percents, that's how I roll...the dough.

Loo

[buzz]

I'm not a Malnati's fan (as a matter of fact, just as an experiment I recently tried their thin crust--I would rate it about half a step above cheap frozen pizza--if I hadn't paid so much for it I would have thrown it away after the first taste!), so maybe I'm not the best one to comment--lol! To my taste buds, their crust is extremely oily/greasy--much more so than Giordano's (which sadly, IMO, has also gone downhill). My basic flour to oil ratio for Giordanos crust is 1 cup AP: 3 TBS oil. So you might want to try 1 cup AP: 4 TBS oil. Obviously a short knead and all that.

Malnati's and Uno's are basically the same crust. The last Uno's I had (it's been a while, so my memory could be a little fuzzy) had the same greasy, almost fried taste to it as Malnati's has, which would indicate lots of oil and no doubt very well-oiled pans.

They probably use some sort of cheap oil, like corn oil.

[Bobino414]

Buzz

Thanks for your reply.  I remember my first Uno pie in 1964.  Coming from NY with all the ethnocentric baggage you can imagine, I first looked at it.  Pies are supposed to be 18" in diameter and thin.  This thing was about 9" in diameter and thick.  I must be in the wrong place!  So I took my first bite....WOW !!  The tomatoes were alive not the pasty NY slop.  Cheese was flavorful and lots of it.  But the crust was, well like pastry with just the right amount of concrete.  (Thought to self: keep your cool, after all this is the second city).  Well I couldn't wait to go back, which I did many times over the years.  I don't remember an inordinate amount of grease.
About 15 years ago I experimented basing it on the Pasquale Bruno, Jr. book.
My only big change was to substitute half the oil with partially hydrogenated fat.
The fat ratio in the book is 4T oil for 3-31/2C flour.  Jeff Smith's recipe had 1/2C oil to 5C flour.  Neither one hit the spot.

Bob

[buzz]

Both Pat Bruno's and Jeff Smith's recipes are wrong, in that the oil content is too low and the kneading times are too long. The result for both is bread with tomato sauce and cheese on it. You don't need hydrogenated oil--use corn oil for Uno's/Malnati's and canola or extra light olive oil for Giordano's. Mix for 1 minute and knead for 2, then allow for a long rise (because the yeast isn't fully distributed)--4-6 hours.

It's not grease per se, but an oiliness that feels greasy. So there's a lot of oil, and oil in the pan, which "fries" and makes it taste oily/greasy. Very unpleasant to me, but clearly other people like it!

[Bobino414]

loo, Buzz and Witt

Thanks for this thread.  First time I made  a Chicago deepdish in about 15 years.  Although I have eaten many Unos pies, I followed the Malnati links.  Minimal hand knead.  Baked in a home  convection oven without a stone at 475.  I used a black springform pan so I could remove the pie without cracking it.  This was enjoyed by all.

Bob

[loowaters]

Bobino, good to hear about the success.  With a good pan gripper you can flip the pies out of the pan pretty easily and on to a cutting board with some practice.  You might want to start with smaller pies first but all you need to do is get the edge of the pizza up over the lip of the pan and use a spatula to guide it out. 

Loo