Craig's Neapolitan Garage

[TXCraig1]

A few more pics

[parallei]

Beautiful Craig   A lucky group of bean counters.....

[TXCraig1]

This is probably my best pie so far. I was very happy with the look, flavor, balance, and tenderness.

CL

[Phar Lap]

Craig,

Great job!!  How was the fishing trip? 

I have a question about your Ischia culture:  I just activated Ischia culture into sourdough starter that I got from Cultures for Health.  Is the 1.5% Ischia culture you use to leaven your dough 1.5% active Ischia starter?  Sorry if it is a stupid question, but this is my first foray into natural preferments.

Thanks...Adam

[Jackie Tran]

All beautiful Craig! Where do you go from here?

Chau

[TXCraig1]

All beautiful Craig! Where do you go from here?

Chau

Thank you Chau. I find that the more I like what I see in my pies, the more I see that I can improve on.

CL

[TXCraig1]

Craig,

Great job!!  How was the fishing trip?  

I have a question about your Ischia culture:  I just activated Ischia culture into sourdough starter that I got from Cultures for Health.  Is the 1.5% Ischia culture you use to leaven your dough 1.5% active Ischia starter?  Sorry if it is a stupid question, but this is my first foray into natural preferments.

Thanks...Adam

Thanks Adam. The fishing trip was great. I had so much fun with my boys - one of our best outing ever.

Yes, 1.5% (very) active culture. I keep my about the consistency of a thick batter. It will just barely pour. It will probably take some experimenting to get your quantity, temperature, and time all worked out. I'm happy to help with questions if I can.

CL

[Phar Lap]

Thanks Craig...do you take the 1.5% Ischia culture directly from your master starter kept in the fridge, or do you first activate your master starter out of the fridge, and then use 1.5% of the active form?

My boys are 4 and 1, and "we" are already planning our first guys golf trip, which most likely be at the Greenbrier in WV...it will be a few years, but I cannot wait.  Also, I am hosting my HR compensation group for an outing in a few weeks, and while it is not quite the Accounting group, I think we can relate 

Adam

[thezaman]

beautiful pizzas !! what was you cooking temperature? you have great balance top and bottom .

[wheelman]

great job Craig with a big party.  i have a party of 20 this weekend and i'm inspired by your results.  i find that i can cook in pairs pretty easily which works great for up to 16.  i'm thinking of banging two pairs of each pizza for 20.  how did you work your sequence with so many folks?
bill

[norma427]

Craig,

Beautiful pies!   

Norma

[JConk007]

Craig,
Very Nice I agree best to date ! really nice looking pizzas. Bet you heard a few of those OMG this is the best pizza... Was there a favorite voted from you variety? Do you think you will ever get the artisan trays or are you sticking with the Varsano storage? I have 60 People thursday night Ye ha!
John

[Pizza Napoletana]

Last night's bake - I had my accounting team over - 30 folks - for a office party - 21 pies.

100% Caputo
60% water
2.8% salt
1.5% Ischia culture

My normal mixing routine. 24 hours in bulk at 64F + 8+ more in balls at 77F. Bake 65-70 seconds at 875F. The crust was melt-in-your-mouth tender. Perfect (IMHO) sour flavor. Some of my favorite crust so far.

CL

In the name of all that is holy and unseen, what is that oven doing in your garage?!? That is extra, extra, extra-ordinary! . . . I have never seen anything like this before. How in the world did you end up with an Acunto oven in your garage? Will you marry me? (Your pizzas look very inviting. La chaim!)

[GlennC.]

Wow!  I want to work for you just to attend the office parties.  Nothing better than a pie with fresh slices of jalapenos.

[Jet_deck]

I agree Craig, it takes something special to bang through 21 pizzas that look that good.  I am sure they were all impressed.  On picture number 16 would you say that the olive oil or the water from the sauce/cheese made up the majority of the liquid at the tip of the slice of pizza that we see.  Anywho, I am impressed.

[TXCraig1]

Thanks Craig...do you take the 1.5% Ischia culture directly from your master starter kept in the fridge, or do you first activate your master starter out of the fridge, and then use 1.5% of the active form?

My boys are 4 and 1, and "we" are already planning our first guys golf trip, which most likely be at the Greenbrier in WV...it will be a few years, but I cannot wait.  Also, I am hosting my HR compensation group for an outing in a few weeks, and while it is not quite the Accounting group, I think we can relate 

Adam

I keep a “master” (and a back-up) in the fridge. For baking, I take a 1/8 cup or so from the master, feed it flour and water (1/8-1/4c + enough water to make the consistency of a thick batter), and keep it at room temp for hopefully at least 24 hours before I make dough. I want it fully active. If it’s less than fully active, it makes it more difficult to gauge how long things will take.  If it’s been a while since I’ve used it, it might take more time. I have a couple others that I use infrequently, and it may take several days and several feedings to get them up to full activity. If I’m going to be baking often, I might keep the culture going at room temp (aside from the master in the fridge). Since I’m almost never using more than 2% starter (by weight of flour), I just ignore it when looking at hydration of the recipe.

We’re not very good golfers, so we stick mostly to hunting and fishing.  I’ve put pictures from several trips over the years in the off topic foods section. I posted about our recent trip to Canada here: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,14752.0.html

CL

[TXCraig1]

beautiful pizzas !! what was you cooking temperature? you have great balance top and bottom .

Thanks Larry. It was about 875F. I used it the day before as well. It was 400F when I re-fired it.

CL

[TXCraig1]

great job Craig with a big party.  i have a party of 20 this weekend and i'm inspired by your results.  i find that i can cook in pairs pretty easily which works great for up to 16.  i'm thinking of banging two pairs of each pizza for 20.  how did you work your sequence with so many folks?
bill

Thanks Bill. It was one after the other all night. I have about a 50' run from the kitchen to the oven, so cooking multiple pies simultaneously is not much of an option. I'm working on that, but for now, it's one at a time. At first I was making what I wanted to make, but people quickly started requesting toppings.

CL

[TXCraig1]

Thank you Norma.

Thanks Glenn. I agree - fresh jalapenos are incredible on a pie. It's getting harder and harder to find them with any flavor though...

CL

[TXCraig1]

Craig,
Very Nice I agree best to date ! really nice looking pizzas. Bet you heard a few of those OMG this is the best pizza... Was there a favorite voted from you variety? Do you think you will ever get the artisan trays or are you sticking with the Varsano storage? I have 60 People thursday night Ye ha!
John

Probably Margherita, but no real favorites beyond that. It is a pretty diverse group. The tubs work so well for me, I can't see myself changing for home use.

CL