Author Topic: Pizzas from the Weekend (Read 2729 times)

jjerrier2450 · « **on:** September 02, 2009, 11:26:44 PM »

Here are some pictures from a party this past weekend I did with our mobile oven. Hatch Chile season was winding down so I made some very nice Hatch Chile & Sausage pies that were the crowd favorite...

Jay

Mo · « **Reply #1 on:** September 03, 2009, 12:51:35 AM »

Those look awesome. What does a hatch chile taste like? What size is your mobile unit?

clcardell · « **Reply #2 on:** September 03, 2009, 12:51:34 PM »

Very nice!

thezaman · « **Reply #3 on:** September 07, 2009, 11:38:17 AM »

your pizzas always have that nice spotting can you tell us your secret?

jeff v · « **Reply #4 on:** September 07, 2009, 04:18:15 PM »

Great job Jay! Now that you"ve been using your oven a while-how do you like it?

Jeff

jjerrier2450 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 07, 2009, 11:44:04 PM »

I love the mobile oven - it is extremely well built. I've probably made a close to three thousand pizzas in it since March (I've been busy!!). It holds temp really well. The guys did a great job with it.

As far as my dough...it is nothing top secret - just the way the VPN guys trained me...water (out of the Dallas tap...no mysterious filtration systems), fresh yeast, 00 flour (I've been using Molino Spadoni PZ2), and sea salt. I've had to do a lot of tweaking on the standard ratios with the crazy hot summer we've had hear (much less yeast and a bit more salt). I stay pretty close to the 60% hydration...it may go a bit higher if I get sloppy with the water. I don't use much yeast at all...for this past weekend I used 10k/11lbs of flour and only 9g of fresh yeast and 140g of sea salt. water goes in first, then salt, mix with whisk, then yeast, mix with whisk, 50% of flour, mix on low 5 mins, rest for 15 mins, rest of flour, mix on low for 12 mins, rest on marble slab covered with wet towel for an hour, ball into 250-265g balls, 24 hr rise in the fridge. That's what has worked for the Dallas summer - this year at least. I've done a 7 hr room temp rise with good results for "same day dough" but because I'm usually making them for events for paying customers, I like to make it the night before - that way if it messes up I can use same day dough as a fallback.

I also run my oven hot - try to maintain 900 throughout - 60-90 second pizzas. 4 at a time is tough to juggle. More pics from this past weekend below. Very last of the hatch chiles though...

thezaman · « **Reply #6 on:** September 08, 2009, 08:47:34 AM »

last question ,how do you hold your dough ,and does that contribute to your spotting of your baked pizzas ??

Mo · « **Reply #7 on:** September 08, 2009, 09:25:20 AM »

Quote from: thezaman on September 08, 2009, 08:47:34 AM

last question ,how do you hold your dough ,and does that contribute to your spotting of your baked pizzas ??

The spotting is all about the high oven temp.

jjerrier2450 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 08, 2009, 11:08:02 AM »

So after the dough is balled up it goes into a pretty standard dough storage tray - the plastic ones. I think they are doughmate or something like that. I also have some really nice Zio Pepe ones from Naples - much lighter than the doughmate ones but hard to find in the US. I put 10 doughballs per tray and hold them in a fridge overnight. I bring them out as the oven is getting up to temp but still try to keep them cool so they don't get overproofed. I'd rather work with cold dough then runny, overproofed dough. I can warm up cold dough with my hands...

David · « **Reply #9 on:** September 08, 2009, 11:10:02 AM »

Quote from: Mo on September 08, 2009, 09:25:20 AM

The spotting is all about the high oven temp.

I lean toward thinking it is a little more complex than only a high temp oven.If that were the case ,we would be seeing more consistently spotted output from various places using high temp electric/wood/coal ovens.and that is clearly not the case.

jjerrier2450 · « **Reply #10 on:** September 08, 2009, 11:31:30 AM »

I think it is a combination of the high heat, the fermentation (time + temp), and the hydration.

Mo · « **Reply #11 on:** September 08, 2009, 12:33:44 PM »

Quote from: David on September 08, 2009, 11:10:02 AM

I lean toward thinking it is a little more complex than only a high temp oven.If that were the case ,we would be seeing more consistently spotted output from various places using high temp electric/wood/coal ovens.and that is clearly not the case.

Perhaps I should have been a little clearer: given his dough method (relatively long, slow rise), the high heat is key. If he had cooked the same dough at 500 degrees, I'm willing to wager the results would be much different.

David · « **Reply #12 on:** September 08, 2009, 01:00:01 PM »

Thanks.I never realised it was that simple !

Mo · « **Reply #13 on:** September 08, 2009, 05:48:21 PM »

Quote from: David on September 08, 2009, 01:00:01 PM

Thanks.I never realised it was that simple !

Knowing I will probably catch a lot of crap for saying this, I'll say it anyway:

does it have to be more complicated than that?

As the OP stated, he began with a basic, well-executed Neapolitan dough and a sufficiently hot oven and produced some very excellent looking pizzas. I would certainly eat one, if not more. I think the people working at home have it the toughest, going into this with maybe not a lot of experience working dough and an oven probably not suited to the task. Yet they persevere and produce some great results. My hats are off to them. The guys/gals that cook for a living certainly have got a leg up in terms of experience, equipment and resources, in my opinion.

Now I know I'm pretty new around here (and some folks might be tempted to question whether or not I've paid my dues) and I certainly don't want to oversimplify anything (and detract from people's hard work and diligence), but I stand behind my original comment that, in this scenario, the oven's high temp is the key player for producing the nicely spotted pies. And I haven't heard anything yet that makes me think any differently.

jjerrier2450 · « **Reply #14 on:** September 16, 2009, 08:50:46 PM »

Article on the mobile pizza business (and Neapolitan tradition) in the local Dallas media. I'm not such a jerk in person though...

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/2009/09/jay_jerrier_loves_italian_pizz.php

Essen1 · « **Reply #15 on:** September 16, 2009, 08:53:35 PM »

JJ,

Nice article.

But, man, what about Poison, Cinderella & Warrant?

jjerrier2450 · « **Reply #16 on:** September 16, 2009, 09:00:51 PM »

I forgot Poison, but we did talk about the others. I still like Warrant's "Cherry Pie" video! She was goofing on me because one of the other food sites ran a pic of me from 1986 in a RATT concert shirt.

jeff v · « **Reply #17 on:** September 16, 2009, 09:31:26 PM »

Nice article Jay!

Glad to see you getting such good pub.

Jeff

Matthew · « **Reply #18 on:** September 17, 2009, 07:44:46 AM »

Quote from: jjerrier2450 on September 16, 2009, 08:50:46 PM

Article on the mobile pizza business (and Neapolitan tradition) in the local Dallas media. I'm not such a jerk in person though...

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/2009/09/jay_jerrier_loves_italian_pizz.php

Great article Jay, congratulations & much continued success.

Matt

Essen1 · « **Reply #19 on:** September 17, 2009, 01:04:34 PM »

JJ,

If you ever decide on a dessert pizza, make a cherry pie and blast Warrant in the background!