Patty Sausage....any tips?

[Lkfarkas]

For what it's worth, Lou's *does* offer a "crustless" option, with the patty as the base. Er, at least I think I just read that on their website (could be my overactive imagination!)......

[chicagonative]

I have a tip that I am not sure if it has been shared here - for the sausage not to stick to your hands and for it to be easier to spread  - wet your fingers in the pizza sauce and the raw sausage slides right off your fingers. This was a trick that the guys used at the Chicago pizza place that I worked at as a teen. It really helps when putting pieces of sausage on a pizza rather than the patty but it helps with both. Since you want to put a thin crust into the oven quickly it saves a lot of time from the pizza sitting on the peel waiting to be put into the oven.

[chiguy]

for the sausage not to stick to your hands and for it to be easier to spread  - wet your fingers in the pizza sauce and the raw sausage slides right off your fingers. This was a trick that the guys used at the Chicago pizza place that I worked at as a teen.

I believe that tip has been mentioned here before. Although with new members everyday it never hurts to refresh our memory. Where did you work as a teen any place that is popular?     Chiguy

[Randy]

Thats a good one Chicagonative.  And to find out you have been a professional pizza maker, you have been holding back.

[chicagonative]

LOL Randy - I only cashiered and took orders, but I did get a lot of my knowledge from observing the pizza makers for years. I did cook all of the other takeout foods and that gave me the courage to dive into cooking as an adult. I LOVED experimenting with different combinations of ingredients. You name it and I have tried it. One of my unusual fav's was Chicago style italian beef with either roasted green peppers or hot Giardinara. It was suprisingly good! Thanks for the kind words on the pic's of my first deep dish. It didn't brown as nicely as yours but the taste sure brought me back to good ole Chicago!

Chiguy - the pizza place was in a suburb of Chicago and was an Italian family that owned it. And I have read your adoration for Nick and Vito's - I personally haven't tried it but that was one of my Mom's favorites!

[Aloha Mike]

I'm new to this site and just made my first Chicago style last night. Wasn't exactly Lou's but I'll keep trying.
As to the Sausage Patty, I work with a guy who's brother worked at Lou's in Buffalo Grove. Were in Portland Oregon and we really wants to get the sausage pizza right (nobody does good Chi Pizza here). In phone calls with his brother he said they use to take sausage links ans squash them flat. they would then lay them in best fit to create a layer. Were still trying to figure out what brand the links are.

[PIZZAIAM]

TAKE A GOOD ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PRESS SOME INTO YOUR PALM TO 1/8 THICK AND SCAPE IT OFF WITH A DULL KNIFE AND PRESS IT ON TO THE CHEESE, DO NOT! LET IT TOUCH THE OTHER SAUSAGE ON THE PIZZA, OR IT WILL ALL SHRINK TO THE CENTER.
 UNDERSTAND, (CAPESE....?)

[BTB]

I did a patty sausage this past weekend on my Malnati's style pizza (sausage is Chicago's No. 1 pizza ingredient) and it worked out great.  Just took the sausage (in bulk, not link), placed on parchment paper with clear plastic wrap on top, and flattened it out like loo said with the bottom of the pizza pan.  It was around 1/4th to 1/8th inch I think.  I put it on top of the cheese but under the sauce and it worked great.  I guess I'm a purist as I remember in the "old days" in Chicago when all pizza menus use to say two things, cheese pizzas and sausage pizzas, with some other limited ingredients that could be added if you wanted.  But the vast majority of pizzas were "sausage pizzas."  And afterwards when I would order sausage on pizzas when I went to college at the University of Oklahoma, they gave me a pizza with this strange thing on it called . . . pepperoni, which I later learned is a sausage!

[BTB]

BTW, I did another deep dish with patty sausage last week and experimented a bit.  I recall someone suggesting putting the sausage on top of the sauce instead of under it, so I tried that out.  Big mistake.  It was harder cutting the pizza and made for messier pieces after cutting.  In earlier pizzas that I made with the patty under the sauce (but on top of the cheese) it had cut just fine.  If you elect to do the sausage on top of the sauce, I would suggest that you do it in clumps rather than in a patty form.     

[djryan1194]

I'm a  Chicago native also and have been trying to replicate the Uno/Malnati pizza for a while.  I've got it down pretty good now thanks to this website.  I have read through this thread and I have a suggestion for the sausage.  Rather than using Italian sausage, try using plain Johnsonville Bratwurst.  Obviously with no flavor whatsoever.  (No cheese, beer, etc.)  Just plain bratwurst.  I use maybe between 2 and 3 links per 14" pizza.  Remove the casing, and place the sausage in a bowl.  Then add maybe 1/2 to 1 t. of fresh crushed garlic.  I use the garlic already crushed that comes in a glass jar in the spice aisle.  Then sprinkle some fresh black pepper.  Mix that all together well.  Then place that sausage over the cheese as you make your pizza.  I have been doing this by hand, pressing it out thin in the "manhole" style.  But I really like what I've read about rolling it out and placing it on.  I'm going to try that myself.  But give the plain sausage a try.  I don't think that the sausage that Malnati's uses has all those spicy flavors in it that Italian sausage has.  I believe they get their sausage from Anichini Bros. in Chicago.  My parents ran a pizza joint in Chicago when I was younger, and they got their sausage from Anichini as well.  It tasted exactly like Malnati's.  Using Italian sausage isn't bad - its tastes good, I've done it myself.  IMO, using the bratwurst will give you a more authentic Malnati's taste.   

[Peterubers]

I'm going to make DKM's recipe tomorrow (dough is pleasantly rising in the fridge now...) using the bratwurst suggestion -- I sampled some bratwurst today in comparison with some italian sausage and DO AGREE that the bratwurst's more simple taste is much closer to Malnati's sausage layer (that I recently ordered a few days ago .. I live in the Chicago loop .. minutes from a gino's and giordano's joint ..yeah, i'm spoiled).

I'll add a little fresh, crushed garlic and black pepper as suggested in the previous post.  Very good tip.  Will definitely post results (good or bad) after I've tried it.