As I mentioned over in the Santos mixer thread: "I baked a pizza today using dough mixed in the Santos fork mixer. Absolutely no question this was the best pizza I have ever made. But I think some or much of the credit may go to factors other than the mixer. " Here are some thoughts:
1. As mentioned earlier in this thread, I used ratios close to those Marco recommends which resulted in a dough much drier than I am used to. I was afraid I might have overkneaded the dough or that it would be too dry. But after fermenting and proofing, the dough was supple and easy to work with. After baking, it had the most marvelous texture: puffy, soft, and crispy, tender. I'll probably add more water next time just because I can't leave well enough alone. But I doubt I could get a better texture. I would never have been able to get this texture in my KA Artisan.
2. I mixed up the dough the day before yesterday and had planned to bake yesterday, but a scheduling conflict caused me to postpone baking until today resulting in the dough retarding in the refrigerator for about 34 hours. The flavor from the Camaldoli starter was a little more tangy and much more interesting than before. The color of the pizza was more golden which I ascribe to the increased fermentation time.
3. Another factor in the success of this pizza falls under the category of "fire management". Those of you with wood burning ovens appreciate that even if all of the factors are perfect, poor fire management can ruin the result and how hard it can be to have the fire perfect when you are ready to start baking. For some reason (perhaps all of the time I spent at A16 watching the process), today's fire was perfect with plenty of radiant heat from the flames curving down from the dome to evenly cook the whole pizza quickly.
Anyway, I have so much experimenting to do, but I think I have never been closer to my quest for the perfect Neapolitan pizza.
Bill/SFNM
