Author Topic: JT's WFO pies (Read 23768 times)

Jackie Tran · « **on:** June 09, 2011, 12:40:18 AM »

Had a pizza party tonight and will post a few of the pies. I like to make my NY-elite (hybrid or Neo-Neapolitan pies) for guests since most are unfamiliar with NP.

However before the guests arrived, I decided to try my hand at NP with high temps. I had the hearth at 855F and the dome around 1000F with flames licking the dome. I banked the coals closer to the middle so I could bake right up against the wall. This pie was clocked at about 65 seconds. This is about as NP as I could get a pie. the rim was soft, tender with just a slight veneer. The center was wet and semi soupy. The ingredients still fresh. The tomatoes, basil, and cheese barely cooked. I did enjoy this one quite a bit.

I finally made a satisfactory NP pie and I can stop obsessing over it.

Will post pics of the hybrid pies tomorrow.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #1 on:** June 09, 2011, 12:43:08 AM »

I also made a dessert pie. Bananas, rendered pork fat, brown sugar, cinnamon, sea salt. Same dough but lower temp.

flyboy4ual · « **Reply #2 on:** June 09, 2011, 12:47:44 AM »

Looks great! Did you use a raised floor on those?
I cant wait to get my oven going. It is being delivered in a few weeks, and I have been bugging the guy to finish up my metal stand. Hopefully it all comes together by the end of the month!.

Scott D.

Pizza Pirate · « **Reply #3 on:** June 09, 2011, 02:55:44 AM »

Jackie

Those are some great looking pies. On the desert pie, have you encountered any problems with the brown sugar or cinnamon burning due to the high heat?

I am hosting a couple of pizza parties this month, any recommendations on desert pizza in a gas oven?

On the Margherita, Raffaele Esposito would be proud!

Bruce

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #4 on:** June 09, 2011, 05:10:12 AM »

Thanks Scott & Bruce. Scott I did not use a raised floor on these. Since I was baking so close to the wall, the ceiling height there is plenty low. You'll have lots of fun with your new oven.

Bruce, this was the first time trying this dessert pie and I didn't have any problems with the sugar or cinnamon burning, although that did concern me. You can always add the cinnamon afterwards as well.

It's 3 am here and I can't seem to sleep,

So I'll post some more pics from last night's bake.

As good as the NP pizzas are, the crust on my hybrid pies are just way better.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #5 on:** June 09, 2011, 05:16:16 AM »

After we had all eaten and sat around chatting for awhile it was getting late and time to wrap things up. Nearing 9 PM and the fire had for the most part died down. Temps were on the low side at 650 ish maybe? I found 1 last doughball and decided to just throw him to the fire. And wow, the crust was out of this world. He was baked a bit longer than the others and I was surprised the dough wasn't overblown since the weather was quite warm and he had been sitting out awhile.

This one is bacon and jalepeno. These are all crumb shots from the same pizza. The last pic is me stretching one of the leftover NP doughs as thin as I could get it. Just having a bit of fun.

Chau

dellavecchia · « **Reply #6 on:** June 09, 2011, 06:21:51 AM »

That NP pie is much more than satisfactory, it is downright perfect! I love your bacon/banana combo as well. But the kicker is the dough stretch you did, which shows just well you are developing your doughs. Great job - and inspirational.

John

Matthew · « **Reply #7 on:** June 09, 2011, 06:29:14 AM »

Great job Chau....Give me some time.....I'll convert you!

Matt

PaulsPizza · « **Reply #8 on:** June 09, 2011, 06:37:51 AM »

Chau, they look amazing!

The crumb shots look very similar to your 'perfect pie' ones IMO. Do you agree? What was the recipe/mix/fermentation on these bad boys?

Again, very very impressed with your pies as always! you have some lucky guests!

Paul

briterian · « **Reply #9 on:** June 09, 2011, 08:10:48 AM »

I love the one of you stretching the dough as thin as possible. I'd also love to know the type of flour and other dough ingredients including the mixing process. Nice job! Jealous of your oven.

plainslicer · « **Reply #10 on:** June 09, 2011, 08:16:02 AM »

Wow, drool-worthy for sure. It seems from the people here who had great-looking pizzas before they got a WFO that it gives that final touch to make them look perfect. I can only imagine the taste improves as well.

widespreadpizza · « **Reply #11 on:** June 09, 2011, 08:47:14 AM »

JT, nice work! Does the oven already feel like a worthwhile project? -Marc

scott123 · « **Reply #12 on:** June 09, 2011, 08:51:29 AM »

Quote from: Matthew on June 09, 2011, 06:29:14 AM

Great job Chau....Give me some time.....I'll convert you!

I think you'd have better luck stopping the sun from rising

norma427 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 09, 2011, 08:53:25 AM »

Chau,

All of your pies sure look delicious.

How do you now feel about pies baked in a WFO, compared to all the other ways you baked all of your other pies in your different threads?

At least in my opinion, nothing can beat any pie made in a WFO. I just wanted to see what your opinion is.

Norma

Matthew · « **Reply #14 on:** June 09, 2011, 09:02:26 AM »

BTW...If you want to impress everyone, post a picture of the finished pizza from that last picture.

Matt

andreguidon · « **Reply #15 on:** June 09, 2011, 09:54:50 AM »

Chau, your neapolitan pizzas look GREAT!! CONGRATS!!

what flour did u use, and fermentation ? love the color!!

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #16 on:** June 09, 2011, 09:55:07 AM »

Awesome as always. Love the jalapeno-bacon. I need to make one of those soon.

When I looked at that last picture, I thought i was looking in a mirror. I think I have the same picture of me. I'll look for it when I get home tonight.

CL

Ronzo · « **Reply #17 on:** June 09, 2011, 09:57:54 AM »

Chau... the rest of us amateurs can learn a lot from a self-made pro like you. Those all look fantastic.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #18 on:** June 09, 2011, 10:52:18 AM »

Thank you all for the kind words. It does keep me motivated.

Quote from: PaulsPizza on June 09, 2011, 06:37:51 AM

Chau, they look amazing! The crumb shots look very similar to your 'perfect pie' ones IMO. Do you agree? What was the recipe/mix/fermentation on these bad boys?

Again, very very impressed with your pies as always! you have some lucky guests!

Paul

Paul these were some of my best pies. Forwhatever reason it really made me think about Patsy's Pizza wondering how these would stack up against their crust.

2 day cold fermented dough.
Flour 100% (60/40 oo/hg blend)
Water 67% (Those interested in using this recipe may want to decrease the hydration to 63% or so)
IDY 0.3%
Salt 2.5%

Sometime in the evening...

Method: Measure out ingredients.
-dissolve salt in room temperature bottled water. Dump yeast into water.
-Measure out flour and mix the dry flours well in a ziplock bag or bowl before adding to water.
-Dump all of the flour into the liquid. Stir with fork or spoon until shag. Then with both hands squeeze dough vigoursly until you get a fairly even mix. Should look similar to cottage cheese.
-Cover and let it rest for 20-30m. Can rest longer if using cold water. If using warm water cut the rest time down. You don't want the yeast becoming too active.
-After the rest period, do a few S & Fs and knead by hand with the palms for about 1 minute.
-cover and rest for 5-10 minutes, then fold and knead again for about 30 seconds. You can vary these times to see what results you get.
-Ball up the dough and place into a very lightly oiled container and straight into the fridge (40-50F)

The next moring....
-dump the dough out cold, divide and ball. The dough should have risen 25-50%.
-put balls into individual lightly oiled containers or proofing tray and then back into th fridge.

About 2-3 hours before baking, place dough on counter at room temps. Aim for a 4-5 minute bake at 650F or so.

I do want to say that the last pie was baked late in the evening and at a slightly lower temp than the others and the crust was very impressive to me. Looking back at my notes, I used IDY instead of CY. It makes sense that IDY is very forgiving in that it doesn't seem to toughen up the crust if left to ferment too long like I have noticed with CY and particularly starters.

Chau

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #19 on:** June 09, 2011, 11:05:31 AM »

Quote from: plainslicer on June 09, 2011, 08:16:02 AM

Wow, drool-worthy for sure. It seems from the people here who had great-looking pizzas before they got a WFO that it gives that final touch to make them look perfect. I can only imagine the taste improves as well.

I agree. IMO good pizza requires good dough and even heat. Having the oven alone doesn't equate to good pizza without the dough being right. Having said that, WFO's are necessary for the NP style. Not so much for the NY-elite style though. You can get just about as good results with the LBE, oven hacks and such. The results are better in the WFO, but for this particularly style it isn't a huge jump.

For me texture is a huge part of how the crust taste, so I would say yes.

On stretching the dough, I was just messing around. Matt - I didn't have a big enough peel and couldn't get it pass the oven opening. Kidding aside, it reminded me of the dough for that pizza Norma and Bill made that has really thin dough and lots of cheese. Norma or Matt, what is that pizza called again?