How to Make Authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza in Two Hours or Less

jerryb78

I picked up the supplies to make this during the coming week. More to follow!

Desertegghead

Done and delish, i might add a touch more salt to the dough next time, but there will be a next time!

danv23

Desertegghead said:

Done and delish, i might add a touch more salt to the dough next time, but there will be a next time!

One thing I'd recommend for you is to remove the pie from the pan and place on a cooling rack for approx 10-15 min.  That will help stop the molten cheese flow.

jerryb78

I tried this tonight and the results were good. I stuck pretty close to the instructions and made a cheese and sausage pie. The crust came out perfect and it wasn't soupy at all, which was my primary concern with all of those tomatoes and the raw sausage. I made mine in the oven this time because the egg was occupied with shredded beef for tomorrow night. Next time I'll probably experient with different brands of sausage and cheese since the flavors of the toppings weren't quite perfect, but the overall technique is sound and I'm sure that the leftovers won't last long. Thanks for the tip!

stevethegreat

@jerryb78‌ looks great! What kind of pan? Steel/aluminim? If steel, where'd ya get it? I've been looking for a steel pan in our area

jerryb78

I used one of these and thought that it turned out a pretty good crust.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007P23W3S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

danv23

I have used one of these for years. Indestructible.

http://www.northernpizzaequipment.com/14stackablepan.html

Lit

Can a Texan please post a chopped pork vinegar based sauce recipe?

jerryb78

I'm in Chicago for work today so I decided to do some "research" by having a few slices from Lou Malnatis, which I consider to be my go to for deep dish. Pic attached. A few things I noticed in comparison to my own recent attempt: The crust was pretty close. Neither one has much salt to it. The sauce from the LM slice was definitely chunky with recognizable pieces of tomato. The LM sauce appeared to contain dried basil, not fresh. The LM sausage was a very mild variety. The one I used had a fairly pronounced fennel flavor to it. It seemed like there was more cheese in the LM slice than was called for in the recipe posted here. While the pizza I made was very acceptable, I'm going to go back to the drawing board with these notes and see if I can improve it a bit. I'll post again once I do.

stevethegreat

Yum! I know they sell frozen ones at their restaurants that you can bake...on the egg possibly?

Carolina Q

Here are some thoughts on the Chicago deep dish... http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2013/06/my-pie-monday-haggis-and-more-slideshow.html#show-330402 Page #17 in the slideshow is my pie. But you've already seen it. I am BGE Pizza on the Slice site. If you care to read through the comments, there are two Chicagoans who offer some good insight, cpd007 and Fredipusrex. Worth a read if you want to try to perfect your pie.

Smokinpig

I am trying this tonight just made the dough, seemed sort of dry. I have never made any pizza dough so this is a first for me. I am using a 10 inch cast iron lodge on the egg. Will post a finished pic if it measures up.

Smokinpig

So I failed to snap a pic. The crust worked out fine, I think I added to much sauce, I had a lot of moisture on top. I agree with @jerryb78‌ that the recipe does not have enough cheese. I will do this again with my lessons learned.

stemc33

Tried this recipe today. It's been on my to do list since the thread originally posted. Very easy. My crust looked similar to the pictures posted by other members. My wife liked it, but I'm not sold on it. Granted, I didn't use the sausage and I used cheapo pizza sauce. The toppings didn't bother me, it's the crust I'm not sure about. I felt that it was dry and had a weird texture when chewing it. I guess I was expecting something a little greasier and less crispy.

I followed the recipe exactly, except I used vegetable oil instead of corn oil. I know, I said exactly, well I should say almost exactly. I even used my ThermoPop to make sure the water was 110°. The dough set for exactly 1 hour and was approximately double in size. Cooked in a 10" CI skillet for about 30 minutes at 430°.

The ease of making this pizza is great. Nothing is hurry, hurry like a thin pizza. But nothing beats the taste of a thin pizza IMO. FWIW, I rarely eat deep dish pizza at the restaurants. We only have chain pizza places locally. With that said, I'm sure I'll make it in the future do to the fact my wife really liked it and it's a fun easy cook. Will this recipe still work if I paste the bottom of the CI pan with a 1/2 stick of butter prior to pressing the dough into the pan? Just thinking I could create a little greasier and less crispy crust.

danv23

If you want greasier, I'd break out the Crisco.

apfroggy0408

Not bge pizza related but chicago pizza related, check out Pequods in the north side. When I went up there a local told me to go there and only there.

Carolina Q

stemc33, glad one of you liked it! If you try it again, i think the corn oil makes a difference. And it's not really Chicago DD without sausage. Speaking of not being a Chicago pie. try the Serious Eats NY sauce recipe i linked to in the OP. Great stuff!!

Also, as I recall the recipe, bake temp is higher than 430. 475, I think. A bit longer cook too. And that's with my steel pan. I would think even longer with a CI pan that takes a while to heat up. Not sure about that though... never did one in CI.

stemc33

@Carolina Q‌ thanks for the info. I actually tried a modified version of the crust tonight with great results. Great results for my palate anyway. I used it for taco pizza. I always have problems with toppings on standard taco pizza, this worked swell and tasted superb. I posted pics on here
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1170338/today-delicious#latest

Carolina Q

Haven't done a DD in a while. Definitely trying this!!! Thanks!

Ladeback69

jerryb78 said:

I tried this tonight and the results were good. I stuck pretty close to the instructions and made a cheese and sausage pie. The crust came out perfect and it wasn't soupy at all, which was my primary concern with all of those tomatoes and the raw sausage. I made mine in the oven this time because the egg was occupied with shredded beef for tomorrow night. Next time I'll probably experient with different brands of sausage and cheese since the flavors of the toppings weren't quite perfect, but the overall technique is sound and I'm sure that the leftovers won't last long. Thanks for the tip!

@jerryb78 and @Carolina Q, I see you are using a pan, can I do the same method in the BGE deep dish stone and not have to cook the meat?  The BGE recipe is to cook the crust for 10 minutes then add the cheese and cooked sausage.  I kind of like doing it this way, but want to make sure it cooks through.  I am trying this tonight.

Carolina Q

I don't own a BGE deep dish stone so I don't really know. Do you have a cake pan? That's what I use and they turn out great. I don't pre-bake the crust and I use raw sausage. Good luck!

Dragonwmatches

I've done a few of these recently in a 12" cast iron skillet, and they've been great. Only issue has been if the crust split on the edge, but that only was an issue once. Low moisture mozzarella is a key, but raw sausage is definitely how to do it. The tomatoes/sauce is also important to the integrity - need to remove as much liquid as you can. I take a couple of the big restaurant cans of whole tomatoes and slow cook/stew the tomatoes into a sauce, using the initial liquid to reduce into a flavored thickener. But if doing deep dish, you need to either drain tomatoes well or use a thickened sauce. 

Ladeback69

@Carolina Q, and @Dragonwmatchesmatches, thanks for the advice.   I did see this before I did it so I went ahead and cooked the sausage like the BGE recipe.  It turned out good, but used to much dough and didn't get enough oil on part of the bottom and one side.   I couldn't get it out whole so I cut it in the pan.  Next time half the amount of dough and more pull on the pan.   Picturea will be posted later on the throw down thread. 

Carolina Q

Bump. Been seeing several pizza threads lately and thought this one deserved a bump. If you like Chicago deep dish, look no further. Under two hours, start to finish. No overnight refrigerator proofing. Quick, easy, delicious... Honest.

Focker

Carolina Q said:

Bump. Been seeing several pizza threads lately and thought this one deserved a bump. If you like Chicago deep dish, look no further. Under two hours, start to finish. No overnight refrigerator proofing. Quick, easy, delicious... Honest.

This is on the list, especially since scoring a stone deep dish baker.

As you could probably see, I can't get off of the Pizza Slut dough.  

I just struggle with Chicago casserole, as a whole.  But, it will get done.

Carolina Q

Focker said:

Carolina Q said:

Bump. Been seeing several pizza threads lately and thought this one deserved a bump. If you like Chicago deep dish, look no further. Under two hours, start to finish. No overnight refrigerator proofing. Quick, easy, delicious... Honest.

This is on the list, especially since scoring a stone deep dish baker.

As you could probably see, I can't get off of the Pizza Slut dough.  

I just struggle with Chicago casserole, as a whole.  But, it will get done.

I don't have one of those pans. I use a Chicago Metallic 9" cake pan from Home Goods. About $10.


This dough is nothing like pan pizza dough.

Hotch

Ok that's it.
On the short list!
Thanks!

northGAcock

Just saying that @Carolina Q is the pied piper of deep dish on this board. I have followed him many times, my most recent Halloween version. 

Carolina Q

Hotch said:

Ok that's it.
On the short list!
Thanks!

Just do it! With all that cheese and sausage, it's far from healthy... but it sure is good! Unless you're a NY pizza snob like my son. I like both.

Carolina Q

northGAcock said:

Just saying that @Carolina Q is the pied piper of deep dish on this board. I have followed him many times, my most recent Halloween version. 

I saw your post in the other thread. Knew it looked familiar. That's why I bumped this thread.