Aurelio's Quest

[Chicago Bob]

Maybe I can sub in something else and adjust accordingly, or just mail order 6n1.  Forget OJ and everything else.

Garvey, did you see this?   

Classico crushed tomatoes are gone from my Wal-Mart too.

My advice: Buy the real-deal (Escalon 6-in-1 ground tomatoes) directly from Escalon. The price per can is only $2.50 if you buy a case of six. No sales tax. And shipping is an unbelievable $1.50.

https://www.escalon.net/shop.aspx

Bob

[Garvey]

Great deal--thanks!

[Garvey]

OK, trying a "no knead" of this one with a couple other variables due to bad measuring and laziness.  But I did write it all down!   

Two dough balls:
Flour (100%):  508 g (406 g AP flour + 102 g Bread Flour) 
Water (49.5%):  251 g 
IDY (0.75%):  4 g
Salt (1.75%):  9 g
Olive Oil (4.75%):  24 g
Corn Oil (11.75%):  60 g
Sugar (2%):  11 g
Total (170.6%):  867 g

NOTES: The water was 60^o.  The dough was 72^o when it went into the fridge for bulk fermenting.  Will go 72 hrs, ideally, unless we have a snow day this week, which means it will be a 48 hr dough (i.e., because I'll be home from work and want to make pizza).  I mixed it just until it all came together.  It was, oddly, a little wet and sticky.  I wasn't expecting that at all, given the modest hydration level plus the high oil level.  Not sure if I'll ball it up tomorrow or just stick with the bulk ferment.  I'll append new info later.

[tinroofrusted]

I watched a few of the videos on the Aurelio's site and learned a few things which you probably already know but it never hurts to recap:
The dough is docked.
They use lots of sauce
The sauce is very sweet compared to other sauces.
The sausage goes under the cheese
They finish the pizza before baking with a shake of herbs.

I learned most of this from watching Video No. 49 of 49 on their website (Henderson NV). The owners were on TV showing how they make their pizza. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU7wYH3KKgkGXu5Hq7QxQiPQ&v=po2cBAqrjDU

[pizza is love]

Holy cross-contamination Batman!!

[Chicago Bob]

Dough auger 

[Garvey]

Update: still not right.  There is something Aurelio's-ish about this pizza but it needs work.

[dmckean44]

Update: still not right.  There is something Aurelio's-ish about this pizza but it needs work.

Any thoughts on what's missing? I notice they have an Aurelio's in Peoria now and I'll be there in March.

[Garvey]

Aurelio's has a yeastier, more flavorful dough.  Almost a natural yeast quality to it.  Hard to explain.

Maybe I'll try dialing back the oil to 12% to see if that lets more yeast flavor through.  I'd just eliminate the olive oil component completely and see if that gets any closer.

[dmckean44]

I'm going to try this and see what it's like:

AP Flour (100%):    374.19 g  |  13.2 oz | 0.82 lbs
Beer (50%):    187.09 g  |  6.6 oz | 0.41 lbs
IDY (1%):    3.74 g | 0.13 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.24 tsp | 0.41 tbsp
Salt (1.5%):    5.61 g | 0.2 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.65 tsp | 0.55 tbsp
Corn Oil (14%):    52.39 g | 1.85 oz | 0.12 lbs | 11.64 tsp | 3.88 tbsp
Sugar (2%):    7.48 g | 0.26 oz | 0.02 lbs | 1.88 tsp | 0.63 tbsp
Total (168.5%):   630.5 g | 22.24 oz | 1.39 lbs | TF = 0.09435
Single Ball:   315.25 g | 11.12 oz | 0.69 lbs

I brought the beer up to a boil and let it come down to room temp, I'm going to let this go 90 hours. I really liked the sauce for this and could eat it all the time.

[dmckean44]

It's smelling really nice after one day.

[Garvey]

The target of 90 hrs seems like a long time but I imagine will be great.  I'm curious as to how this will come out.  When I go to 96 hrs and beyond, I have browning problems.  No sugars left, I guess, to brown.

[dmckean44]

It's either going to be 90 or 65. I might make it tomorrow night since it already smells great.

[dmckean44]

Adding beer and lowering the oil 3% seemed to just mostly just make it slightly sweeter than before.  I got a few pizza bubbles this time too, I should probably start docking it like they do.

[Garvey]

That upskirt has the look of Aurelio's!

[dmckean44]

It tasted nice cold this morning for breakfast. My house still smells heavily like a pizzeria so I think we're on the right track.

[RockyMountainPie]

I decided to jump in and try making one of these.  I lowered the oil to 12% and thought it was plenty.  Crust was flaky but crisp.  I've never had Aurelio's so I don't know how close it was to the real thing, but I liked the pizza a lot.  I made bread sticks with the leftover dough that were also really good.

Formula:

Nominal Size of 16"

Flour (100%): 323.01 g  |  11.39 oz | 0.71 lbs
Water (50%): 161.5 g  |  5.7 oz | 0.36 lbs        <------------------------beer
IDY (1%): 3.23 g | 0.11 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.07 tsp | 0.36 tbsp
Salt (1.5%): 4.85 g | 0.17 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.01 tsp | 0.34 tbsp
Corn Oil (12%): 38.76 g | 1.37 oz | 0.09 lbs | 8.61 tsp | 2.87 tbsp
Sugar (2%): 6.46 g | 0.23 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.62 tsp | 0.54 tbsp
Total (166.5%): 537.8 g | 18.97 oz | 1.19 lbs | TF = 0.09435


I also used beer instead of water.  After rolling out the dough I folded it over laminated style and let it rest.  I then warmed it a little and rolled it out again for placement in the cutter pan, and docked it.  Good stuff!

[Garvey]

Wow--that crust looks exactly like Aurelio's.  I need to try making this with beer, to see what it tastes like.  Thanks for posting.  That pizza looks fantastic.

Cheers,
Garvey

[RockyMountainPie]

Wow--that crust looks exactly like Aurelio's.  I need to try making this with beer, to see what it tastes like.  Thanks for posting.  That pizza looks fantastic.

Cheers,
Garvey

Thanks Garvey.  The crust did have a really interesting texture.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of your results as the quest continues.

[ChiG]

I worked at the Homewood Aurellio's for a good year just after High School in the early 90's. It is a bit fuzzy now, but I will share what I remember.

The Cheese is a 50/50 blend of Chelino Scamorza and mozzarella. one of my first duties there was to cut the blocks into strips to be fed into the grinder. In fact, I have a nice 2 inch scar on my wrist from slipping with the knife while cutting the cheese. It was my second day on the job. 7 stitches.     I have seen some discussion over Parmesan. They use parm and oregano to top their deep dish pizzas after coming out of the oven.

The sauce came in a bag. It is made offsite. The thick crust and stuffed pizza sauce is different than the thin sauce. The sauce for the thick/stuffed is the same as their pasta sauce. It is a little bit thick and chunky. The thin sauce is a puree.

The crust was made and rested in the refrigerator. I honestly am not sure for how long, but it was a minimum 24 hours. I was not there long enough to know this recipe to my dismay. I do remember that they oil the outer edge of the pan before placing the dough in. It is not docked.

The thin pizzas are cooked on a conveyor system unless you request it goes in to one of the "old ovens". Which I recommend if they are not too busy. Homewood location only.

I also remember they experimented about once a month with their recipe. On a slow night, about once a month,  the managers would make around 10 different pizzas all with little changes to them and taste test them. Therefore I believe it might have slowly changed over the years. Alternately, they were just bored. I dunno.

I hope this helps in some way on your quests for making this wonderful pie.