Author Topic: Craig's Neapolitan Garage (Read 662354 times)

TXCraig1 · « **on:** June 11, 2011, 11:09:27 PM »

I'll use this thread to post my pies from and what I learn about using my Acunto WFO.

Tonight's pies are 60% hydration (some 100% Caputo others 100% KAAP - can you tell which are which?), 60F fermentation for 30 hours in bulk and then 6 hours in balls at 77F. Bake time was ~60 seconds at 825F.

Most of the pies are pretty straight forewords. A couple exceptions - the mozz/lemon pie - it's home smoked mozz, thin lemon slices, fresh rosemary, red pepper flakes, EVOO, black pepper, and sea salt. It is really good, but it's an appetizer not a entree. I served it in the middle of my other pies, and it was disruptive. It should have been served first.

Bill/SFNM asked me if there were pigs in Texas when I joked there was not BBQ outside of TX. This inspired me to make Italian sausage out of ferrel hog shoulder. You will see it in one of the pies. I forget who gave me the idea for sausage on a Margherita, but thanks - it was really good!

CL

widespreadpizza · « **Reply #1 on:** June 11, 2011, 11:21:56 PM »

Craig, nice work again. pies 1,3 and 4 are KAAP? -marc

BrickStoneOven · « **Reply #2 on:** June 11, 2011, 11:54:26 PM »

Quote from: widespreadpizza on June 11, 2011, 11:21:56 PM

Craig, nice work again. pies 1,3 and 4 are KAAP? -marc

+1. You can really see the malt come out at those temps.

Barry · « **Reply #3 on:** June 12, 2011, 05:39:11 AM »

Great pies Craig!

How long did you knead for, and what yeast did you use?

Could you also tell me your thoughts on the "final stretch" that one sees when the pro's pull the dressed uncooked pizza onto the peel. I have a suspicion that this is quite important in the process to achieve the ultimate Neopilitan pizza.

I guess the "final stretch" adds 2 inches to the overall diameter of the pie.

I am really enjoying you journey with the Acunto oven - keep sending!

Kind regards.

Barry

dellavecchia · « **Reply #4 on:** June 12, 2011, 07:52:22 AM »

Craig - Insanity! I always want to immediately make some dough and bake pizza after seeing pictures of your bakes, hoping I can match their level of refinement.

Can you talk a little about your fire management, ie., how long it takes to fire, where you have the flame, how far you have the flame from the pie, and anything you have noticed that you NEED to have in place in order to get a proper bake? I appreciate it.

John

pizzablogger · « **Reply #5 on:** June 12, 2011, 08:51:29 AM »

Damn those look good! Based on the fermentation regimen, probably tasted very good as well.

Different angles, different lighting (I tried to even them out a little), different pies, more sauce on yours, different cheeses? (bufala on UPN) but aesthetically your pies look tremendous!

dellavecchia · « **Reply #6 on:** June 12, 2011, 09:02:17 AM »

Quote from: pizzablogger on June 12, 2011, 08:51:29 AM

Damn those look good! Based on the fermentation regimen, probably tasted very good as well.

Different angles, different lighting (I tried to even them out a little), different pies, more sauce on yours, different cheeses? (bufala on UPN) but aesthetically your pies look tremendous!

What a great comparative. It is interesting, Craig's cheese looks more like the classic bufala melt than UPN.

Craig - Nice of us to nit-pick your pies against AM, huh

John

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 12, 2011, 09:42:23 AM »

Quote from: dellavecchia on June 12, 2011, 09:02:17 AM

Craig - Nice of us to nit-pick your pies against AM, huh

I can take it.

That pie was the first pie of the night, and my first 60 second pie. You can see I didn't adjust the sauce quantity, and it was a little to wet, I think. I adjusted down on the the following pies.

CL

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 12, 2011, 09:44:01 AM »

Quote from: pizzablogger on June 12, 2011, 08:51:29 AM

Damn those look good! Based on the fermentation regimen, probably tasted very good as well.

Different angles, different lighting (I tried to even them out a little), different pies, more sauce on yours, different cheeses? (bufala on UPN) but aesthetically your pies look tremendous!

Thanks, Kelly.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #9 on:** June 12, 2011, 09:55:14 AM »

Quote from: dellavecchia on June 12, 2011, 07:52:22 AM

Craig - Insanity! I always want to immediately make some dough and bake pizza after seeing pictures of your bakes, hoping I can match their level of refinement.

Can you talk a little about your fire management, ie., how long it takes to fire, where you have the flame, how far you have the flame from the pie, and anything you have noticed that you NEED to have in place in order to get a proper bake? I appreciate it.

Thank you John. I still don't have a good feel for how long it really takes to heat the oven - how big of a fire to build initially, etc. I heated it for about 2 hours last night to get to ~825 across most of the deck - a little hotter near the coals and about 780F right up against the wall. It was in the high 700's within the first 90 minutes. I think you can probably get there a little faster with a larger fire at the beginning.

I have been arranging the coals along the left wall of the oven. The edge of the coals toward the middle of the oven is a straight line from a little to the left of the door straight back to the back wall. The picture of the fire is a little deceiving because I took it at an angle from the right. Last night I was cooking ~6-8" from the coals, so closer to the coals than the wall.

CL

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #10 on:** June 12, 2011, 10:01:38 AM »

Quote from: Barry on June 12, 2011, 05:39:11 AM

How long did you knead for, and what yeast did you use?

Could you also tell me your thoughts on the "final stretch" that one sees when the pro's pull the dressed uncooked pizza onto the peel. I have a suspicion that this is quite important in the process to achieve the ultimate Neopilitan pizza.

I guess the "final stretch" adds 2 inches to the overall diameter of the pie.

Thanks Barry. I don't knead very much at all. I bring everything together in the KA with a dough hook and mix until its homogeneous and the dough has all pulled off the bowl, and then I mix for a couple minutes more. I put it on the counter, give it a couple folds, let it rest for 10 minutes or so, give it a couple more folds, and that's it.

Those pies are Ischia culture (1.7% by weight of flour). I pull them onto the peel, and right before they go into the oven, I stretch them out to the edge of the peel or maybe a little more. I think it is important for the final appearance. The dough has had a little time to relax, so it's not fighting you at all.

CL

pizzablogger · « **Reply #11 on:** June 12, 2011, 07:17:45 PM »

Quote from: TXCraig1 on June 12, 2011, 10:01:38 AM

Thanks Barry. I don't knead very much at all. I bring everything together in the KA with a dough hook and mix until its homogeneous and the dough has all pulled off the bowl, and then I mix for a couple minutes more. I put it on the counter, give it a couple folds, let it rest for 10 minutes or so, give it a couple more folds, and that's it.

Those pies are Ischia culture (1.7% by weight of flour). I pull them onto the peel, and right before they go into the oven, I stretch them out to the edge of the peel or maybe a little more. I think it is important for the final appearance. The dough has had a little time to relax, so it's not fighting you at all.

CL

And the extensibility of the caputo dough means even less fighting on the peel just prior to launching

wheelman · « **Reply #12 on:** June 12, 2011, 08:10:41 PM »

can't go wrong with sausage! i've got my oven fired up now and have some proper inspiration... thanks,
bill

mattharris75 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 12, 2011, 08:52:59 PM »

Craig, this thread is great.

I just wanted to say that if you ever open a restaurant, "Craig's Neapolitan Garage" is a great restaurant name/theme.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #14 on:** June 12, 2011, 10:12:29 PM »

Here is one other from last night. It had a crumb shot so I thought I post it having deprived Chau on all the others.

CL

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #15 on:** June 12, 2011, 10:24:41 PM »

THANK YOU!

looks great Craig. I wonder if you prefer the 90 sec pies b/c they have a bit more of a veneer on them?

Chau

RobynB · « **Reply #16 on:** June 13, 2011, 01:00:43 AM »

YUM. Sign me up - those look soooo good!

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #17 on:** June 13, 2011, 11:34:33 AM »

Thanks Robyn. I'm looking forward to seeing your new WFO in action too.

CL

flyboy4ual · « **Reply #18 on:** June 13, 2011, 01:30:46 PM »

Craig,

Those pies look awesome. Can you tell me how you do your cheese. Type and especially size, and placement of chunks etc? Thanks,

Scott D

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #19 on:** June 13, 2011, 01:56:04 PM »

Thanks Scott.

I've been using a relatively inexpensive mass-produced fresh mozz from our local store. Galbani Mozzerella Fresca is the brand. It's nothing special. It's 4 balls about 2oz each packed in water. I try to find the ones with the farthest our expiration date and they seem to be less waterlogged.

I use two balls per pie (250-270g dough). I tear each by hand into maybe 20 or so pieces (you can probably get an approximate count from the pictures keeping in mind that some have run together)? I've never counted. I try to make them about the same size, but I think it looks good if there is some variation. I used to do less larger pieces, but I think I like more smaller pieces better. I've tried cutting it with a knife, but I don't like the look anywhere near as well. When torn by hand, the edge seems to melt into the sauce, and you get that look where it's hard to tell exactly where the sauce stops and the cheese starts. Cut pieces seem to have a distinct edge when melted. I try to place the pieces fairly evenly over the surface of the pie that is covered with sauce. I'll try to gemember to snap some pictures of a pie pre-bake next time.

For non-margherita-style pies, I use the fresh mozz log from the same people and slice it like this: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,14271.0.html

CL