Author Topic: Home Run Inn Success and Final Formulation (Read 58953 times)

BTB · « **Reply #40 on:** November 29, 2008, 09:27:39 AM »

Though we don't live in the area anymore, this past summer my wife and I visited for the first time in years the sacred halls of the original Home Run Inn Pizzeria in Chicago. The pizza was as great as ever (well almost) and it's no wonder that they are consistently named one of the best pizzas in Chicagoland year after year. Here is a picture of the HRI pizza that we partially consumed on our visit there.

loowaters · « **Reply #41 on:** November 29, 2008, 10:05:45 PM »

The finished pie looks really good!

That dough rise problem, as you've already identified, has to come from blooming the yeast in the salt water. That looks really dry, too. Your thought of adding to the hydration should help. I bet that mix of mozzarella tasted good. I've thinned the sauce with some water and I let it sit for a minute before topping and baking to get a little gummier texture just under the toppings but still very crispy on the bottom.

You're a stud, BTB, you'll get it.

Loo

zitomj · « **Reply #42 on:** December 30, 2008, 05:11:52 PM »

HRI and ADY

I was in Chicago a couple of months ago and ordered a HRI sausage pizza and your crust is right on... I also think the 6:1 sauce if right there as well but I don't think they use a puree except on the frozen pizzas. I remember small pieces of tomatoes on my pizza at HRI. I thing they used crushed tomatoes with the spices as you recommended. I asked my wife and she also remembers the small pieces of tomato.

HRI Sausage
It tastes a little heavy on one spice from my visit to HRI a couple of months ago so I tried extra fennel seed but that wasn't right so I think now I my thinking is that extra oregano is added to a mild Italian sausage.

bill1971 · « **Reply #43 on:** January 07, 2009, 04:06:43 PM »

Quote from: loowaters on February 08, 2008, 09:16:21 AM

Your pics looked great. This does make for great cold leftovers and, I think I mentioned it above, it reheats really well. I reheated by throwing the slices on a cookie sheet and into a cold oven and firing it up to 400*. Once it hits temperature I gave it a couple more minutes and it came out just right. I have an electric oven so this may not be the way to go with a gas oven but with the element underneath the leftovers crisped up on the bottom nicely and were excellent.

Loo

Hi, Loo - Just a newbie here enjoying your posts very much. Concerning reheating pizza, I am assuming that I can use a (good) half-sheet aluminum pan. Do you think that a silicone mat would be effective? Or detrimental? Thanks.

- Bill

loowaters · « **Reply #44 on:** January 08, 2009, 05:17:39 AM »

Quote from: bill1971 on January 07, 2009, 04:06:43 PM

Hi, Loo - Just a newbie here enjoying your posts very much. Concerning reheating pizza, I am assuming that I can use a (good) half-sheet aluminum pan. Do you think that a silicone mat would be effective? Or detrimental? Thanks.

- Bill

I've never used my silicone mat when reheating leftovers but I can't believe it would be bad, cookies still get crisp when cooked on it. Try it out and let us know how that works. If it's not great you could always crisp up the bottom in a pan on the stove afterward.

JConk007 · « **Reply #45 on:** January 08, 2009, 08:29:47 AM »

Bill,
Don't know if you saw the post somewhere but for a thin crust a Teflon pan on stove top works great.
By the way Loo and BTB were a large inspiration and resource for me on the deep dish with semolina which turned out great.
I plan to try this HR Inn next for sure. It just jumped in front of the Chicago thin crust on the to do list

hopefully this weekend At least they are from the same town. Whats the major difference between the 2 being from NJ and never having the pleasure of trying either. Corn oil? Flakiness?
Thanks again guys!!
John

loowaters · « **Reply #46 on:** January 08, 2009, 10:31:40 AM »

Quote from: JConk007 on January 08, 2009, 08:29:47 AM

I plan to try this HR Inn next for sure. It just jumped in front of the Chicago thin crust on the to do list hopefully this weekend At least they are from the same town. Whats the major difference between the 2 being from NJ and never having the pleasure of trying either. Corn oil? Flakiness?
Thanks again guys!!
John

The Home Run Inn is very similar with it's high oil content to the deep dish dough, it's just assembled and cooked in a traditional thin crust manner. The Chicago thin, can be any number of different things; some are very crackery others a little thicker (not much) and chewier but they're all topped quite close to the edge with toppings under the cheese. Oh, and slice it up in square, party (or family, whichever you prefer to call it) cut style.

JConk007 · « **Reply #47 on:** January 10, 2009, 07:26:36 PM »

Loo
Thanks for the info
I could not decide between you and BTB so to have no hard feeling I did both

your HRI Final
and The BTB thin crust with all the oil and goodies iwas missing only 1 ...
I used ADY and have both balls in the fridge.
I never had a HRI but it looked so good i am trying it

I must say this HRI final is a lot easier than all those oils and ingredients BTB I hope I can taste it all
Will work out sauce tomo
Thanks Guys!!
JOhn

JConk007 · « **Reply #48 on:** January 11, 2009, 10:41:32 AM »

Loo,BTB, Pete
Hope you are on-line today pre dinner, Could you all please advise the the few questions with regard to the HRI final formulation on page 1 of this thread.
The sauce for this HRI is more a puree than chunk right? I will use the immersion blender and ground 6 in 1 s with some goodies added.
Also I see no mention of par baking or docking any where on this thread?
I would assume dock it right?

Toppings go underneath cheese correct?

I only have a 10" cutter black cutter pan, and 2 - 9 inch X 1 1/2 Deep dish black buster.
I also have a 14" 2 inch high lighter gauge aluminum Pan not black but not silver some kinda none stick. That I used to par bake the DKM cracker crust I did. here they are below
Can I try a screen on this? Should I finish on brick or only if required?

I used the exact measurements on This HRI
As mentioned I have this and the Chicago thin by BTB that final dough weighed out at 441g out with not the
400.79G per BTB. I am a little shakey on this one. I Dock and Parbake here but dont see your toppings count Guess I'll feel it out depending on the pans I use.
Quantity of cheese and sauce for the thin with semolina. Loo has 6 3/4 oz sauce and 10 oz cheese for the 14"right?
Based on your thickness factor .08 and .111 Is the thin crust meant to be thinner than the HRI ?
Thank you !!
John

Pete-zza · « **Reply #49 on:** January 11, 2009, 11:23:34 AM »

John,

Loo and BTB are the experts on the Home Run Inn style pizza but I believe the answers to most of your questions are found in the opening post and in Reply 2 in this thread. As I interpret Loo's instructions, the sauce goes down first, followed by the toppings, and then the cheese. Also, if docking were an integral part of making the crust, I believe that Loo would have mentioned it. Since he didn't, I would not dock the skin.

It sounds like the most useful pan you have for the HRI clone pizza is the 10" cutter pan. Based on the information provided by Loo in the opening post, the amount of dough you would need for that size pan is 3.14159 x 5 x 5 x 0.111 = 8.72 ounces. So, if you made the full amount of dough according to Loo's dough formulation, which I calculate to be 17.10 ounces, you should be able to make two pizzas slightly less than 10" in diameter. You might be able to use the other pans, in which case you will have to calculate how much dough to use for those pans, using the simple math expression given in the last sentence but using the corresponding radii of the other pans. I suspect that it is possible to use a screen, either alone or in conjunction with a preheated pizza stone, but you may have to dress the pizza quickly if you use a screen because the combination of 42% hydration and 24% corn oil may translate into a dough that is quite wet and likely to stick to the screen. I believe that it is because of the wetness of the HRI clone dough that Loo used a disk or pan instead of a peel and pizza stone.

Peter

JConk007 · « **Reply #50 on:** January 11, 2009, 11:35:29 AM »

Thank you Peter.
The calculations are really what I needed!
Since I know I have that dough right I will use the 10" Cutter and one of the 9 inck black buster and report back
I will use the 14 " for the Chicago thin that calls for a par bake like I did with the cracker.
The screen thing mays good sense as it is very oily.

As I mentioned I have a really nice thick Turkey Chili going. This may work

Chili Pie. I'll post picif I go for it. Kinda like your beakfast pie. I will use the last 9" deep dish and the left over crust chicago style the dough up the side dump it in cheddar on top and see what I get. How bad can it be? A lot of people serve it in a bread bowl right?
John

BTB · « **Reply #51 on:** January 11, 2009, 03:00:31 PM »

It's pizza day in your house, eh John? I'm watching the football games and the Giants are struggling against the Eagles. Good time to make pizza. The sauces for most any Chicago thin and the HRI are usually a thinner sauce and not chunky. But I often use the 6 in 1 undrained right out of the can with added spices and flavorings. Using the immersion blender would probably do a nice job. The HRI does not call for a par baking nor docking but with the thin crusts that I've been doing recently (with semolina) I've been doing both. Which recipe besides the HRI are you doing? Looking forward to seeing your results. --BTB

JConk007 · « **Reply #52 on:** January 11, 2009, 03:07:16 PM »

Yes BTB
Wireless is great on the couch. I am doing the 1st post here on this Final thread.
Yes Giants are up 11-10 right now but eagles on the move this is Giant country so hoping for the best
Pizza and chili ,comfort food win loose or draw

Thanks again
John

loowaters · « **Reply #53 on:** January 11, 2009, 08:04:03 PM »

Sorry, John, I'm the last to reply to your questions. BTB was right about the smooth sauce, a puree job with an immersion blender is all I use for that. Docking isn't necessary. The high oil content doesn't allow much oven spring to occur. Toppings go under the cheese on Chicago style thin pies, however, HRI has one exception - pepperoni, that goes on top. Build up a nice rim and top it right out to that rim. I cook mine on a black perforated disk.

JConk007 · « **Reply #54 on:** January 12, 2009, 09:31:53 PM »

LOO Loo what can I say another wonderful recipe. Loved it! again! It was a real HOME RUN!
Very oily dough but I had no problems working with it. I made 2 types and only 1 mess

so I used ADY and put it right in fridge and I did an overnight rise 20 hrs. then about 4 hrs room temp. actually cheated a bit with warm 90 degree oven to shoot for 1/2 time pizza.
I don't have a 14" cutter pan but it is on order, so I rolled the warm dough out to about 16" placed the 14" deep dish on top upside down and cut with the pizza cutter around the pan about 3/4" outside the pan. Used this same procedure for the DKM Cracker crust. see pic #1 a pretty good circle, Using the roller I placed it in the pan and par baked just enough to see some movement. only 2-3 min. I took it out applied the sauce which was 6 in 1 with basil, oregano, Italian spices, touch of evoo pepper, salt, crushed red pepper and a good shot of the immersion blender.
I placed the topping close to the edge as recommended. I used about 6 3/4 oz sauce topped with what I thought was a lot of very very lightly cooked sweet Italian Sausage, but the pictures I posted here told me it was just right. Then a 50/50 mixture of Block Whole milk Sorrento mozzarella, and Biazzo Part Skim Mozzarella. I had found a new grater in the back of the cabinet that made a larger piece/shred (also see prepared pic) which I really liked. I also had 2 nice slices of Provolone kicking around so I just used my kitchen scissor and cut the up at the same thickness as the shred and mixed them in. A little shake of oregano right on top ( I saw this comment somewhere here)
Baked at 450 on middle rack for around 10 min.
Nice flavor on these corn oil crusts I love the texture and taste. Flashbacks of the Deep Dish from a few weeks ago.
I know you cant taste it but it sure looks like I got close to what you presented here in this HRI Post
Can I mail order this one to see how did?
Thanks again
John C

JConk007 · « **Reply #55 on:** January 12, 2009, 09:46:58 PM »

Touch of cornmeal on bottom per BTB. Cooked nice with a golden brown crust and sliced family style

I really like the biscuit texture of these doughs

Mad_Ernie · « **Reply #56 on:** January 13, 2009, 09:59:57 AM »

Nicely done, John, and some good pics.

I am not surprised you mentioned some flashbacks to the deep dish pizza as Home Run Inn and some other establishments in Chicago use a very similar dough in terms of ingredients. Mainly they just handle it differently for a somewhat different final product.

Love the experiments. I am itching to try a Chicago deep dish recipe soon, maybe Loo's or BTB's. This all has me homesick

BTB · « **Reply #57 on:** January 13, 2009, 10:13:13 AM »

Excellent job, John. Great pictures, too. You are getting to be a real pro at this. I like the way you cut the pizza in traditional Chicago thin crust fashion, too. I don't remember them doing that when I was last in New Jersey. Yes, you're making me hanker for making another pizza in the next few days. --BTB

JConk007 · « **Reply #58 on:** January 13, 2009, 10:15:50 AM »

Thanks all,
Monkey See, Monkey Doo

loowaters · « **Reply #59 on:** January 13, 2009, 11:48:10 AM »

That looks like it came out really nice, John. Your efforts here have been noticed and we'd like you to move to the head of the class!