scott123,
I believe that you are correct that the flour that Luigi uses is Pendleton flour. At first I wondered how you were so certain of that especially since the Pendleton website, at
http://www.pfmills.com/premium-flours-pages-3.php, shows the labeling on their flour bags in block format, not cursive script. I then recalled that I had an old technical bulletin that was sent to me by Pendleton several years ago, in September, 2004, when I last researched the Pendleton flours, that showed the labeling on their flour bags in cursive script, with the highly stylized “P” at the beginning of its name. That document is an earlier version of the new Technical Bulletin that is accessible at the Pendleton website at
http://www.pfmills.com/technical-booklet-pages-24.php. I also recalled that in the early part of this year, about a year or so after the Pizzeria Luigi You Tube video (
| <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PRA_BJYvTc" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PRA_BJYvTc</a>]]> |
) was posted (November, 2009), Pendleton did a makeover in which it changed its image and name. For details, see the press release at
http://www.pfmills.com/a-new-pendleton-flour-mills-news-4.php. The new technical bulletin referenced above shows the new image and name change.
As between the three Pendleton flours that you mentioned, I am inclined to go with the Power flour. At 13.5% protein, Pendleton itself considers that flour to be a high gluten flour and, in the video, Guy Fieri mentions that the flour is a high gluten flour. By contrast, the Mondako flour has a protein content of 11.9%. To me, that is more in line with a bread flour but there are some who might consider such a flour to be a “high gluten” flour. Although the Mondako Pizza Mix is a very popular blend among pizza operators in California, I would rule it out simply because it is a pizza mix that only requires the addition of water (
http://www.pfmills.com/mondako-pizza-mix-products-19.php). Also, at 12% protein, I would not consider it to be a high gluten flour.
On the assumption that Luigi is using the Pendleton Power flour, I would agree with you that a hydration value of around 65% is a plausible number.
With respect to the dough balls made at Pizzeria Luigi, you might take a look at the “Gallery of Photos for Pizzeria Luigi- Golden Hill” at the Pizzeria Luigi website at
http://pizzerialuigi.com/goldenhill/ghgallery.html. In the fourth set of photos, you will see three dough balls in a dough box. Moreover, if you continue on to the sixth set of photos, you will see cans of Stanislaus Full-Red Extra Heavy Tomato Puree (for details, see
http://www.stanislaus.com/products/real-italian-products/from-scratch-products#frPuree). While you are at it, you might also want to take a look at the fourth photo at the yelp website at
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pizzeria-luigi-san-diego, where you will see another image of dough balls (
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ieatOFaTeDqXEV01_GT5_Q?select=NoF5rhJu-yyOQ7AiJ4RjBw), along with cans of Stanislaus 7/11 Ground Tomatoes (
http://www.stanislaus.com/products/real-italian-products/from-scratch-products#Ground). Presumably, one or both of the Stanislaus tomato products is used to make the pizza sauce shown in the video.
From what I can tell from the video, the only ingredients used to make Luigi’s dough are flour (high gluten), bottled water, active dry yeast (not a great deal that I can see), sugar (a small amount that goes into the mixer bowl after the yeast is dissolved in the water), and salt. Apparently there is no oil. What we don't know is the method of fermentation and its duration. Knowing that information should allow one to calculate an amount of ADY to use, taking into account the fact that the ADY is not rehydrated optimally when using room temperature water.
You might also have noticed from the Pizzeria Luigi website that the FoodNetwork has a recipe for the Mona Lisa pizza that is featured toward the end of the video. That recipe, at
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pizzeria-luigi--mona-lisa-pizza-recipe/index.html, is presumably for the ordinary home pizza maker who does not have access to high gluten flour but has access to all-purpose flour. Apart from the fact that the recipe calls for two whole packets of ADY (one for each pizza), I wondered how the reviewers of the recipe coped with the fact that 1 ˝ cups of water (warm) for 3 ˝ cups of all-purpose flour yields a hydration of around 80%. However, I saw no complaints on that score. What may be most useful from the recipe, however, is the amount of sauce and cheese for each pizza. Also, the cheese is specified as being whole milk mozzarella cheese. In various photos I looked at, I saw that Luigi uses Polly-O ricotta cheese but did not find mention anywhere of the brand and type of mozzarella cheese. Absent resolution of this issue, I would tend to go with the whole milk mozzarella cheese. The FoodNetwork Mona Lisa recipe also correctly identifies the ingredients that go into the sauce. So the recipe does appear to have some credible information in relation to what the video shows.
Peter
