great coal oven's of new york

[ilpizzaiolo]

hello,  I am interested in knowing if anyone out there has knowledge of the the way lombardi's, totonnos, john's, or even pepe's in new haven produce their pizza... from dough formula, tomato sauce, etc. any info about procedures, ingredients, the nuances that make them different from one another. they all do simialr things, yet have very unique results....especially regarding dough production, as most of the ingredients are easy to decipher.... any input would be appreciated... thanks

[Pete-zza]

ilpizzaiolo,

I wrote a restaurant review on Lombardi's that may be of interest to you, at http://www.pizzamaking.com/yabbse/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=505.

Peter

[ilpizzaiolo]

yes peter... I did read that and thank you as it was very helpful. I have always believed that their dough process was similar to what you stated... probably somewhere around 58% water, 2% salt and a small amount of yeast... I am very interested in the differences between the great of nyc..... what makes the similar,  yet unique... and of of course I am always trying to create the perfect brick oven dough...

thanks

 - ron

[Pete-zza]

ilpizzaiolo,

A while back I started a thread directed to efforts to reverse engineer DiFara's pizzas, at http://www.pizzamaking.com/yabbse/index.php?board=5;action=display;threadid=504.   DiFara's doesn't use a coal oven, but you may find the thread interesting nonetheless because of DiFara's use of 00 flour (Delverde) and high-gluten flour (I believe it is Trumps), and also because of the focus on using high quality ingredients pretty much across the board--which sets DiFara's apart from many of the others.

Peter