Author Topic: Thanks for helping me make my dream New Haven Apizza! (Read 5540 times)

pizzaguy24601 · « **on:** June 11, 2020, 01:33:13 PM »

I just wanted to thank everyone in this forum for all the info on New Haven Apizza making! I was finally able to make this greatly thanks to this forum.
Would love any feedback that you might have! Always looking to improve.

tetontrees · « **Reply #1 on:** June 11, 2020, 11:37:24 PM »

Looks better than some of the pies I've eaten in New Haven. Mind sharing your formula and method for the record?
Nice work.

pizzaguy24601 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 11, 2020, 11:45:39 PM »

Thank you so much! Here are the details. Let me know if anything confuses you.

Use bread flour. You want a higher protein than all purpose or 00 but lower than high gluten flour.
69% hydration. The high hydration combined with the flour allows it to stretch really easily and stay really thin and crispy.
2.5% salt
2% oil.
I did a 12 hour poolish using .4% active dry yeast.
Mix the dough in a regular stand mixer. I usually use a spiral mixer. But I wanted the texture that I get from a stand mixer instead.
20 minute bench rest, 48 hour cold ferment. 90 minutes to reach room temperature.
Dust heavily with bread flour and just pat it out. You don't need fancy stretching, don't bother trying to get it a perfect circle. It's just not needed. Watch some videos of the people at Frank Pepe's making it. Once it's patted out to almost full size, pick it up and transfer to the peel. It'll stretch more when you pick it up. Top with sauce made from Italian tomatoes, low moisture mozzarella, bake at 600 F for about 8 minutes.

jonlabo · « **Reply #3 on:** June 15, 2020, 11:30:34 AM »

Wow... pie looks great. Will definitely be trying your recipe this week. Have never made a pizza with that high of a hydration %. Any sauce tips? I have been struggling with getting brightness out of my sauce.

pizzaguy24601 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 15, 2020, 11:39:29 AM »

Pepe's uses Italian tomatoes which they sell right out of their restaurant! I'm not too close to them. So I just used San Marzano DOP tomatoes. Run the tomatoes through a food mill or hand crush them if you like yours chunkier, mix with 1% fine sea salt, 1% olive oil, and a handful of chopped fresh basil. I'm honestly not sure how authentic to their recipe that is. There wasn't much info online about it so I was playing mostly by memory. But it tasted pretty much like I remember it!

scott r · « **Reply #5 on:** June 15, 2020, 11:45:20 AM »

Pepe's is one of the easiest sauces to copy. Buy a good Italian tomato an do nothing to it an you are there! They use a lot of romano on the pizza and a lot of salt in the crust, so I believe the people that have told me that they literally open a can, puree it and that is it.

scott r · « **Reply #6 on:** June 15, 2020, 11:52:20 AM »

pizzaguy24601 Pepes recently switched tomatoes, but for at least 10 years they were using the Italian tomatoes that have a can code on top that says ROA1. There are a number of brands that buy this tomato and put their labels on them, a few small regional brands, but the two larger companies that sell the same tomato are Cento and Sclafani. Make sure you look at all the cans of "Italian whole peeled tomatoes" in your grocery store for that ROA1 code and you will probably find them.

pizzaguy24601 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 15, 2020, 11:55:04 AM »

Thank you Scott! I had no idea!
I ate there for the first time pretty recently. So I probably tried their new tomatoes.

scott r · « **Reply #8 on:** June 15, 2020, 12:25:01 PM »

The new ones taste VERY similar.

jonlabo · « **Reply #9 on:** June 15, 2020, 01:39:46 PM »

So funny you say Cento and Sclafani.. I have a can of each right in front of me... I don't see the ROA1 stamp. I do live in San Francisco, so its possible they are processed somewhere else, hence a different code.

Jon in Albany · « **Reply #10 on:** June 15, 2020, 01:51:06 PM »

Quote from: jonlabo on June 15, 2020, 01:39:46 PM

So funny you say Cento and Sclafani.. I have a can of each right in front of me... I don't see the ROA1 stamp. I do live in San Francisco, so its possible they are processed somewhere else, hence a different code.

Both companies put out a lot of tomato products. I dont think all of them have the ROA 1 on them. But I am also on the east coast, so I could be wrong.

jvp123 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 15, 2020, 02:18:35 PM »

Thanks for the tomatoes info - I never knew that. Awesome looking pizza!

jonlabo · « **Reply #12 on:** June 15, 2020, 02:39:38 PM »

Thanks!

You can see mine is totally different... even the font on the top:

deb415611 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 15, 2020, 03:20:28 PM »

Quote from: jonlabo on June 15, 2020, 02:39:38 PM

Thanks!

You can see mine is totally different... even the font on the top:

Those are different than the can Jon posted. His were the 35 oz Italian tomato and yours are the 28oz San Marzano

jonlabo · « **Reply #14 on:** June 15, 2020, 03:34:48 PM »

ah... got it.. thanks!

scott r · « **Reply #15 on:** June 15, 2020, 10:07:16 PM »

Jon is correct. Both Sclafani and Cento have many whole peeled tomato products...only 1 from each brand are the roa1 code tomatoes that Pepe's used for so many years. I have found them on both coasts, so im assuming they have nationwide distribution.

One thing that sets these apart from most of the other Italian offerings are that they are in a heavy puree. I only know of one other brand that packs the whole peeled tomatoes in such thick puree and its Ciao. There is also one California whole peeled tomato I have found packed that thick and its Valoroso. Its nice because it won't make your pizza watery even with a fast bake or lots of sauce, but the downside is that it has a bit more of a "cooked" flavor and a bit less freshness than a tomato packed in thinner puree. Its all part of the Pepe's flavor profile, which is clearly a winner if you look at how many pizzas they sell!

HansB · « **Reply #16 on:** June 15, 2020, 10:37:26 PM »

Quote from: scott r on June 15, 2020, 11:45:20 AM

Pepe's is one of the easiest sauces to copy. Buy a good Italian tomato an do nothing to it an you are there! They use a lot of romano on the pizza and a lot of salt in the crust, so I believe the people that have told me that they literally open a can, puree it and that is it.

Interesting, that may be more popular than we think. Derrick Tung, Logan square, just mentioned in a webinar that he uses 7/11's straight from the can, nothing added.

nickyr · « **Reply #17 on:** June 15, 2020, 11:08:08 PM »

Quote from: pizzaguy24601 on June 11, 2020, 01:33:13 PM

I just wanted to thank everyone in this forum for all the info on New Haven Apizza making! I was finally able to make this greatly thanks to this forum.
Would love any feedback that you might have! Always looking to improve.

Gorgeous!!!

tetontrees · « **Reply #18 on:** June 15, 2020, 11:24:16 PM »

Quote from: HansB on June 15, 2020, 10:37:26 PM

Interesting, that may be more popular than we think. Derrick Tung, Logan square, just mentioned in a webinar that he uses 7/11's straight from the can, nothing added.

AND he is applying those post bake straight from the can.

vincentoc13 · « **Reply #19 on:** June 16, 2020, 12:03:07 AM »

Quote from: pizzaguy24601 on June 11, 2020, 11:45:39 PM

Thank you so much! Here are the details. Let me know if anything confuses you.

Use bread flour. You want a higher protein than all purpose or 00 but lower than high gluten flour.
69% hydration. The high hydration combined with the flour allows it to stretch really easily and stay really thin and crispy.
2.5% salt
2% oil.
I did a 12 hour poolish using .4% active dry yeast.
Mix the dough in a regular stand mixer. I usually use a spiral mixer. But I wanted the texture that I get from a stand mixer instead.
20 minute bench rest, 48 hour cold ferment. 90 minutes to reach room temperature.
Dust heavily with bread flour and just pat it out. You don't need fancy stretching, don't bother trying to get it a perfect circle. It's just not needed. Watch some videos of the people at Frank Pepe's making it. Once it's patted out to almost full size, pick it up and transfer to the peel. It'll stretch more when you pick it up. Top with sauce made from Italian tomatoes, low moisture mozzarella, bake at 600 F for about 8 minutes.

Now that looks excellent! what type of oven are you using?