Author Topic: Pizza Secrets and Pearls (Read 57985 times)

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #140 on:** January 27, 2021, 10:07:49 AM »

The best pies are often the least expected. Test and retest everything, and then keep an open mind. Sometimes, it just takes looking at the same situation from a different angle, perspective, or point of view.

scott r · « **Reply #141 on:** January 27, 2021, 10:08:55 AM »

Awesome advice Chau!!

JWFPIZZZA · « **Reply #142 on:** January 30, 2021, 09:27:46 PM »

man that is true Chau! Most of my mistakes always turn into a "eureka" moment. its a really lovely feeling actually. Especially when my world depends on the success of pizza lol.

Bill/CDMX · « **Reply #143 on:** February 09, 2021, 06:48:41 PM »

Don't underestimate the importance of the peel you use to load your pizza into the oven. All of the work you did to build your dough and prepare your toppings and fire your oven can be destroyed in an instant by using the wrong peel or a poorly maintained one or not knowing how to properly use it - especially with higher hydration doughs. Failing to clean off any residue between pizzas can easily cause sticking/failure to launch (a.k.a. the accidental calzone

).

I have too many peels and am doing a "Marie Kondo" and thanking those that no longer spark joy. I have come to appreciate my favorite ones as an essential part of my pizza making.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #144 on:** April 04, 2021, 01:14:52 PM »

Not sure If this has been mentioned but take copious notes on your bakes. Write down as much info as possible. Post pictures of the pies you're really proud of and mentioned the thread and the reply # in your notes. I often find myself thinking about certain pies that I want to remake or repeat only to find out that I left out certain key points or notes. Jot down everything. Even stuff that seems trivial now. That info will undoubtedly come in handy later.

Pete-zza · « **Reply #145 on:** April 04, 2021, 10:05:42 PM »

As one who often posts that are long, I try to keep paragraphs at a reasonable length. And I put spaces between the paragraphs. That makes it easier for readers to follow. From time to time, when I see some very good posts but with only a single paragraph or only a few paragraphs in a long post, I use my powers as a Moderator to correct that problem by unobtrusively intervening into the posts and breaking them up into more paragraphs. Sometimes I have even done that with my own posts after the fact.

Peter

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #146 on:** April 11, 2021, 03:05:12 PM »

Proofreading for proper capitalization, punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc. makes a big difference too.

Bbqguy · « **Reply #147 on:** June 15, 2021, 11:52:03 AM »

As a relative newbie let me offer a couple pieces of advice to other newbies. Though it was already mentioned earlier in the thread I’ll reiterate. Learn to walk before you try to run. When I started to really get serious about making quality pizza and reading the posts on the forums here I found myself wanting to know and to try everything the result of which was I really didn’t learn much of anything. Please take my advice (and Pete-zza’s also as he mentioned) pick something relatively simple. Tom Lehmans New York style dough is ideal. Read it, study it, make it, repeat. Get to know how to measure and mix. Get to know and understand the bakers percentages. Learn how to open and stretch your dough. Spend time reading the newbie topics. There is a wealth of valuable information there.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #148 on:** June 18, 2021, 07:09:17 AM »

Absolutely agree. Nothing beats practice and experience. I would also add sour dough and starters are really for intermediate to advance students. Definitely not for the beginner. As a newbie you want to keep things simple (KISS method). Learned to make a decent pizza first with commercial yeast. Once you feel comfortable with that then you can start experimenting with sourdough. You'll have more than enough to focus on starting out. SD only adds another level of complexity that is not needed.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #149 on:** September 01, 2021, 11:30:56 PM »

Sometimes, In order to learn something new you have to be wiĺling to unlearn or let go of old knowledge. You can't keep doing the same things and expect different results. If you aren't happy, then experiment. Experiment without preconceive notions and expectations. Once you become so familiar with your dough or different doughs, only then will you start to see patterns of behavior and gain understanding of what is happening.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #150 on:** September 02, 2021, 12:34:29 PM »

It doesn't hurt to experiment when you're happy too.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #151 on:** July 14, 2022, 03:38:08 PM »

Learning how to make other bread products will teach you a lot about dough in general. How it behaves, the difference between wet and dry doughs and how they ferment, how to build dough strength through mixing, S&Fs,and by cold fermentation. Make sweet breads, bagels, rolls, buns, tortillas, croissants, baguettes, country loaf, donuts, pretzels, pastas, etc. You'll be surprised at how all of these processes share many similarities and how much your pizza will improve.

HansB · « **Reply #152 on:** July 14, 2022, 05:34:54 PM »

Quote from: Jackie Tran on July 14, 2022, 03:38:08 PM

Learning how to make other bread products will teach you a lot about dough in general. How it behaves, the difference between wet and dry doughs and how they ferment, how to build dough strength through mixing, S&Fs,and by cold fermentation. Make sweet breads, bagels, rolls, buns, tortillas, croissants, baguettes, country loaf, donuts, pretzels, pastas, etc. You'll be surprised at how all of these processes share many similarities and how much your pizza will improve.

Pizza-Face · « **Reply #153 on:** August 29, 2022, 07:35:42 AM »

Semolina may be expensive or hard to get, just to use on your peel to prevent dough sticking.
Seminola is durum wheat, a hard wheat, and you can't always get a course enough grind for peel use.
I like cheap. Cheap is good. Malt-O-Meal is cheap. It's farina (hard wheat) and the grain is big.
I take a giant pinch of Malt-O-Meal hover over the peel with it, and let it drop. It's fun to watch it spread over the entire peel this way.
I use that and rice flour from the Asian market to back it up. Any that escapes the peel simply can be brushed off the counter with a hand swipe.
An added plus is it has toasted malt although I have never even noticed any added flavor or texture,
it just seems to disappear after the bake and tasteless, -NOT like corn meal!
Since using this on the peel, not one stuck, even higher hydration dough.
I admit it I am cheap. I even eat it for BFast.

foreplease · « **Reply #154 on:** August 29, 2022, 09:02:48 AM »

There are approximately 396 tsp of Caputo Semola Rimacinata per one-kilo bag. I use about 1 tsp per pizza. Even at Amazon’s high price for Caputo (which includes delivery), it works out to 2.1 cents per pizza for me. And I like having it around for making pasta.

Bob’s Red Mill Semolina is available locally for about 15% less.

wotavidone · « **Reply #155 on:** August 29, 2022, 10:04:59 AM »

Quote from: Jackie Tran on April 04, 2021, 01:14:52 PM

Not sure If this has been mentioned but take copious notes on your bakes. Write down as much info as possible. Post pictures of the pies you're really proud of and mentioned the thread and the reply # in your notes. I often find myself thinking about certain pies that I want to remake or repeat only to find out that I left out certain key points or notes. Jot down everything. Even stuff that seems trivial now. That info will undoubtedly come in handy later.

I very seldom take notes. If ever. I simply post my findings on pizzamaking.com
If I want to remember a mix, or how I did what, I look it up here.

Pizza-Face · « **Reply #156 on:** August 29, 2022, 05:10:37 PM »

Quote from: foreplease on August 29, 2022, 09:02:48 AM

There are approximately 396 tsp of Caputo Semola Rimacinata per one-kilo bag. I use about 1 tsp per pizza. Even at Amazon’s high price for Caputo (which includes delivery), it works out to 2.1 cents per pizza for me. And I like having it around for making pasta.

Bob’s Red Mill Semolina is available locally for about 15% less.

Home oven, no use for fancy flours, and I'm still cheaper than you!

Timpanogos Slim · « **Reply #157 on:** October 01, 2022, 02:26:35 PM »

The existence of Chicago style pizza implies the existence of AP style pizza.

roumin · « **Reply #158 on:** October 01, 2022, 07:25:32 PM »

#?) You learn more from your failed pizzas than good ones, I certainly have

roumin · « **Reply #159 on:** October 01, 2022, 07:27:29 PM »

Quote from: Yael on October 03, 2019, 03:17:55 AM

66) "pizza is easy, we shouldn't be complicating it"

It's simple, but not easy