Author Topic: Pizza!! what else? (Read 2233 times)

Tman1 · « **on:** August 07, 2011, 10:08:20 AM »

I'm making pizza today in my temporary brick oven. I'm very fortunate in knowing someone who (it sounds like) can get me as much flour as I would like.. for free. He works for a major conglomerate that does testing and all they do is throw it out after they test. I told him we need to push the green aspect of 'recycling' if he gets any questions at work!

I had started talking with him at a grad party in early June, and he started talking about protein content and such, and I was surprised he would know so much. I think he knows more about the actual flour types, and I know more how to use it.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/yopmB3DvDGD4U8pYF3XADjby8QDZfs4D5XTnhwnxjps?feat=directlink

Recipe:
Flour:    516 g
water:    325 g
salt:      22 g
yeast:   3 g

First batch was done with Pillsbury Bread Flour and kosher salt
Second batch was done with pizzeria flour and kosher salt
Third batch was done with pizzeria flour and sea salt (1.5 times base recipe)
Fourth batch was done with 75% pizzeria flour, 25 % whole wheat and kosher salt

Method:
Barely combine ingredients (80% of flour) and let rest for 20 minutes. (dough will look like brownie batter after it just gets all wet)
Add remaining flour by the spoonful) as KA mixer (on #2) incorporates... after all flour is added, mix for another minute
empty onto bench which is slightly dusted with flour... brief kneading.... a few stretch and folds, then into slightly oiled (Pam spray) container and into fridge for 16 hours.

Balled into (approx) 210 g balls, back into individual oiled containers and back into fridge for (probably) 5 hours at which time I will take them out and rest again at room temp for about 2 hours.
Note: The 4th batch will only be in the fridge for 4 hours, then balled and back into the fridge for 2 hours, then out with the other batches. The first 3 didn't seem like enough. If we have leftover dough I usually open them up and bake them off and store in the freezer for future quick meals, or I've now started giving guests a couple to take home.

Observations so far: The 1st batch balls were stiffer than the 2nd and 3rd batch. The pizzeria flour already had a nice feel to it when balling. There were plenty of air bubbles being pushed out at this point in the pizzeria flour balls... not so much from the bread flour. Experience tells me that batch one will be alright when the times comes, but it was noticeably different at this point.

Query: I know the balls are supposed to have a nice skin, but I also thought I wasn't supposed to overwork them at this point. Due to the air bubbles coming out as I formed the balls, they weren't 'perfect' upon finishing. Suggestions or comments?

I'll try to remember to take pictures, but I'm usually pretty busy and my family isn't very interested in that part.

Tman1 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 07, 2011, 08:25:23 PM »

Well, another party over. 12 people and 20 pies later (I bake off the extras and freeze them for quick suppers). I didn't do a great job of managing the fire and the deck got cool a couple of times. It's amazing how you can just 'tell' that it's not right.

The bread flour dough was easy to work with and came out with a slight crunch. There wasn't a noticeable difference between the sea salt and kosher salt doughs and had a nice soft crust and nice chew. The whole wheat turned out very good too, almost surprisingly good. I might try a 1/3 mix next time as it was barely noticeable except for what seemed the need for a slightly longer bake time. The whole wheat was the stiffest dough to work with, but it still was pretty easy.

Unfortunately I was answering questions, managing the oven chatting and didn't get any pictures. One of these days my wife will remember, or I'll remember to ask her prior to the 'event'.

The 'lemon drop' pizza continues to be the surprise hit. Everyone stares at it judgingly UNTIL they have a bite.. then the head nodding starts.

I did try it on the whole wheat pizza and it seemed to hold together much better.

Tman1 · « **Reply #2 on:** August 13, 2011, 01:43:16 PM »

I found some pictures!! Not of this last bake, but a couple of others.

Tman1 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 13, 2011, 01:49:50 PM »

A few more...

Tman1 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 13, 2011, 01:54:14 PM »

They come out of this, and when you build it too low....

Tman1 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 13, 2011, 01:55:16 PM »

Lemon drop pizza- still one of the surprise popular desserts!

RobynB · « **Reply #6 on:** August 13, 2011, 04:27:37 PM »

Those look great!! That oven scares me, I freely admit

A few questions: Did you use fresh yeast or ? Traditional WW or white WW? Is the lemon drop just lemons and sugar, or is there butter or something else too? Thanks!!!

Tman1 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 13, 2011, 06:30:35 PM »

Thanks Robyn! I actually used ADY and not fresh yeast. The WW was traditional.

The lemon drop is one that came from here.... very tasty, especially if you like sweet/sour kind of tastes.
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f13/pizza-gypsy-lemon-drop-pizza-16059.html

Finally, that top brick hasn't moved since the day I set it.

It's been up almost a year now and still works. There is a possible plan afoot to dismantle for a large gathering. The above picture was at the beginning, this one is very recent.. a little dark, but you can see the 'offending' brick.

parallei · « **Reply #8 on:** August 13, 2011, 10:52:38 PM »

Tman,

Very cool! I'm loving it that it has been up a year. How hot does that puppy get?

Parallei

Tman1 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 13, 2011, 11:17:16 PM »

I don't measure the temps as much anymore, just go by time. The very, very first pizza cooked in 45 seconds. Now I shoot for 90-120, but the first couple each time probably are closer to 60-75 seconds. I can easily get it to 800

Tman1 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 16, 2011, 09:00:47 AM »

Just following up on the lemon-drop pizzas. We've tried with and without peel. I think getting the slices all equal and thin are beneficial. This last time my wife zested a bunch of the peel off and we sprinkled it over the top at the end, just prior to eating (so no heat involved). It helped to enforce the lemon flavor, although that doesn't seem to be a problem. I did notice we are heavy in our allotment of slices of fruit. Maybe we'll cut back to 3/4 of what we do and employ some different techniques as described in post #185;
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,14201.180.html

Tman1 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 19, 2011, 05:35:39 PM »

I must be crazy!

I've agreed to take apart my temporary oven and move it to another location so I can make 40 pizzas for a crowd. Then I'll need to take it down again and reassemble back at home. Probably 8 hours worth of effort in that alone.

In deciding to do this, I figured I would need a bigger mixer, and have been fortunate to be able to use a local bakery and their equipment. I thought I should do a test run and today made 16 pounds of dough (10 lbs of flour, slightly more than 6 lbs of water) using their 30qt Hobart. It's very different making that much dough.... in that big of a mixer. The nice woman originally gave me some wrong measurements and I only had half of the needed water to start with, but since I knew a little bit what it was supposed to look like figured out that something was up and resolved the issue. The dough seemed to come together well in the end, but I'm still going to make a back-up batch at home, just in case, since I've invited some friends over. This way I'll know some of the dough balls will be useable.

Tomorrow the oven will go through it's paces again!!

parallei · « **Reply #12 on:** August 19, 2011, 05:59:14 PM »

Tman,

I must be crazy!

Maybe a bit

Here, repeat after me: "I'd love to man, but my back has been bothering me lately...."

Seriously, have fun and take some photo's!

Tman1 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 19, 2011, 09:40:50 PM »

I had a lightbulb moment at dinner.. and it wasn't for a good reason. I put in 3 times the amount of yeast!!

Instead of 0.6%, I put in 2%. My only hope is the cold water and refrigerator time keep it at bay. Oh well, I'll hope for the best.

Tman1 · « **Reply #14 on:** August 22, 2011, 09:47:08 AM »

I don't know how other guys remember to get so many pictures.. i never seem to think of it, and I had asked my wife this last time... she took 6... of people!! What was she thinking??!!!

As it turned out when I went to the restaurant in the morning to divide and ball, the triple yeast action didn't create too much of a problem. Yes! The restaurant owners had the same sort of look on their faces when I mentioned it as they hadn't been in the walk-in yet. The 16 pounds of dough had proofed to covering the whole sheet pan, but it hadn't overflowed and caused any mess.

I proceeded to divide and ball where the numbers worked out exactly as they should... 10 pounds of flour, little over 6 pounds of water, led to 32 dough balls. As I was doing this I noticed them putting sheet pans of dinner rolls into the oven.. I went over to check them out and realized they own a dough divider/rounder (?) They have a set up for 3 ounce balls, and Phylis (sp?, mid 70's grandma owner) came to me shortly later hold a special plastic peel looking part that was for that machine and telling me that was what they used, and she would check to see if they had bigger ones for me. Score!! Back into the fridge for a few more hours. I held a couple back to bring home and 'test'.

I had my wife take out those two extra a little early so I could see how they were going to work. After 2.5 hours those dough balls looked great.. just what I was hoping for. We baked those in the restaurant deck oven as a sort of trial. As we were eating them I mentioned to Phylis that we should do a pizza night, first Tuesday of the month at her place... she ponders the thought for a moment, then says 'sure, lets do it!' Score!! Phylis isn't really the sarcastic type so I think she actually would help with this idea! In the midst of this hour at the place, in comes a local apple farm owner who runs a big business off of it. I got to meet him and broach the idea of having the oven at his place on weekends. He was open to the idea!! Score!!

I ended up taking the dough boxes home and letting them rise the rest of the time. Got the fire started in the temp brick oven and we proceeded to have a great evening cooking 36 pizzas. I had a buddy come over and work the oven as he's going to help me with my church event next week (and hopefully when I go mobile for real). Even had the restaurant owner's (Phyls and her son Danny) come over and try some. I've talking with them about using their place but they had never even heard of the concept before, so it as nice to share it with them. they are offering suggestions, left and right and being super helpful. Even gave me a name at the county health department to talk to! Score!!

In all I had a great day. I need a real, mobile oven.

Yesterday I had another person call me for an event on Labor Day. It all sounds fun, but I know the work portion is there which a lot of people gloss over, but I'm looking for something to help make ends meet.

Tman1 · « **Reply #15 on:** August 29, 2011, 08:15:50 PM »

This past weekend I went about moving my oven... took it down and re-built it in a trailer in our church parking lot.. that was a lot of work. The new version has a angle iron across the front to help keep the bricks in place and provide more of a mouth. The interior is still just stacked bricks with no mortar, sand, glue. We managed to cook 88 pizzas in 2.5 hours with a couple of random timed bake times at 69 and 64 seconds! I think the new 'dome' is lower than the previous one and it helped keep the deck hot. Ended up with many compliments and happy people..including me.

norma427 · « **Reply #16 on:** August 29, 2011, 09:15:07 PM »

Tman1,

Nice job on your pizzas and moving your oven.

That had to be a lot of work to move the oven. Eighty-eight pizzas in two and a half hours is a lot!

Congrats!

Norma

Tman1 · « **Reply #17 on:** September 11, 2011, 08:47:08 AM »

Norma- it took over 4 hours to move it. Still was fun. My pizza won the contest as a write in vote for best entree by a bunch!

Yesterday I helped a buddy who built a stacked brick oven similar to mine... 32 pizzas for the group. A couple of 'best pizza ever' were thrown out which always feels good. I, personally would've liked to see a crispier crust. I think the bricks weren't hot enough.

Today I have a party for my son's freshman football team after rebuilding the oven yet again. It should stay where it is now. Hopefully pictures will be forthcoming of the party, but picking up a camera in the middle of making pizza is not a easily thought of thing.

norma427 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 11, 2011, 09:13:50 AM »

Quote from: Tman1 on September 11, 2011, 08:47:08 AM

Norma- it took over 4 hours to move it. Still was fun. My pizza won the contest as a write in vote for best entree by a bunch!

Yesterday I helped a buddy who built a stacked brick oven similar to mine... 32 pizzas for the group. A couple of 'best pizza ever' were thrown out which always feels good. I, personally would've liked to see a crispier crust. I think the bricks weren't hot enough.

Today I have a party for my son's freshman football team after rebuilding the oven yet again. It should stay where it is now. Hopefully pictures will be forthcoming of the party, but picking up a camera in the middle of making pizza is not a easily thought of thing.

Tman1,

Four hours is a long time to move an oven, but I can understand it would take a long while to move the oven brick by brick. At least your oven is portable. Congrats, on your pizza being voted the best entrée by the bunch!

You are a good man in helping your buddy build an oven similar to yours.

Hope you can get some pictures from your sons party. I know if you are the only person trying to make the pizzas and then also trying to take pictures, that is hard.

Norma

Tman1 · « **Reply #19 on:** September 12, 2011, 08:36:17 AM »

Another party in the can, so to speak.. and not a single picture.

As usual, it went well, with many compliments and 'this is the best pizza ever!'. I'm happy that most find my homemade stuff better than a popular small chain restaurant here. I've always felt I need to be at least as good as them to succeed.

My 'shining' moment was when I realized I was talking to a guy who owns a small chain of higher end grocery stores in town. He mentioned that they had been working on a pizza crust for take home.. in his comments I thought I heard disappointment, so I queried him and sure he enough he wasn't all that thrilled with their product. He thought mine was very good. He also has a store with an oven in it (gas fired) that used to be a Wolfgang Puck based enterprise. It didn't work out, so now the store operates it, although he thinks it's underused. Who knows where this might go!!??

I leave later this morning to get the real thing... an oven on a trailer and I'm truly mobile. I've got a bunch of things lined up for promotion, fun and most of all, experience.

I do have a question though... I used AP flour these last 2 times, and while the crust came out slightly crispy, it softened after sitting and wouldn't hold up when a piece was taken. I know the floor was hot enough in mine (I thought under-baking might have been an issue from the day before so I made sure to check that more frequently), so it was baked, but is that a result of the type of flour? I want the crust to hold its form better. I'm working through a 50 pound bag of AP, but ultimately would use at least pizzeria flour. I don't remember this happening before.

Author Topic: Pizza!! what else? (Read 2233 times)

parallei

parallei