Pizza Sophia

[pftaylor]

Three days ago I was in a pizza frame of mind and decided to tinker with the core Pizza Sophia recipe. I always felt I had unfinished work in the area of hydration levels and decided to focus my time, energy, and attention in that direction. The reason why I left the hydration level at 60%, some months ago, was simply due to the level of stabilization achieved with the recipe.

I should also mention Sophia tasted slightly better than Raquel. On a consistent, repeatable basis I might add. Therefore, every bone in my body screamed don't fix what isn't broken. To this day I'm not certain why that difference exists but it does. My sense was and is that the taste difference lies somewhere in the different brands of flour used. Caputo Blue for Sophia and KASL for Raquel. Afterall, the recipes were identical with this noted exception. So logic would dictate that Caputo Blue somehow just tastes better. 

I decided to modify the hydration level of Pizza Sophia from 60% to 55% to try and wring every last bit of taste out of the Caputo. I had no specific preconceived notion as to the expected outcome and merely wanted to try a different range of hydration. I wanted to make only that one change and measure the outcome as precisely as possible.

Enter the sober reality of hunger.

Family hunger.

I found out just how powerful a force it really was when I tried to strictly adhere to my controlled regimen and take detailed pictures of my new work. The family was sick and tired of eating ham, turkey, and all the usual sides. They wanted pizza and they wanted it now. I was also asked to make a personal size Sophia a different way for each member of my family. My wife enjoys a Margherita without the basil leaf, my daughter likes her Sophia with extra cheese. My son likes his Sophia both with cooked and uncooked pepperoni. I was being pulled in so many directions I just snapped a few pictures and ate pie.

So my detailed analysis will have to wait till another day but I did want to share the fun. Oh yeah, my interpretation of the change was a positive one. However, with all the changes made it would be unfair of me to unequivocally state that 55% hydration produces a superior crust.

More to come on this point.

[pftaylor]

More mini Sophia...

[pftaylor]

Final shots

[Bill/SFNM]

As usual, great looking photos. Apologies if this has been covered, but what percentage of your preferment is water? Based on the formula on the first page of this thread, I assume the hydration levels you mention in your latest post do not include the water in the preferment. Thanks.

Bill/SFNM

[pftaylor]

Bill/SFNM,
Happy holidays and good question.

You are correct in your assumption about hydration percentages in the formulary. I have not yet calculated an inclusive hydration percentage with the preferment. The famed Varasano preferment is maintained at exactly 60% water (by weight). I use two heaping tablespoons for two 16 inch rounds which typically weigh 16 ounces each before grilling.

The four finished pizza doughs made tonight weighed exactly 8 ounces each and were shaped into roughly 11 inch rounds. It was the first occasion I had making significantly smaller rounds. I must say they were much much easier to handle than 16 inch rounds. While an 11 or 12 inch round doesn't look right for Raquel (which strives for an elite NYC look), it did look more like a true Neapolitan which is what Sophia is modeled after.
 

[pftaylor]

I love this hobby. I don't mean deep like, I mean true love. A lifetime endeavor to be sure. I have much to learn but I'm getting there. Pete-zza calls it "always learning." I see a lot of parallels with golf which is another addiction of mine.

Back to pizza. I have made no bones about Pizza Sophia having the capacity to taste even better than it already does. It already tastes better than Raquel but I have always sensed there was considerably more to be had. Tonight I managed to squeeze even more out than I thought possible and it had nothing to do with recipe changes. But first, a little background.

I have an associate who repairs wood and coal burning commercial ovens for a living. He lives part-time in Tampa, and the rest of the year in Boston. My plan to improve pizza making was centered on getting my associate to assist in building a pizzanapoletana inspired Neapolitan pizza oven. Last week those plans crashed. Literally crashed. His son backed into my wife's car and smashed it to the tune of several thousand dollars. We had to file a claim on his insurance and he is hot under the collar so to speak. So much for proceeding down the path of building a backyard pizza oven. At least for now.

Speaking of heat, as fate would have it I read a post about heat by fellow member David and decided to take his advice and buy a Raytek Noncontact Thermometer. The model is MiniTemp MT 6. What an eye-opener. Knowing the TEC grill had the capability to crank up the heat to 800 degrees at the grate level was one of the reasons why I have been so persistent with my pizza making for the past year or two. I know the elite pizzerias in NYC bake pies at that temperature and I have been on a mission to do so myself. However, I was always suspicious of whether or not I was actually grilling at 800 degrees. I had no objective way of truly determining the exact temperature. Tonight I learned that I was grilling at only 710 degrees to 755 degrees on average.

I have always been an advocate of changing one variable at a time which has been proven by me to be the most effective approach to determining if a change was worthwile or not. The change I made tonight was to add a layer of aluminum foil beneath the tiles to reflect the added heat I was willing to go after. I knew that I would need to reflect heat away from the bottom of the pie if I let the TEC warm up for a longer than the normal 30 minute timeframe.

At the 30 minute mark the Raytec measured a paltry 710 degrees. It was an ah-ha type moment. That's why my pies didn't "look" authentic I thought to myself. At the 35 minute mark it registered 755 degrees. I decided to put the first pie in at this temperature. The second Sophia was grilled at 777 degrees (approximately 45 minutes of grill warm-up time). The additional warm-up time improved the flavor profile to more match my NYC taste memory for an elite pie. The tooth and mouth feel was exactly what I remember experiencing from Patsy's in NYC. The only difference was slightly softer crust due to the Caputo Blue.

The TEC surely can go even higher. I will soon find out. Tomorrow night I will try to achieve an 800 degree grilling of Pizza Sophia as I have two more doughs in the fridge fermenting. A couple of other points to mention about tonight's Pizza Sophia. The skins were stretched to 10 and 11 inches and weighed exactly 8 ounces each. They were the most delicious pies I have experienced to date.

Enjoy the photographs.

[pftaylor]

The 777 degree Pizza Sophia...

[David]

When the day comes that the men in white coats come to take us all away to  cells padded with bags of 'Tipo OO' we will have this Forum in our defence

[Ronzo]

When the day comes that the men in white coats come to take us all away to  cells padded with bags of 'Tipo OO' we will have this Forum in our defence

LOL! No kidding man. My wife already thinks we've lost it... that is until I make some pizza, then I get permission to keep coming around.

[scott r]

PFT, Those pies look AMAZING. 

I had to fire up the oven in your honor and slice up some pepperoni after checking out your latest post.

I was just thinking about your recent ability to get more heat, and your recent tweaking of your hydration.  I have been working on the same sort of things lately.  I have noticed up in the 700-800 degree range that with an increase in temp, I can also increase the hydration of my dough.  If you think you might have liked the 55% doughs better at your lower temp, you should try going back up to your 60% recipe (if you have not already done so).

I was also wondering if you are measuring your temp on the stone?  If so your grill and my home oven on self clean are right in the same exact range.  Damn, I wish I could get my stone up to 800.  At that range we could have an ambient temp of 900, and we could really get the hydration up there into the aqua fresca range.

Good luck, and keep experimenting!

[Aaron]

Those look amazingly good,stop your making me hungry.
Aaron

[Bill/SFNM]

I wish I could get my stone up to 800.  At that range we could have an ambient temp of 900, and we could really get the hydration up there ...

Scott,

I'm curious why you say the ambient temp will be higher than the deck temp. In my brick oven, the ambient temp near the dome can be much higher than the deck, but my measurements of the air near the pie are usually near or below the temp of the deck. I have to admit these are very difficult measurements to take since I have to block the strong heat radiated from the fire and coals. I've pretty much stopped trying to take these measurements, especially since the radiated heat is so important and I really don't have a good way to measure it except from the smell of burning arm hairs if I get too close 

But there is no question that the quicker the pizza bakes and the more hydrated the dough, the better the result. These days I'm up to 65% hydration and down to 4% natural starter.

Bill/SFNM

[scott r]

Bill,

my only experience with higher temp ovens is with my modified home oven.  I am not totally sure what is going on inside, but I am sure that the airflow in your wood burning oven really helps to cook those pies in a different way then my oven can where the air is stagnant. 

If I measure the oven after my one hour preheat I usually get a reading in the 800 degree range.  I can let it go longer to get it a little hotter, but I rarely am able to wait that long. If my stone is also at 800 degrees because I have left it in for the whole preheat, my pies burn on the bottom before the top is cooked properly.  What I have to do to offset this problem is slide my stone in there about 4 or 5 minutes before I put the pie in.  When I do that the stone gets up to around 700 degrees.  This is the easiest way for me to get a properly cooked pizza.

Since the back walls of the oven measure 800, I have always just thought of the ambient temp as being 800, but now that you have mentioned it, the reality is probably that my ambient temp is probably much less since the oven door has opened and shut twice since the preheat.

[pftaylor]

Thanks for all the comments guys. Here are pictures of Pizza Sophia at 836 degrees. I need one more sheet of aluminum foil and I should be able to achieve the proper balance between top and bottom charring.

Wow they tasted good. My best friends enjoyed Pizza Sophia immensely. Molly has her tongue out in anticipation of comfort food coming her way. 

[pftaylor]

In honor of Sophia Loren being voted the world's most beautiful natural woman, at the unbelievable age of 71 no less, I just had to dust off my tribute to her. So in order to kick start things off in the right direction below is the updated recipe:

                                   Pizza Sophia Revised

Baker's %      oz/g                Ingredients & Descriptive Comment(s)[/b]
100%        50/1417.5           Flour – Caputo Pizzeria/San Felice Pizzeria
 61%        30.5/864.9          Water – Purified, Bottled, Anything but Tap
2.7%        1.35/38.3            Sicilian Sea Salt – Finely Cut
3% - 5%   1.5/42.5              Natural Starter – Ischia
Totals      82.85/2363.2        Service for Eight

Note: Target weight is 10 ounces for a 13" skin.

Preparation Steps
1 - Add salt & water in kneader bowl. Stir until salt completely dissolved
2 - Add starter then add approximately half the sifted flour
3 - Turn on kneader incorporating the dry ingredients completely
4 – Then add remaining flour by evenly sprinkling flour very slowly
5 - Mix until dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl
6 - Rest 15 minutes. Then turn kneader on for one full turn to achieve proper texture. This is 1st dough point
7 - Remove dough from bowl. Target dough temperature is 75 - 77F
8 - Punch & fold on bench until very springy. The famed double dough point
9 - Shape into bulk ball & place in covered bowl. Maintain a 64 – 68F temp for the 1st room temperature rise of 12 - 18 hours
10 - Divide into 10oz weights, shape into balls and cover. Maintain a 64 – 68F temp for 2nd rise of 4-6 hours

I will post photographs of the results from the revised Pizza Sophia Formulary tonight or tomorrow.
 

[November]

In honor of Sophia Loren being voted the world's most beautiful natural woman, at the unbelievable age of 71 no less, I just had to dust off my tribute to her.

Is this a retrospective tribute?  Sophia is 73 years old now.

[pftaylor]

Hi November,
You are quite correct. The award dates back to 2006. Which coinsides with when this thread was last active.

As promised, here is an overview from last night.

Last night we had a couple over from another barren pizza wasteland – Atlanta. They were quite enjoyable, lively entertainment, intelligent, and voracious pizza eaters. For being as skinny as they both were, I have no idea where they put it all away but away it went. There was nothing left save for the catch-all Trouser Leg which I wrapped for them for another day.

The menu last night was comprised of seven 13” pies and a calzone. The pies were all made with the Pizza Sophia Formulary mentioned in the previous post. They contained San Felice flour, 61% hydration, 2.7% sea salt, and 5% Ischia starter (due to the shortened rise time). The dough was raised in two stages; first a bulk stage for ten hours, then the ten ounce balls were shaped and placed on the counter for another four hours.

By the end of the night they were grateful and humbled by what had occurred. I was as well, well mostly anyway. They desperately tried to express their level of satisfaction and at the same time understand how pizza could possibly be as good as it apparently was for them.

The menu had a mixture of both light and heavily topped pizzas since I never know before hand what folks will or won’t like. But last night I wanted to cut through all the accolades about this is the best pizza I’ve ever eaten, etc. and better understand their reasoning behind the compliments. Don’t get me wrong, I like hearing the compliments but truth be told; being a curious sort, I want to lean against someone’s thinking about why they thought it was the best. In order to do that I employed the skill and art of inquiry. I call it getting real. At my age, I like getting real or not playing. I don’t have time to play games. So real I got.

After a series of questions I managed to peel the onion back so to speak and uncovered the central sticking point for them. It was toppings related. They came with the preconceived notion that more toppings equaled a better pizza. Last night they were inexorably stripped of that tenet and were forced to come to a new conclusion based on their experience.

But it didn’t make sense to them initially because they viewed pizza through a particular prism. The prism of more toppings makes a better pizza. While they had difficulty at first concisely explaining why they preferred certain pies, I asked them to think about their favorite choices in relation to lightness or heaviness of toppings since all the pies had the same crust. Inevitably their favorites had better balance due to fewer toppings. But the eyes can play tricks. Their top two choices were the Pizza Raquel and Pizza Sophia which last night were the Margherita and marinara.

With a little guidance, they both came to the conclusion that a proper balance of crust, sauces, and primary toppings can create synergy which is frankly greater than the sum of the ingredients. In my opinion I have observed lightly topped pizzas presenting a unique tooth and mouth feel which can’t be replicated with more or heavier topped pies. More or heavier toppings can sometimes create separation in my mind from the crust, sauce, and cheese. They unintentionally create a homogeneity gap in one’s mind which is difficult to close. So the conclusion from last night was our guests loved the flavors from all the differently topped pizzas but they also realized less is more.

But what is less I asked? Less of exactly what? Less topping combinations or less weight of toppings? Last night we defined less as less primary toppings per pizza but not necessarily less topping combinations. In my book, there is a stark difference between adding spices to accentuate a certain primary topping or creating better balance versus adding competing primary toppings such as mushrooms and onions on top of cheese.

At the risk of boring the forum membership here is a direct example from last night. The Pizza Raquel was loosely based on a Margherita style in appearance and it has one main topping – Fresh Mozzarella. To the casual pizza observer, they would instantly recognize it as a cheese pizza consisting of crust, sauce, cheese, and basil.

And it is precisely here where an artisan of this hobby can make or break the sensory experience. I truly enjoy presenting a seemingly simple looking pizza which catches one so completely off guard that they are at a loss for words to explain what is going on. They are overrun with an avalanche of hidden flavor. Complimentary flavors are my goal not an endless sea of competing flavors.

Where the tomatoes taste vine fresh, the cheese melts in your mouth and the crust serves as the vessel and catalyst for it all. Where one’s tongue can’t decipher and process the contrasts quickly enough with what is really going on because the brain is in a state of confused bliss. Where the contrasts begin with one picking up a slice with one’s hand. The wafer thin veneer of the crust informs one’s hand to message to the mind to interpret you are getting ready to eat something hard. But when one’s teeth pierce the veneer, it is greeted with a silly-soft middle which sends a contrasting “soft” message to the brain creating complete havoc between the hand, mouth and mind. Does that make sense?

How does one create pizza havoc? By carefully constructing complimentary spicing and flavoring enhancements. The Pizza Raquel from last night was built as follows:
- The thinnest layer of freshly ground San Marzano tomatoes was laid on the skin,
- Then the ever-so-slightest sprinkling of the oregano was added
- It was then enhanced with a lighter-than-light dusting of Sin Fulvi Romano which provided the perfect segue to the creamy smooth Fresh Mozzarella
- One swirl of ridiculously expensive EVOO on top and off to the inferno
- Sixty seconds later fresh basil was scissored on top to complete the “look”

I’d like to end this post by briefly explaining why I think I was only mostly satisfied with last night’s proceedings. I believe it has to do with the San Felice Pizzeria flour. Though it could have been Caputo Pizzeria just as easily. For me, I prefer slightly more crisp crust than what either Caputo or San Felice are designed to produce from a one minute bake in a wood burning oven. Call me crazy but light and soft is not as desirable as light and crisp. I just prefer the more complex hand/tooth/mouth feel of ever-so-slightly crispy to pillowy softness.

So where does this leave me? Wandering in the wilderness I suppose. I just don't get what the big deal with Italian 00 flour is. Never have from the beginning. Right now a blend of American flour and Italian flour produces the right crust texture for my tastes.

Photographs are below.

[Pete-zza]

pft,

One of the things that I like on a pizza is a lot of color. In my case, with the types of pizza I make, that is usually done with a lot of different toppings of different colors--like red and green peppers, pepperoncini peppers, olives, sauteed and fresh mushrooms, etc. I also like the visual appeal (and taste as well) of cheese that goes to the edge of the pizza and bakes up crispy and brown. I realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but a few examples of what I mean are shown here:

Donatos Clone: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2711.msg27952.html#msg27952 (Reply 22)
Monical's Clone: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,600.msg53300.html#msg53300 (Reply 24)
DKM Clone (especially last photo): http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5762.msg49401.html#msg49401 (Reply 50)
DKM Clone: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5762.msg53176.html#msg53176 (Reply 128)
Jimmy V Clone: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5762.msg53444.html#msg53444 (Reply 139)

I also believe that Chris Bianco's pizzas make exceptional use of color to create an enticing appearance to accompany the type and quality of ingredients used to help create that visual effect.

Peter

[pftaylor]

Do I feel lucky?

It is a suitable title for this post I think.

Chris Bianco crafts the only commercial pizza I have ever eaten which properly nails the big three of no defects, designer-like execution, and stunning synergy of ultra-high quality ingredients. In short, he gives his patrons the Wow Factor! The man is a pizza genius. Kindly allow me to explore each point for it is part and parcel to my direction in home pizza making.

Bianco’s pizzas are devoid of noticeable defects of any kind. There is a clear purpose why his menu is constructed in the manner it is. Repetition may be the mother of learning but no other pizzeria I have eaten at has mastered the menu quite like Chris has.

Designer like execution. Order the Rosa and then let me know if you could “feel” Chris sitting at the table with you as I did. That pizza is the epitome of Chris tapping his guests on the shoulder with a message of I’ve got you and I’m not letting you go till I’m ready. I was powerless.

Unsurpassed synergy of crust, sauce, & toppings. The first bite of a Bianco pizza makes one scratch their head in search of answers to two overarching questions. Where is all the flavor is coming from? And did I just experience something so advanced that I can confidently rule out sheer luck of the draw?

Two other highly touted pizzerias don’t even come close; though they both claim they do and manage to incorporate some of the same winning elements. First up is UPN with its limited menu of just four pizzas. Sounds good so far but the crust offered little flavor to my palate, no oven spring but he does have a new oven which might help, and overall Anthony’s pizzas exhibited not a single original facet which shouted: you are eating something unavailable anywhere else at any price. Believe me; I searched hard to find something, anything which could be remotely considered Anthony specific. My sense was he sold a clone product which I was supposed to believe was just as good as the pizza in Naples. Never having been, I still couldn’t imagine how that may even remotely be the case.

How about Luzzo’s?  From time to time Luzzo’s has created perfect texture but unfortunately it’s always accompanied with a noticeable lack of flavor due to the absence of proper amounts of salt in the dough. And what about the coal oven which also burns wood? What is he trying to do? How does the presence of wood help his product? I’m clueless on this point. A probable explanation could be that he is trying to compete with UPN around the corner. You can fool some of the people some of the time but…well you get the point. Finally, the sauce was bitter with a citric acid taste which threw balance out the window.

The only critical comments I could possibly make about Chris’s pies are:
- I wish the form factor was a little larger (even 13” could make the cut in my mind)
- I wish the crust was a little less intentionally brittle. While nowhere near as crunchy as a Pizzeria Mozza pie, my preference is slightly less crunch 
- Finally, I wish he had wondered to Tampa instead of Phoenix years ago so I could learn from him

So how about a little scorecard of my efforts now that I have practiced with a wood burning oven and the ultimate home kneader? How do my humble home pizza making efforts stack up? Sadly, I have to admit I am completely satisfied with only one pizza. That being Pizza Raquel in her Margherita form only.

Though Pizza Sophia, in her marinara form, may have just graduated. But she still needs to build a consistent track record. The big breakthrough for Pizza Sophia was switching from freshly picked oregano to drying out the oregano on the TEC’s black grill cover which reaches upwards of 135F in the hot Florida sun. Then crumbling the stemless oregano in-between my thumb and index finger. Somehow the flavor which I knew was in there, but was muted in all other previous versions, came bellowing through. I just need to do it again and again to be sure.

Come to think about it, I could live quite happily for the rest of my life on just Pizza Raquel and Sophia. But something inside me is telling me to go further. We’ll see.

So after years of tinkering, I might have finally managed to strike the right balance with EVOO, oregano, sauce, crust, garlic, and cheese. Pizza Sophia may be just a marinara, but one bite will have you scratching your head with a couple of questions. Where is all the flavor coming from? And was it luck?

I'll let Harry Callahan pick up the conversation for me...

Well, I know what you’re thinking.

Did he wood-fire six pies or only five?

Well to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I almost lost track myself. But being that these were baked in the Raquel Oven, the most powerful pizza specific oven made, and will blow your head clean off with pizza joy, you’ve got to ask yourself one question.

Do I feel lucky?

Well do ya, punk? 

[Essen1]

Well, I know what you’re thinking.

Did he wood-fire six pies or only five?

Well to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I almost lost track myself. But being that these were baked in the Raquel Oven, the most powerful pizza specific oven made, and will blow your head clean off with pizza joy, you’ve got to ask yourself one question.

Do I feel lucky?

Well do ya, punk? 

Pft,

you beat me to it! That was exactly what came to mind when I read your opening line.  Good ol' Callahan.

Anyway, I'm curious as to what you attribute the balance of flavor in Chris' pizze? Is it the dough itself, the sauce or a combination of toppings?

I'm still in the process of nailing my own dough formula and have come close on a few occasions, according to some test eaters in my cycle of friends, but I'm still not satisfied yet. I always feel there's a little tweak here and there to be made.

Mike