Lodge Logic 12 inch pan and DKM Chicago style pizza

[mahzilla]

Hi, I have a Lodge Logic 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet that I bought from amazon.com

I would like to try my first attempt at DKM's Chicago Style pizza, the dkm_chicago.php recipe.

I was wondering if this pan was suitable?  Also, how do I modify the recipe for this smaller pan (recipe calls for 14 inch pan)?

Sorry, not allowed to post any links...

Thanks to all for your help!

[Pete-zza]

mahzilla,

Welcome to the forum.

Several members have used cast-iron skillets to make deep-dish pies, so that shouldn't be an impediment. I assume that your Lodge Logic 12-inch skillet is cast iron also.

Most cast-iron skillets tend to have sloping sides. If that is the case with yours, if you can give me the top and bottom diameters of your skillet and also tell me how far up the sides of the pan you would like to push the dough, I think I can come up with a DKM dough formulation that should work with your particular Lodge skillet. For example, if your skillet is 2" deep, you might push the dough up 1 1/2" or 1 3/4". How far up will usually depend on how much cheese, sauce, etc. you intend to use.

Peter

[mahzilla]

Hi, yes, my skillet is cast-iron.

Measurements are 11.75 on the very top, 9.25 on the very bottom (inches).

I think I'll try pushing the dough up 1.75 inches.

Thanks again!

[Pete-zza]

mahzilla,

I think this should do it:

Flour (100%): Water (61.1%): ADY (1.4%): Salt (1.4%): Canola Oil (19.4%): Sugar (2.1%): Cornmeal (19.4%): Total (204.8%):

213.3 g  |  7.52 oz | 0.47 lbs 130.33 g  |  4.6 oz | 0.29 lbs 2.99 g | 0.11 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.79 tsp | 0.26 tbsp 2.99 g | 0.11 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.54 tsp | 0.18 tbsp 41.38 g | 1.46 oz | 0.09 lbs | 9.11 tsp | 3.04 tbsp 4.48 g | 0.16 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.12 tsp | 0.37 tbsp 41.38 g | 1.46 oz | 0.09 lbs | 4.16 tbsp | 0.26 cups 436.85 g | 15.41 oz | 0.96 lbs | TF = 0.1329

Peter

[mahzilla]

cool, thanks!

[mahzilla]

well, I tried making it and it was pretty tasty, but the pizza had too much water from the crushed tomatoes    I had to use paper towels to soak up the water

second time I made it, I put the crushed tomatoes in a salad spinner and spun most of the water out and this worked perfectly!  The tomatoes did not dry out at all! 

[Pete-zza]

mahzilla,

Did the dough formulation work satisfactorily for your cast-iron skillet? I have done the math before for a sloping-sided deep-dish pan but not for a sloping-sided cast-iron skillet. So, it would help to know if any adjustments are necessary when using the skillet.

And how did the pizza taste?

Peter

[mahzilla]

well, I saw that your calculation was approximately half that of the recipe that was already posted.  Since I didn't have a scale that can measure that accurately, I used that recipe, used half the dough and it worked out nicely.  I made one big ball of dough, let it rise, and then divided that into half and made small balls out of those.  With one, I let it rise on the pan and the other, I put it in an oiled bag in the fridge.  I spread the dough and pulled the dough all the way to the top edge of the pan and added in provolone, mozzarellas, pepperoni, sliced hot link sausages, mushrooms, and crushed tomatoes in that order.  I cooked it for about 25 mins, turning it 180 halfway.  I didn't have any virgin olive oil to coat the pan, so I used corn oil instead. I let it rest for about a couple mins before I took the entire pizza out of the pan to keep the pan from cooking it further.  My family enjoyed the different style from my usual hand tossed pizzas.

I didn't get a chance to slow rise the big dough ball in the fridge overnight as my family wanted the pizza the same day I made the dough after they saw me making it. 

Edit:

The pizza tasted great btw, I think the dough would have tasted better if I had slow rise it instead of doing it at room temp.

[drroger]

Thanks mahzilla for posting and Pete-zza for your reply. I'd made a number of thin crust pizzas before, but always wanted to make a Chicago style one. Reading your success and having a cast-iron skillet myself, I decided, why not? The crust came out great (I used Pete-zza's calculation). The sauce wasn't too watery, but some of that might be from having to keep it warm in the oven for 20 minutes until our dinner guest arrived. Anyways, thanks again, my wife and kids really loved it and want me to do it again.

[Pete-zza]

The dough calculating tool that was used to come up with the formulation in Reply 3 is now available at http://www.pizzamaking.com/dd_calculator.html. For additional details on the tool see http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4931.0.html.

Peter

[sanchez]

I've never tried a deep dish style of pie but I'm going to.  I didn't realize you could use cast iron as a pan.  I've got a well seasoned lodge skillet.  Can someone link me to some instructions on making a chicago pie in a lodge skillet?  I see that the dough recipe is posted in this thread but I'm not sure how to make the pie after that.

[Pete-zza]

sanchez,

You are in luck. The dough formulation, including instructions, are given at http://www.pizzamaking.com/dkm_chicago.php. You should be able to use your particular Lodge skillet dimensions in the deep-dish dough calculating tool referenced earlier in this thread.

There are also other deep-dish dough formulations in other threads that are specified by baker's percents that can be used with the tool.

Peter

[sanchez]

Pete you are the man.  Thats exactly what I was looking for.  Thanks bud.

Could this dough last 3 days in the fridge?

Oh, I noticed in the recipe he uses a standard deep dish pan.  Would the lodge cast iron pan be used exactly the same?  Considering it's so heavy I wonder if it might take a longer time for it to soak up the heat and bake the pizza?

[Pete-zza]

sanchez,

I personally have not tried using a cast-iron skillet to make the Chicago deep-dish style, but you may get some insights on bake time and temperature at this thread, http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,924.msg8294.html#msg8294, with particular reference to Reply 12. You might also take a look at the bake instructions at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2022.msg17848.html#msg17848 (Reply 2).

Perhaps DKM can answer your question on the 3-day cold fermentation.

Peter

[DKM]

Could this dough last 3 days in the fridge?

Cut the yeast in half, and put in the fridge right after it is made.

DKM

[jondoe]

My son always uses cast iron for his deep-dish pizzas (and for cornbread).  We have a few smaller ones, but I finally got out the 9+10" pans that have been in the garage forever.  They were a little rusty, and always thought it would be more work than it was worth to clean them, as even good cast iron is pretty cheap.  But I never had the heart to toss them.
After wasting my time with steel wool (it got some of the rust, but didn't go through the seasoned build up), I got out the small, cup shaped wire brush that hooks up to a drill.  It cleaned them up quickly!  I'm going to cut some of the handle off one so I can use it in the Egg - plenty of heat without heating up the kitchen.

[mahzilla]

Hi Pete-zza, I was wondering which values you used for thickness factor and bowl residue in the deep dish pizza calculation tool?  Leaving DKM's percentages and my measurements constant, I tried several values for thickness factor and bowl residue to get the calculator to match what you gave me, but haven't been able to do so.

never mind, found the values! 

[Pete-zza]

mahzilla,

As you were confirming the numbers and modifying your last post, I was also confirming the numbers and got the set of numbers as given in Reply 3 above in this thread. I did not use a bowl residue compensation factor when I originally came up with the numbers. You should experiment with a value for that factor based on the method you plan to use to prepare the dough (e.g., machine vs. hand knead). A value of 2% might be a good starting point. If you are over a bit on the final dough weight, you can always trim the dough weight to the desired value (the value when you set the bowl residue number to 0).

Peter