Reverse Engineering DiFara's Pizzas

[PizzaEater101]

Some here have said here that the sauce may be a combination of cooked and uncooked but in Instagram I asked this and the guy named Dino said it's all uncooked until it is on the pizza and cooks on the pizza.  So apparently it's fully uncooked going on the pizza, although it is strange it looks cooked. Here is a photo of my question but he answered by talking not by typing so you don’t see the answer or hear it.

[Georgev]

For what it’s worth I saw 2 boxes of valoroso pear tomato boxes on the ground in the last video posted. My guess he just stick blends them and uses them as is.

[RHawthorne]

Some here have said here that the sauce may be a combination of cooked and uncooked but in Instagram I asked this and the guy named Dino said it's all uncooked until it is on the pizza and cooks on the pizza.  So apparently it's fully uncooked going on the pizza, although it is strange it looks cooked. Here is a photo of my question but he answered by talking not by typing so you don’t see the answer or hear it.

I've also heard that they use some cooked tomatoes mixed in with canned product. Makes sense to me.

[Charlie]

Some good stuff in here. Thanks to everybody that’s shared their results. I used what I had available to me which was harvest king and Caputo blue. Cheese is Polly O. I was lucky enough to score some quality Grana Padano and fresh mozzarella.

[pvura]

So, as far as I know, their sauce (which is what i am most interested on recreating) is possibly made from one of three brands.
In many of their behind the scenes videos i have seen, there are cans of vantia tomatoes near the oven. So it could be just those stick blended or dumped through a food mill.
I have seen many videos where Dom Jr says the sauce is a combo of canned and fresh whereas in other videos, dom says it is all fresh. Not sure what to believe here.
I just DM’d Di Fara on instagram to ask about what goes into their sauce and they replied saying the sauce is just canned Mutti tomatoes which I dont know if i can trust because i see Vantia tomatoes in their kitchen all the time.
Other forum members also say that it could be Valoroso tomatoes so...

[RHawthorne]

So, as far as I know, their sauce (which is what i am most interested on recreating) is possibly made from one of three brands.
In many of their behind the scenes videos i have seen, there are cans of vantia tomatoes near the oven. So it could be just those stick blended or dumped through a food mill.
I have seen many videos where Dom Jr says the sauce is a combo of canned and fresh whereas in other videos, dom says it is all fresh. Not sure what to believe here.
I just DM’d Di Fara on instagram to ask about what goes into their sauce and they replied saying the sauce is just canned Mutti tomatoes which I dont know if i can trust because i see Vantia tomatoes in their kitchen all the time.
Other forum members also say that it could be Valoroso tomatoes so...

If they're using Mutti tomatoes, I'd really like to know what distributor they're getting them from, because that's been my favorite brand for years, and I didn't think they put their tomatoes out for the professional foodservice world.

[PizzaEater101]

I tried.  I never ate Di Fara’s but I’ve seen countless videos of Di Fara on YouTube and seen lots of Yelp pics too.  I put way too much cheese on it.  As far as taste goes I liked it.

[pvura]

Caught this off the DiFara instagram.
Looks like they’re using Heckers AP flour.

Actually a combination of caputo cuoco 00 flour and wingold h and r all purpose flour.

[PizzaEater101]

Hi all.  I want to make a square DiFara.  I never made a square slice before and have been following this thread and even posted pics of my round version.  I believe that square style normally is pretty thick but from pics in this discussion of Boy Hits Car’s square and even on the internet and YouTube as well as the video someone posted the DiFara doesn’t seem thick like a regular Sicilian square. 

Is this the case?  Did Dom decide to make his thinner than traditional square Sicilian or is there another square version that is thin and Dom followed that? I always took square to be thicker like Detroit style.  Although not thick it has to be thicker than the round Dom makes.

I’m going to copy Boy Hits Car version.  I think he put the TF at .12 which doesn’t seem thick at all. I think the round is .09.

[nickyr]

Hi all.  I want to make a square DiFara.  I never made a square slice before and have been following this thread and even posted pics of my round version.  I believe that square style normally is pretty thick but from pics in this discussion of Boy Hits Car’s square and even on the internet and YouTube as well as the video someone posted the DiFara doesn’t seem thick like a regular Sicilian square. 

Is this the case?  Did Dom decide to make his thinner than traditional square Sicilian or is there another square version that is thin and Dom followed that? I always took square to be thicker like Detroit style.  Although not thick it has to be thicker than the round Dom makes.

I’m going to copy Boy Hits Car version.  I think he put the TF at .12 which doesn’t seem thick at all. I think the round is .09.

Di Fara’s square is very thin. Like a grandma, except the edges go farther up the sides of the pan so it can hold a massive pool of sauce

[PizzaEater101]

Di Fara’s square is very thin. Like a grandma, except the edges go farther up the sides of the pan so it can hold a massive pool of sauce

One more thing, when he pulls it out there is a lot of oil bubbling around.  Does he put a lot of olive oil during the pre-bake or does he put a little in the pre-bake then add a lot more during the second bake.  I can't tell from the videos. 


Thanks!

[Pete-zza]

For those who are interested, there is an interview of Maggie Mieles, who is the daughter of Dom DeMarco:



Peter

[Jackie Tran]

It's been awhile since I've made one of these.

[foodiebuddha]

For those who are interested, there is an interview of Maggie Mieles, who is the daughter of Dom DeMarco:

Peter

thanks for posting. have you watched it yet? does Maggie get into any of the nuances of their process for making pizza?

[nickyr]

One more thing, when he pulls it out there is a lot of oil bubbling around.  Does he put a lot of olive oil during the pre-bake or does he put a little in the pre-bake then add a lot more during the second bake.  I can't tell from the videos. 


Thanks!

Sorry I missed this, but I don’t know the answer. I always vote for more oil at every opportunity though :-)

[PizzaEater101]

Sorry I missed this, but I don’t know the answer. I always vote for more oil at every opportunity though :-)

I finally noticed in a video he puts oil (prob just enough or a little) for the pre-bake then after he lifts it up and puts a substantial amount in the pan after it has been pre-baked.  I tried that when I tried doing a DiFara square pizza.  The pizza looked like his but I was too lazy to take a picture and post it.  I will next time. 

[Pete-zza]

thanks for posting. have you watched it yet? does Maggie get into any of the nuances of their process for making pizza?

foodiebuddha,

I watched a part of the video but plan to watch the whole video this weekend.

Peter

[foodiebuddha]

foodiebuddha,

I watched a part of the video but plan to watch the whole video this weekend.

Peter

thanks Pete - i'll try and watch it too but if you get to it before i do - would love to know what kind of info is in it.

[Pete-zza]

thanks Pete - i'll try and watch it too but if you get to it before i do - would love to know what kind of info is in it.

foodiebuddha,

Last night, I viewed the entire video featuring Maggie Mieles of DiFara's.

By way of background, Maggie is the middle child of seven DeMarco children (boys and girls). She has been involved since childhood in the DiFara business. Dom DeMarco is now 84 years old and apparently spends little time in the store these days. So, it appears that Maggie is now in charge of the business, which now includes a few pizzerias and a ghost kitchen. DiFara's also struck a deal with Goldbelly to ship frozen pizzas across the country.

In the video, Maggie discusses how they are coping with the Covid pandema and trying to find workers for their operations, which apparently has been a challenge.  All of their stores are currently limited to pick-up and delivery.

There is not much in the video in the way of discussion of the DiFara pizzas per se or how they are made. However, Maggie said that they continue to use the same recipes and related ingredients at all locations and to continue to do so even if the prices of those ingredients increase. The way that they assemble the pizzas will remain the same. One material change that she did mention was with respect to the frozen pizzas. Instead of shipping an 18-inch pizza, the amount of dough was adjusted to make two 12-inch pizza. I believe that I heard Maggie say that they cut the two pizzas in half to facilitate shipping. The two pizzas are the minimum shipping order.

I personally enjoyed the video but there is not much in it for people looking for secrets or even basic information about the pizzas themselves.

Peter

[RHawthorne]

One more thing, when he pulls it out there is a lot of oil bubbling around.  Does he put a lot of olive oil during the pre-bake or does he put a little in the pre-bake then add a lot more during the second bake.  I can't tell from the videos. 



This video might help to answer that question, starting at 0:48 in . He clearly puts a pretty good amount of oil in the pan at what appears to be a later stage of the bake, judging by the way he's able to pick it up. I can't say for sure how late in the bake that pie is, but it doesn't look especially dark to me. I've heard that he actually did a 3 or 4 stage process with his square pizzas.