I'm wussing out!

[cory]

Well, I've decided that the best possible way to cook a pizza for me is put the oven at about 500degrees, put the pie on the stones for about 4-5 minutes, and finish it in the broiler drawer for about 1-2 minutes.  Today, I made a damn-near perfect pizza @ 500 degrees.  (Probably near 480 on the stones) The bottom was just a touch too done.  If I had taken it out 2 minutes earlier, the bottom would have been perfect.

No oil (cheating) this time-- the crust was gbd all from the oven.  Taste/texture was great-- the bottom had that "twice cooked" taste like when you get a reheated slice.  It was my first large (16") so I miscalculated on the peel/tile action, and had a bit of a weird edge where one side slumped off, and got pinched in the oven door.

I also picked up some of the sorrento mozz at costco on the way home-- nice flavor, there.

After 3 pies, I can honestly say, I can consistently make a pizza that is better than most NY style I've had-- only my two favorite places in town make a better pie, (which are undeniably the best 2 as opined by naitive NY'ers) , and I'm certain that with the right ingredients (6-in-1 maybe?)  I'll be able to tie 'em or come REALLY close!

[Pierre]

Cory, are you using one of our recipes posted here or is it your own and if so, would you care to post it for us to try as well?

I'd like to give it a try.....

Pierre

[cory]

I'm just using the standard Good Eats Version, which isn't too different from most of these here.  I don't have a scale yet, so I can't do weight based, and I had a very detailed video on this one, so I stayed with it.  When I go to the store again, I'm going to branch out.

2 cup KA fl, Scoop & sweep
2 TBL Sugar
2 Tsp Salt
1 TBL Olive Oil
3/4 Cup Water, Warm (I did 105F)  
(I used poland spring here, just in case.  I have super-chlorinated city water)
1 Tsp Active Dry yeast. (I just couldn't find instant at the two grocery stores I went to)

I went ahead and bloomed the yeast, just in case, using part of the 3/4 cup, as well as an additional pinch of sugar.

I added the ingredients: 1 c flour, sugar, salt, olive oil, yeast, 2nd cup.  Mixed until a consistent scrappy dough formed.  Dough hook on low for 15 minutes, low.  wait 5, then about 5 more.  I realized after the fact that I should have switched to medium speeds at some point, but I did it by texture/baker's window test.

Rolled the ball, tightening the membranes.  More olive oil and a 24 hour fridge proof.

This most recent time, I had my wife take it out of the fridge and let it rise for about 1.5 hours before I made the pie.  I liked this result, it was dense, chewy and the crust on top was perfect.  (no picture, sorry)  A little too done on the bottom, but as I said above, I've had plenty of reheated slices that had about the same taste/consistency on the bottom.

I'm interested in trying different ones, I just had the right ingredients for this, and I have to score some instant yeast first.

Sauce: Redpack blended a bit chunky with 3 cloves of garlic, fresh thyme and some dried oregano.  (I like a garlicky sauce.)  This time, I simmered for 30 minutes and allowed to cool.  The second two times, I used the leftovers cold from the fridge to a better result.  (I also used more sauce)

For cheese, I've tried differen things, but last night's blend of Sorrento Whole (low moisture) Mozz with a bit of shredded store-brand prov and some fresh shredded parm was the best cheese yet.

Extrapolating from my experiences, it will work best for me in a 500F oven for 4-5 min with a 60-90 second finish under my (gas) broiler.

[Randy]

Look for bread machine yeast in a jar or SAF perfect rise yeast, all are instant.  The jar should be stored in the cooler after openong.

Randy

[cory]

Well, the wussout worked completely.  About 4-5 minutes on the bottom, with a 90 second finish under the broiler produced this beauty:

(http://caplan.org/pics/pizza4.jpg)

Sorry for the bad picture.  Next time I'm not going to be so lazy to use my camera phone-- I'll get my real digital camera out.

I added a bit of honey to the mix this time-- I don't mind a slightly sweet edge to the crust.

I also kneaded the dough differently.  I brought it all together on low, then switched to the hooks and did 5 minutes on 4.  Rest for 5, add another tsp of olive oil and I did 5 more minutes on 4.  INCREDIBLY plasticy dough.  It worried me, but now I understand where the KA really shines.  It made the silkiest smooth doughball I've ever done-- very uniform texture, almost like plastic clay or something.  

I brought it out of the fridge, punched it down, re-balled it, and let it rise for about 1 1/4 hours.  It was EXTREMELY elasticy.  I should have re punched down, and re formed a ball at this point, but I just went ahead and made the pie.  I had a tear on the bottom, so I couldn't strech as much as I wanted, but due to the texture of the dough, I was able to really get some air.  I was tossing it like a pro.

In the end, I think I should have let it warm up a bit more, It wasn't as thin in the middle as I would like, but it had fantastic texture.

Next time, I'm going to olive-oil up the dough between the oven and the broiler to see if I can give it a fried-crispy edge to the crust.

Each time it gets better, and I may never order pizza ever again!!

[cory]

The store where I got my weekly groceries didn't have any decent tomatoes, so I went with ground condantina.  I strained and discarded the liquid, leaving the chunky mass.  I added 3 cloves of crushed garlic and some italian spices...  I used it raw on the pizza, and it was great!  Very tomatoey & fresh. Can't wait to see how the 6-in-1s do! I would recommend non-cook to anybody who likes a "fresh tomato" taste to their pies!

[DKM]

WOW.  That made me hungry (and I've been eating BBQ all day)  May need to try that.

DKM