Home Run Inn Success and Final Formulation

[Pete-zza]

I'm almost there.  I tried Scott's suggestion and placed the disk on the lowest rack without the stone, cracked the door a bit, and no convection.  Additionally, I preheated for about 1 hr 15 min. to just below 475F and then cranked the temp up a bit once the pie was in the even to get the bottom element going again.  Much better results browning on the bottom, but still not as brown as I'd like it toward the center.  Next I'll try Peter's suggestion, with the addition of a bit of honey.  But I'll probably cut the yeast down to 3 or 4 % and let it go overnight.  Sorry for the blurred bottom shoot!

Paul,

If you are not using the pizza stone you shouldn't need to preheat your oven for one hour and fifteen minutes. That long preheat is normally just to get a pizza stone hot enough to bake the pizza at the desired temperature and have the stone retain the heat. I bake many pizzas on screens (and no stone) and I preheat the oven only long enough to reach the desired bake temperature. In most cases, that takes my oven about 12-15 minutes. In your case, whether you use honey or not, you might want to use an oven temperature that is initially higher than the 475 degrees F temperature you used. You can always lower the oven temperature if it looks like the bottom crust is browning too much or too quickly.

Can you clarify what you mean by cutting the yeast down to "3 or 4%"?

Peter

[parallei]

Peter,

Can you clarify what you mean by cutting the yeast down to "3 or 4%"?

Sure, I meant 0.3 or 0.4%!

O.K.,  I'll try a higher temperature.  Good thing my lipid profile was good in December!

Best

Paul

[firefly765]

Do you have any pics?

Loo

[jimmy33]

Hey Pete-zza
  Can you help me with a 18 inch . I will need measurements and instructions thanks .  You Rock!!

[Pete-zza]

jimmy33,

I'd like you to use the expanded dough calculating tool at http://www.pizzamaking.com/expanded_calculator.html and take a first stab at answering your own question as to the formulation to use to make an 18" pizza. That is the best way for you to learn. Loo can correct me on this, but to the best of my knowledge, the only dough formulation that he posted is the one at the top of this thread, at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6112.0.html. If I am correct on this, all of the baker's percents and the thickness factor are given in that post and should be used in the expanded dough calculating tool. If you care to post the dough formulation you get from using that tool, I'd be happy to review your results.

On the matter of instructions to follow, you might want to read this thread in its entirety since there are many different variations, both in terms of technique and equipment to use. That way, you can see whether you have the right equipment to make the pizza. If there are any remaining questions as to instructions to follow, I will defer to Loo on those matters since is the expert on the HRI style.

Peter

[loowaters]

Jimmy33, Peter's right, get familiar with the dough tools, they're incredibly helpful.

A couple things about this formulation and how I've been preparing it of late.  First, addressing what BTB had to say over here http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,10605.msg94575.html#msg94575 about the "thick-thin" aspect of the pie, I seem to be making this thicker each time I've made it of late.  The most recent doughball was 400g for a 12" pie.  That's a thickness factor of .1247, considerably thicker than when I started this thread.  One thing though, I'm over sizing the skin by a full inch then rolling the extra 1/2" (radius) back over to create the rim and kinda braid/pinch it up.  That's now a 13" skin that effectively has a TF of .1062 but gets rolled back to 12".  Make sense?  Also, I will not roll this dough out.  I pat it out to size using some bench flour.  That helps keep the tender texture that we're looking for with this clone.

Also, I'm really giving this a good bake.  I'm treating like I do a cracker type thin.  Preheat at 450* then when the pie goes in on the middle rack, I bump the heat to 525* to keep the element on and really start cooking that bottom.  I'm cooking on perforated disks.  This crust needs to get really cooked well and with enough sauce you'll get the exactly the type of crust texture that you're getting at HRI, at least as far as I remember. 

This type of pie comes out really good using my Malnati's clone dough as well as making this exact formula at the beginning of the thread.  It does benefit by having some salt in it which the Malnati's clone does not.  Cook it until you think it's done...then give it a little more time.  Of course don't burn it but get it nice and brown.

And Peter, as far as being the HRI expert, I think I'll actually defer to BTB on that.  I can count the times on one hand that I ate the original HRI pie from the first restaurant and I've never eaten it there, always takeout...and that's when I was a kid.  My dad on the other hand had plenty of them.  I'd eaten several times at the old Rolling Meadows(?) location (on Algonquin Rd., IIRC), but that wasn't the same as the original. 

Loo

[jalessi]

Loowaters,

Made the first HRI pie today and it tasted good.

It was not as buttery as I remember.

What would add more of a butter taste?

Thank You

Jeff...

[andieu]

I love Home Run Inn Pizza!! I am eating one right now
Does anyone have a recipe for their pizza sauce? I am not the best cook and no way could I replicate anything unless I have an exact recipe to follow 

[loowaters]

Welcome to the board.  Page 1, reply 2.

Loo

[RobDude]

Thanks for the recipe and to all the posters with pictures.  I'm going to give this a try this weekend.

One thing that really amazes me is how different all the pizzas end up looking.

[buzz]

I tried this out with the following recipe:

1 cup AP

7 TBS water

4 TBS extra light olive oil

1 tsp fast-rise yeast

1 tsp Kosher salt

1/4 tsp sugar

I didn't have any corn oil, but I was curious about the resulting texture. I think you have nailed the HRI formula! Even with the olive oil, it was very close, so I will try it again with corn oil. I used a blend of Frigo and Stella mozzarella, which seemed to mimic the taste.

Great job of figuring it out!

[orlando pizza man 1]

buzz: Your recipe sounds quite good, about what size pizza does it make? About how thick is it as well?? Anxious to try your recipe vs. loo's which i think is very good. Have had great results with it. Look forward to your reply. Thanks very much!

[buzz]

It makes a 12-inch pizza. I roll the dough out and press it into a cutter pan (pretty thin--maybe 1/8 inch, but it rises up pretty well--I don't dock my dough, either). I tried the corn oil but found that I liked the extra light olive oil better, but I will re-try to see. I found that with all the oil (making the dough heavy), I got a better rise by proofing the fast-rise yeast first--it rose very nicely in two hours (as opposed to about 4 with the non-proof method). For the first try I did two rises.

I found that the combination of Frigo and Stella mozzarellas (about 75% Frigo and 25% Stella) came out very authentic to the HRI taste, but this could be the result of getting the cheese very toasty!

Let me know how you do!

[DTJunkie]

Hey guys, this is my first attempt at the Home Run Inn Style pizza. I did not use as much oil as the other recipes, 15% compared to like 21%. I opted for less oil since the dough leaks oil sometimes when I make deep dish. I did not want it like that for the thin crust, but I will consider using more oil anyways next time since I did not like the taste of my crust. The crust was disappointing, kind of doughy in taste. What can I do to make it taste more like Home Run Inn or Chicago style crust? I used at pizza stone at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes and I guess that was too long since the crust was slightly hard. What times are ideal to cook the crust and to cook the sausage?

[loowaters]

Truthfully DTJunkie, what you made isn't even close to the recipe posted at the start of this thread.  You've reduced the oil by nearly 40% from what is called for.  Not that the formula you put together can't make a good pizza, it would probably be quite good for a standard thin crust pie.  Try using 185g of that dough for a 12 or 13" pizza and you'd probably like it just fine.  That difference in oil will make a huge difference in taste.  Try using a little classic olive oil in the formulation too for a little different flavor if you like. 

I'm not sure what you mean by "leaks oil".  Is this in the rise?  Cold rise?  Fridge rise?  Room temp?  Or in the bake?  Did you cook directly on the stone?  450 is a little low for use with a stone, IMO.  I like to heat it as high as I can (550) for about 45 minutes and then cook at a lower temp once the pie goes in, say 475 or 500. 

Raw sausage should cook just fine at these temps as long as it cooks long enough for the pie to look as good as the one you baked in that pic.  The cheese looks quite good. 

Loo

[buzz]

Last night I tried another version of the HRI recipe and met with great success--as a matter of fact, about half an hour after gobbling up all the pizza (now I'm going to have to fast for a week), I walked into the kitchen and was greeted by that very distinctive Home Run Inn smell!

Here's the recipe I used for a 12-inch pizza--

1 cup Gold medal AP
7 TBS water
4 TBS Carapelli Extra Light olive oil
1 tsp fast-rise yeast
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp sugar

(Although HRI lists corn oil on their ingredients list, I find that the extra light olive oil makes a richer, more flavorful result)

I put all in the bread machine and let it mix for 3 minutes, then knead for 7 minutes. The result is a fairly sticky dough, so I kneaded the ball with some bench flour for about 30 seconds, then oiled it up and let it rise in a slightly warm oven for 4 hours (the oil makes it a heavy dough, so it takes longer to rise). Beautiful rise! Then I punched it down and let it rest for about 15 minutes, after which it was so pliable that I could stretch it out by hand quit thinly in a 12-inch cutter pan.

For the sauce I used Tomato Magic ground tomatoes, and for the cheese, a Sargento shredded Mozzarella/Provolone combo (I think this is the secret, because in my previous attempts I only got a modicum of the HRI smell, and this time--wow!).

I like to use a large countertop oven, so I bake pizzas at 450 covered with foil on the lowest rack until the bottom starts to take on color, then move it to the upper rack uncovered where the top cooks very quickly.

It tasted just like HRI--and even looked like HRI!

Amazing!

[parallei]

A change in the weather makes it O.K. to use the kitchen oven and do a Loo's HRI.

No high heat, fancy pants mixers or flours here

[norma427]

A change in the weather makes it O.K. to use the kitchen oven and do a Loo's HRI.

No high heat, fancy pants mixers or flours here

parallei,

Your pizza looks delicious!     Great job.

Norma

[Bluesology]

I made this tonight and it came out awesome.  Nice job on the formulation.  I also wanted to compliment you on your idea with the oven and the warm water.  I periodically took the pan of water out of the oven and heated it up to almost boiling.  It was a great solution for creating a proof box in the home.

Chad

[the_dude]

This pizza looks great and I'm going to give it a shot.

I'll follow Loo's recipe as much as possible, but I've got to do a hand-knead and an overnight rise. I'll gladly take any advice on any mods to Loo's directions. I'm mostly concerned with hand-knead time and when to punch down the dough. Should I let it rise a couple hours before the fridge? Plus, I'm making two 14" pies and I'm curious when I should divide the dough into two balls. Also, would EVOO be a bad idea in place of the corn oil or the ELOO Buzz prefers? (I'm actually making these pizzas for guests visiting from Italy, so they might prefer an olive oil flavor and EVOO is all I have.)

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Jeff