New member pizza photos

[PizzaBrewer]

This is a great site!  I've been making pizza for years, but it's all by trial and error.  All this talk of hydration ratios and infrared thermometers is pretty heady stuff.  I picked up the tip to fool my oven into 585 degrees, great stuff!  I just made my first pie with this improvement, and it cut my baking time from almost 8 minutes to just under 6 minutes.  Here's some photos:

(http://members.aol.com/usedcdguy/private/pizza1)
(http://members.aol.com/usedcdguy/private/pizza2)
(http://members.aol.com/usedcdguy/private/pizza3)
(http://members.aol.com/usedcdguy/private/pizza4)

As you can see I like my crust slightly less well done than most.   It seems the whole world wants "char" on their crust, I'll admit I don't get it.  I prefer crisp and chewy.  

I also tend to like more sauce on the pie than most.

Comments anyone?

Thanks!

---Guy

[canadianbacon]

Salut Guy !

Looks super !!! , and you are one lucky dude with that King Arthur flour !

that's the best stuff in the industry..... oooooooo.

Mark

[pftaylor]

PizzaBrewer,
Nice pics. Your level of specificity regarding what you like reminds me of one of my dad's favorite sayings: "It's only good if YOU like it."

So if char is no good for you, then by all means throw it out the window. Same thing for little amounts of sauce. Load up!

[Fred]

Nice job! I was wondering... Did you add any gluten to your mix using the KA bread flour?

Fred

[friz78]

Guy,
Great looking pizza.  Thanks for sharing the photos.
Friz

[PizzaBrewer]

Nice job! I was wondering... Did you add any gluten to your mix using the KA bread flour?

Fred

Nope, no gluten.  I understand the KA bread flour is fairly high in gluten as it is. (?)

---Guy

[Pete-zza]

Pizza Brewer,

The KA bread flour has 12.7% protein. By comparison, the KA Sir Lancelot high-gluten flour has 14.2%. I have used the KA bread flour for NY style pizza and got good results, although not as good as the KASL in my opinion. The last few times I used the KA bread flour, I added some vital wheat gluten, and also got good results. But I haven't done a side-by-side test to determine the differences.

The best thing about the KA bread flour is that it is widely available in food stores, especially if you live near a major metropolitan area.

Peter

[bortz]

That's a very nice effort guy.  How is that Don Pepino sauce? Do you add anything to that sauce?  I see it all the time at Wegman's but always hesitate to buy it and reach for the tomato paste instead.

I've tried the KA bread flour as well and added the hodgeson's vital wheat gluten powder to it.  While that dough was airy and had good shapeability, it just didn't have the same spring and chew as the KASL high gluten.  I think people who think they are going to pump up the gluten by adding VWG to ordinary flours are going to be disappointed. It's okay if you don't demand pizza parlor mouth feel in your crusts.

[PizzaBrewer]

That's a very nice effort guy.  How is that Don Pepino sauce? Do you add anything to that sauce?  I see it all the time at Wegman's but always hesitate to buy it and reach for the tomato paste instead.

I've tried the KA bread flour as well and added the hodgeson's vital wheat gluten powder to it.  While that dough was airy and had good shapeability, it just didn't have the same spring and chew as the KASL high gluten.  I think people who think they are going to pump up the gluten by adding VWG to ordinary flours are going to be disappointed. It's okay if you don't demand pizza parlor mouth feel in your crusts.

Pick up a can next time you're at Wegman's.  It's SO  much better than the standard Contadina, Progresso,  etc. canned sauces.   Good fresh tomato flavor and a unique texture.  Despite the corn oil (why they do that instead of olive oil I don't know) it's really  good stuff.  Try a spoonful when you open  the can.

Looks like I'll have to get my hands  on some of that Sir Lancelot flour...

Thanks!

---Guy

[PizzaBrewer]

Also I agree about the wheat gluten.  I've tried it in the past and not been impressed with the results.  I've had somewhat better luck adding semolina but haven't used that in a while.

Never  tried the Sir Lancelot so I guess that's the next step.

[Scagnetti]

Excellent pizza!  Can you tell me what kind of cheese you used and did you bake the pizza on a stone, screen, etc.?  I am a big fan of the plain cheese pizza without a lot of toppings.  Yours looks great.

[PizzaBrewer]

Excellent pizza!  Can you tell me what kind of cheese you used and did you bake the pizza on a stone, screen, etc.?  I am a big fan of the plain cheese pizza without a lot of toppings.  Yours looks great.

My favorite cheese is Cappiello, low-moisture/whole milk.  Nice flavor that stands up to the sauce and dough.  You can (barely) see the wrapper in the first photo next to the sauce can.

I use a single pizza stone, although I've been getting ideas from this site about using more stones/tile to better simulate a real pizza oven.

Thanks!!

---Guy

[CDNpielover]

what is the oven fooling trick?

[Nathan]

It's where you use the self cleaning cycle to get the oven up to higher than normal temperature.  You trick it by making it think the door is locked.

[JimBob]

Nice looking pie, I'm a lover of cheese pizzas too!!!