Does anybody know or have J&S Pizza's dough or sauce recipe?

[palasport]

I am looking for A J&S Pizza sauce and dough recipe,if anybody knows it I would appreciate knowing it,it was the best pizza I ever had,I tryed this pizza in Pennsylvania and would love to try to make it at home thanks.

[buceriasdon]

I read most if not all of the "yelp" reviews, mixed reactions from folks which is not unusal. One thing that was repeated several times was how close the crust is to New York style, so it's a safe bet it's very similar except for a number of comments about how heavily sauced it was. I don't know how representative the photos are but they also seemed very heavy toppings wise.  There were a number of negative comments about sogginess.
Don

[scott123]

Don, do you have a link to the Yelp reviews that reference 'NY Style'.  There's a bunch of J&S pizzas around the country, but only two in PA, and I think, from the positive reviews found here:

http://local.yahoo.com/info-11813503-j-s-pizza-natrona-heights;_ylt=AhwvDKpcubMNr6.pdt5W2iSKNcIF;_ylv=3?tab=reviews&allreviews=1#reviews

that it's the Natrona Heights location that palasport is referring to.

It's really difficult to tell from that photo what style this is.  Once you leave the NY area, the term 'NY style' pizza can be used to market just about any type of pizza, but it doesn't necessarily make it NY style.

Palasport, can you track down any more photos or perhaps a link to the pizzeria's website?

[c0mpl3x]

Don, do you have a link to the Yelp reviews that reference 'NY Style'.  There's a bunch of J&S pizzas around the country, but only two in PA, and I think, from the positive reviews found here:

http://local.yahoo.com/info-11813503-j-s-pizza-natrona-heights;_ylt=AhwvDKpcubMNr6.pdt5W2iSKNcIF;_ylv=3?tab=reviews&allreviews=1#reviews

that it's the Natrona Heights location that palasport is referring to.

It's really difficult to tell from that photo what style this is.  Once you leave the NY area, the term 'NY style' pizza can be used to market just about any type of pizza, but it doesn't necessarily make it NY style.

Palasport, can you track down any more photos or perhaps a link to the pizzeria's website?

im about 15-20mins from all 3 j&s locations.  two are in natrona heights, one in heights plaza and the other on old 28 aka freeport road a few hundred feet north from the mall entrance.   sirenas is the original j&s, which is located in west kittanning mall, 28 north to kittanning, take the west kitt exit and go to the franklin village plaza.   if you are interested in more, feel free to PM me as i know most of the shops in the area

[scott123]

im about 15-20mins from all 3 j&s locations.  two are in natrona heights, one in heights plaza and the other on old 28 aka freeport road a few hundred feet north from the mall entrance.   sirenas is the original j&s, which is located in west kittanning mall, 28 north to kittanning, take the west kitt exit and go to the franklin village plaza.   if you are interested in more, feel free to PM me as i know most of the shops in the area

Thanks for clearing that up, Jon.  That's great that you live in the area. So, what do you think, can this be reverse engineered?  Any tips?

[palasport]

Don, do you have a link to the Yelp reviews that reference 'NY Style'.  There's a bunch of J&S pizzas around the country, but only two in PA, and I think, from the positive reviews found here:

http://local.yahoo.com/info-11813503-j-s-pizza-natrona-heights;_ylt=AhwvDKpcubMNr6.pdt5W2iSKNcIF;_ylv=3?tab=reviews&allreviews=1#reviews

that it's the Natrona Heights location that palasport is referring to.

It's really difficult to tell from that photo what style this is.  Once you leave the NY area, the term 'NY style' pizza can be used to market just about any type of pizza, but it doesn't necessarily make it NY style.

Palasport, can you track down any more photos or perhaps a link to the pizzeria's website?

Scott it is in fact the Natrona Heights freeport road shop I'm refering to and unfortunatelly I do not have any pics the one at the yahoo web site is spaghetti pizza which is heavy in toppings,the pizza of theirs I eat is the thin and it does not have too much sauce (but the perfect balance) this pizza is available in thin or thick ,the thin resembling the NY style,I just love their thin pizza,I have also eaten at their shop "Sirenas" franklin Village mall kittanning shop and natrona hts plaza pizza shop, out of the three the freeport rd is the best and the staff is the nicest (In my opinion) I just love this place and their pizzas are huge like 22" or 16 cut thanks for the replys hopefully we can figure this out.

[c0mpl3x]

Thanks for clearing that up, Jon.  That's great that you live in the area. So, what do you think, can this be reverse engineered?  Any tips?

im sure it can be reverse engineered, but the amount of hair gel, buttoned down hawaiian shirts, and dirty mob money will be a small hill to tackle.   they are hardcore italians, the old parents of the sons that had the original j&s in the highlands mall plaza (that burnt and is now rebuilt as a walmart) some 30 odd years ago.  i remember the first pizza place my parents took me, which was j&s, when i was 4 or 5.  things changed after that, went downhill.   they aren't what they used to be, but some will still swear it.  i'll see if i can't get a recipe or some techniques on an opening morning when i have the day off to get down there

[scott123]

Jon, anything you can do would be greatly appreciated.  If you can bring your camera and a stopwatch (for the bake time) that would be nice  I'm normally very comfortable reverse engineering NY style pies from seeing photos, but in this instance, there's really nothing to see, so I'm flying blind.

Palasport, is it safe to assume that you're not going to be in the Pittsburgh area any time soon?

In the other thread you described this pizza as having a 1/2" thick crust in the non rim area (undercrust).  Are you sure of this?

[c0mpl3x]

Jon, anything you can do would be greatly appreciated.  If you can bring your camera and a stopwatch (for the bake time) that would be nice  I'm normally very comfortable reverse engineering NY style pies from seeing photos, but in this instance, there's really nothing to see, so I'm flying blind.

Palasport, is it safe to assume that you're not going to be in the Pittsburgh area any time soon?

In the other thread you described this pizza as having a 1/2" thick crust in the non rim area (undercrust).  Are you sure of this?

#50 flour
1 solo 16oz cup to the top line before the rim in sugar
half a 6" deep 1/6pan in salt
one solo cup of oil
two bricks of cake yeast
water i would estimate at around 60%

...and this is all from my buddy who used to work there and make the dough.   

[scott123]

Wow, that was fast  

This is feeling pretty NYish. A little heavy on the sugar for NY, but still, pretty NY.

A cup of oil weighs .475 lb. and a cup of sugar weighs .44. Since a solo 'cup' is actually two measuring cups worth of volume, that's double for each.

50# flour (100%)
.95# oil (1.9%)
.88# sugar (1.76%)

I don't work a lot with cake yeast, but that feels like a heck of a lot. If it's as much as I think it is, that would lead me to believe that this is a fast rising dough.

[c0mpl3x]

Wow, that was fast  

This is feeling pretty NYish. A little heavy on the sugar for NY, but still, pretty NY.

A cup of oil weighs .475 lb. and a cup of sugar weighs .44. Since a solo 'cup' is actually two measuring cups worth of volume, that's double for each.

50# flour (100%)
.95# oil (1.9%)
.88# sugar (1.76%)

I don't work a lot with cake yeast, but that feels like a heck of a lot. If it's as much as I think it is, that would lead me to believe that this is a fast rising dough.

the solo cup will be about 12oz full for the sugar

[scott123]

Good catch, Jon.  In my haste, I overlooked the 'line before the rim' note. That would put the sugar at 1.5%

As far as the salt goes, according to this:

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/1-6-size-food-pan-6-deep-clear-polycarbonate/700PLPA8166.html

a 6" 1/6 pan is has a capacity of 2.5 qt (10 cups), so half of that is 5 cups of salt. A cup of table salt weighs 9.6 oz. (.6#), so 5 cups of salt weighs 3#.

3# of salt would translate into 6% salt. If it's it's the less dense Kosher salt, it would still be 3.5% salt.

Jon, are you sure about the salt measurement?

[palasport]

Jon, anything you can do would be greatly appreciated.  If you can bring your camera and a stopwatch (for the bake time) that would be nice   I'm normally very comfortable reverse engineering NY style pies from seeing photos, but in this instance, there's really nothing to see, so I'm flying blind.

Palasport, is it safe to assume that you're not going to be in the Pittsburgh area any time soon?

In the other thread you described this pizza as having a 1/2" thick crust in the non rim area (undercrust).  Are you sure of this?

No I won't be in the Pittsburg area anytime soon,as far as the crust goes the outer edge that touches the pizza box is apprx.1/2" thick,the dough were the sauce and cheese are is apprx" 1/4" thick,you guys are really helpful,the measurements are greek to me (I don't have any pro bakery pans or containers) and the cake yeast I have never used,is it the same as dried?

JON,boy you sure are quick you must have alot of connections, know the right people,thanks for the info hopefully we,can figure out the measurements ro convert them to normal size 50# of dough sure is alot of pizza. thank-you both for the help. Gotta go thanks.

[scott123]

Palasport, I read your other post wrong- the 1/4" undercrust (non rim area)- are you sure about that? Is that 1/4" including the sauce and cheese or just the bread?

We're building your percentages. Once you have those, you can plug them into the dough calculator:

http://www.pizzamaking.com/dough_calculator.html

You will need, among other things, a digital scale, though.  Do you have a scale?

[palasport]

Palasport, I read your other post wrong- the 1/4" undercrust (non rim area)- are you sure about that? Is that 1/4" including the sauce and cheese or just the bread?

We're building your percentages. Once you have those, you can plug them into the dough calculator:

http://www.pizzamaking.com/dough_calculator.html

You will need, among other things, a digital scale, though.  Do you have a scale?

It is including the sauce and cheese and apprx. maybe my eye is off a bit could be 3/8",unfortunately I do not have their pizza at this time or I could take a pic,and measure the thicknesses of the dough. oh yes I do have a digital scale in standrd and metric and that dough site is cool.

[palasport]

It is including the sauce and cheese and apprx. maybe my eye is off a bit could be 3/8",unfortunately I do not have their pizza at this time or I could take a pic,and measure the thicknesses of the dough. oh yes I do have a digital scale in standrd and metric and that dough site is cool.

Just spoke with wife she says the pizza is less than a 1/4" thick probably closer to 1/16 or 1/8" sorry for the confusion I'm not real good on measurements sorry.

[c0mpl3x]

maybe by deep he is thinking of 4" deep 1/6's, a lot of places don't have 6" or use 6" because of makeline/bane icing issues on the bottom inch or so.  that would be around 4% salt or much more reasonable on the kosher