Author Topic: Steel plate (Read 26922 times)

MO_Pie · « **Reply #140 on:** September 25, 2012, 03:14:56 PM »

These cooked in 3:45 - 4ish minutes.

I used a 65% from forno bravo neopolitan - 500g bread flour, 325g water, 15g salt, 4g IDY. 15 minute autolyse, 7-10 min in the KA with spiral hook. The dough wasn't very spreadable though, so I may do less KA or more hydration next time.

I finally had a chance to use the 6n1 tomatoes and loved them - great stuff!

Dough is a little bland and lacking char, so I might try the pizza stone under the steel next time - or the honey / oil additions.

Stone hit 620' at a peak, so I quit trying to switch from convection roast to broiler and just left it alone.

slybarman · « **Reply #141 on:** September 25, 2012, 03:52:03 PM »

Looks like you have a convection oven, was the fan going?

MO_Pie · « **Reply #142 on:** September 25, 2012, 03:56:26 PM »

Yes I did. I tried to switch to broiler, but when the convection roast was on, the broiler was on too (and visa versa) and I couldn't prop the door open or else it would kill the fan. I was in 'hurry up and feed the kids mode' so just left it alone. Next time I'll try to heat up the steel on top of the stone and see if I can get a better char. The lift though was the best I've had in my short pizza experience.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #143 on:** September 25, 2012, 04:00:26 PM »

Mo, Nice looking pie.

How thick is your steel. Do you know the temp of the steel when you launched your pie?

CL

toddster63 · « **Reply #144 on:** September 25, 2012, 04:56:29 PM »

Quote from: MO_Pie on September 25, 2012, 03:56:26 PM

Yes I did. I tried to switch to broiler, but when the convection roast was on, the broiler was on too (and visa versa) and I couldn't prop the door open or else it would kill the fan. I was in 'hurry up and feed the kids mode' so just left it alone. Next time I'll try to heat up the steel on top of the stone and see if I can get a better char. The lift though was the best I've had in my short pizza experience.

Very nice indeed... A little more top browning and you'll be ideal. Did you make just the one pie? I'm wondering how much heat a single pie steels off of the steel—ie. reheat times for a second pie...?

MO_Pie · « **Reply #145 on:** September 25, 2012, 07:13:03 PM »

One of the replies had more info.. but kept dying when I tried to figure out how to post pictures....

The steel I have is 1/4". I hit a peak of 620' on one of the pies, then it probably dove to 570'ish after a couple minutes from pulling a couple pies. I did 3 in total. I'm hoping that using the stone under the steel will help keep the temp up. Really this is a lot better than using my Big Green Egg. That had no trouble getting the stone up to 700-750', but the temp above the pie wasn't high enough.

scott123 · « **Reply #146 on:** September 25, 2012, 08:05:42 PM »

Geoff, Neapolitan isn't going to happen in this oven. Stacking might give you some slight NY charring in 2.5 minutes (@620), but if you want the best out of this setup, accept your limitations and embrace NY wholeheartedly. With KABF, I'd go with something like this:

62% hydration
1.75% salt
1% sugar
2% oil
Position plate 6" from broiler, along with some broiling (maybe 2 minutes out of 4)
Recovery time between pies (I'm thinking 7 min. minimum)
Brick/aged cheese that's been grated, not sliced (so it melts faster and you get more flavor from it)

Was the convection fan on for the whole time? If it was, then you'll definitely need to go with some broiling.

Flavor in the crust is a factor of fermentation (along with browning and char). How long are you fermenting the dough for?

1/4" steel plate can't do fast bakes at typical 550 deg. temps, at least not without abnormally high quantities of sugar. You're one of the lucky ones with an abnormally hot oven. You've got to be able to consistently hit those 600+ temps though, with the plate on a higher shelf.

If you stack, take a good look and see if there's any kind of gap between the stones. If there is, stacking won't give you much of a bump. As far as bottom heat goes, with some sugar and oil, as long as you can consistently hit 610ish, I think you should be fine without stacking. If you do stack, make sure you increase your pre-heat time accordingly. If your old stone is relatively thin, then you might be able to get away with 70 minutes, but I'd probably go with at least 90.

Pete-zza · « **Reply #147 on:** September 25, 2012, 08:13:57 PM »

scott123,

Did you forget the yeast?

Peter

scott123 · « **Reply #148 on:** September 25, 2012, 08:18:00 PM »

Peter, I'm waiting for Geoff to let me know how long he's fermenting for.

MO_Pie · « **Reply #149 on:** September 25, 2012, 09:26:25 PM »

Thanks for the suggestions. Fermentation time is variable. I have 3 kids 5 and under so it's easily +/- a couple days here and there...

Wouldn't the 62% dough be less slack? I had trouble with the 65% dough springing back already.

I'm a big fan of the no-knead, sourdough, and extended fridge retardation, so I'm happy to let it mellow longer before cooking. I do have the cambria and ischia sourdough cultures from sourdough.com, but I haven't gone down that path with pizza yet.

scott123 · « **Reply #150 on:** September 27, 2012, 05:14:01 AM »

Geoff, KABF, at 62%, should be easy to form. Are you re-balling prior to forming or balling late in the game?

MO_Pie · « **Reply #151 on:** September 27, 2012, 08:53:41 AM »

I kneaded in KA for 7-8 min with spiral hook, fermented for 2 hours-ish, balled and then transfered to fridge. Pulled them out 2 hrs or so before stretching. I'm using Sam's club bakers & chefs bread flour.

scott123 · « **Reply #152 on:** September 27, 2012, 07:15:38 PM »

Geoff, are you refrigerating the dough at least 6 hours?

7-8 in the KA could be too long for a cold fermented dough. A good rule of thumb for any long fermented (more than overnight) dough is to take it to somewhere between a cottage cheese appearance and smooth, but not entirely smooth.

Also, this is Sam's Club 'bread' flour, not their 'high gluten' flour, correct? Here's a shot of the high gluten bag:

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=10630.0

MO_Pie · « **Reply #153 on:** September 27, 2012, 10:14:49 PM »

Scott - yes, more than 6 hours. I won't KA it as long next time. This is the regular brad flour, not the high gluten one. I just ran out of flour and was thinking about trying the high gluten one, for my setup, would you think the bread or high gluten would be more appropriate for the style?

PuRowdy · « **Reply #154 on:** October 02, 2012, 09:16:29 PM »

I was able to find a local place today that was able to make me a steel plate to my exact specs, so had to try making a couple pizzas on it. Got one for my dad too, he made these dough's yesterday following Lehmann's recipe.

Preheated the oven for about 50 minutes at 550, temp of the steel before turning the broiler on was around 590. The first one was cooked for about a minute with the broiler on, then for about another 3.5 minutes, it was undercooked, crust was a bit tough, tasted good but dough could have been better. This dough was made mainly with KA Bread Flour but evidently he ran a bit short and had to use about 3/4 cup KA AP too.

The second pizza was much better, used broiler for about 2 minutes and ended up cooking it for about 7 minutes total. This dough was made using entirely KA Bread Flour. Perhaps the bottom could have been a bit crispier but it got decent char and was much better than the first.

I'm going to make some doughs for this weekend that get at least 48 hours in the fridge rather than just 24 hours and see what the results are. His broiler was electric, mine is gas so will be interested to see any differences. Mine also only goes up to 525 while on broiler and 500 when just baking. His went up to 550 on both. Anyways here is a link to pics from the 2nd pizza, didn't get any of the first.

http://imgur.com/a/YccCB

mkreitz · « **Reply #155 on:** October 03, 2012, 09:30:03 AM »

Communist...Your pies look absolutely amazing. I read through the entire thread regarding the use of steel and found a local source that is cutting me a 16 x 16 x 1/2 piece. It seems you have pretty much mastered the use of the steel in making your pies. Would you mind updating the thread with the latest dough recipe you are using. This will be my first dive into Neop. style pies and by replicating your setup, would like to see if I can produce pies similar to the results you are having. Cheers, Mike

scott123 · « **Reply #156 on:** October 03, 2012, 10:15:29 AM »

Quote from: PuRowdy on October 02, 2012, 09:16:29 PM

I was able to find a local place today that was able to make me a steel plate to my exact specs, so had to try making a couple pizzas on it. Got one for my dad too, he made these dough's yesterday following Lehmann's recipe.

Colin, that's a very impressive first bake with steel. It usually takes a bit of a learning curve to dial it in, but you got up to speed in no time.

The bake times and the temps seem a bit off. Just to clarify, this is

1/2" steel plate- a36 hot rolled, correct?
Launched with a peel
590- read with a IR thermometer
4 minutes total time on the plate (and then 7)

Could you post your recipe?

1/2" steel, at 590, should burn the undercrust in less than 3 minutes.

mkreitz · « **Reply #157 on:** October 03, 2012, 10:47:04 AM »

Scott, Do you know of any issues with using hot rolled vs cold rolled steel? My supplier only has hot rolled.

***Update...Sorry, I misread some posts earlier and thought it neeed to be cold rolled. My bad...

scott123 · « **Reply #158 on:** October 03, 2012, 10:52:01 AM »

Mike, cold rolled is costly and doesn't provide any additional benefit to baking. Hot rolled is the way to go.

Btw, 1/2" steel plate can't do Neapolitan pizza in a typical 550-ish home oven. If Neapolitan pizza is your goal, you should be looking at other materials. Before you do that, though, you need to take a long hard look at your broiler- wattage, number of passes, etc. If your broiler isn't strong enough to produce Neapolitan leoparding, then you'll be better off using steel for NY style pies.

mkreitz · « **Reply #159 on:** October 03, 2012, 11:03:06 AM »

Thanks Scott. Yes, I have a standard 550 electric oven. I will use the steel and go the NY route and work on practicing my dough handling techniques through the winter. I have been debating on whether or not to use a stone or steel. The steel looks like it will suit my needs until Spring when I am going to buy a house. I will then have more flexibility on what tools/ovens/etc to use. I am new to baking but treating it as a serious hobby. I tend to be a perfectionist and it seems I have found company around here to help me along the way!!!