How Many Kinds or Styles of Pizza do YOU Typically Make?

[Chicago Bob]

Thanks Gregg. Now I have some motivation to make my first pie ever using baker's percentages. I bought the scale (KD-8000) a few months ago but still never used it to make my dough. I've been hand kneading my dough and using Cups & Tablespoons measures for over 20 years.

For my first Deep Dish pizza, should I use my 9" diameter cast iron frying pan or my black non-stick 9" diameter cake pan? 

---pete---

What are the rim heights of your pans and what type of oven are you going to bake in.....

[Gregg]

Gregg, your DD pie looks really good and it is on my list. I just want to be clear that you are working with a 73% HR ? And on your thin crust you use 71%. No rush here Gregg but I am hoping sometime you will post your dough making procedure. Your hydration ratio's are something very new to me and I'm quite interested.  Thanks.   

Bob

The hydration levels listed are correct and I'll try to remember to take pictures of the dough making process, which will most likely be in the next week or two.

[Gregg]

Thanks Gregg. Now I have some motivation to make my first pie ever using baker's percentages. I bought the scale (KD-8000) a few months ago but still never used it to make my dough. I've been hand kneading my dough and using Cups & Tablespoons measures for over 20 years.

For my first Deep Dish pizza, should I use my 9" diameter cast iron frying pan or my black non-stick 9" diameter cake pan? 

---pete---

For smaller pies, I've had good luck using Lodge cast iron 10 and 8 inch diameter pans for deep dish. I've never tried using non-stick, but would imagine that the CI would be the better choice because of its heat retention qualities. Until both methods have been tested, the question will remain unanswered. Experimentation is part of what makes cooking (especially pizza) so enjoyable.

[petef]

What are the rim heights of your pans and what type of oven are you going to bake in.....

I have the typical cheap cake pan, 9" diameter and 1.25" high.

---pete---

[Chicago Bob]

I have the typical cheap cake pan, 9" diameter and 1.25" high.

---pete---

I used to bake DD in one of those and it did OK on a stone to help with evenness. I would try it right on your center rack Pete. You really need to get the dough pressed in there tight an thin where the bottom of the pan meets the side...that area likes to get too thick on you if you don't.

[Chicago Bob]

Having lived in the Chicago area my whole life, it's no surprise that my tastes are partial to the styles most often found around here. Here are some examples of pizza that I've made recently .....

My favorite is thin crust. I like a sauce with a touch of sweetness and use a 1:1 ratio of mozzarella and provolone cheese, along with Italian sausage with plenty of fennel. Party cut, of course.

I'm a big fan of deep dish as well. For a 12 inch pizza, I use one pound of cheese, one pound of sausage and two cups of sauce. It's baked in a stoneware pan that I've owned for at least twenty years.

The third member of the Chicago-style trinity is the stuffed variety. This small (6-inch) stuffed spinach pizza is one that I don't make nearly often enough and when eating one, always find myself wondering why.

I'm not sure how to classify the last one, but the crust is made using tipo "00" flour with fresh mozzarella and a very basic tomato sauce. Cooked at the highest temperature my electric oven offers (550 degrees) for about 7 minutes on a preheated Lodge cast iron pizza pan.

* original post edited to add inline pictures in place of links *

Gregg, what brand of cheese are you using on your thin crust pies? It looks like the perfect melt/brown spots to me...

[Ev]

I pretty much stick to N.Y.-ish, Neapolitan-ish, Sicilian-ish and Greek/Pan style pizza.

[weemis]

Thanks Gregg. Now I have some motivation to make my first pie ever using baker's percentages. I bought the scale (KD-8000) a few months ago but still never used it to make my dough. I've been hand kneading my dough and using Cups & Tablespoons measures for over 20 years.
---pete---

i still knead my dough by hand and feel good about it, but you'll never look back after bakers %, pete. i promise!

[Gregg]

Gregg, what brand of cheese are you using on your thin crust pies? It looks like the perfect melt/brown spots to me...

Most often, I buy the Sorrento brand from the deli, sliced about 1/16 inch thick, their whole milk mozzarella and provolone cheeses are excellent. Chellino brand Scamorza (made in Joliet, IL) is another favorite.

[Chicago Bob]

Most often, I buy the Sorrento brand from the deli, sliced about 1/16 inch thick, their whole milk mozzarella and provolone cheeses are excellent. Chellino brand Scamorza (made in Joliet, IL) is another favorite.

You wouldn't happen to have a mailorder link for the Scamorza would you...that stuff is hard to find, Thanks.

[Gregg]

You wouldn't happen to have a mailorder link for the Scamorza would you...that stuff is hard to find, Thanks.

Sorry, I can't help you out there. There's a little Italian grocery store about two miles down the street from me that always has it in stock. Unfortunately, they don't do mail order.

[Chicago Bob]

Most often, I buy the Sorrento brand from the deli, sliced about 1/16 inch thick, their whole milk mozzarella and provolone cheeses are excellent. Chellino brand Scamorza (made in Joliet, IL) is another favorite.

I mostly switch between the Sorrento and Poly-O.
Is your Sorrento you mentioned sliced off a 5lb brick in the deli. I have only been using their 'lil 1lb prepacked chunks.

[petef]

Gregg, thanks for the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza recipe!
I have now added that style to my favorites pies to make at home.

I also showcased your recipe in a comparison of yours versus America's Test Kitchen's
I actually liked yours better. Another case of "less is better".  Check it out...
    
America's Test Kitchen Deep Dish Pizza recipe Vs Gregg's
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,21155.msg212793.html#msg212793

---pete---

[rcbaughn]

I am making American style mostly since that is what my home oven lets me do best. The Mellow Mushroom dough is my typical go to.

I also dabble in Chicago deep dish and have worked just a bit with Chicago thin.

Neapolitan is next on my radar though...... 

[Gregg]

Glad that you liked the recipe, Pete, and thanks again for your kind words. I think that ATK has a tendency sometimes to make things too complicated, attempting to prove how smart they are. There's a popular website that does the same thing, with everything being described as the "greatest", "ultimate", "best" and other self-congratulatory superlatives, which gets tired quickly.

[petef]

Glad that you liked the recipe, Pete, and thanks again for your kind words. I think that ATK has a tendency sometimes to make things too complicated, attempting to prove how smart they are. There's a popular website that does the same thing, with everything being described as the "greatest", "ultimate", "best" and other self-congratulatory superlatives, which gets tired quickly.

Gregg, I watch many cooking shows and ATK is my favorite because they seem to take more of a scientific approach to cooking and even take it to a level of explaining things via chemistry theories. That's why I used them as a model for my first Deep Dish pizza. Of all the cooking shows on TV, ATK seems to come closest to matching the expert advise of the members here at pizzamaking.com. So their video was very helpful for getting the finer details & techniques on this recipe.

However, in the end, the pizza lovers, fanatics, and experts on this forum are more determined, focused, and experienced on just making pizza, so they often have the best advise & recipes. You being from Chicago have proven you know better how to make a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Welcome to the forum!

---pete---

[zelichan]

So far I make this type: Barely edible. 

I want to make the NY style, American style [PaPa Johns like] and thin and crispy.

So far I'm getting some seriously good advice here so I hope my learning curve will be quick.
Here's where I'm at so far:

It's a thin dough pepperoni.

[Chicago Bob]

Nothin wrong with that zelichan, I'd sure hit it!
I like the crust...try some whole milk mozz on one of those.