My first attempt was successful (pics)

[Boy Hits Car]

I couldn't have done it without this forum.  I made my first pizza this evening and I'm shocked at how well it came out.  I was meticulous about following everyone's advice, and I think it paid off.  I used a modified Lehmann recipe with no oil and a thin TF(.09) for a 14" pizza.

I was trying to mimic a Lombardi pizza.   My biggest concern was getting the dough nice and brown so that it would be a nice crunchy crust.  I used All Trumps high-gluten flour and 63% hydration and it browned perfectly and was very crunchy.  I used LaValle San Marzanos and a fresh mozz from the Italian market here in Philly. I didn't cook the tomatoes, just strained them and crushed them, added salt and dry oregano.  The cheese melted perfectly and left no water and didn't get oily.  I cooked the pizza for about 8 minutes and the cheese held up great.  I added some basil and Pecorino when I took it out of the oven. I cooked it at 550 degrees on a pizza stone I got at Fantes.  Had no problem with the pizza sticking to the peel(thanks to the advice I found here).

I wasn't that impressed with the LaValle tomatoes, but the overall pizza tasted pretty good.  I don't think it would qualify as a Lombardi's clone, but it was
pretty good.  I'm going to experiment with different tomatoes and try to thin the crust out a little more.  Overall, very happy with it.

[Boy Hits Car]

Some more pics.

[Pete-zza]

Mike,

It's been a long time since I made my first pizza but I can assure you that it didn't look anywhere as good as your first one. Of course, that was long before I found this forum.

Congratulations.

Peter

[Boy Hits Car]

Thanks Peter.  Your help was was much appreciated and valuable.

[Pete-zza]

Mike,

I think now you can see how much the oven is a factor in the results you get. The same pizza baked in an oven that can get to 800 degrees F, as at Lombardi's, will be very different than one baked in a home oven at 550 degrees F. You are more likely to be able to mimic a pizza baked in a deck oven at around the same temperature as your home oven.

As for the tomatoes, my recollection is that Lombardi's uses a pureed sauce made from San Marzanos that is allowed to marinate overnight with herbs. If you decide to go for more of a NY street style, you might consider the Escalon 6-in-1s, or a comparable Stanislaus canned tomato, especially if you can find them locally.

BTW, did you ever try the Lombardi's Philadelphia outpost? It has since closed but I wonder why it didn't catch on.

Peter

[Boy Hits Car]

Peter,

Yeah that oven of theirs makes a big difference.  However,  I was pleased by how crisp I was able to get my home-made crust.  If I can thin it out a little more, it will be perfect for my tastes.

I like to experiment with my cooking, so I'll be trying a variety of different ingredients and brands of ingredients.  It keeps me interested.  With my next pizza I'm going to try Maggio mozz or pick up some fresh Bufala from the italian market.  I also found some DOP SM called Badalucco.  Didn't find any post sabout this brand of SM, so I will be the guinea pig.

Can you believe I never knew there was a Lombardi's in Philly?  How sad is that.  I wish I could have tried it, but that might be why it never caught on.  I never heard or saw any advertising for it.  The only way to have known it was around was if you worked in an office building near by.  The area it was located (now that I just did a search) was all industrial/office buildings.  With all the notoriety Lombardi's has been getting on tv lately, it would probably do much better now.  It's also possible that the pizza there didn't taste the same.

Mike

[Pete-zza]

Mike,

When I originally heard that there was a Philadelphia location using the Lombardi's name I thought that it was another operator just far enough from NYC as not to provoke a tradename dispute with the NY operation. But when I was doing some research on Lombardi's, I came upon this link: http://www.lombardispizza.com/pages/1/index.htm. As noted there, the two operations were related and if you click on the Philly link you will see that the reason given for closing the Philly operation was redevelopment/lease related. I'm only speculating, but I suspect that business might not have been good enough. Otherwise, they could have found a new place and customers would have followed them there.

Since you live in the Philly area, you may find this link of interest since it pertains to tomatoes that can be found in your area: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=33854&hl=tomatoes++cans++italy. Also, Claudio's, a Philadelphia Italian foods store, sells the Badalucco tomatoes, both DOP and non-DOP (see the pull down menu), at http://www.claudiofood.com/misc_items.html.

Peter

[Boy Hits Car]

Peter,

I'm with you on that.  If they made a good pizza, the customers would follow them where ever they go.  In fact, there are a few very popular pizzerias in Philly that have moved, and sure enough, their business didn't suffer.

Claudio's is exactly where I found the Badalucco's.  Claudio's, Fante's, and The House of Cheese are all within a block from each other at the Italian market.  Their products are what you see used in the pizza above.  Might be one of the best block in the country to find pizza related ingredients/equipment.

Got my pizza stone and peel from Fantes.  Got my Mozz and Bufala Mozz from the House of Cheese, and all my tomatoes from Claudio's as well as some Pecorino Romano.

Thanks for the links.  I will check them out.

EDIT:  Claudio's carries a lot more products than are shown on their website.  I counted about 5 different SM tomato brands.  Saw the Caputo Blue Flour, colorful pasta, etc.  Looks like I'm also going to have to give the Rosa Brand SMs a try.

[abc]

that pizza looked pretty good.  keep working at it.

[snowdy]

good work mike