Pizza 101

AZRP

Made a couple pies last night, thought I'd share my technique. First combine 2 cups of high gluten flour or bread flour with 1/2 t salt, 4 t sugar, 1 t instant yeast, 1 t olive oil, and 3/4 cup of warm water. Knead in a stand mixer on low speed for 15 minutes.



Spray some Pam in a ziplock and shape the dough into a ball and put into the bag. Fold the bag so the dough is sitting on the zipper and let rise for about an hour until doubled in size.





Punch the dough down and put it into the fridge for at least 6 hours, over night is even better. Saute some onion and garlic until soft and deglaze with white wine, then add chile flakes, dried oregano, salt, pepper, and canned tomato sauce. Simmer uncovered for a couple hours then add some torn fresh basil leaves.



Grate some whole milk mozzarella, don't skimp with this.



Get your Egg stable at 500 degrees. Roll the dough out to the size you want, I use the Air Bake pans from Target instead of a stone.



Add sauce and cheese as well as any toppings. This is the setup I use, plate setter legs up, main grid, and extended grid. Pie cooked for 15 minutes, rotating 180 degrees at 8 minutes.



Then enjoy! -RP

egret

Looks good, Randy! Ummmmmm....where did those olive slices magically appear from? :woohoo:

Fidel

The same place as those artichokes.

Very nicely done Randy - good tutorial.

No if only I can get my sourdough sponge to cooperate today maybe I can post some pics tonight.....

egret

Not to mention the missing pepperoni!? :ohmy: You having any problems with the starter?

Zippylip

That looks excellent, do you get a better flavor on the crust with the overnight rest in the refrigerator, or a different texture (or both)?

Fidel

Not to hijack Randy's thread, but the last time I tried I got no rise. I put the unused starter in the fridge and got a nice thick layer of hooch, so I know it is alive and well.

I have been feeding it like crazy the past couple days and will make a new sponge today and see what happens. After 6-8 hours the fed starter is bubbling, so I think it is doing what it is supposed to.

Ross in Ventura

Great looking Pie Randy, and thanks for the information.
Ross

Chef in the Making

Randy

they cetainly look great.

egret

It sounds like it's perkin'. Last time I did sourdough I skipped the overnight in the refrig. step and baked the same day. It turned out fine...mentioning this just in case you didn't want to wait until tomorrow to bake on one or more loaves.

ILL--EGGER

Great pizza lesson and one I will be sure to tryout myself. Thanks for shareing!

AZRP

Better flavor. -RP

BENTE

very nice randy!!!!!


i need to get back in to some pizza making!!! last ones i did were french bread

Clay Q

Excellent job with pizza's. :woohoo:
I'm with you on the pizza pans. I use perforated ones.
Haven't done pizza in a long time but I talk about makin them but that's as far as I get. Your pizza has built a fire under me to make some.

We are going on vacation leaving Monday...of all places, to Northern Minnesota and will be staying in a log cabin surrounded by hungry wolves in a remote back region called the Sawtooth Mountains. Temps will be in the freeze-yo-butt minus 20's. Scary place, and I love it. Anyway, my cousin and her husband will be with us and we have a pizza throwdown on one evening. It's a lota fun and I make my dough from scratch but this time I'll make the sauce. I hope to win and also survive to talk about it.
ClayQ, Mountain Man and Pizza Chef.

Smokus Maximus

Thank you - I bookmarked this thread and plan to try this while my parents are in town next week.

reelgem

Great tutorial and pictures Randy! That pizza looks fantastic. I love the sauce you did. Any houses for sale in your neighborhood?

Have you ever done your pizza dough in a bread machine? Was thinking of trying that. I have a bread machine but have never made pizza dough in it.

One other ?.....why an airbake pan instead of a pizza stone?

Thanks for the great post!

AZRP

Hey Clay, I didn't know they had any mountains in MN. -RP

AZRP

Howdy Anne, Yes there are a number of houses for sale in the hood.

No, I make all my breads, doughs, and pasta with the stand mixer.

The Air Bake gives a nice crust and I don't have to worry about the pie sticking to the peel. -RP

jake42

Looks Great!!
You guys are a lot more talented than me. The best I can come up with besides frozen D'Giorno is to through a lot of stuff on top of some Boboli bread.

Clay Q

Along the North Shore of Lake Superior, not really Mts. but rock ridges forms an escarpment of sorts. Mostly basaltic and granite rock upheavals. Iron ore country.
Last year we was up there wolf tracks all around the cabin in an area called Sawtooth Mts. If I'm not back by next week call out the dogs. :ohmy:

EGC

I've gotta get better at pizza. Great cook! Thanks for the walk through.

Unknown

Thanks for the most complete "how to" I've yet seen. Been wanting to give it a try. Thanks to you I feel confident to give it a try.

AZRP

You're welcome, if you have any more questions, give a shout here. -RP

Jeffersonian

Excellent tutorial, Randy. I've yet to try pizza on my Egg, but this thread's now bookmarked for my first try.

momcooks

They look really good. I need to break down and try a pizza sometime soon. Maybe spring.

Unknown

I've read that you shouldn't cook your pizza sauce before placing on your dough. The logic is that the canned tomato sauce has been cooked once before it is canned, then if you cook it again on the stove thats the 2nd cook, and then when you put it on the pizza you cook it a 3rd time while in the egg. In other words think about food that is cooked fresh compared to reheated food.

Other than that -- Awesome pizza primer. Keep em coming.

Bordello

Great post Randy, very nice totorial. Your set up is not the norm but it sure works for you. I've not tried pizza yet but ya got me thinking.

Have to wait to get home from Fl. first.


Regards,
Bordello

N'awlins

Thanks AZRP - I have been thinking about doing a pizza on the egg for a while now. With your "101" post I'll be on my way - I appreciate the "kick start"!!