Andrew Bellucci NYC Pizza

[Cheazy E]

Oh, you're undoubtedly right! Still, if you want more browning, sugar will help.

[xBOBxSAGETx]

Oh, you're undoubtedly right! Still, if you want more browning, sugar will help.

Appreciate you.  I was worried if I added sugar I would demolish my undercarriage chasing browning on the crust.  I suppose that's what pizza screens are for 

[Cheazy E]

You might need to make adjustments to your rack placement to compensate, as you dial in the top and bottom the way you like it. Unfortunately, every oven is a bit different, so there's some trial and error involved. Your oven's manual might indicate where it's hottest. Mine tends to be far hotter at the bottom. 

Good news is that you get to make more pizza as you dial it in.

[dmaclaren]

Another thing I noted it that my crust isn't getting that nice browning that Andrew got.  The bottoms are great and hold up really well but I want to get that browning.  I understand he's using a 630°F oven and I'm in a home oven, so maybe next time I'll try 1% sugar and see how it holds up.  What really surprised me the most that the lower hydration actually did really well in my home oven.  I'm just missing the browning. 

I think the two most valuable lessons from Andrew was that NYC pizza dough is just a bread dough and that it doesn't really matter on brand of flour or your recipe, it's just about the process of fermentation.  He noted that one of the best pizza spots in NYC was not brand loyal to flour and just grabbed the cheapest pallets they could grab and that really spoke to me.  In my heart and soul I believe that to be the biggest flex. 

It seem like different protein percentages prefer different hydrations.  So really learning the "feel" of dough is important and seems like that's something you only get from touching hundreds and hundreds of well made doughs. 

Try some DMP for color without going the sugar route  I use 1.5%

[jkb]

I was thinking vodka sauce, but pepperoni would be more interesting.

I was thinking vodka sauce, too.  My goto lately is Sicilian with vodka, pesto, and marinara. The boy is working in an Italian restaurant/pizza place. I picked him up last night and he had a pepperoni pie. I'm not a pepperoni fan, but I dreamed about it the night before and the time was right.

[xBOBxSAGETx]

So, made pizza yesterday.  I used 7/11 tomatoes and pushed fermentation to 96hrs was not a combo that worked out.  

7/11 on its own was too thick for my liking.  Next rip ima dilute it with water or perhaps put in some San Marzanos to dilute it down.  It pretty much gave my wife heart burn immediately, which only usually happens with tomato paste heavy sauces.  

The 96hr ferment after they were balled up ended kinda just farting out.  After shaping and heading to the knuckle stretch, it just went way too slack.  

Next week gonna bring CF down to 48-72hrs and bring IDY down to 0.1%. I'll test at 48hrs and 72hrs and see what happens.  


I saved 100g of old dough and going to start playing around with a mother culture.  Going to try and get some experimental runs with that.  I already feed a sourdough starter weekly, might as well feed a mother culture while I'm at it.  

[TXCraig1]

0.1% IDY might not be enough for 48h. 0.2% is more common.

Baker's yeast (IDY/ADY/CY) doesn't make a good mother dough. It's not designed to propagate in a low-oxygen environment like dough. 

[TXCraig1]

You might try running the 7/11 through a food mill (medium plate) to remove the skin bits. That will thin it out some and improve the texture.

[xBOBxSAGETx]

0.1% IDY might not be enough for 48h. 0.2% is more common.

Baker's yeast (IDY/ADY/CY) doesn't make a good mother dough. It's not designed to propagate in a low-oxygen environment like dough.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but flour isn't sterile right?  There's native yeast and bacteria in the flour.  So as I've extended the dough fermentation I've essentially let the diversity of yeast and bacteria open up.  Then if I propagate from that finished dough I should be good naw?  

[TXCraig1]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but flour isn't sterile right?  There's native yeast and bacteria in the flour.  So as I've extended the dough fermentation I've essentially let the diversity of yeast and bacteria open up.  Then if I propagate from that finished dough I should be good naw? 

It may work eventually - or it may not. At best it's just a really slow and ineffective way to make a sourdough starter.

[xBOBxSAGETx]

0.1% IDY might not be enough for 48h. 0.2% is more common.

Baker's yeast (IDY/ADY/CY) doesn't make a good mother dough. It's not designed to propagate in a low-oxygen environment like dough.

Also I've been thinking about that as well, I just need to reduce fermentation time 

[xBOBxSAGETx]

It may work eventually - or it may not. At best it's just a really slow and ineffective way to make a sourdough starter.

I trust you. Maybe just using my sourdough starter with a sprinkle of IDY for dependability if I wanted to play around? 

[TXCraig1]

I trust you. Maybe just using my sourdough starter with a sprinkle of IDY for dependability if I wanted to play around?

That's what I'd do. Up to about 0.15% IDY, you can increase the fermentation speed without too much negative impact on flavor.

[xBOBxSAGETx]

That's what I'd do. Up to about 0.15% IDY, you can increase the fermentation speed without too much negative impact on flavor.

Okay okay.  I'm picking up what you're putting down.  

[Eager2Learn]

I was thinking vodka sauce, too.  My goto lately is Sicilian with vodka, pesto, and marinara. The boy is working in an Italian restaurant/pizza place. I picked him up last night and he had a pepperoni pie. I'm not a pepperoni fan, but I dreamed about it the night before and the time was right.

Can you share your vodka sauce recipe?

[jkb]

Can you share your vodka sauce recipe?

I wing it every time.  I'm making some tomorrow.  I'll let you know.

[Eager2Learn]

I wing it every time.  I'm making some tomorrow.  I'll let you know.

Thank you!🙏 

[jkb]

Thank you!🙏

I ended up with Domino's and a cheap 1.75 in a plastic bottle. 

Kidding.  I'll get to it.

[xBOBxSAGETx]

So I ended up cutting the 7/11 with San Benito "San Marzano Style" tomatoes in juice.  I added enough salt to deal with the dilution and I absolutely nailed it. 

The sauce ended up being being composed of
-kosher salt
-16 mesh black pepper
-oregano
-fresh basil (from San Benito)
-granulated garlic

I switched from GrainCraft to Shepherds Grain Low Gluten Bread Flour. 

I also added 2% olive oil to the dough and it absolutely brought this dough to the next level.  The outer perimeter had a much brighter crunch and so did the bottom crust. 

I stopped dusting my dough balls with AP flour and switched to semolina.  This also greatly improved the bottom crust texture but man am I sick of setting off my smoke detector when the semolina ends up burning. 

I didn't take any photos because I'm really sucking at launching pies from a pizza peel since I'm used to starting my pizzas on a screen.

Once I clear out this sauce.  I will buy two new cans and get you updated on a full recipe

[xBOBxSAGETx]

One side note.  Digestion with a 12hr bulk CF and a 48hr CF once I balled was rough.  Usually with a 72hr+ I can crush a 14" pizza and not feel bloated.  I'm definitely bloated here.  Moving forward I think I'm going to do a 8hr RT bulk ferment before heading into the fridge for 48hr CF and see if that changes anything.  Right now, I'm perfectly happy with everything I just gotta dial in my fermentation process