Pizza Test Kitchen and Training

[JConk007]

Hello,
The test Kitchen "Pizza Playground" will soon be Complete at Wood Fired Oven Baker headquarters !
When You purchase an Oven we offer 25 Hour Training Package as well for those starting out.
Or if you are just starting out on your dream venture as a Many do here, or just want the opportunity to come and cook in a Beautiful Acunto Oven, try several different mixers, look at various refrigeration units, try 5 different tomatoes, make some Mozzarella ...  you are welcome to stop by. 
We did our first with session a wonderful couple who own a NY style place in Denver and are moving to a new location that will have 2 deck ovens AND a Gianni Acunto. This excited me as I love it all ! They will complete using their new Acunto when it arrives. They have been making pizza for a long time but limited knowledge of the Neapolitan Style that they will be adding 
Look out Aurora! your in for a real treat !
We used the Woodstone test kitchen and went Through the basics of the Dough, Fermentation, Tomatoes, cheese making oven management... FUN!!!
Only problem we had was the Gas Woodstone oven just did not Hit the Neapolitan temps.
Pies were 2 1/2 min plus even when working hard doming and spinning Burn the arm hairs ...
Its like standing in front a Garage  Door while theres a car on fire. Big opening !! Lotta heat. I had it cranked 650- 700 on the floor and dome was 750-800  ish. Don't get me wrong these are Beautiful and Versatile Ovens and Many Many people use then in their establishments. for cooking everything just slightly different style. Pretty sure they see the need  to compete with the lower dome gas ovens and may have something in the works  ? Any way heres a few from our fun filled days.

[JConk007]

We used 100% Caputo and showed them Various recipes, percentages and Cold vs. Room temp fermentation and how they could control the dough using various yeast% and temps.  based on How they will be using it at their place.
We did an Emergency dough, 100% room temp 14 hour, 100% Refridgerated dough with 3 hour room finish, and few others !  Bulk rise 4 hour then long fridge with very low% ....few shots of the various doughs ready to go. You can see by the last pic  toward end of day 2 we were approaching the Amano Zone. Beautiful !

[JConk007]

Happy Pizza people  and just a few pies we were well into the 100'S not rocket science but repitition is what makes all good!
Wishing Mandy and Brian All the Best at Johnny's Pizza  !! Cant wait to visit opening in Early April

[Pete-zza]

John,

I assume that the tubular pasta is a cheap way of simulating cheese and toppings, not because Mandy and Brian are trying to make pasta pizzas.

Peter

[JConk007]

yes sir 1- 5$ bag of Pasta goes a long way.
and no way to possibly eat that much !!! 
This techinique is used by Roberto for his training and some VPN schools as well to keep costs down, works great !
John

[mkevenson]

John, I am impressed. Wish I lived closer. Good luck in Vegas. You deserve it!

Oh, beautiful kitchen!

Mark

[JConk007]

That kitchen is at ignite  where they sell wood stone and all the other equipment. Wood fired oven baker  test kitchen ready to rock end of march

[ibleedpizzasauce]

Hi John! =)

Well, well, well...great start to a write up about this weeks test event and training with my clients at the Ignite test kitchen. Both Mandy and Brian contacted me again and thanked us for the amazing private setting and knowledge / training they received. Thanks again John! Wonderful having you visit us yet again. Let's keep the monthly trips into Denver going! Heck, just move over to this side of the country and be with us daily. I just booked another event in two weeks for early March after I return from Kelly's in Baltimore with Stefano Ferrara. Adam is going to have to be my guru helper while you are absent. John and I welcome anyone to contact us for the use of the test kitchen via our company on this WoodStone at Ignite our reps for WoodStone sales or "very-very-very soon" here at our own facility Wood Fired Oven Baker, Inc. on many Italian import ovens Acunto Gianni, Acunto Mario, Stefano Ferrara, Valoriani/Mugnaini...which is under construction completion date early spring 2014 after the International Las Vegas Pizza Expo!

Attached photo shows the newest kid on the block for our test kitchen just being tiled and grouted yesterday and the day prior. It's the new "NSF/UL" certified Acunto Mario Classico Forni we have been importing into the country, this one being the Vulcano Extra style - 130cm interior cooking space. According to oven floor depth / height thickness from the bottom of the oven to the top cooking surface of the oven floor, Acunto Mario has "the thickest" for retaining heat and energy at just over 13 ¾ inches thick from any of the competition it's up against. This is the "amazing thing about math and numbers...you can't manipulate a number like people do opinions. A number is a number and it tells much of a story and where things lead in manufacturing and materials used. =) Truly this is a "HUGE" reason why I flew directly to Naples Italy in Spring 2013 to speak and collaborate with Mario and Salvatore Acunto and why we as well had a visit from them at our facility located just outside Denver as the importer / dealer of their ovens. NOTE: Please reference and see Kelly's (pizzablogger's) post right here dated July 3rd 2013 to review his research of the outlined statements and facts noted here on oven floor thickness. The refractory dome is another amazing site to see as well as the only Italian forni manufacturer using the dome technique where each brick starting at the cooking floor is cut to curve and handle the weight of the thick refractory dome. Mario Acunto who is still building ovens today with his team of artisan's is in fact an amazing engineer.  In (pizzablogger's) post he notes that in (4) which is half of the ( ovens reviewed, the floor thickness to retain "heat and energy" on a Mario Acunto is almost over half as thick as other manufacturers essentially being thicker than them all. This is the same oven (txcraig) is using. We actually sell all of those manufacturers on that list except for one.  I have ( more Acunto Mario Classico's that just arrived in the USA Houston port. January & February alone we shipped out of Napoli Italy Qty: (3) 40' ocean containers of mixed oven, dough mixer, charcuterie slicer equipment...pure Italian Love!

Really, we are so looking forward to having guests bake with us, smile / laugh; collaborate on pizza nerdyness and in the end to break bread with us. To breath in a sigh of happiness and love for this artisan pizza! All in all, to have lots of fun and take the assumptions and opinions out of the dough mixers (fork or spiral which we have both in stock and the only UL/NSF machines right now in the USA as of today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.  We are excited for reviewing the oven bake letting the pizzaiolo see the differences for themselves and what specific oven fits their pizza concept. I don't think anyone enjoys having one specific manufacturer shoved down his or her throat. To be able to live in the dough...mixed from a fork mixer or a spiral mixer or my hand side by side and or to bake in an oven side by side. Sounds "AMAZING TO ME"!

What a few great days it was John and lots of fun too! Seems like many people have enjoyed the technique I learned and we implemented while training at the VPN for using pasta instead of mozzarella since the consistency weight is very similar to mozzarella once cooked down for topping. It really saved wasting delicious fior di latte that we had just stretched and balled prior that morning.

John, thanks for being a truly amazing pizzaiolo chef and a huge contributing part of the team here at Wood Fired Oven Baker, Inc.

Grazie Mille John~
Ellie 

[ibleedpizzasauce]

This is the inside of of that Acunto Mario Classico 7 - Vulcano Extra 130cm.

[thezaman]

john very impressive! can you come to ohio i need you to work with my five pizza guys that help with my mobile jobs.i was going to send them to roberto buy it will be too expensive. so i pay gas, you sleep at my joint, how much??? pm me. coming to NY on 10,11, 12th of march lets meet.

[Tampa]

Beautiful photos and story, John & Ellie.  Thanks for sharing.
Dave

[landras]

very nice! congrats on that guys
nico

[marlily]

Hello,

Just wondering if there is WoodFired training in the Los Angeles area that doesn't cost and "arm and a leg"?  I have a great passion for cooking woodfired pizzas, and i actually took two different training classes.  one was at The fire Within, in Boulder Colorado, and another in Marina Del Rey, California for VPN training.  I loved it.  Just don't have the discretionary funds  to take more classes at this time.  (Wedding coming up)

Therefore, I do have VPN training, and would love to cook and practice some more.  Let me know?

Mario

[thegodfather6]

is this training in NY if so I would like more details