Author Topic: Good ol' home oven (Read 9382 times)

Essen1 · « **on:** August 06, 2008, 11:58:40 PM »

Last night, due to upgrades on the LBE, I used my home oven again...for the first time since I got the LBE.

Anyway, the dough was a fresh yeast/low-hydration dough and had been sitting in the fridge for about five days. After bringing it up to room temperature, it felt extremely soft and workable. The dough ball weight was roughly 230 gr. for a 12" pizza.

I didn't screw around with the oven's thermometer this time and just let the stone heat at 550° for about an hour. Baking time was 7 mins, with 1 minute directly under the broiler at 500°.

The taste and texture was amazingly good. I made a simple cheese pizza and one loaded with mushrooms. The cheese was Precious whole milk mozza, fresh mushrooms, some basil, some EVOO and my own sauce.

Some pics...

sourdough girl · « **Reply #1 on:** August 07, 2008, 12:04:21 AM »

DANG, Mike!

Those look DEEEEE licious!! Poor DH is wondering what we'll do when the weather in Seattle turns to RAIN and it's hard to use the 2stone... but you give me new confidence!

~mots aka sd

November · « **Reply #2 on:** August 07, 2008, 12:10:13 AM »

I agree with sourdough girl's sentiments. I think the basic home oven can be used to turn out amazing pizzas. It's all I use these days.

- red.november

Essen1 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 07, 2008, 12:40:12 AM »

Thank you for the nice words.

I'm not kidding you, it was just my little home oven (LHO), me, and a dough formula I honestly thought would end up in a dried out disk, with dried out sauce on top and some unrecognizable melted goo of what was once cheese, if used in a regular home oven.

I have two more balls ...dough balls that is - now come on!... in the fridge and will give it another shot tonight, just to see if they turn out just as good. I'll take some pics...

sourdough girl · « **Reply #4 on:** August 07, 2008, 02:57:57 AM »

So, Mike....

Any chance you'd want to share the recipe for your (dough) balls? Or even the cheese you used to top them?

The ever-hopeful
~sd aka mots who is waiting to see the pics!

Essen1 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 07, 2008, 12:21:29 PM »

Mots,

The cheese was Precious low-moisture whole milk mozzarella.

Here's the formula I used for the ones you see above:

466 gr. CAP. 00 Pizza (100%)
271 gr. Water (58%)
9 gr. Salt (1.9%)
1.5 gr. fresh yeast (0.3%)

This gives you 3 dough balls at roughly 250 gr. I used a lower weight, though, 230 gr for a 12" skin. I made two batches a few days ago and just switched the flour. For the pizza below I used the exact same formula, but with 100% KABF. Both were quite good. One was topped with a three-cheese combo (Mozzarella, Fontina, Edam) and ham, the other with mushrooms. Love mushrooms, what can I say. This one didn't brown as good as the ones before, though.

Here are the ones from last night:

andreguidon · « **Reply #6 on:** August 07, 2008, 04:40:28 PM »

do u use a top stone ? the color is beautiful !!!

sourdough girl · « **Reply #7 on:** August 07, 2008, 06:14:46 PM »

Mike!
Thanks! I appreciate it greatly!!

The store where I shop just started carrying a few more varieties of KA flour... unbleached BF for one, so I bought a bag a few weeks ago. Haven't gotten into it yet, been waiting to run out of the GMHK. I think one more batch of pizza will do it!

I have not tried Edam on a pizza yet, but I think it would be a good one to go with the mozz and fontina. I really like the tang of a good fontina!

We love mushrooms on a pizza, too... that was one of DH's choices for his birthday pizza... prosciutto and fresh 'shrooms! Pretty much like your ham and 'shrooms, but just a little saltier!

~mots aka sd

Essen1 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 07, 2008, 07:37:09 PM »

Andre,

No top stone in my home oven. I just put the pie under the broiler for about a minute.

Mots,

let me know how your KABF turned out.

TronCarter · « **Reply #9 on:** August 08, 2008, 08:08:15 AM »

Quote from: Essen1 on August 07, 2008, 12:21:29 PM

Here's the formula I used for the ones you see above:

466 gr. CAP. 00 Pizza (100%)
271 gr. Water (58%)
9 gr. Salt (1.9%)
1.5 gr. fresh yeast (0.3%)

No sugar at all? Being somewhat of a novice I will ask, what does the yeast eat during the fermentation process? Would IDY work in the place of fresh yeast in this case?

Tron

Pete-zza · « **Reply #10 on:** August 08, 2008, 08:59:11 AM »

Quote from: TronCarter on August 08, 2008, 08:08:15 AM

No sugar at all? Being somewhat of a novice I will ask, what does the yeast eat during the fermentation process? Would IDY work in the place of fresh yeast in this case?

Tron

Tron,

The yeast doesn't need added sugar in the dough formulation for its nourishment. It gets it from the flour. I have made doughs that were over fifteen days old without added sugar, yet I could taste sweetness in the finished crust. For a technical discussion of how the yeast is fed, see Reply 4 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4019.msg36016/topicseen.html#msg36016.

You should be able to use IDY instead of fresh yeast. The common conversion of fresh yeast to IDY is one-third the weight of the fresh yeast. So, if the fresh yeast is 1.5 grams, the IDY would be 0.5 grams, or 0.01764 ounces. That translates to a bit over 1/6 teaspoon IDY. Mike might argue for the merits of using fresh yeast. What I gave you is the traditional conversion without regard to the merits of fresh yeast over IDY.

Peter

Essen1 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 08, 2008, 11:12:32 AM »

Tron,

Peter has pretty much summed it up. And if you like to use IDY, that's cool. Personally, I have come to like the texture and taste fresh yeast produces.

November · « **Reply #12 on:** August 09, 2008, 08:15:09 PM »

60% hydration sends this pizza to Burnt City along the Hades Turnpike in the charpool lane. Total travel time: 113 seconds. I don't think the hydration was the sole issue though. I think it started when I convinced James to switch from drinking beer to coffee. Now I guess I'm going to have to convince him to switch to decaf. He's just got far too much energy to release. Pulling the pizza out sooner might also help.

- red.november

sourdough girl · « **Reply #13 on:** August 09, 2008, 08:54:01 PM »

Quote from: November on August 09, 2008, 08:15:09 PM

60% hydration sends this pizza to Burnt City along the Hades Turnpike in the charpool lane. Total travel time: 113 seconds. I don't think the hydration was the sole issue though. I think it started when I convinced James to switch from drinking beer to coffee. Now I guess I'm going to have to convince him to switch to decaf. He's just got far too much energy to release. Pulling the pizza out sooner might also help.

- red.november

Quite the visual, red.november!
Perhaps James should have stuck with beer after all, since beer does slow the processes instead of speed them up, like caffeine! Or, at the very least, don't turn your back on your chauffeur!

Mike,
Making pizzas tonight with the KABF... but using JerryMac's recipe, since I want to change only one variable at a time, in a semi-scientific method. I'll let you know the results!

~mots aka sd

Essen1 · « **Reply #14 on:** August 09, 2008, 09:31:47 PM »

RN,

Either pull out sooner/prematurely or reduce the heat a bit. Sounds like James is running in overdrive. The "charpool lane" was a good analogy. Gotta remember that one.

But how do you manage those great close-up shots??

Mots,

Encouraging James to guzzle down more beer might not be the answer. If that man passes out with a pie in the oven, RN will see the fire department coming his way on the Hades Turnpike.

I think I nice relaxing cup of tea might work.

sourdough girl · « **Reply #15 on:** August 09, 2008, 09:57:21 PM »

Quote from: Essen1 on August 09, 2008, 09:31:47 PM

Mots,
Encouraging James to guzzle down more beer might not be the answer. If that man passes out with a pie in the oven, RN will see the fire department coming his way on the Hades Turnpike.

I think I nice relaxing cup of tea might work.

Mike!
A German encouraging people to drink tea instead of beer? You sound like my Aussie-Brit "step-faw-thaw"! What's this world coming to??

~mots aka sd

Essen1 · « **Reply #16 on:** August 09, 2008, 10:01:48 PM »

Mots,

Yes, we Germans do like our beer but we're not suicidal, either!

November · « **Reply #17 on:** August 10, 2008, 01:29:40 AM »

Quote from: Essen1 on August 09, 2008, 09:31:47 PM

But how do you manage those great close-up shots??

Mike,

I don't know what else to tell you other than I move the camera closer to the pizza.

Incidentally, James is English so he already drinks lots of tea. I'll probably just pull the pizza out sooner next time. I wasn't expecting a burnt pizza in less than 2 minutes, so I occupied my time with something else for just a moment too long before realizing we reached "city limits."

- red.november

Essen1 · « **Reply #18 on:** August 10, 2008, 02:17:15 AM »

RN,

I tried that trick already. The closer I get to the object, the blurrier it sometimes becomes. Perhaps the "Portrait" feature might be of any help.

Quote

I wasn't expecting a burnt pizza in less than 2 minutes, so I occupied my time with something else for just a moment too long before realizing we reached "city limits."

That goes to show that it is crucial to keep your eyes on the road at all times! Especially when James is speeding.

November · « **Reply #19 on:** August 10, 2008, 08:52:46 AM »

Quote from: Essen1 on August 10, 2008, 02:17:15 AM

I tried that trick already. The closer I get to the object, the blurrier it sometimes becomes.

Read the manual that came with your camera. If it's a point-and-shoot model, I'm sure all you have to do is trigger the auto-focus just before taking the picture.