Today (Saturday):
Today I an out to Roselli's to get some real pizza pans. The clerk gave me some care instructions which indicate that they're sourced from "Hillside Metal Ware Company" out of New Jersey. Maybe not the real real deal, but they look close enough. (I've passed by Roselli's at least 1000 times in my life, and it had never occurred to me to go in. I think I love this store in general!)
I started the seasoning process in the oven, but my wife couldn't stand the smell, so I finished on the gas grill.
My intention was just to make bread again, but in the new pans, and also to try a higher protein flour. So today I made the dough with 50/50 Meijer AP and Betty Crocker "better for bread" flour. Given how pleased I was with last night's bread, I hope I don't regret this, because I've also decided, "What the hell? Let's build a pizza!" Also I've upped the flour to 300 g because the surface area of my new pan is bigger than the Lodge's, and it's easier to do the ratios in my head with an even 300.
On the way back from Roselli's, then, I had to stop for the cheddar. It was easier to stop at Kroger on the way home rather than head up Groesbeck to Meijer. I found white Cheddar there! Pricey stuff.
When I get home, I look for the mozzarella that I'm going to mix. Damn, the freezer has sharp cheddar, mozzarella, and some Italian mix with a variety of cheeses. Now I decide I'm going to break the pizza up into quadrants. I'll line the edges halfway with the white cheddar, and the other half with the yellow. I'll do one quadrant the Italian mix, one of pure white cheddar, one of white mixed with mozzarella, and one with yellow mixed with mozzarella.
I prepare the toppings. I'm going to use pepperoni (some Italian-sounding brand), red- and white-onion (julienned), and green pepper (diced).
Dang it, forgot the sauce. I have some Contadina tomato sauce with Italian herbs. The ingredients aren't helpful: onion powder and herbs. A quick taste, and I throw in some garlic powder, thyme, and oregano. Not bad, kind of like Crazy Sauce. It'll do.
Oven is completely heated. Now I'll assembly the pizza, so that the oven can cruise at its temperature for a bit. I've chosen 450°F, convect roast. Because I have a convection oven, it has both convect bake and convect roast settings. For baking, only the element around the rear fan comes on. For roast, the upper element also comes on. That'll probably be important for browning. If it burns, maybe I'll try a combination next time.
Results:
Wow, that's a lot of grease. Pepperoni? Low quality cheeses? No matter, it looks delicious. I cut around the edge with a paring knife, and then what? I have a wide spatula, but when I tilt the pan, the toppings slide. Clearly that's not right. I have to get the pizza out of the pan so that the bottom won't get soggy. I end up slicing it into three, and taking out a section at a time, and moving to a cooling rack.
All in all, I'm not happy with the bread. I'm going to blame the switch to the bread flower. The rise was okay, but the grain structure wasn't anything like Friday's.
Also I probably didn't account for the surface area properly. PizzaHog's recipe for a 10x14 is good for 140 inches-squared. My 10" Lodge was only 78.5 inches squared, and my new pan, at about 8.25" by 12.25" comes to about 101 inches squared.
Because my wife loved the pizza, she's given me permission to try again tomorrow! So...
Next steps:
Friday's focaccia would probably be a bit too thick for a pizza, but yet I don't think I'd be happy with PizzaHog's 273 g of flour for my size of pan. So I think I'll still use 100% = 300 g of flour. I've also made a sponge (2:1 water to flour, plus the yeast). I'll let it wake up for a bit, then throw it in the fridge for the night.