A long time coming.....finally mastering the pizza....

northGAcock

.......Please indulge me while I ramble a bit, a couple of questions for you when finished. My pizza cooking history has experienced many ups and downs. I have had crappy pizza that looked great, and good looking pizza that tasted like my dogs favorite chew toy. I have used Publix and several other pre-made dough's.....and several previous attempts made with 00 flour. I have made some excellent deep dish pies, but have not reached my desired level on the thin crust traditional za. I have finally brought it all together.

I don't post as many pictures as I did starting out roughly 7 months ago. I just want to say to the folks getting started, it takes a lot of trial and error with some cooks. Invest the time to read this sight, ask questions and apply what you learn. Be patient with the pizza cook, you will get better with each effort/ At times you may go backwards. I had a stone break up as one pizza was being transferred to the stone. Stay the course....there is much joy to be had. I would like to thank those of you who post your success and failures as we all learn from both. 

My pie crust tonight was made with 00 flour, salt, yeast and warm water. The pie was topped with Chix Italian sausage, mushrooms, sliced maters and some fresh garlic. I cooked on my medium at 550 for about 8-9 mins. I may be a bit biased, but this pie looked and tasted outstanding.
Now for a couple of questions........ (1) my recipe for the dough made enough for two medium size pizzas. I used half, and froze the other. Have any of you had success with freezing 00 Pizza dough? (2) My experience with the 00 finds it to be difficult to mix by hand as the elastic nature adheres to my fingers, resulting in some lost yield. Any tricks or experiences with dealing with this problem?

Again thanks to you all; you are all valued resources. I feel I have accomplished something with one of my favorite foods. I am done now. Have a great evening.

GATraveller

I don't have enough experience with OO flour to answer your questions but I do know that if it tasted half as good as it looked you ate extremely well last night. Good work and thanks for sharing.  

SmokeyPitt

I also can't answer the question but just have to say that pie looks bangin.  The cheese running down in the second picture at the 5:00 position excites me more than it should. 

bgebrent

Looks like a great pie!!  You can freeze the dough but let it sit out 2-3 hours before making your pie.  As far as stickiness, either oil or frequent flour on your hands.  Again, great lookin pizza!!

Jupiter Jim

Congrats on an AWESOME pizza, I also can't answer the question because my pizza crust is from the tube at the grocery store! but a Stellar pizza for sure.......................:o

Jeremiah

That is some good looking pizza there. 

Dyal_SC

Looks crazy good!  Nicely done!

NPHuskerFL

Good dialog and fantastic pie. Nice!

theyolksonyou

Nice post, nice pie. I'm all over the place with za. 

TTC

Great job

tailg8ers

Great looking pizza- still haven't tried one yet- getting inspired though!! 

tarheelmatt

No experience here with OO flour either, but appears your doing a great job though!  

4Runner

@northGAcock - great looking pie!   I found this site very helpful.  I see a pizza cook coming my way soon. 

It's a long read but well worth it.  

http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

Tinyfish

When you make your dough do yo go by hydration and measure by weight.  This I find is the best way.

I use a 65% hydration which is sticky but I let my KitchenAid do most the mixing. You can start at a lower hydration and as you get better at making dough add more water.  When it comes to hand kneading I just use flour as needed. I would not oil my hands since the extra oil may burn the pizza dough when cooking but I cook my pizza's in a wood fired pizza oven at 800f to 900f so the oil is a bad thing at 550f oil may be fine in which case it would work great on your hands.

RRP

Great pizza is a destination and the journey is hilly! You never mentioned any cheese(s) you used and your za looked like it had some. I keep tweaking mine and our preferences are a combination of mozzarella, Romoano and Asiago. My last pizza was also my first use of 00 and while the taste was there the texture difference was a new challenge. I still prefer a thinner crust and yes I resort to using a rolling pin to achieve it. Otherwise we throw away the big billowing shoulders. 

northGAcock

Tinyfish said:

I use a 65% hydration which is sticky but I let my KitchenAid do most the mixing.

First thanks for the tips.....Do you use a dough hook with the KitchenAid?

northGAcock

RRP said:

Great pizza is a destination and the journey is hilly! You never mentioned any cheese(s) you used and your za looked like it had some. I keep tweaking mine and our preferences are a combination of mozzarella, Romoano and Asiago. My last pizza was also my first use of 00 and while the taste was there the texture difference was a new challenge. I still prefer a thinner crust and yes I resort to using a rolling pin to achieve it. Otherwise we throw away the big billowing shoulders. 

RRP....I used a low mosture Mozz with some hand grated parmesian cheese. I have not ventured far from that as yet......but there is the future. I have found that there is a learning curve with the 00. Thanks for the tip.

4Runner

northGAcock said:

Tinyfish said:

I use a 65% hydration which is sticky but I let my KitchenAid do most the mixing.

First thanks for the tips.....Do you use a dough hook with the KitchenAid?

I do.  

Tinyfish

@northGAcock
yes I use a dough hook and a strong KitchenAid mixer 1.2HP motor and 7qt or 8qt bowl can't recall the exact size. I make ultra thin crust pizza appox 8-9 oz dough per pizza.

RRP

northGAcock said:

RRP....I used a low mosture Mozz with some hand grated parmesian cheese. I have not ventured far from that as yet......but there is the future. I have found that there is a learning curve with the 00. Thanks for the tip.

Low moisture sounds like Kraft grated maybe? I find that Murray brand is much more tasty when I'm too lazy to make my own like this one. Talk about a rip roaring difference!!!

BIll-W221

That's a great looking pie !!!!

Cookbook_Chip

Atta boy!  I'm finding about 550F works for a lot of things - especially pizza.  That looks yummy!

blind99

great looking pie! I'm not a pizza guru but I routinely make my own dough.  to be honest I don't find a difference in handling 00 dough vs AP.  I have made 65% hydration doughs with both.  I just give it a light dusting of flour, and my hands a light dusting of flour, and as they get kneaded and worked they both come together fine.  I don't typically freeze it but I have refrigerated both and they both come out great a few days later. 

sort of OT: I found a local store that carries multiple kinds of 00 flour, no more mail order!

YukonRon

If you do not serve that up to me when I visit, I will stay until you do. That is a promise!
just kidding (or am I?)
Great cook and congrats!!

blakeas

What was the setup of your Egg?  was that an AR in there?

bluebird66

Nailed it!

RiverRatSkier

If you are having an issue with the dough sticking to your hands while hand kneading, you can dip your hand in water before kneading.  A little tip I picked up from the book "flour, water, salt, yeast".  Good book for breads.

northGAcock

blakeas said:

What was the setup of your Egg?  was that an AR in there?

I had a plate setter legs down. I raised my stone 2 inches with some kiln shelf lifters. So roughly 2 inches above the felt line.

JohnnyTarheel

Great looking pie