JT's WFO pies

[Tscarborough]

Those look great!  I usually prefer the pies at the end of the bake myself, once the temps have dropped off from 8-900 to a more reasonable 7-800.

[RobynB]

The neo looked wonderful, and that last pie looked absolutely fantastic!  Of course I'm intrigued by the dessert pie - why pork fat instead of butter?  I'm assuming temperature concern?  Or flavor, or maybe just leftover from the bacon?  Gorgeous pizzas!

[Jackie Tran]

Marc, as far as the project being worthwhile.   It has been and is also a luxury for us.   No doubt anyone can make great pies in the LBE and home oven.  We have many members here who post up great stuff all the time.  

I am perceiving a 10%? improvement in my pies but it's really hard to put a number on that since I'm always switching things up.  I'm still continuing to bake pies in my LBE since I'm not firing this beast up for just 2 pies, so as my process becomes more refined I'll be able to see the true potential of a WFO.  

But that is strictly looking at the pizza alone.  I can't adequately put into words the enjoyment of starting a fire, working the oven, having friends gather around with their questions.  The responses I get from friends as they eat a hot freshly made pizza from the WFO, the company of friends and good weather.  To me that is worth the cost of the project.  

Norma - these latest pies I made were just really awesome.  Hopefully they are repeatable.    The crust was perfectly cracklin' with a really nice toasty taste to them.  The crumb was very soft and tender.  Melt in your mouth.  The bottom was crisp initially.  The crust had just the right amount of chew to it.   Again, it made me think of Patsy's for some reason eventhough I've never been there.  Was it the WFO effect?   I think so.  Can I duplicate this in the home oven or LBE?  I think I may be able to.  Need to do more testing since this formula and method is new to me.  

chau

[Jackie Tran]

Thanks Tom, I'll have to experiment more with the lower temp bakes. 

The neo looked wonderful, and that last pie looked absolutely fantastic!  Of course I'm intrigued by the dessert pie - why pork fat instead of butter?  I'm assuming temperature concern?  Or flavor, or maybe just leftover from the bacon?  Gorgeous pizzas!

Robyn, butter would have been just as yummy.  The pork fat was just leftover from the bacon.    I was also thinking about one of Marco's post at the time about how the first pizzas were made with pork fat as well.   Bacon grease doesn't sound as impressive for the forum as rendered pork fat for some reason so I did it as part experiment and part joke.   

The pie did not taste or smell of bacon.  The sea salt contrasted perfectly with the ripe bananas & brown sugar.

Chau

[RobynB]

Bacon, bananas and maple are a classic combo - next time try maple sugar instead of brown sugar, maybe a drizzle of maple syrup.  Yum. 

[Matthew]

  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?

Focaccia di Recco.

Matt

[norma427]

Norma or Matt, what is that pizza called again?

Focaccia di Recco.

Matt

Matt,

I think the skin Chau was posting about, that he stretched the skin so thin was the Ultra-thin pizza at Reply 23 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,11044.msg99149.html#msg99149

Chau had the same intent look, even back then.   

Norma

[parallei]

Wonderful Chau.  I'm sure you could give Patsy's a run for their money! 

[Jackie Tran]

Thanks Matt.  That's what I was thinking about.  Focaccia di Ricco.   Norma I was also interested to see how thin I could stretch this NP dough b/c I had made it by hand. 

Thanks Parallei.  I appreciate it. 

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

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

Thanks John and Andre.  Here's what I did...

BTW the cherry tomato pie in the first post is 223gm baked up to almost 12".   

Flour blend 90/10 00/hg.   Next time I'll skip on the 10% hg.   The 00 is caputo pizzeria flour.
Water 66%
CY 0.01% which ended up being 1/8th of 0.25gm CY for a 24h RT ferment
Salt 2.8%

-dissolve salt and CY in filtered room temp water. 
-dump all of flour in and mix by hand squeezing flour between fingers until all flour is mixed in fairly well.   A bit over a minute.
-cover and rest for 30m.   S&F's several times, then kneaded with palms for 1min.  Rested another 10m, and kneaded for about 45seconds or so. 
-covered and allow to rest at room temp 75F until next morning (14hours later).
-dough had risen maybe 25% or so.  It was somewhat aerated and very soft.
-divided and balled tightly. 
-Proofed at RT until bake time which was around 530p. 

Chau

[TXCraig1]

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.

I ate at Patsy's in E. Harlem a couple years ago, and it was good but nothing to write home about in my opinion. It certainly didn't live up to my expectations which were based primarily on Jeff Varasano's comments.

Despite having never tasted them, I'd still put my money on your pies Chau any day and twice on Saturday.

CL

[JConk007]

Chau,
Check out the last page of that ultra thin pie thread . I did the same stretch and just cut it to the size of my 14" peel and cooked it in the wfo  its great you should try it lower temp of course, 650 ish  and go light cheese crispy crunchy on the edge and the crowd loves it!
John

[pizzablogger]

 

[PaulsPizza]

Thank you for the recipe and fermentation protocol Chau! You are really churning out world class pies imo.

Pizzablogger, that picture is brilliant!  I nearly choked on my cup of tea when I saw it! Very good :-)

[TXCraig1]

I like the way the dough windowpanes on that building.

[RobynB]

OH, that's a BUILDING.  Right?   

[Jackie Tran]

   You guys are too funny, especially you Kelly.   Thanks for a good laugh.  That's a funny picture.  

John, I'll check out that thread again.   I do recall you doing that though.  

Thank you Craig.  I think I had Patsy's on my mind b/c of how enamored Jeff was.  But I'm sure it was from back in the day.  I remember reading that their pizza isn't what it use to be.  This was one of the few times that I had this overwhelming thought that I could serve something like this commercially and it would do well.  

Your welcome Paul.  Let me know how it works out if you decide to try it.  

chau

[pizzablogger]

Thank you Craig.  I think I had Patsy's on my mind b/c of how enamored Jeff is with them as well.  But I'm sure it was from back in the day.  I remember reading that their pizza isn't what it use to be.

Indeed. As with most pizzerias, consistency is key. With the death of long-time pizzamaker Jose Jimenez in 2009 (he was the pizza maker there for 32 yrs), the pies may be hit and miss, based on a post Jiminez visit.

Personal tastes are funny. While Patsy's EH can be a very good pie, I prefer the Totonno's CI product.

This was one of the few times that I had this overwhelming thought that I could serve something like this commercially and it would do well.  

I can't taste pictures, but from what we have been seeing and reading, you are well past that point. I'd be willing to bet some money that a Chaueria would be very popular...even if it was located next door to an already operating, well respected pizzeria in NYC. --K

[Ronzo]

Pizzablogger, that picture is brilliant!  I nearly choked on my cup of tea when I saw it! Very good :-)

I'ma kawl mah kuzzin vinnie tah fit ya fuh sum konkreet shooz...

[ponzu]

JT,

Those pies look awesome.  I favor the new haven looking pies especially that second pep pie.  They look perfectly charred and very tender.

I also love those small leopard spts on the upskirt of the neo, though the rim looks a little out of proportion to the pie based on my own peculiar eye.  I hope you will continue to pursue the neapolitan ideal as well as your hybrid pie, though I have no doubt I would prefer the hybrid for the crunch.

If the neo was baked at 850 and the last pie was at 650, about what temp were though middle pies?

Keep up the great work.  As if there were a question about that!
AZ

[pennygirl]

It's just a different level when you create a return customer simply through a picture of your product JT.

I hate to be controversial, but when i Google image Bianco's pies and compare them here, your crust/dough (the most important part of the pizza) is waaay more appealing/desirable. See for yourself folks, it looks a no brainer to me...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&pq=disappointed&xhr=t&q=bianco+pizza&cp=9&safe=off&client=safari&biw=981&bih=632&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

I know Chau's too humble to agree, not trying to get him to. Just my opinion.