Peter Reinhart Napoletana in a WFO

[JConk007]

I fired up the WFO for the first time this year YEAH. 800 degrees of pure cooking pleasure! and the dough I tried this out was the Reinhart pg 107. Similar to Parelli but I used caputo 00 flour, san marzano tomatoes, generous swirl of EVOO olive ( bit too much?) and fresh basil I think I need to put basil after or for last 15 sec or any other secretst to keep from burning?
Heres the percentages prepared by Petezza in another post for someone, very helpful so I thank you Peter.
Yes thats me with a large Wodd fired smile! cant be worse here than face book right?

100% Caputo 00 flour 637.88G
69 % Water 443.62G
.47% ADY 3.01 G hydrated in 103 degree water for 7 min
1.53% salt 9.77 G

75% flour and water and rest for 20 min.
add rest mix 5 min rest 5 mix 5 more

2 days 34 degree fridge 4 hrs at 70 degree room
Nort so sold on the tomatoes but the dough  Awsome I missed that bread taste no oils, sugar, milk powder, honey...
Less is more here  for sure Bill.

After studying many posts and recipies I am starting to understand the ways of the wise
drian the fresh mozz on paper towel for a few hrs. Hand crush the tomatoes and get an oil cruet from Farnkie G. Looks cool!
Best tasting I have ever made The first on I tried to do the sliponto metals peel thing as in the videos got that but could not get it off and the oven was cooking 70 sec 1st pie/egg!!
JOhn
John

[JConk007]

 As I mentioned the crumb/cornice and oven rise was great what a flavor
Thank you fire

[JConk007]

After a 3-4 more I got the hang of the High hydration dough and built on peel then slipped it into oven
gettin better! Not exactly Keste but hey Nice char 
John

[jeff v]

Glad to see you getting oven fired up again. First pies of the season are always fun.

I'm enjoying seeing everyones pizza since it's been 2 mos since I've made or eaten one.

Jeff

[Pete-zza]

John,

Those are great looking pizzas. You are a natural. You also seem to be mastering the baker's percents side of things also. That is a powerful combination.

I have only one question. With all the pizzas and other goodies you make and eat, how do you manage to stay so slim?

Peter

[JConk007]

Thank you Peter and Jeff
It allways pleases me when positive comments are passed along thats part of my motivation. Like you,I would like to motivate as many to try their hand at this as possible. OK Thin?Honestly Peter,
During most pizza parties I eat little drink a few cabernets, and cook a lot! so that helps with the calorie intake. If you notice thats a baggy shirt I have consequently, I have put on at a minimum 15 lbs since the pizza quest addiction took over yr or so ago. I used to be in shape Biking, kayaking, climbing, has turned to measuring, tasting, and eating!
on a side note I go to the gym 2 x a week and play either Paddle Tennis (winter) or clay court Tennis 3 x a week guess that helps a bit. Oh yeah have you seen those posts of my 3.5 year old? shes been known to burn a few calories too!
But I can tell you its a real fight at this age. gravity vs. cheese
Jeff 2 months??? I find that hard to believe or conceive whats up? Get er goin pizza therapy is clearly due!
John

[widespreadpizza]

JConk,  pizzas look great and nice job with the high hydration.  About the basil,  try a chiffonade or at least chopping a little and make sure the pieces get thouroughly wet from the tomato sauce.   If need be go so far as to put it down before the cheese.  Thats the only way I get it to stand up to the heat.  -marc

[JConk007]

Sounds good Marc,
So don't dip the basil leaves separately in EVOO? Use the sauce? I like that idea but usally under the gun for the guests to sart checkin all leaves. I was considering the scissor cut after removal ?
 I see the videos where they place it prior to placing in oven but no crisping? Is 800 too hot? should I kick it back to 700-750?Thanks for the tips!
This really is addicting !
John

[WestCountry]

John-

Keep those coming. Glad to see you got your fire burning outdoors. It keeps me motivated to keep working my high-heat pizza's. Lately I've been disappointed with my attempts. But after seeing your's, I want to keep experimenting and not give up!!
 

Chris

[Bill/SFNM]

Bravo, John. Regarding the basil, I've been using basil oil lately that I drizzle on after after baking. I puree some fresh basil and garlic in the food processor, then with the processor running, add olive oil, salt and pepper. A sprig of fresh basil on baked pie for garnish. Leftovers must be refrigerated.
 

[JConk007]

I like that Idea Bill Thanks!
But leftovers? Whats that 
John

[scott r]

I see the videos where they place it prior to placing in oven but no crisping? Is 800 too hot? should I kick it back to 700-750?Thanks for the tips!
This really is addicting !
John

Try cooking hotter, and pulling the pies earlier.  I know this is counter intuitive, but bringing down the oven temp will actually make the basil burn more.  I have never been to a real neapolitan pizzeria that had a basil burning problem, and their pies cook in about a minute.  No special preparations are done.  Also, I don't know if it is warm up time or what, but although your pies look amazing I did notice that you appear to have more top heat than bottom heat.   

[JConk007]

Scott,
Yes, you have a good point there. I do start cooking right around 800. I probably should let the oven go another 1/2 hr at that temp. to get the large pile of coals down and bottom heat up a bit. After that the oven seems to be in a better groove for equal cooking you can see by the first vs. last bottom shot. I do switch the coal pile to the other side after 10-15 pizzas. By that time as I say, now we are cooking and bottom charring up nice.  I have infrared thermo and the bottom was over 925 last time I checked (forgot to do that this time)This is the exact same earthstone Bill uses (different dough) and I notice in his videos he does not appear to have the volume of coals I do initially when I start and, he spreads them in a U shape when cooking, or was that just for the dough puffs? I get so busy focusing on the pizza and not the fire.
Thanks again everybody I'll be working hard on this all season so I hope you all don't get sick of the pictures,and questions.
John

[scott r]

I almost forgot to mention,  When I am doing (slower) 2-3 minute pies I put the basil down after the sauce, but before the cheese.   Helps a lot with the burning, and it still carries the basil flavor around throughout the pie.   The problem with putting the basil on after the bake (like Difara's) is that the flavor is different, and in my opinion not as good.