Tonight, everything clicked

[Jet_deck]

What do you think of those ideas, Gene? I really appreciated your suggestion for my brussels sprouts recipe so I trust your advice.

Also, congratulations on the oven!

Brendan

Sorry, I just saw this. And thanks.

The second round of your pies look excellent and I wouldn't change a thing.

[I Have Feet]

Pizzaneer: Thank you so much for such generous praise.    All the topping combos went over great, there was no one clear winner. One person declared the butternut squash pie his favourite, another the zucchini. The bird's nest pie was a big hit; I managed to get the quail eggs to have perfectly runny yolks. The Margherita was my personal favourite but that's because it always is.  

Craig: Wow, what a huge compliment. Thank you. I had never really thought that I was at a point where I had anything to teach others but I will start a new thread where I document my trials and errors in more detail.

Gene: I'm glad you approved my thoughts on the marscapone cream sauce.   It was really, really good. I added some pecorino to it as well.

Thank you everyone for the compliments and encouragement!

Brendan

[pizzaneer]

This level of praise isn't hard to understand when you consider that making NP pizza in a home oven is one of the Holy Grails of pizza questing.  Getting to NP level the traditional way involves an outlay of serious dinero, and a whole lot of people just don't have that, or the space to put a WFO. 

Not saying that this method beats a WFO of course.  No way!  Just look at what John is doing in NJ with his; he's been helping his neighborhood cook their meals ever since the storm hit.  WFO's can do amazing things, and there is such a sense of satisfaction involved when you have mastered it.

But for someone browsing this forum who really, really wants to try making a NP pizza in a home oven with nothing more than a stone and big piece of metal to put on top of it, you have done some awesome groundbreaking.

[Jbravo]

 Brendan, I was really impressed by the pizzas you have baked. They look fantastic. Can you provide some details on the oven that you use, other than that it's an electric oven? What is its maximum temperature, how many heating elements does it have (and where are they located), etc. I understood that yo have not modified it, right? It would be great if you post a picture of the inside of your oven. I was surprised that you are able to bake in 2 minute or so. I also have an electric oven with a broiler (maximum temp being approx. 437 Fahrenheit) but it takes at least 8 minutes to bake a pizza in it     

[slybarman]

Brendan, I was really impressed by the pizzas you have baked. They look fantastic. Can you provide some details on the oven that you use, other than that it's an electric oven? What is its maximum temperature, how many heating elements does it have (and where are they located), etc. I understood that yo have not modified it, right? It would be great if you post a picture of the inside of your oven. I was surprised that you are able to bake in 2 minute or so. I also have an electric oven with a broiler (maximum temp being approx. 437 Fahrenheit) but it takes at least 8 minutes to bake a pizza in it     

Ditto. Details please.

[I Have Feet]

Hi Jbravo, thanks so much for your reply and your compliments.  I was also a bit surprised at how much I was able to bring down my bake times.  I think I've lucked out with a hot oven.  I'm at work right now so I can't tell you the exact model, but it's a cheap General Electric.  Basically the type you'd expect in a rental apartment.  I think the fact that's it's low end may actually be to my benefit as it runs a bit hot.  The dial only goes to 500, then the broil setting, but I've checked the temps with a thermocouple probe and it runs maybe 25 degrees hot.  However I took those temps with the dial set to 400, the thermocouple I have maxes out at 500 (bought it for use with smoking on the barbecue, no need for high temps) so I can't say for sure how hot it runs when set to max.

I have not done any mods to the oven but I do use a rack lined with foil to trap the heat in the top of the oven with the broiler.  It gets hot enough that I can't hold my hand in for more than a couple of seconds.  Again, can't tell you exactly what temps I'm looking at.  I'd like to get an infrared thermometer at some point to measure the cast iron temps but I don't have one yet.

I will take some pics of the oven when I'm home, and try to find the manual to check the specific model.

At Craig's suggestion I plan on starting a new thread where I document my whole process and experiments in more detail.  However I've been taking a break from pizza for a few weeks as all my experimenting has made my jeans a little tight.

Hope that helps for now.

Brendan

[Jbravo]

 Thanks, Brendan. Look forward to seeing your new thread.

[I Have Feet]

Hi folks,

I know this thread is very old and that I kind of vanished back when I was just starting to get some good results and others were asking questions about my process. Back then it was suggested that I start a new thread documenting my process in more detail so I just wanted to mention that I'm back at it and I've started a thread over in the Neapolitan section of the forums. Check it out!

Brendan

[pizzaneer]

jump to that thread here:
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,23362.msg236937.html#msg236937