Author Topic: Couple of interesting things from Lou's (Read 8999 times)

DKM · « **on:** September 25, 2004, 04:25:38 PM »

Ingredients for the crust list as flour, water, corn oil, oilve oil, and yeast.

Ingredients for the crust list as tomatoes, tomato puree, salt and citric acid

The Pizza is topped with Ramano cheese and oregano.

DKM · « **Reply #1 on:** September 25, 2004, 04:28:27 PM »

Here are a couple of pictures

DKM · « **Reply #2 on:** September 25, 2004, 04:29:04 PM »

Before cooking

DKM · « **Reply #3 on:** September 25, 2004, 04:30:38 PM »

Sausage patty on a sea of cheese.

DKM · « **Reply #4 on:** September 25, 2004, 04:31:18 PM »

It Stuck

DKM · « **Reply #5 on:** September 25, 2004, 04:31:59 PM »

Hard to get out

DKM · « **Reply #6 on:** September 25, 2004, 04:32:43 PM »

Try one of my pans

DKM · « **Reply #7 on:** September 25, 2004, 04:33:17 PM »

Ok, that worked

DKM · « **Reply #8 on:** September 25, 2004, 04:33:53 PM »

Here's a slice

Pete-zza · « **Reply #9 on:** September 25, 2004, 05:40:57 PM »

DKM,

I took a look at the ingredients listings on some supermarket pepperoni (Hormel's) and some supermarket sliced mozzarella cheese, and that is essentially what is used as part of the toppings on Lou's pizza (the pepperoni one), along with some fairly straightforward Romano cheese (the real Romano cheese is made entirely of sheep's milk and does not include cow's milk, as does Lou's Romano cheese). The sauce is basically a Stanislaus or 6-in-1 type tomato with citric acid and a smidgen of oregano. That leaves the crust, which seems to be a straightforward no-cornmeal crust. I wonder whether Malnati's uses the same formulation in the pepperoni deep-dish pizzas sold in their restaurants.

Peter

DKM · « **Reply #10 on:** September 25, 2004, 05:58:36 PM »

I've heard the claim that it is the same pizza, but I don't know for sure.

DKM

Foccaciaman · « **Reply #11 on:** September 25, 2004, 06:41:24 PM »

I am not sure what they might have to gain by using a different recipe for the shipped product. So it is probably the same. But then again those who make the pizzas that are shipped may not be the same ones making the ones at the resturaunt.
And as we all know who makes the pizza makes all the difference in the world.

Most importantly, How did it taste?

?

Forget it, I found your review..

DKM · « **Reply #12 on:** September 25, 2004, 10:36:33 PM »

I tend to think it is the same pizza. The only thing that makes me wonder is the fact the on several shows the dough seems to have that yellow tint that many Chicago pizzas have. This did not.

DKM

Foccaciaman · « **Reply #13 on:** September 26, 2004, 12:06:16 AM »

Interesting observation...
Could the difference in color be in anyway related to being frozen for shipping?

DKM · « **Reply #14 on:** September 26, 2004, 10:06:08 AM »

I wouldn't think so. Besides, there is nothing listed for the crust that would give color. No dye like Gino's East, no cornmeal like mine. Just flour, water, corn oil, olive oil, and yeast.

DKM

Randy · « **Reply #15 on:** September 26, 2004, 12:54:48 PM »

DKM after seeing the problem you have with the frozen pizza i think I would e-mail them.

Randy

Rich · « **Reply #16 on:** November 06, 2004, 03:46:09 AM »

Quote from: DKM on September 26, 2004, 10:06:08 AM

I wouldn't think so. Besides, there is nothing listed for the crust that would give color. No dye like Gino's East, no cornmeal like mine. Just flour, water, corn oil, olive oil, and yeast.

DKM

You left out the main ingredient. Chicago water. You can't make true deep dish Chicago pizza without Chicago's water. Just like New York's water is unique to their pizza and why places like Los Angeles will NEVER have good pizza because their water is useless.

Malnati's grows and brings in their own tomatoes too. They aren't for sale.

One option for Lou Malnati's crusts is the buttercrust, I don't know if it is available on the frozen one. It doesn't make the crust yellow.

The only deep dish places that are famous here in Chicago with yellow crusts (from die) are Gino's East and Joey Buona's Pizzeria Grille. They look almost identical. Uno's (the REAL Uno's - not the chain crap which is NOTHING like Uno's), Due, and Lou Malnati's do not have yellow crusts. Sure, they may have a golden hue, but not yellow.

So where should I go eat tomorrow? Pick one of the above!

Life is good living in Pizza City!

Pete-zza · « **Reply #17 on:** November 06, 2004, 11:17:06 AM »

Rich,

The type and quality of water used in making pizza dough is one of those emotional issues that will never get resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

Marc Malnati likes to make a big thing about using Lake Michigan water, insisting that his pizzas can't be replicated elsewhere because of the difference in the water. The New York City restaurant/pizzeria Naples 45 gets the water for its Neapolitan style pizza dough from a source (I believe it's in Pennsylvania) that "designs" the water to have the same chemical composition as the water in Naples, Italy. Previously, the restaurant imported the water directly from Naples. Along the same lines, a Southern California pizzeria, Johnnie's New York Pizzeria and Caffe, in its efforts to introduce New York style pizzas to Californians, went so far as to duplicate the mineral content of New York City tap water to use in the making of its pizza doughs.

I live outside of Dallas, and the water here is virtually undrinkable, never mind using it to make pizza dough. One local pizza maker recently described the Dallas water as being "so hard you could break your nose splashing handfuls of it in your face in the morning." I have tried just about every kind of water in my doughs, from expensive bottled waters, sparkling and non-sparkling, imported and domestic, and have not been able to detect any difference. I now just use the inexpensive jug water. The label says that it is municipal water treated by carbon filtration reverse osmosis, ultraviolet treatment, microfiltration, and ozonation. The spring water version I use is treated in the same way but without reverse osmosis. I suspect all of this treatment robs the water of some flavor enhancing components and may even affect the fermentation process. But that's the way it is.

Tom Lehmann, the dough expert at PMQ, gets a lot of questions about the so-called "water myth". He believes it is just that--a myth. For a more detailed explanation, see http://www.pmq.com/cgi-bin/tt/index.cgi/read/10838.

Peter

Rich · « **Reply #18 on:** November 06, 2004, 11:43:46 PM »

So are you telling me that the lovely polluted brown Lake Michigan water is no good?

Pete-zza · « **Reply #19 on:** November 07, 2004, 12:28:11 PM »

I suspect by the time the Malnatis get Lake Michigan water to their restaurants, it has gone through a lot of processing

. I have never used the municipal water where I live for making pizzas. Since I wouldn't drink the stuff, I decided that I wouldn't use it for pizza. Maybe I was a bit rash. I think I will give it a try, just to see what results I get and whether I should mend my ways

. I would have no reservations whatsoever about using NYC municipal water for making pizza dough. It's the best city water I have ever tasted and its drinkability came to me as a shock since I would never have imagined that a city as large as NYC and so heavily populated could produce water that is so good tasting. Maybe that's what perpetuates the NY water myth.

I'm sure the bottled water I use is missing some good things. Professional pizza makers who are concerned about the quality of the water they use look mainly at the mineral content (mainly calcium and magnesium) and the pH (percentage of hydrogen ions) of the water. The mineral content (and hardness/softness) is important since the minerals act as nutrients for the yeast. Tests indicate that the best fermentation rate is produced when the water hardness is 125-150 parts per million.

pH--a measure of the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution--is important to dough-making because it affects the chemical and biological reactions, most notably the conversion of starch to sugar (maltose) to feed the yeast and make the dough rise. The optimum pH for pizza dough is considered to be around 5.0 (or slightly acidic). This pH level is best achieved by using water that has a pH in the range of 6.5-8.0, with a pH of 7.0 (neutral) being the optimum. If the pH is too low (high acidity), it can inhibit fermentation activity. In Naples, where the water is filtered through volcanic deposits, the pH is 6.7.

I will have to see if I can dig up my municipality's water report to see if my water meets all of the above requirements

.

Peter