Author Topic: Pizzeria Luigi in San Diego, CA (Read 35601 times)

scott123 · « **Reply #660 on:** December 30, 2011, 12:12:21 AM »

James, climate tends to dictate flour longevity. Here in NJ, I've had flours last 2 years without any issue, but in your warmer climate, you might see critters sooner. Flour can be frozen, if you've got the space in your freezer.

norma427 · « **Reply #661 on:** December 30, 2011, 08:29:14 AM »

James,

Scott123 is right, that flour should last for awhile if your area isn’t prone to critters. Freezing flour can be another option like Scott posted.

Norma

PizzaEater101 · « **Reply #662 on:** December 30, 2011, 01:32:05 PM »

Scott and Norma, thank you very much for the info on the longevity of PPM. I am pretty excited about this seeing it at Costco Business of all places. I gotta buy some and the price is right.

Essen1 · « **Reply #663 on:** December 30, 2011, 11:28:04 PM »

James,

I'm stoked that Costco now carries the PPF. It would mean that many more members here will have access to the flour, if Costco sells it in all locations.

Regarding the longevity, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I store my flours at a temp between 50-60°F ambient, never had any critters in it and it's still as good as the first day.

Get a bag, especially at that price!

PizzaEater101 · « **Reply #664 on:** December 31, 2011, 03:04:44 PM »

Quote from: Essen1 on December 30, 2011, 11:28:04 PM

James,

I'm stoked that Costco now carries the PPF. It would mean that many more members here will have access to the flour, if Costco sells it in all locations.

Regarding the longevity, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I store my flours at a temp between 50-60°F ambient, never had any critters in it and it's still as good as the first day.

Get a bag, especially at that price!

Hi Mike, thanks for the info on the storing of flour.

I am not sure if all the Costcos carry the PPF because I saw it at their specialty Costco called Costco Business Center. There are not as many of these and they target more the restaurant owners type of person than the home shopper. So they have some in certain locations but not a lot. So not sure if the regular Costco does have the PPF or just the Business Center.

If I recall, you are in San Francisco. I did a search for one but did not see one there but they have one in Hayward. Not sure how far from SF that is. If not too far you might go out there and get a bag if you are a member.

Essen1 · « **Reply #665 on:** December 31, 2011, 07:29:55 PM »

Quote from: PizzaEater101 on December 31, 2011, 03:04:44 PM

Hi Mike, thanks for the info on the storing of flour.

I am not sure if all the Costcos carry the PPF because I saw it at their specialty Costco called Costco Business Center. There are not as many of these and they target more the restaurant owners type of person than the home shopper. So they have some in certain locations but not a lot. So not sure if the regular Costco does have the PPF or just the Business Center.

If I recall, you are in San Francisco. I did a search for one but did not see one there but they have one in Hayward. Not sure how far from SF that is. If not too far you might go out there and get a bag if you are a member.

James,

Thanks for the info. Hayward is about a 30 min drive from where I'm at but depending on traffic it can be an hour. By the time I get there and back I might as well keep getting it from my pizza guy Armando. Saves me a lot of hassle with the traffic.

Thanks for checking, though.

scottserena · « **Reply #666 on:** January 31, 2012, 06:48:20 PM »

I have been working on this dough recipe for 3 months now. I have been asked by a buddy of mine that owns four Italian Restaurant here in Orange County California to clone the Luigi's Pizza dough.

After trying many tries I have settled on the following:

Power Flour Unbleached Flour 100%
Crytsal Geyser Water 63%
IDY .4%
Salt 2.0%
Sugar 2.5%

Water is heated to 95 degrees and the sugar and yeast are added. Flour and salt are placed in the bowl of my KA and the water, yeast, sugar is added and mixed at speed 3 for 10 minutes. Final dough temperature of 82 degrees. Balled and bench rested for 2 hours and then cold fermented for 18 hours

Today we decide to push this to see if we could do any better. We kept everything the same and varied the hydration. We tried the following, 58%, 63%, 65% and 68%

I preferred the 63%, most everyone else preferred either the 58% or the 63%. No one preferred the 65% and one person really liked the 68% as it had a Neapolitan texture.

We made 18" pizzas and each dough balls weighed 18 oz's (as per the DDD video)

Here is the picture of the 58%

scottserena · « **Reply #667 on:** January 31, 2012, 06:49:19 PM »

and the 63%

scottserena · « **Reply #668 on:** January 31, 2012, 06:50:09 PM »

scottserena · « **Reply #669 on:** January 31, 2012, 06:54:58 PM »

and finally the 68%

All were baked for roughly 6 minutes at 525 degrees.

We are trying one more bake next week. But this time it will be a blind taste test, no one will know the hydration levels.

We would like a bit more crunch to the crust. I remember Luigi's being a bit more crunchy then what we made here today, but I have only had slices from Luigi's which tend to crisp up a little during the re-heating.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

scott123 · « **Reply #670 on:** January 31, 2012, 07:11:08 PM »

Scott, can you recall the differences in tenderness between each version? How was the level of tenderness/chewiness generally?

There's always going to be outliers, but I think 2.5% sugar is a little high for NY style. Maybe. I would play around with maybe 2% or possibly even less.

Is 525 as high as your oven will go? Are you positioning the stone close to the broiler and using the broiler during the bake? You've got a discernible top/bottom heat ratio issue. The top needs a lot more heat- the bottom about the same, but, you need to decrease the bake time so the bottom doesn't get so black- Luigi's doesn't have anywhere near that amount of color.

scottserena · « **Reply #671 on:** January 31, 2012, 07:25:35 PM »

I did not like the 65% very much, had no crispness to it at all.

the 68% was soft and pillowy like a Neo Pie.

Both the 58% and 63% were tender and chewy at the crust. These were by far everyone favorite

These were baked at the restaurants wolf pizza oven.

scottserena · « **Reply #672 on:** January 31, 2012, 07:28:55 PM »

Actually everyone felt the bottom char was just about right, but I agree I touch less.

The oven does not seem to have a lot of top heat to it.

scottserena · « **Reply #673 on:** January 31, 2012, 07:33:06 PM »

here is a pic of a Luigi's pie for reference.

I do not have an upskirt photo of an Luigis pie

PizzaEater101 · « **Reply #674 on:** April 26, 2012, 09:15:52 PM »

Nice work scottserena.

Okay I'm reviving this thread. Here we go. There have been nice recreations of the Luigi pizza pie. Many variations and all nice jobs. Can some one or some ones here summarize which might be some of the best recipes both for dough formulation and for the sauce for this pizza and any other tips? I appreciate everyone who has given input to the thread I started last summer. I read through it again but need a summary of the most likely formulas for the dough and the sauce since there are so many great versions here and so many great theories and thoughts on this.

Thank You,

James

PizzaEater101 · « **Reply #675 on:** May 25, 2012, 10:22:13 PM »

Was in San Diego the past couple of days. My niece was in town and she had to take some medical school exam called the MCAT at the San Diego State University. I could not pass up the chance on eating at Luigi again. She was at the test so it was just me when I went to Luigi so I could not eat a whole pie so I just got two slices. One the Capone which is a meat type of pie and the Crime Stopper I think it was called. Has Ricotta and Meatballs as well as I think Marinara sauce. The guy told me it is like Lasagna. Well I tried it and it is very reminiscent to lasagna. When he said that it was like lasagna I was not sure if that would end up being a good or bad thing but had to try it and you know what it was good. I made a mistake though I should have bought a whole pie to go and brought it back to the hotel and put it in the fridge then brought it back home to LA. Even reheated Luigi taste exceptional.

Last time I went to the location on Diners Drive Ins and Dives so this time I tried the other location. Pizza just as good at both locations but next time I will go to the first location from DDD. I just like it better, I mean the decor and area not the pizza, it's the same. Still have not seen Mr. Luigi, oh well.

Here are some pics but before that I have to say the pizza is exceptional. Did I say that already, yeah, okay. As Guy would say it's out of bounds and out of this world. I have to say it is. It's my favorite NY Style Pie. I like many different NY Style Pies but this takes the cake, um, I mean, takes the pie. I love so many different NY Style Pies but this just jumps out beyond those others. I wish Luigi was in LA not SD. Now I'm tempted to go to SD every year just for pie, but man two hour drive. I need to get my baking situation up to par at home so I can do the Luigi clone and see if I can duplicate it so I don't have to drive to SD. Well, SD is nice though but if I'm going there it's for pie and for sight seeing. I'd go to Tijuana too but TJ is so dangerous now I'd forget that.

I tried to post pics but the file sizes are way to big and I have to resize them. I will do so and post pics tomorrow. Gotta go now but tomorrow you'll see the pics. By the way this is the perfect pie.

norma427 · « **Reply #676 on:** May 25, 2012, 10:59:12 PM »

James,

I am glad you enjoyed Luigi’s pizza.

Looking forward to your pictures.

I don’t know if you saw the posts from Nick (scarboni), but if you look at his thread and read though the thread at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,19046.msg186081.html#msg186081 you will see what Nick had to say about Luigi’s and Bronx Pizzas

Norma

patnx2 · « **Reply #677 on:** May 26, 2012, 03:09:19 AM »

I made a Luigi type pizza using 2% sugar at 65%hyd. 24 hour in frig after 1/2 hour counter rest. i will try another this week or two. one with 48 hour in frig. One of the best handling and easily opened pizzas.This might become my go to. Patrick
ps thanks all for your fun work.

PizzaEater101 · « **Reply #678 on:** May 26, 2012, 11:46:09 AM »

Norma, thanks for the link to the post about Luigi and Bronx. Don't think I read that one so I'm gonna check it out. I love Luigi so it will be interesting to read about what he has to say about that and Bronx. Not familiar with Bronx so should be interesting. Thanks.

Patrick, sounds like you made a really good pie. Not sure but have you ever been to Luigi? If you have how did your pie compare to Luigi? If you have not been there it really does not matter as long as you made a pizza you like.

Here are pics. Hope I resized so it will fit within the size max limit -

patnx2 · « **Reply #679 on:** May 27, 2012, 03:49:44 AM »

I don't know if I ever ate luigi's but I did eat a lot of pizza in sd in the early 70s. My saying I made a Luigi was meant to be a pizza from this link. Let's say it is a great pizza for a home oven. Patrick