Pizza Pictures

[Tcrose36]

Hi Gang,

I have been a long time lurker (since 2008) and have tried my best to keep up with the good recipes on this site. Prior to this site, I was making some, pretty disgusting, all purpose flour pizza on a baking sheet. I have upgrade to the KASF once I found this site and have steadily seen an increased quality in my pizza making.

I recently purchased a steel plate to continue with the transformation and continuing to evolve into a better pizza maker. My wife and I are having people over for a game night on Saturday and I get to make and bake the pies. My wife said that I should hold off on trying out the steel plate so I don't ruin dinner...I agree with her completely. My wife and her sister like a veggie (onion, green pepper, and zucchini), my buddies like and will be getting the buffalo chicken pizza, and I love the plan ol' cheese pizza with a little bit of basil.

I have posted a few pics (hopefully, they posted correctly) of my pizza from two weeks ago, the pizza is on a 16" but I only made it about 10"-12" for my individual use. I used a 58% hydration and got a nice airy crust and some good color. I am anxious to use the steel plate so I can get a little bit darker bottom.

[scott123]

Tom, while steel plate will give you faster browning/charring, most people purchase it with the goal of the superior oven spring achieved with faster bake times. The thickness factor that you're working with lends itself more towards higher oil higher sugar American style pizza and, for NY, can be counterproductive in terms of achieving a puffy crust. A thinner crust translates into less dough to heat up, which, in turn, produces better oven spring.  Thicker crusts tend to be breadier by nature, which, for NY style, is a fault.

[pizzaneer]

That said, I don't see a thing wrong with your current pies.  I'm sure that once you get the plate dialed in, you will be making some really amazing creations.  Your wife was right - it's best to do your trial experiments in private - all that yelling and throwing things tends to scare the guests. 

[Tcrose36]

Thanks for the tips and encouragement guys.

I have been using the Lehmann dough calculator for the recipes, maybe I just don't stretch it out thin enough (if that is what you were implying, Scott). I am new to the term "Oven Spring" I looked it up in the glossary but was still a little confused. Does the quick oven spring provide a higher bubbled crust and then a flatter body? I also have no problem with trying to get a bake of 4/5 minutes. I am not really sure how a faster bake will differ, but I can't wait to try it.

I did the 3 pizza's (Veggie, Buffalo Chicken, and Cheese) but did not take any pictures, mostly due to the ridicule that I might have gotten from my wife and buddies for being obsessed with pizza. My wife said the crust was the best I have ever made. I think they turned out pretty good too. Maybe the 58% hydration is the way we like it so far, but who knows, my next pizza's could turn out not that good or when I try the steel plate with a higher hydration, it might be better yet.

I am at a point where I am really liking the pizzas that I am making so far, and I really owe that all to the posters on this website and they have never steered me wrong. Darn good dough recipes here, I prefer them to any chain pizza restaurants by millions of miles and they are starting to rival some of my favorite pizza places in Minneapolis.

Thanks
T