Starting a NY style Pizza Business

[iareto42]

Hi I am Iareto.  I have been doing alot of research on here and doing alot of trial and error in the kitchen.  I am starting a NY Style Pizza business.  I have alot of questions regarding dough, sauce, etc as I am an absolute rookie at making pizzas.  The pizzas that I have experimented with, I am about 90% satisfied with.  I still have issues with a few things.  One in particular is Why my crust isn't browning in the oven?  I enjoy all the post here and hope to be able to contribute when I get the hang of things 

[scott123]

Iareto, welcome to the forum.  Whereabouts are you located?

Post the recipe you're using and tell us a little about your oven setup (peak temp, stone thickness/material, gas or electric, broiler location, etc.) and we'll help you get to the bottom of your browning issues.

[Chaze215]

Iaretto...I dont know if you have any sugar in your recipe but some sugar will add to the browning of your crust.

Chaz

[iareto42]

Iareto, welcome to the forum.  Whereabouts are you located?

Post the recipe you're using and tell us a little about your oven setup (peak temp, stone thickness/material, gas or electric, broiler location, etc.) and we'll help you get to the bottom of your browning issues.

I'm experimenting with two recipes:

1. Tom Lehmann's NY style:
    Bread Flour 100%
    Water 65%
    IDY 2%
    Salt 1.75%
    Olive Oil 1%

2. NY Style Recipe (from youtube)
    Bread Flour 100%
    Water 48%
    IDY 0.25%
    Salt 1.25%
    Sugar 1.25%
    Olive Oil 3%
    Eggs? ( I use 1 egg for 5lbs of flour)

I have a second hand gas baker's pride oven with 3 pizza stones.  I would guess that they are about 1 1/2 in. thick.  I am waiting on my oven thermometer, so I don't really know hot it actually gets.  I usually preheat on the highest for about 2 hours.

Of the two recipes, I am a little more partial to the second one.  Ingredients are expensive, and I wish I could get away with not having to use all or most of them.

thanks for your kind replies!

[iareto42]

Iaretto...I dont know if you have any sugar in your recipe but some sugar will add to the browning of your crust.

Chaz

Hey Chaz,

One of the recipes I use does call for sugar, but I'm still not getting the results I want.  Although, I have not yet tried adding sugar to Tom L. NY Pizza yet.  How much do you think I should use?

[f.montoya]

I'd be interested in seeing one of your finished pies so I can see the browning, or lack thereof. Also, can you tell us what temperature and the duration of your average bake? And, probably an important thing to know, is what kind of oven are you using?

(let it be known that I had the same issues when I embarked on the journey of pizza making!)

[mkevenson]

iareto42 , Welcome to the forum. I have no commercial pizza baking experience but have wanted my crust to attain more browning at times. You say you do not have a temp gauge but do you know how long you bake your pies? Are the bottoms and the tops getting done at the same time?
Your 2 recipes are quite different to my eyes both in hydration, yeast % and additional ingredients.
I am not sure if it is practical in your setting or not but I spray EVOO on the edges of my crust before baking, this adds to the browning.
As others have mentioned if you tell us you process we may have better ideas of solutions.

[Pete-zza]

iareto,

I'm catching up with some of your efforts and you may already have changed things in other threads but I wondered how you came up with 2% IDY for the Lehmann NY style dough. You didn't indicate how you fermented the dough but, without any added sugar, 2% IDY would eat up just about all of the natural sugars released by the damaged starch through enzyme performance, leaving very little sugar to contribute to final crust coloration.

The second recipe you posted looks to be the Bruno recipe, which has been discussed several times before on the forum. See, for example, Reply 10 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,12883.msg125253.html#msg125253 and the thread at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,20246.msg198969.html#msg198969. If that is the recipe you intended, then you would use less IDY on a percentage basis to be equivalent to the cake yeast.

Peter

[iareto42]

iareto,

I'm catching up with some of your efforts and you may already have changed things in other threads but I wondered how you came up with 2% IDY for the Lehmann NY style dough. You didn't indicate how you fermented the dough but, without any added sugar, 2% IDY would eat up just about all of the natural sugars released by the damaged starch through enzyme performance, leaving very little sugar to contribute to final crust coloration.

The second recipe you posted looks to be the Bruno recipe, which has been discussed several times before on the forum. See, for example, Reply 10 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,12883.msg125253.html#msg125253 and the thread at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,20246.msg198969.html#msg198969. If that is the recipe you intended, then you would use less IDY on a percentage basis to be equivalent to the cake yeast.

Peter

Peter

The 2% IDY is a typo.  I've been following the Dough Tool for Tom L.'s recipe closely and following his recommendations. 

I have been using Bleached Bread Flour ( Honeyville Foods)
I am using .25% IDY
Salt: 2%
Sugar: 2% (the maximum for sugar)
Oil: 1%
Hydration: 53% ( any more water and it becomes way too sticky)

I have added ice to the water to help achieve the 80-85 deg temperature
I am able to get by Baker's Pride Oven to about 600 deg after 2hr preheat
the pizza crust turns out soft, pretty fluffy and chewy, while crispy on the bottom (which I'm pretty satisfied about)

But My crust is still not browning well.  If I leave it in the oven to attain the desire browning, the top gets burned.  Any recommendations? I've seen some replies where people brush the crust with something before baking!?!?
Also, why is my hydration so low? Could it be the bread flour I'm using? being in a very humid environment? being at sea level? Just asking

[iareto42]

I'd be interested in seeing one of your finished pies so I can see the browning, or lack thereof. Also, can you tell us what temperature and the duration of your average bake? And, probably an important thing to know, is what kind of oven are you using?

(let it be known that I had the same issues when I embarked on the journey of pizza making!)

f.montoya

After 2 hours of preheating, I can get my Baker's Pride Y-600 oven to 600 deg. with pizza stones. since I am experimenting, I usually am baking one pie at a time in the oven.  No more than 10 mins on the first and no more than 12-13 mins and the few that follow.