Lash Minute Change Of Plans

[mivler]

Hi,

I’m not sure if I am giving enough time for advice but here is the situation. My wife and I invited our neighbors over for pizza tomorrow. I used a recipe from the A16 thread
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1298.msg13499.html#msg13499
Here is what I changed I used 900g of flour and scaled the recipe. I made the dough and then punched down (and folded) at 4 hours (had about doubled) and then again 3.5 hours later (2.5 volume). Then I made into four equal balls 350g each, At that time I put in fridge. Punched down and folded about 9 hours later, The balls are still there. (fridge is 38 F). When I make the pizza it will be 3 days and a few hours from when I started making the dough.

I just got a call from them (10:30PM). One of their parents is coming over so they want me to make the pizza at their house so they can host. Rather than sounding like a pizza snob I said that it was no problem. They invited us over for dinner at 6:30. He said he does not want us to come much earlier because they may not be home until shortly before 6:30. He is going to make penne alla vodka.

For anyone that doesn’t know, my Thermadore wall oven gets to about 700ish. It is over 20 years old and the thermostat doesn’t work. I am still new to Neapolitan style pizza but I have been somewhat happy with the results. My neighbor said his oven is accurate and that it gets to 550.

My first thought is to cook the crust at my house and then finish it at his house. Does anyone have any pointers for me? (I know it’s not a lot of notice and that many people aren’t even around)

Thanks in advance, either way I’ll post the results.

Michael

[chiguy]

 Mivler,
 I am no expert on Neopolitan but the temperature difference of 550F vs your usuall 700F should produce a very blonde color using a 00 flour. Also the bake time is considerably longer at 550F. This could be a problem if your hydration is in the 56-57% range. If you bake for 7-8minutes it may turn out too dry. Just a few thoughts..
 I always struggle a bit when baking pizza in another kitchen, it's like trying to win on the road.  Chiguy

[Buffalo]

Why can't you just cook the pizza in your oven at home and then bring it next door?  Explain the reason this is necessary to your neighbor and he should understand.  Afterall, you understood his need to move the original localtion of the dinner as well as his restricting the time frame for your arrival.  Then again maybe that night just should be a pizza night.  Better no pizza than sorry pizza........
Buffalo

[mivler]

It's not actually next door. It's about a mile away. This might not make a difference but I can't make the pizza and run across the street. It will take about 5 minutes to get there. AMaybe I should make them (4 pizzas) in advance and then let it totally cool. Then just reheat them at their house? I'm not sure how well it would go if I rushed there after the last pizza got out of my oven. To them my pizza probably isn't a priority. I don't want to tell them they need to have the oven ready to go so I can pop my pizza right into their oven. Also, I am making 4 pizzas which I would have to bring over at the same time. I can't run back and forth with pizzas (for several reasons) Also, 6:30 is an approximate time. They said they would call when they got home so we could come over for dinner. I wouldn't really be able to time it so my hot pizzas went right into their oven.

Michael

[canadave]

Hi,

What I would do (and have done) is make the pizzas at home and then take them over there; but first, I would go to a local pizzeria and ask (offer to buy) some pizza boxes off them (my local Pizza Hut was nice enough to give me three boxes for free when I asked).  Then make the boxes, and line the top and bottom with aluminum foil.

Next step--if possible, make sure you have a bunch of aluminum pizza pans you can take as well.

Then just make your pizzas at home (try to time it so that you can head directly over and serve them to people, or as close to that as possible) and transport them in the boxes.  They won't cool off all that much...the ones that do, you can reheat at your neighbour's place.  They'll still taste fine (remember, in most NY pizzerias, the pizzas sit around after coming out of the oven, and they reheat the slices before serving them...it can take an hour or more to get rid of all the slices, and it still tastes fine).

One caution--when transporting, make sure to take extra care to keep them perfectly horizontal--car back seats generally are not perfectly horizontal, although they look like they might be.  I found that out the hard way...did what you're doing one time, and opened the pizzas when I arrived at my destination, and the cheese, being freshly melted, had slopped all over the place.

Also, it's up to you whether to cut them into slices before or afterward.  If you decide to do it afterward, make sure your neighbour has a pizza cutter, or you'll have to bring your own.

I keep editing this post because more and more things keep occurring to me   I just realized--if it's cold (winter) where you are, you might want to think about starting your car and getting it nice and toasty before you bring your pre-made pies into it for transport.  A cold car won't do your pizzas any favours, even for only a five minute ride.

Finally--if you're really concerned about your "pizza reputation," you could also make a group disclaimer at the party saying that for really fresh pizza, they're invited to come to your house sometime and you'll make them a fresh batch right out of the oven

Good luck,
Dave

[mivler]

Canadave,

Thanks, my neighbors have had my pizza several times and they know how good it usually is. I'm hoping that her parents like the pizza too. We did try to invite them all over here for pizza. But his wife insisted that it would be more comfortable her parents their house (Her parents are not from around here).

I think I am starting to agree that I should totally make the pizza here rather than precooking the crust and then trying to finish it there. I've already spent part of the morning on sauce and toppings. It's funny a few years ago my wife bought me a stack of pizza boxes as a gift. She decorated some of them. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. In the past I have used them just for storage in my fridge.

I'm concerned because the timing is approximate. I can fully cook and let cool (so it doesn't get soggy), or I can take a risk and try to time it just right. I already made the sauce a little thicker than usual. Do you think I should also make the crust a little thicker to avoid this?

Thanks,

Michael

[canadave]

I would definitely make the pizzas at your own place, in your own oven, as you best know how to make them.

As far as making the crust thicker, I'm not sure how to answer that.  I've found that my pizzas don't exhibit a heck of a lot of difference whether I eat them fresh or eat them after bringing them to someone else's house, so I don't modify them for occasions like this.  However, if you have a particular effect you're looking for in your pizza (like a crispy crunch to the crust or something like that), then you may want to try to achieve that through some sort of adjustment.

But personally, if it was me, I wouldn't make adjustments much, as that usually leads to tears unless you know exactly what you're doing.

If the people who are going to be there already know how good your pizza is, then my sincere advice is: don't sweat it.  Just make some pizza at your place and don't worry how it turns out once you get there.  A) they already know you can make pizza, and should be able to put 2 and 2 together and figure out that if the pizza is bad, it's because you had to make it at home and drive it over; and B) there's a saying: "Pizza is like sex: when it's great, it's really good; and when it's bad, it's still pretty darned good!"

[mivler]

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up making the pizza at my house and bringing the fully cooked pizza over. I though about bringing the pizza over hot but I decided that it was too much to try to get everything together and to their house quickly. I planned on having all the pizzas cooked by 6:00 pm. We got a call at 5:45 that we could come over whenever we were ready. Although my pizzas were almost ready at that point, my wife and I were not.

Anyway, here is the report.

I was very happy with my thicker sauce; I will definitely make the sauce this way again.  Since I have really focused on NY style pizza up until recently I feel a little weird posting this on the Neapolitan board (I’m not too familiar with this pizza). Anyway the sauce was rich and had a great flavor. Please let me know if anyone wants the recipe I came up with, it was really one of the best I have made. (It was probably closer to Chicago style.)

I did an experiment with the crust. I brought three pizzas. One I slightly undercooked, one I cooked a little more and the third I cooked just right (One four minutes in the oven, one four minutes thirty seconds and the last five minutes.)

My thought was that I would try to finish cooking the slightly undercooked pizza at their house and I would just heat the fully cooked pizza. I wanted to see which results I preferred.

By the time we were ready to eat, all of the pizzas were cold. I first heated the undercooked one. I gave it about 10-15 minutes in the oven (ballpark). My friend had told me his oven would get to 550 but it only went to 500. The first pizza turned into a pizza cracker. The crust was dry and crispy. The third pizza (fully cooked) which I just heated at 400 for a several minutes was the best. This was actually one of the best pizza I have ever made with Caputo flour.

 

[mivler]

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