Grimaldi's Style Pizza

[wiyum]

I feel like a heathen asking for advice on making Grimaldi's style pizza when I'm a 20-minute train ride from the real deal, but I just love making pizza and would love to make an attempt. As for dough, I imagine I want to use the Lehmann recipe. I figure I should cook right on my stone. Top temp of my oven. Am I right so far? And any advice on dusting the peel before building? I sometimes can slide it right off, sometimes I just make a mess of my whole oven, particularly the over door.

In addition to confirming my assumptions, I'm wondering what folks might recommend for saucemaking, and I am at a total loss of what to do when making the thing. Working with fresh moz is something I have yet to get the hang of, and I don't know what order to put the ingredients on in. I'm looking to make cheese and pepperoni pizzas.

Any advice would be much-appreciated. I know that without a coal oven I'll not succeed fully, and that even my best efforts will be a pale shadow. Still, it's all in the pursuit, right?

Thanks,

Will

[s00da]

I nominate Mike's NY style thread for your purpose as he makes great NY style in a home oven. I have a high temp oven so my recipe and procedure might not be much of a help to you.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8093.0.html

Saad

[Matthew]

I feel like a heathen asking for advice on making Grimaldi's style pizza when I'm a 20-minute train ride from the real deal, but I just love making pizza and would love to make an attempt. As for dough, I imagine I want to use the Lehmann recipe. I figure I should cook right on my stone. Top temp of my oven. Am I right so far? And any advice on dusting the peel before building? I sometimes can slide it right off, sometimes I just make a mess of my whole oven, particularly the over door.

In addition to confirming my assumptions, I'm wondering what folks might recommend for saucemaking, and I am at a total loss of what to do when making the thing. Working with fresh moz is something I have yet to get the hang of, and I don't know what order to put the ingredients on in. I'm looking to make cheese and pepperoni pizzas.

Any advice would be much-appreciated. I know that without a coal oven I'll not succeed fully, and that even my best efforts will be a pale shadow. Still, it's all in the pursuit, right?

Thanks,

Will

You'll be much better off to use dry mozzarella in a conventional oven, fresh mozzarella will turn to water.  The other option you have is to put it on the pizza when it's almost cooked.

Matt

[Pete-zza]

Will,

A few years ago, I analyzed a Grimaldi's pizzas from one of their stores in Arizona. I discussed the results of my analysis at Reply 16 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,3669.msg54056.html#msg54056. As I noted there, I believe that it may be possible to modify the basic Lehmann NY style dough recipe to prepare a clone of the Grimaldi's dough. However, as you noted, a very high-temperature coal-fired oven is crucial to the success of a Grimaldi's pizza. I personally wouldn't attempt a Grimaldi's clone pizza in my standard home oven, even if I exactly replicated the dough, sauce and cheeses that Grimaldi's uses in its stores. However, that is your call.

Peter

[mmarston]

If you want to use fresh Mozzarella in your home oven try slicing it and then put it between paper towels to remove some of the moisture.

[ninapizza23]

Hi, I have been at Grimaldi's in Arizona, first time it was ok but after tasting Bianco's I could not go back to G's.
Also, I found out that coal is toxic! I rather wait 3 1/2 hrs at Bianco's.

[Essen1]

I nominate Mike's NY style thread for your purpose as he makes great NY style in a home oven. I have a high temp oven so my recipe and procedure might not be much of a help to you.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8093.0.html

Saad

Saad,

Thanks for nominating my thread. It's still an ongoing project but I'm getting there.

Come to think of it, I was able to use the LBE again and used a NY-style dough formula in a Hi-temp oven, just to see how it would turn out.

The pies that came out were pretty good. Not as good as a Neapolitan formula but still... they were quite good.


Will,

I agree with Matt.

Using fresh Mozzarella in a home oven setting, especially the Mozzarella that's packaged in water, will turn your pizzas/pizze into a soupy mess.

I use whole milk Mozzarella for my home oven and fresh Mozzarella with the LBE.

[s00da]

Mike, I have a high temp that I use for Neapolitan and NY style. I noticed that my pies come out better when baked in the 650-700F range. Try that and see what happens.

Saad

[Avumede]

You can certainly use fresh mozz in a home pizza.   First, there's nothing wrong with your pizza turning into a soupy mess. If you've been to DiFara's and watched Dom make pizza, you know how soupy it is when it comes out.

But, I would agree it's best not to have your mozz so melted.  If you freeze your mozz for 20 minutes prior to baking, it should come out beautifully.  You may have to adjust that 20 minutes depending on how long you bake your pie for.