My first pizza pictures for the forum!!

[scott123]

Jamie, if the mozzarella you're looking at is from a restaurant supplier and it's a slightly yellower tint than your white supermarket mozzzarella, then it's a Grande clone.

It takes far longer than your bake time for heat to travel through your stone, so having the bottom bake element on during the bake is pretty much meaningless.  It's good for refilling the stone for the next bake, but that can also be done between bakes.  Pre-heat the stone using the bake feature, then turn on the broiler during the bake- preferably the latter part of the bake, as early broiling tends to set the crust too quickly.

[Kostakis1985]

okay I'm going to do that next time. Should I only be trying to recreate the cheese pizza from tanos? will messing around with toppings give me different results with crust structure bake times things like that?  I really want my cheese pizza to be superb!

oh yeah i don't have a convection feature in my oven.

[scott123]

The broiler is only when you start using the steel plate. Basically, the steel plate speeds up the bottom bake, so you need more heat from above for the top- hence the broiler.

Right now, it seems like your top and bottom are baking at about the same rate, so no broiling is necessary.

Messing around with toppings can skew bake results slightly, but as long as you keep your toppings sparse, I think you should be fine.  I only saw that plain cheese pie from Tanos, but if they match their NYish looking pie with a NYish topping philosophy, they most likely don't pile on the toppings too heavily.

One of these times, try 5% oil.  Right now, as we speak, Chau (Jackie Tran) is testing theories on how to achieve a tender, biscuit-y crumb. He's trying to do it with 14% protein flour, which is  a lot more difficult than your 12ish% flour, but the work he's doing is still applicable because Tano's has a slightly biscuit-y looking crumb (moist, fine crumb, tender).

[Kostakis1985]

I got my hands on a steel plate today!!

18x20x1/2in thick a36 hot rolled steel. feels like it weighed 50lbs don't know though.

I also made dough:
62% hydration
.75% cake yeast
2% salt
1% sugar
4% oil

Going to try to make pizzas tonight can't wait!

[scott123]

Jamie, that's a nice looking steel plate you got there.

One thing to bear in mind with steel is that you'll have a bit of a learning curve. I would preheat the oven to 525 for 75 minutes, launch the pie and then turn the broiler on around 3 minutes into the bake. This might get you close, but it's going to take a few attempts to dial in the right temp to hit Tano's bake time, so don't get discouraged when the results initially appear like a step back from recent bakes.

Don't forget to remove the old stone from the oven during the bake, as it will suck up heat and extend the pre-heat on the steel.

[Kostakis1985]

Scott,
       
       You were right on with the steel plate seeming like a step back, here is what I did I preheated the plate at 550 for an hour, launched the pie no prob, turned on the broiler 2 mins in, took it out 3 min later. I noticed the broiler had shut off and the top looked undercooked, the bottom was filled with black spots that didnt taste bad but reminded my of pizza cooked in a pan like the texture and the way it cooked. I made more dough today to give this another shot.

62% hydration
2% salt
2% sugar
2% oil
.25% fresh yeast

Just wanted to try this formula.

[scott123]

Jamie, that's the power of steel.  All those millions of home bakers with retail baking stones can't burn the bottom of their pizzas in 3 minutes. And it's not like anyone wants to burn their pizza, but in order to achieve great pizza, you need a stone with that kind of power. You can turn your oven down and hit blissful 3 and 4 minute unburned bakes, while, John Q. Retail Stone Owner, with his feeble, poorly conductive stone, will always be condemned to his 8 minute and greater bakes.

Like I said, try 525.  A Tano bake time might end up being closer to 500, but try 525.  Your broiler, like most ovens, cuts out at the oven's peak temp- 550.  As you work at lower temps, the broiler will stay on longer and give you better top browning.  You'll want to watch it at 525 and see how long it stays on for.

[Kostakis1985]

Its been a while since I posted on this thread but I started making pizzas again 2 days ago. I have excellent yeast now. No more wondering if I did something wrong! I tried a few different techniques on this pizza and really enjoyed it.

[buceriasdon]

I see someone else thinks it smells good also.

[scott123]

  That's great. Does your dog like pizza, Jamie?

Looks good.  Is it as Tanos-ish as you hoped it would be? What's your current bake time?  How about an upskirt? 

[Jackie Tran]

One of these times, try 5% oil.  Right now, as we speak, Chau (Jackie Tran) is testing theories on how to achieve a tender, biscuit-y crumb. He's trying to do it with 14% protein flour, which is  a lot more difficult than your 12ish% flour, but the work he's doing is still applicable because Tano's has a slightly biscuit-y looking crumb (moist, fine crumb, tender).

Scotty, it's done and just about perfected.    4% shortening is tender and good as can be.  Almost a little too tender.    I'll probably dial it down to 3% just to see but will settle in with one or the other for the NY slice style.  

BTW, nice job on the pizzas Jamie.

Chau

[scott123]

Sounds, good, Chau. I'm looking forward to the pictures