Norma,
First of all, please note that I based my observations on my particular crust (cracker). Having said that, of course one will need a specific flour when he gets into Neapolitan, and maybe a particular flour for say a Pan pizza....but, for the rest, can one really tell the difference? How many stinking variables are there to contend with?..hundreds? And just what dough procedure does one use...does it change with the flours, does it change with the temperature or humidity. I'll tell you, I've gone the whole course of dough procedures....I've gone so far as to try and figure the exact correct hydration based on the different lot numbers on flours. That is how much I wanted to make a consistent product time after time after time. I've also taken the time to sit and watch my dough mix, minute after minute, until it finally formed a ball..and tried to incorporate this into a process creating consistency. So, can you imagine then interchanging flours with this mess and trying to determine which is best. It was only after standardizing the whole process, the same process time after time after time....even, when the flours were obviously changing, that we were able to eliminate inconsistencies in a dough which frankly is very hard to do consistently good. Of course, the observation of baking hundreds and hundreds of pizzas by a couple brothers who really think about what they are doing, is a real life test most don't have the luxery of experiencing...but it's how you learn. This is the way we learned how different flours command the thermostat in our oven.
As far as deck oven vs home oven...i can only comment on my experiences. My oven can get up to 610 degrees some days, and by using quarry tiles on the very top rack, my pizzas at home are every bit as good as in my deck...so, I must be lucky to have an oven that gets so hot...though I rarely use it above 580.
Later Norma
john
John,
I have noted that your observations were for a particular crust (cracker). I know different types of pizzas could need different flours to be successfully executed.
Wow, I can’t believe all you have gone though to be able to make you product consistent time after time. I can understand you have put in a lot of time and hard work understanding about all the variables that can go into making your dough and final pizzas. To do what you have done in nailing the inconsistencies in flours, mixing process, methods used, and baking your pizzas is mind blowing. I appreciate how you shared how you and your brother learned all of this. I can only imagine how much hard work you and your brother have put into all what goes into making your pizzas. Having the advantage of baking hundreds and hundreds of pizza also has its advantages.
Thanks for the comments about your home oven versus a deck oven.
I am only beginning to learn all that can go into making a better pizza. I try to watch what happens week after week, and although I really don’t have any real conclusions, know that a better pizza can be produced but really don’t understand what I need to do to produce the better pizza. I think is it the flour, the mix time, the final dough temperature, the amount of IDY, (or other yeasts that might be used) how my deck oven works in temperatures and bake times, and so many other variables that can go into making just this dough, how am I ever going to be able to understand what really to change. I have noticed when making a preferment for one pizza it will be different than making the preferment in a larger amount, and even the resulting pizzas will be different. I might not ever know what I can change, but try to understand.
Thanks for posting all what you have done to make your pizzas better. I appreciate all your knowledge!
Hopefully, someday I will take my pizzas at market up a notch.
Norma
