New York for a day, and got to try some new pizzas!!!

[scott123]

Power to the Pizza!

[Pete-zza]

Kelly,

That is terrific. I haven't laughed as hard in years. Obviously, Norma doctored her photo to remove the placard and the background.

Peter

[norma427]

Oh, come on, Norma, you could make a Best Pizza with one hand tied behind your back   Straight dough, one to two days ferment, minimal thickness factor (.07 to .075), hydration a bit above absorption value, and, most importantly, a hot oven.  Are you running the oven at the market the hottest it will go?

The flour is a bit of question mark, but it's got to be either 12.5ish or 14% protein or bromated (likely) or unbromated, so that's not that many permutations to test. Do you still have any Pendleton?

Even if you took your existing Lehmann preferment recipe and cranked the heat to a 3-4ish minute bake, that would bring you much closer to a Best style pie.

Scott,

I can only “wish” I could made a Best Pizza with one hand tied behind my back.   I am not running my deck oven the hottest it can get.  I never even tried a test to see how hot my deck oven will go.  I think there are too many variables for me to be able to make a pizza anywhere along the lines of a Best Pizza.  I do still have the Pendleton flour or could purchase some of the Commander Flour.  Do you want to come-up with a formulation for me to try?  I would first have to see how hot my deck oven can get to.  If you could have seen the inside of that wood fired oven at Best Pizza, (up close and personal) you would understand more.  The man left me go behind the counter to look inside the oven.  It was one of the neatest things I have ever seen.    The man also told me the coal oven runs the length of the building, but I didn’t get a chance to check that out.  

Norma

[norma427]

Norma,

I forgot to thank you for the write-up and pictures.  I really enjoyed reading about and seeing pics of your trip.

Your enthusiasm for pizza and enjoyment of life are apparent in your many posts here and they cause me to smile often.  That tingle on your cheek is from the kiss I just blew your way.

Thanks again and glad you had a good time! --K

Kelly,

You don’t have to thank me for the write-up and pictures.  I should have thanked you more for advising me to visit Best Pizza. Those slices were great.    Thanks for the “tingle” on my cheek!  That was special!  I really enjoyed the fixed-up picture of the “Pizza Occupier” of the NY streets.  I also laughed so hard at that picture.  If I knew you would have done such a great job, I would have fixed my hair and myself more.  It was a little windy and my hair sure didn’t look the best. O well, great pizza for everyone.

Thanks for the redo of the picture.  I believe in great pizzas, and will do whatever I have to do to be able to help the cause. 

Norma

[norma427]

Thanks for the virtual tour Norma, I might be knocking on your door someday so you can take me along.

Gene,

Anytime.  I am always looking for someone visit NY with me, so I can taste more pizzas.  My daughter is getting sick of taking me all the time.   You are welcome to go along with me anytime.  

Norma

[norma427]

Obviously, Norma doctored her photo to remove the placard and the background.

Peter

Peter,

Yep, I didn't want anyone to think I was crazy or strange here on the forum.  Gotta keep those kind of things secret. 

Norma

[pizzablogger]

Scott,

I am not running my deck oven the hottest it can get.  I never even tried a test to see how hot my deck oven will go.

Okay, now that the kiss is done, do I have to come up to PA and spank you? Fire that puppy to the max once and see how hot it can go for us!

In all seriousness, Norma, if your oven can get to an adequate temperature (and "adequate" will vary depending on what type of floor/stone/plate your oven actually has and how the top/roof heat is being distributed), you should be able to get pretty close to Best Pizza with some time and effort, if that is something you want to aspire to.

Assuming your oven can get a good temp going, all that remains is persistance and passion to do such a thing. And those you have plenty of. --K

[scott123]

Norma, are you doing any straight doughs at the market or is your go to recipe these days the preferment?  Is your go to recipe somewhere in the forum? Ideally, I think we can cover more ground in a shorter amount of time if we take an existing recipe that works well for you and make a few adjustments for a higher heat/shorter baking time, then starting from scratch.

Btw, I was doing some digging to see if I could gleam any information on Best's recipe and came across this:

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/08/pizza-obsessives-frank-pinello-of-best-pizza.html

I grew up in a time when pizza was in its glory days, especially in Brooklyn. I think that the quality of by-the-slice pizza really started getting lower and lower as I got older. That was one of the reasons that I wanted to open a pizzeria. I really wanted to revisit the days when all those old Italian immigrants were coming in and applying the old values. They played by those rules even when they came here. Their's was a style of making pizza that existed, but it started to go away and I want to bring it back.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?  I'm allergic to the Hudson River crossings, but perhaps I should be making the trip into Williamsburg.

[pizzablogger]

Does this sound familiar to anyone?  I'm allergic to the Hudson River crossings, but perhaps I should be making the trip into Williamsburg.

Careful, take enough trips over to Brooklyn or Queens and you may decide to leave Manhattan for good. 

Scott, easy to just jam the L Train out to Best pizza. --K

[scott123]

Hudson River, Kelly, not East.  I'm in the sixth borough- and I did leave Manhattan, for good 

I could take the train into Penn Station, but between the cost of a train ticket/subway fare and $18 for the pizza... I don't know.  Then there's the Lincoln tunnel, which is $12, plus around $10 for gas. No matter how you work it, it's probably going to cost me around $40.  I completely resonate with Pinello's philosophy, but do I want to spend $40 on a pizza that I can make for $2?

What can I say, I'm cheap like that 

[norma427]

Okay, now that the kiss is done, do I have to come up to PA and spank you? Fire that puppy to the max once and see how hot it can go for us!

In all seriousness, Norma, if your oven can get to an adequate temperature (and "adequate" will vary depending on what type of floor/stone/plate your oven actually has and how the top/roof heat is being distributed), you should be able to get pretty close to Best Pizza with some time and effort, if that is something you want to aspire to.

Assuming your oven can get a good temp going, all that remains is persistance and passion to do such a thing. And those you have plenty of. --K

Kelly,

Lol, a kiss and then a spank!   I will try to fire my deck oven up the hottest I can get it to.  Maybe at the end of the evening.  I sure don’t know how well my deck oven will do though on even top and bottom heating at a high temperature.  My oven should easily get to 600 degrees F though. I had been baking pizzas at a higher heat, but I guess my formulation I was using wasn’t right for high heat.   I will see what happens, and if I can find a decent formulation to try.  I like challenges, but am not sure of trying to make a Best Pizza.

Norma

[scott123]

Lol, a kiss and then a spank!  

 

[norma427]

Norma, are you doing any straight doughs at the market or is your go to recipe these days the preferment?  Is your go to recipe somewhere in the forum? Ideally, I think we can cover more ground in a shorter amount of time if we take an existing recipe that works well for you and make a few adjustments for a higher heat/shorter baking time, then starting from scratch.

Btw, I was doing some digging to see if I could gleam any information on Best's recipe and came across this:

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/08/pizza-obsessives-frank-pinello-of-best-pizza.html

Scott,

The only straight doughs I make for market are my experiments.  My dough is the preferment Lehmann dough for market.  I tried the preferment Lehmann dough for Chau at a higher temperature, and it burnt on the bottom crust of the pie.  I think more information would be needed before I would understand anything about what formulation to try for a Best Pizza.  I wouldn’t want to go into an experiment like this being “blind”.  Too many variables are involved from the hydration, flour used, and much more.

Norma

[TXCraig1]

Lol, a kiss and then a spank!

  Now I REALLY want to come eat a pizza with you!  

[scott123]

I'm here Norma (as are others).    You won't be going into this "blind."  Your experience with the dough for Chau seems to confirm Kelly's potential top/bottom heat ratio issues that he alluded earlier. It's very common for an oven to have a good balance of heat at one temperature, but then lose that balance as you turn the dial up.

Refresh my memory on the specs of your deck oven.  Gas? Electric? If electric does it have separate thermostats for the top and the bottom?

[Ev]

A kiss and a spank? Save it fellas, she's all mine!

[norma427]

Now I REALLY want to come eat a pizza with you!  

Craig,

Kelly posted first he blew me a kiss, then posted if I didn't turn up the oven, he would have to come to Pa. to spank me.  Men sure are changeable in a moments notice, just like pizzas!   I have seen and experienced that before about men and their behaviors.  Don't tell me you are also one of those men.  

Norma

[norma427]

A kiss and a spank? Save it fellas, she's all mine!

Steve,

Lol, not you too!   

Norma

[norma427]

I'm here Norma (as are others).    You won't be going into this "blind."  Your experience with the dough for Chau seems to confirm Kelly's potential top/bottom heat ratio issues that he alluded earlier. It's very common for an oven to have a good balance of heat at one temperature, but then lose that balance as you turn the dial up.

Refresh my memory on the specs of your deck oven.  Gas? Electric? If electric does it have separate thermostats for the top and the bottom?

Scott,

This is what my deck oven looks like, and how many BTU’s it has pictured on the plate shown in picture 4 at Reply 962 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9908.msg153746.html#msg153746  and the following post. The oven is propane and only has one temperature knob.

I am not saying I will agree to try a Best Pizza, but will think about it.

Norma

[Ev]

Steve,

Lol, not you too!   

Norma

Norma, why do you think I show up every Tuesday?