Burnt Pizzas -why are people tolerant?

[cornicione54]

Caramelized...

[cornicione54]

Smoked?

[cornicione54]

But this is burnt?

Reminds me of a conversation between a pot and a kettle...

[The Dough Doctor]

#13;
You sound like a person of my type; the trip is better than the destination; the quest is better than the prize; the hunt is better than the kill; etc. The quest for the "perfect" pizza is actually much better than the pizza itself. There is no greater disappointment in life than to discover that you have fulfilled all of your life's quests. Wait a minute Lord, can you give me just one more hour? I think I may have the solution to the perfect pizza, and I've just got to test it! To my way of thinking, that's not a bad way to check out. Have fun on your quest, and be sure to enjoy a lot of great pizza along the way.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[thezaman]

 the darkest of the group was the pizza enjoyed by everyone.

[andreguidon]

 

[dellavecchia]

Here we go lol. Creme Brulee is carmelized not charred. Food cooked on a grill has no relation to either pizza or CB. It is seared.

Well, from my point of view char is char, and food is food. So I guess we have come to an impasse in the conversation. I would counter that wood fired pizza and grilled food have a very common link - namely, fire - and that calling all the black stuff on seared/grilled food "sear" and not "char" is just semantics. But to each his/her own.

John

[Pizzamaster]

There's no impasse. Everyody has their own preferences. All I know is I want a T-Bone now.

[thezaman]

 how about charred pretzels these things are delicious.

[austintjones]

Honestly, I think it's a question of FLAVOR over appearance. I have had charred pizzas that taste bitter and upleasant, and I have had charred pizzas that taste brilliant. Bitter flavor can bring great balance to the sweetness of the crust and cheese, but when it is the resounding note, nobody is happy. Just my two cents!

Austin

[Jackie Tran]

Honestly, I think it's a question of FLAVOR over appearance. I have had charred pizzas that taste bitter and upleasant, and I have had charred pizzas that taste brilliant. Bitter flavor can bring great balance to the sweetness of the crust and cheese, but when it is the resounding note, nobody is happy. Just my two cents!

Austin

Good point, but isn't flavor also subjective?    Take sweet, salty, sour, spicy, bitter.  It's all relative to our own experiences. 

Has anyone had bitter melon soup? How about the durian fruit? How about any of the stinky cheeses out there? Disgusting or delicious?

[TXCraig1]

Good point, but isn't flavor also subjective?    Take sweet, salty, sour, spicy, bitter.  It's all relative to our own experiences. 

Has anyone had bitter melon soup? How about the durian fruit? How about any of the stinky cheeses out there? Disgusting or delicious?

We were traveling on a bus in Indonesia, and one of the passengers started making a fuss about someone smuggling durian (no durian was allowed on the bus). He made the driver unload all the luggage, and sure enough they found a couple hidden durian. That fruit stinks. I had to try it about 10 times before I developed a taste for it. I still like it in ice cream.

CL

[pizzablogger]

Good point, but isn't flavor also subjective?    Take sweet, salty, sour, spicy, bitter.  It's all relative to our own experiences.  

Has anyone had bitter melon soup? How about the durian fruit? How about any of the stinky cheeses out there? Disgusting or delicious?

The depth of char is also important....meaning the actual physical depth of the char in the crust. Some places the char is deeper in the crust and some have very dark spots....but those spots are as thin as bonito fish flake food allowing for bitterness without overpowering.

I've had the pleasure of tasting hundreds of cheeses in my life...and no small amount of them have been "stinky". Almost all of the odour is caused by the bacteria used and/or mold....and that smell is almost entirely contained in the rind of the cheese (which is usually not meant to be eaten for these cheeses). I have seen too many people cut into the cheese and immediately eat it (with the smell of the rind still in their noses).

The cheese inside often contains only a small amount of the gym sock component to it, if any at all....but a lot of great, intriguing flavors! "Stinky" Taleggio is great on pizza. And a nice wedge of Stilton or Roquefort paired with a glass of Sauternes is one of life's great pairing pleasures. Life without a fresh baguette, a wedge of "stinky" Camembert and a bottle of Sancerre (or a bottle of Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus beer...or other good framboise)? No "stinky" Limburger with a Belgian Lambic or Gueuze....or a smoked lager (rauchbier) from the Bamberg area of Germany? FUHGETTABOUTIT!

[chickenparm]

Most of my extra well done pies that have some char,you cannot even taste anything "burnt".Yet the pie tastes so much better than my lighter,pale colored rimmed pies.

Believe,me I have burned some pizzas in my time,and I could taste the burnt flavor everywhere and tossed it out.Yet for some folks,there may be a fine line between a nice char and a burnt pizza.Its all subjective like the others posted.

For many of us,a good char is awesome.Its usually spotted,scattered and not everywhere to overwhelm the entire pie.
 

[othafa9]

This reminds me of a customer we had last week:  "Excuse me, I just graduated from culinary school, and I think your oven is too hot".  Yeah, thanks bud.  Oh, and Pizzablogger, where is your site?

[pizzablogger]

This reminds me of a customer we had last week:  "Excuse me, I just graduated from culinary school, and I think your oven is too hot".  Yeah, thanks bud.  Oh, and Pizzablogger, where is your site?

In blog hell.

I shot that thing dead. Good riddence. --K

[lilbuddypizza]

I may have stated this explanation before, but----
I live in Chicago. A lot of the pizza joints are either owned or worked by Hispanics. From what I understand with these great people, food is either cooked or not. What is this "well-done"? I have learned the phrase "bien cosido" for my burritos for this reason. Now understand that any good pizza place in Chicago will top a pizza with raw pork if sausage is ordered (and that's my regular). So, if I have a worker who is baking my pizza and to him "cooked" means cheese melted and crust firm, than chances are the sausage is close to raw, considering that it is under cheese and amid sauce. Or it may even be that the owner is worried about complaints of the pie being overcooked, so they pull it from the oven early. In either case, I'd like to have my pork fully cooked and my crust solid and crispy, if possible. Sometimes at some places, even well-well-done is not followed as ordered. I've told a place that I want it cooked long enough to have the cheese turn brown. So what they did is undercook my pizza(again) and then throw it under a broiler until my cheese was dark brown. I knew this by the fact that the dough was soft and barely cooked. It's a matter of safety, in a weird way, and also about flavor. Let the sausage(or other meat ingredient) blend with everything.My cheese pizzas are never well done though.
Another simpler reason is that growing up in the early 70's all South side pizza places cooked their pies to a medium to dark brown cheese bubbles on top. Those were always the best spots on the pie (and the corners too!). It's a matter of what one is used to.From north side to south side, from city to city, and coast to coast.

[texmex]

Without presque brűlé methods French cooking would have little aplomb.