Author Topic: Trying tdeane's Ah-Beetz pizza (Read 609 times)

norma427 · « **on:** May 06, 2013, 05:55:06 PM »

I was intrigued by tdeane's (Terry) NY style Ah-Beetz pizza awhile ago on this thread. http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7561.0.html Terry's pizzas looked so amazing. I never got around to trying out his formula for his NY style pizzas, but decided yesterday to mix up a dough using Peter's formulation he set forth for Terry at Reply 30 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7561.msg65268.html#msg65268 I saw in that thread that Terry changed flours, but Terry said that almost any kind of flour can make a decent NY style pizza. I tried Mondako flour. I found Terry's ingredients interesting because he uses a starter preferment, a small amount of IDY, a higher hydration and a higher amount of salt than is usual for a NY style dough. I didn't have the preferment Terry used, so I used the Ischia starter. I also don't have a high heat oven like Terry did when he was making his pizzas on that thread.

I am not sure my starter was up to speed enough though, but guess I will see what happens tomorrow. This is how much the dough ball had fermented until this afternoon. I should have place poppy seeds on the dough ball but didn't. I will post the results whether good or bad.

Norma

norma427 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 08, 2013, 08:01:34 AM »

The experiment with trying to make a Ah-Beetz pizza didn't go as good as I wanted it to. As I posted before, I am not sure my Ischia starter was up to speed before using it, but it did make the dough ferment. Of course a little IDY was added too. Steve brought some fresh Grande cheese to use on this pizza and I think we applied to much of it along with the pepperoni slices. The baked pizza was too oily from all the fat and I guess got orangey from all the fat mixed in with the sauce. My taste testers did like the taste of the crust though.

The dough ball opened up very easily and didn't stick to the peel at all. The dough ball sat out to warm-up for 3 hrs.

Norma

norma427 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 08, 2013, 08:04:08 AM »

Norma

Glutenboy · « **Reply #3 on:** May 09, 2013, 04:28:37 PM »

Looks great to me, Norma! Love the color of the crust on the bottom of the slice. I'm betting it had a nice bit of flavor.

- GB

Essen1 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 09, 2013, 07:53:00 PM »

Quote from: norma427 on May 08, 2013, 08:01:34 AM

As I posted before, I am not sure my Ischia starter was up to speed before using it, but it did make the dough ferment.

Norma,

A good way to check and see if a starter is "up to speed" is to drop a TBSP or so into a bowl of water. If it floats, it's ready.

Other than that, the pies look pretty good.

norma427 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 09, 2013, 09:59:07 PM »

Quote from: Glutenboy on May 09, 2013, 04:28:37 PM

Looks great to me, Norma! Love the color of the crust on the bottom of the slice. I'm betting it had a nice bit of flavor.

- GB

Glutenboy,

Thanks! The pizza was okay, but not really that good. The crust didn't have a lot of flavor to Steve and me, but my taste testers liked it. That oily gooey mess really wasn't that good either. I am not sure if I am going to make another attempt for this coming week or not because I am rooting out stuff and pricing it to try and sell at a flea market this weekend. I do plan on giving it another try though. I might reduce the salt to 2.5%.

Norma

norma427 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 09, 2013, 10:00:57 PM »

Quote from: Essen1 on May 09, 2013, 07:53:00 PM

Norma,

A good way to check and see if a starter is "up to speed" is to drop a TBSP or so into a bowl of water. If it floats, it's ready.

Other than that, the pies look pretty good.

Mike,

I forgot about the trick to see if my starter was "up to speed". It has been awhile since I used a starter. Maybe I need a refresher course.

The pizza really wasn't that good.

Norma

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #7 on:** May 09, 2013, 10:23:32 PM »

Hmmm... this really doesn't look like all that much cheese Norma: was that a new pepperoni? Vermont?

norma427 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 10, 2013, 08:49:06 AM »

Quote from: Chicago Bob on May 09, 2013, 10:23:32 PM

Hmmm... this really doesn't look like all that much cheese Norma: was that a new pepperoni? Vermont?

Bob,

I think that was a lot of fresh Grande cheese that was used on that pizza, even though it doesn't look like a lot. Steve said to use all of the fresh Grande cheese, so that is what we did. I don't use Grande fresh cheese in the deck oven and I really didn't know how using it would melt on that pizza in the oven. Usually Steve uses the fresh Grande cheese in his WFO on his Neapolitan pizzas. I used Carando pepperoni in a stick that Steve sliced. http://www.carando.com/products/pepperoni-single-link.html The Carando pepperoni usually is a good pepperoni and even cups, but for some reason only a few pieces of the pepperoni cupped. I have no idea if the fresh Grande cheese and Carando pepperoni created to much fat, but believe it might have. Steve and I got busy too, right after that pizza was baked, so we didn't get to try it for awhile.

I am not sure what to try different in the dough next. I would like a crumb that is lighter. Maybe the Mondako flour was too old too.

You might like the flea market I am going to tomorrow. It is an old car and truck show too. I am having a mess at trying to price all of the stuff I dug out and I didn't even make a dent in that stuff (about 17 big boxes). I am on eBay trying to find some prices to give me an idea of what to tag my stuff with (but I am pricing my stuff much lower than eBay). It might also rain tomorrow, so if I go though all the trouble of marking all this stuff and it rains I might be perturbed.

Norma

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #9 on:** May 10, 2013, 02:21:27 PM »

Oh I'm sorry Norma; I didn't realize ya'll were using the fresh Grande. I hope you do try some more of these; doesn't Di Fara mostly use the regular type of mozz. ? His oven might be much hotter than what you run though, I don't know.

Good luck with the sale today; I hope you do well. Sure sounds like you have a lot of stuff. And I hope you didn't get in too big of a hurry while pricing your items, Norma, I've been seeing things on those auction shows that one would normally think was junk but it turned out to be real valuable. You may just be in possession of a dandy new$$ retirement account!

Have fun looking at the old cars and trucks.

norma427 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 10, 2013, 06:02:01 PM »

Quote from: Chicago Bob on May 10, 2013, 02:21:27 PM

Oh I'm sorry Norma; I didn't realize ya'll were using the fresh Grande. I hope you do try some more of these; doesn't Di Fara mostly use the regular type of mozz. ? His oven might be much hotter than what you run though, I don't know.

Good luck with the sale today; I hope you do well. Sure sounds like you have a lot of stuff. And I hope you didn't get in too big of a hurry while pricing your items, Norma, I've been seeing things on those auction shows that one would normally think was junk but it turned out to be real valuable. You may just be in possession of a dandy new$$ retirement account!

Have fun looking at the old cars and trucks.

Bob,

You didn't have to apologize. I am not sure what kind of cheese Dom Di Fara uses. I think Dom's oven is hotter than mine though and so was Terry's.

I have loads of stuff that was collected over the years and now I am getting ready to get rid of it when I can. What I don't sell I can take to one of the auctions near me. I don't think my stuff will bring enough to give me much of any retirement money though.

I always enjoy looking at old cars and trucks. The show is tomorrow.

Norma

Essen1 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 10, 2013, 07:27:32 PM »

Norma,

According to Wikipedia, DiFara uses three types of mozza...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di_Fara_Pizza#Pizza

But here it says it's only regular block mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella and Gran Padano...

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2008/03/secrets-of-di-f.html

Take your pick, I guess

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #12 on:** May 10, 2013, 07:47:47 PM »

Quote from: Essen1 on May 10, 2013, 07:27:32 PM

Norma,

According to Wikipedia, DiFara uses three types of mozza...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di_Fara_Pizza#Pizza

But here it says it's only regular block mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella and Gran Padano...

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2008/03/secrets-of-di-f.html

Take your pick, I guess

I hear the Gran Padano is some pretty good stuff....is the quality ones crazy expensive? Probably doesn't take much though huh.
I hope Norma will do a combo of fresh and aged/reg. Mozz.

Essen1 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 10, 2013, 07:56:51 PM »

Quote from: Chicago Bob on May 10, 2013, 07:47:47 PM

I hear the Gran Padano is some pretty good stuff....is the quality ones crazy expensive? Probably doesn't take much though huh.
I hope Norma will do a combo of fresh and aged/reg. Mozz.

Bob,

I usually get my cheeses, including the Grana Padano, from Trader Joe's at a very good price. It's great stuff but unfortunately, TJ's is not in your or Norma's area, I believe.

The high-end, aged Grana Padano can be expensive.

norma427 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 10, 2013, 08:02:19 PM »

Quote from: Essen1 on May 10, 2013, 07:27:32 PM

Norma,

According to Wikipedia, DiFara uses three types of mozza...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di_Fara_Pizza#Pizza

But here it says it's only regular block mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella and Gran Padano...

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2008/03/secrets-of-di-f.html

Take your pick, I guess

Thanks Mike for the links to what kinds of cheeses DiFara might use.

Steve brought some buffalo mozzarella to market the other week and tried it on one of his experimental pies. The buffalo mozzarella sure didn't melt well in my oven either. I wish I would have taken a photo of Steve's pizza with the buffalo mozzarella, because it looked something like the pizza I made.

I think I will wait to try more expensive cheeses until I can get the crust better.

Norma

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #15 on:** May 10, 2013, 08:05:17 PM »

Quote from: Essen1 on May 10, 2013, 07:56:51 PM

Bob,

I usually get my cheeses, including the Grana Padano, from Trader Joe's at a very good price. It's great stuff but unfortunately, TJ's is not in your or Norma's area, I believe.

The high-end, aged Grana Padano can be expensive.

Thanks Mike...I actually do have a TJ about 15 miles from me and we are going there this weekend. I want to sample their mozz that I've recently been told about. This will be my final hope before going ahead with a big order of Grande from Penn Mac. I'm done playing around with all this grocery/big box crap..I'm too old an life is too short.

Essen1 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 10, 2013, 08:14:38 PM »

Quote from: Chicago Bob on May 10, 2013, 08:05:17 PM

Thanks Mike...I actually do have a TJ about 15 miles from me and we are going there this weekend. I want to sample their mozz that I've recently been told about. This will be my final hope before going ahead with a big order of Grande from Penn Mac. I'm done playing around with all this grocery/big box crap..I'm too old an life is too short.

Bob,

A few years ago TJ's carried the North Beach Mozzarella made by Cascade Dairy Products here in Hayward, CA. That cheese was outstanding. Much better than Grande, imho.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8093.msg83938.html#msg83938

http://www.pacificcheese.com/our-cheeses/

They have since then switched to their own TJ brand. The TJ brand is just as good as the NB one but I am not sure about the manufacturer.

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #17 on:** May 10, 2013, 08:29:02 PM »

Quote from: Essen1 on May 10, 2013, 08:14:38 PM

Bob,

A few years ago TJ's carried the North Beach Mozzarella made by Cascade Dairy Products here in Hayward, CA. That cheese was outstanding. Much better than Grande, imho.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8093.msg83938.html#msg83938

http://www.pacificcheese.com/our-cheeses/

They have since then switched to their own TJ brand. The TJ brand is just as good as the NB one but I am not sure about the manufacturer.

Wouldn't be a bit surprised if the TJ's is repackaged NB.

Hope so!
I'm bringing home whatever they have cause you never know. I was getting a Wellsly Farm brand at BJ's club for $2.20lb. that I liked just as much as Grande...well, they were close. But they have changed(same packaging)...you know how that goes Mike.

Thanks for all the help!

Essen1 · « **Reply #18 on:** May 10, 2013, 08:44:04 PM »

Quote from: Chicago Bob on May 10, 2013, 08:29:02 PM

Wouldn't be a bit surprised if the TJ's is repackaged NB. Hope so!
I'm bringing home whatever they have cause you never know. I was getting a Wellsly Farm brand at BJ's club for $2.20lb. that I liked just as much as Grande...well, they were close. But they have changed(same packaging)...you know how that goes Mike. Thanks for all the help!

Bob,

That could very well be but unless there's more info on the re-branded TJ mozza I'm not sure. It is very similar, though.

Now...and don't laugh...another good mozzarella with a nice little tang and great melting capabilities is Safeway's own "Lucerne" brand. try the Whole Milk, low-moisture one and combine it with some freshly grated Locatelli Pecorino!

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #19 on:** May 10, 2013, 08:54:26 PM »

Quote from: Essen1 on May 10, 2013, 08:44:04 PM

Bob,

That could very well be but unless there's more info on the re-branded TJ mozza I'm not sure. It is very similar, though.

Now...and don't laugh...another good mozzarella with a nice little tang and great melting capabilities is Safeway's own "Lucerne" brand. try the Whole Milk, low-moisture one and combine it with some freshly grated Locatelli Pecorino!

Wish I could try that but; of course, no Safeway 'round these parts.

The best I can currently do is Stella from Sam's club cut with Asiago. That's not too bad. $:-\$

Melts really cool look'in!