My first attempt at BTB's Malnati recipe

[Battletoads]

Here is my first attempt at BTB's recipe.  At first I wasn't sure this was going to turn out as the dough didn't seem the same as the pictures in the Malnati thread.  In the end it turned out great.  My main issue was working with the ingredients that I didn't need much of like the butter, yeast and sugar.  Does anyone have tips of how to accurately weigh those?  I had to much and had to end up using a teaspoon and get a ballpark amount.  Here are the pictures of the finished pizza.

[Garvey]

Nice pie!

Unless you're making a lot of dough, using volumetric measurements instead of weights is the best way to go*.  IOW, keep doing what you're doing.

_{----
*For those miniscule amts you mentioned in the original post.  Flour and water are a different story, of course...}

[Chicago Bob]

'Cmon Battletoads......no way that's your first attempt!!     Guess you can jus pack up an go home now...you're done.   

Great job man....gotta luv that BTB, eh?

Bob

[Battletoads]

Thanks for the compliment Bob! I totally didn't expect my first attempt to turn out so well.  This pizza tasted amazing and I am VERY thankful for BTB coming up with this and being willing to share it with everyone.  I have dabbled with making pizza off and on for a few years and always wanted to be able to make a Chicago style deep dish pizza at home.  I plan on making this pizza every couple of weeks now!

Garvey, thanks for the tip about the measurements.  I am fine doing what I did I just didn't know if I was doing something wrong.

[CDNpielover]

to measure out small quantities, get a digital scale (like the coke dealers use).  That would be more accurate than trying to eyeball out an 1/8 of a teaspoon, for example.

[Battletoads]

to measure out small quantities, get a digital scale (like the coke dealers use).  That would be more accurate than trying to eyeball out an 1/8 of a teaspoon, for example.

Thanks.  I find the coke dealer comment even funnier since when I glanced at my email notification I thought your username was pipelover!

[Garvey]

to measure out small quantities, get a digital scale (like the coke dealers use).  That would be more accurate than trying to eyeball out an 1/8 of a teaspoon, for example.

With all due respect, this isn't manned spaceflight.  It's pizza.  To get that kind of scale is a waste of money and kitchen space.  Eyeballing is fine, assuming you're using something close, like a 1/4 teaspoon and taking what you think is half of that.  Or measure with an actual 1/8 teaspoon. (I have one in my drawer.)

[Chicago Bob]

With all due respect, this isn't manned spaceflight.  It's pizza.  To get that kind of scale is a waste of money and kitchen space.  Eyeballing is fine, assuming you're using something close, like a 1/4 teaspoon and taking what you think is half of that.  Or measure with an actual 1/8 teaspoon. (I have one in my drawer.)

....here we go......

[Chicago Bob]

Thanks.  I find the coke dealer comment even funnier since when I glanced at my email notification I thought your username was pipelover!

now that's funny right there.......

[CDNpielover]

I bought my drug scale for less than $10, shipped, on ebay.  It is small enough to fit in my back pocket, should I want to store it that way.

aside from the accuracy issues involved with eyeballing, volume measurements also introduce error due to density differences (due to various factors).  I will always mass my ingredients!

[Garvey]

Agreed regarding the accuracy of weight vs volume.  But there is no way you can tell the difference between a pie made with 1/8 tsp of salt vs 3/32 tsp.  (Sometimes, I think we manufacture things to worry about.  Nature of the beast when it comes to pizza obsessives...)  But you are correct, brother: a scale is more accurate, hands down.

Peace.

[mykall]

I finally got a scale because so many recipes are by weight and not volume.  Mine does not do fractions of a gram though and it turns itself off every 8 seconds even if adding to the bowl.  Sent an email to the company and they're shipping me another one.  

[Pete-zza]

I will sometimes weigh out small amounts of lightweigh ingredients but it is usually because I am conducting experiments where I need accurate and precise numbers. Otherwise, for typical amounts of dough in a home setting I usually only weigh the flour and water and use volume measurements for the rest of the ingredients.

However, the above said, I once queried Brian Spangler, the famous artisan pizza operator and owner of Apizza Scholls, why he measured out ingredients on his scale to three decimal places (thousandths of a gram). You can read my question and his reply at Reply 164 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,11994.msg126520/topicseen.html#msg126520. In Brian's case, essentially his entire day's production is based on using small amounts of yeast in a room temperature fermentation.

Peter

[danjm16]

I just had visions of my college roomate and his triple beam balance he weighed doobie out with. Ahh memories......