I was reading this thread and I had the same question. How is Kenji's method different?
Is it any surprise that there is a rift between pizzamaking and Serious Eats?
The original post in this thread is about a
montanara pizza. A montanara is a raw neopolitan skin, docked with the pizzaiolo fingertips, and lightly [deep] fried. The fried skin is topped like a Margherita and then placed on a pan and finished in a 900F WFO.
Kenji's method here:
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/09/how-to-make-great-neapolitan-pizza-at-home.html is intended to be a method to approximate a
Neapolitan pizza in a home setting where you don't have WFO running at 900F. Though related to Neapolitan pizza, a montanara is a different animal altogether. Kenji's method is not intended to have anything to do with a montanara.
I believe the confusion stemmed from the original post which says
"Dunn cooks regular pizza dough on both sides in a cast iron skillet in a small amount of hot olive oil." Since most Neapolitan-type pizzerias don't have deep fryers, it's not surprising he has to use a skillet instead, and compared to a deep fryer, a 1/2 inch or an inch of oil is a "small amount." The fact that both methods employ a pan set the stage for the confusion.
Having tried a montanara at Forcella, I disagree with the idea suggested above of rolling the dough thin. I believe it should be stretched by hand as if one were making a regular Neapolitan pie. Don’t forget to dock it with your fingertips or the point of a knife so it doesn’t blow up like a balloon when fried.
With respect to the idea that there is a “rift between pizzamaking and Serious Eats,” I would disagree. As you would expect in any situation involving a large number of passionate people, there are going to be some conflicting personalities. Notwithstanding, there are plenty of folks who are active, well respected, and have great relationships at both forums.
