The Gear Forum Home Pizza Thread

I set my electric range to 550F and preheat the stone on the TOP shelf for a minimum of 30 minutes. Half of a pound of dough for a 12 inch pie. Stretched/tossed, not rolled.

Sauce and top it. Slip it off the peel onto the stone, reduce heat to 500 and in about 12 minutes, fresh pizza. We're talking NY/Jersey style thin crust.

Mines still not exactly like a good pizzeria, but I'm getting DAMN close.

If you haven't already, do yourselves a favor and make a stuffed crust. Stretch the dough about 3 inches more, throw in solid/non shredded cheese, wrap and press the seam. Add the sauce and the rest and cook as above. :chef

Don't be afraid to mix in some extra sharp provolone for the topping. :love I use maybe 30 to 40 percent.

This is a great thread, gonna have to try some of these ideas. Thanks! :beer
 
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I made a much better pizza last night, mixed up just about everything:
  • Fried up thin sausage patties then chopped into a fine crumble, so it was evenly dispersed across the pizza
  • Pre-heated a 12 inch cast iron skillet while the oven heated up to 500, then added a bit of butter and olive oil to the pan
  • Rolled out the pizza crust fairly thin, then added to the pan making a nice crust edge (almost like a deep dish pie)
  • Brushed a bit of olive oil on the crust and par baked for a few minutes (should have gone longer here)
  • Added the cheese first, then drizzled a little sauce on top, then the sausage, then a little more cheese (again almost like a deep dish)
  • Topped with some pizza seasoning and Italian spice blend and baked for about 15 minutes (for some reason it's taking a long time)
  • Let the pizza cool, then sliced and topped with pepper flakes and grated parmesan
Much better flavor and texture, although the crust still was a little undercooked in the middle. But it was crispy on the outside, not soggy on the top, everyone liked it a lot more.

Next time around I'm going to make a true deep dish crust which I haven't tried before, but looks fairly easy and awesome. Lots of butter and cornmeal for almost a flaky pie crust. Then lots of cheese, a thick crushed (almost chopped) tomato sauce, and sausage.
 
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Grabbed this, a Kitchen-Aid Mixer, and a Digital Scale to up my in-house Pizza game. :banana
 
Much like good guitar tone, where everything matters, and there are no extraneous
links in the chain, I am finding the same with a well-crafted Pizza. It only took me about
2 to 3 years of weekly pizza-making to realize I had to stop cutting corners on ingredients,
stop trying to rush the process, and do it like the best in the world do it.

May just be getting the hang of this thing.

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la szum said:
Much like good guitar tone, where everything matters, and there are no extraneous
links in the chain, I am finding the same with a well-crafted Pizza. It only took me about
2 to 3 years of weekly pizza-making to realize I had to stop cutting corners on ingredients,
stop trying to rush the process, and do it like the best in the world do it.

May just be getting the hang of this thing.

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Click to expand...

Thats nice. I used to have to do about 100 of those a week when I worked in a pizza shop as a young man. Took me awhile to get mine that good. That place was called Capri Pizza and to this day was the best "pizza joint" pizza I've ever had. I think the secret was fennel seed if you ask me. The right amount of sugar helped too.
 
Not home pizza related but...

I won a year of free pizza from a local pizza place over the weekend. They have these "pull tabs" where you can win a free pizza, or salad, or soda, or gift card. Well my kid said "hey won free pizza" and it was the grand prize! Not sure what it means specifically (like literally free pizza for a year or a big gift card or something).

Then, I picked up the 30 pizzas that we ordered through my son's hockey team, which we're required to purchase every year.

So there's a LOT of non-homemade pizza in my future...
 
tekbow said:
Pushing my luck with another culinary enthusiast type thread.

Anyone else make their own pizza?

I enjoy it, started last year and am starting to get moderately good results. I make my own fermented dough, and use a Ooni Karu 12 multifuel oven, usually with coal to provide the main heat and then wood just before the pizza goes in to get that rolling flame.

Hardest part to learn (for me) was the knack of getting it on/off the peel. Now I only lose one in every 6 pizzas 🤣

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Bought this exact Ooni a few months ago on sale. I’m excited to read through this thread for tips and tricks. Between winter setting in and a 1.5 year old I’ve yet to get the thing fired up :bag Looking forward to recreating some of the amazing pizzas we had while on vacation in Italy right before COVID.
 
Jarick said:
Not home pizza related but...

I won a year of free pizza from a local pizza place over the weekend. They have these "pull tabs" where you can win a free pizza, or salad, or soda, or gift card. Well my kid said "hey won free pizza" and it was the grand prize! Not sure what it means specifically (like literally free pizza for a year or a big gift card or something).

Then, I picked up the 30 pizzas that we ordered through my son's hockey team, which we're required to purchase every year.

So there's a LOT of non-homemade pizza in my future...
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Cool man! I'm curious if it's a pizza a week or month. Let us know.
 
Man, my dough game has never been better. After trying all the shortcuts I have
come to realize that there are none.

Biggest lessons.

1) Make a starter, like a poolish, a day ahead of time of making your actual dough.
2) You can't cheat on the refrigerated 48 hour proof. That slow ferment for the yeast is crucial
3) Pre-heating the oven for up to an hour and making sure your Stone/Bricks are hot if you use them.

I am moving next to my Sauce game. That still needs some work. Not messing with the Dough anymore.
That is solid when I never thought I'd get close.
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@la szum I have come to the same conclusions concerning the dough.

That's a super delicious looking pizza by the way.

My sauce secret is... well not so secret; I've mentioned it here before - don't cook the sauce. For some reason, a lot of people think that you should cook up a tomato sauce. IMO, that ruins the sauce and is unnecessary work. It should use fresh San Marzano tomaotes, garlic, salt and olive oil.
 
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la szum said:
1) Make a starter, like a poolish, a day ahead of time of making your actual dough.
2) You can't cheat on the refrigerated 48 hour proof. That slow ferment for the yeast is crucial
3) Pre-heating the oven for up to an hour and making sure your Stone/Bricks are hot if you use them.
Click to expand...

Every bit these. I skip (3) for the "daily" kinda pizza thing, though, takes too long and is quite some "waste" of energy IMO.
As far as (1) and (2) go, I just got used to keeping a lump of dough in the fridge, can sit there untouched for 3-5 days and literally for ages in case you constantly use it and fill it up. That way, it only takes a little "refreshment" sort of like 1-2 hours in advance of the baking action. Also makes up for a nice "pan pita" dough, which the kids love.
 
la szum said:
In honor of the Forum entrance exam, I felt obligated to toss some pickles on a pie tonight.
Leftover Brisket, Mozz and White Cheddar, Sweet Onion, and some Hamburger Dills thrown on
after baking.

Yup. I'd do it again, too. :chef


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Underrated ingredient for sure!

We have a pizza chain here in Finland that does a pizza called "the hangover" and they had pickles on the pizza - like the proper Finnish/Russian style ones that are fairly salty. It's a really good ingredient that I haven't seen anywhere else on pizza for some reason.
 
jellodog said:
@la szum I have come to the same conclusions concerning the dough.

That's a super delicious looking pizza by the way.

My sauce secret is... well not so secret; I've mentioned it here before - don't cook the sauce. For some reason, a lot of people think that you should cook up a tomato sauce. IMO, that ruins the sauce and is unnecessary work. It should use fresh San Marzano tomaotes, garlic, salt and olive oil.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's what I have been trying--- a no cook sauce---and I am not sure it is the best I can do. I even
bought those San Marzano Canned Tomatoes and crushed them up by hand. How artisanal can a guy get? :LOL:

I had done a cooked sauce before that I enjoyed a bit better, but I can't remember what it was. Really need
to go back to the Lab on the Sauce front.
 
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