Yesterday was our first large party with our Artigiano. Made about 12 pizzas, very well received. The oven performed beautifully and was a big hit.
Oven:
* Did a "pre-heat" cycle in the morning, about 9 am, bringing it up to pizza temperature and letting it go out.
* Shoveled out coals about 2:30 pm (for a 4 pm party start) and started a new fire. WOW, did the fire take off with the hot oven as a starting point. Lesson learned -- probably could have started the main fire later (or not done the pre-heat earlier).
Dough:
* Made dough the day before, the Napolitano recipe from the Reinhart American Pie book (Tipo 00 flour, not Caputo, but a different brand).
* Dough rose overnight in the fridge. Took the dough out about 2 PM and made 6 balls out of each batch, keeping them in a rectangular plastic pan with lid. Lesson learned -- I like keeping the balls separate in plastic bags since they don't spread into each other and stick together.
Pizzas:
* Made 2 at a time, prepped pizzas on wood peels (easier to handle in the kitchen) and transferred onto the metal peels outside before loading. The floor stayed very hot, threw a new log on after each few pizza batches to keep the flame going.
Oven:
* Did a "pre-heat" cycle in the morning, about 9 am, bringing it up to pizza temperature and letting it go out.
* Shoveled out coals about 2:30 pm (for a 4 pm party start) and started a new fire. WOW, did the fire take off with the hot oven as a starting point. Lesson learned -- probably could have started the main fire later (or not done the pre-heat earlier).
Dough:
* Made dough the day before, the Napolitano recipe from the Reinhart American Pie book (Tipo 00 flour, not Caputo, but a different brand).
* Dough rose overnight in the fridge. Took the dough out about 2 PM and made 6 balls out of each batch, keeping them in a rectangular plastic pan with lid. Lesson learned -- I like keeping the balls separate in plastic bags since they don't spread into each other and stick together.
Pizzas:
* Made 2 at a time, prepped pizzas on wood peels (easier to handle in the kitchen) and transferred onto the metal peels outside before loading. The floor stayed very hot, threw a new log on after each few pizza batches to keep the flame going.
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