Michigan WFO

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

Thanks, everyone. Yeah, I'm usually that idiot who's out shoveling snow in shorts! Like I said, I'm a born Michigander. I don't know how you guys down south can take all that heat!

[Bandrasco]

Re: Michigan WFO

Congratulations Mike!

What a pizza! I noticed that everyone is in jackets but the chef or should I say the Pizzaiola is in short sleeves . Lots of radiant heat coming out of that beauty eh?

I'm about a week away from my first pizza attempt... Can't wait!

Great job!

[staestc]

Re: Michigan WFO

Way to go Mike! It just looks wonderful
Travis

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

Thanks, everyone, for the comments. It was great fun, and the pizza was awesome.

I've been away from the forum since then. The kids spilled a drink and fried the laptop. I've been away from email, the web, and this forum for what seems like a very long time (although it was only about a week).

FB66, I tried to make my first pies as authentic and pure as possible. I used the Caputo 00 flour, 63% hydration. I followed the directions posted on this forum. The sauce was purely crushed tomatoes, strained. I made the dough rounds, sauced them sparingly, pieces of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and a swirl of good olive oil. I love the simplicity of this tremendous pizza. Once I know what I'm doing, I'll expand.

Now I have a lot of catching up to do!!!

[mannextdoor]

Re: Michigan WFO

I am envious. I don’t think I will have the time to cook anything soon. I won’t be until after the first of the year. Maybe even spring. Looks great.

[fullback66]

Re: Michigan WFO

Mike,
I need your recipe for the dough and sauce. It looks awesome. The nice thing about Michgan is there enough trees to keep you supplied for a long time. I am always picking up fallen branches or cut logs for my buddies oven or fireplace.

What kind of wood are you burning?
fb66

[peter]

Re: Michigan WFO

The moment you actually cook a pizza is tremendously rewarding. After investing a vast amount of time and not an insignificant amount of money, the pay off day is when you pull that golden brown crust from the oven. ENJOY!

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Michigan WFO

I'm looking at pictures of you in short sleeves with snow on the ground but seeing the great pizza, wine, friends and family makes me feel all warm inside. Thanks for sharing it Mike.
-Dean

[Derocherconstruction]

Re: Michigan WFO

Great pics Mike, Best pizza you ever had right? We say that with every pizza, and it's true, never a bad one. Congrats! Jim

[Frances]

Re: Michigan WFO

Thank you for posting all those pics. It looks as if you had great fun!

It also looks as if your pizza ordering days are over... right?

[Les]

Re: Michigan WFO

Awesome Mike! It's great to put a face to the emails. Nice job and it looks like it is enjoyed by all. Except the little dude(dudette) in orange - I'm thinking he wants pizza...

Les..

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

Waiting for the first pizza. Yep, that's me in short sleeves in below freezing weather. Hey, I was born and raised in Michigan, what can I say?



Here it is, the first pizza! I love the steam coming off of this one.



This made it all worth it!

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

Here goes the first pizzas!!! I followed the Caputo 00 recipe, 1 kg batch, 65% hydration. Beautiful dough to work with.

Started with classic tomato, basil, mozz.



The fire died down after I moved it over, but I had no more wood readily available (man I went through a boat load of stuff to cure this oven!)

Suboptimal, yet still awesome.

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

I did fire it up today, Jim. It took a while, but the dome did go white. Well, mostly white. I had a limited supply of good, dry wood. Most of what I burned was hardwood scraps (cut offs of oak and walnut from a wood worker). I have quite a bit of apple wood and oak, but it's not dry enough. The dome seemed to start going white at 900 degrees. It got white most of the way down, but I was running low in wood, so I pushed ahead with the cooking.

Here's some photos for those that love fire.



The dome just starting to go white:



Here you can see the soot is mostly burned off when I moved the fire over to the side.

[Derocherconstruction]

Re: Michigan WFO

Did you fire it up today and get the dome to go white Mike? You are probably so close at 750 degrees. Once the temp is high enough it takes about 30 minutes for most of the dome to go white, top to bottom. When I make pizza I let the dome go white and then just keep feeding the oven for a while, no rush, have another vino! Once everything is ready temperature wise it's easy to stall till everyone has arrived, a game of Bocci maybe, etc, etc. We sometimes cook 5 or 6 pizzas, spread the coals out on the hearth and eat, and then start over, that way you start with a real hot cooking surface again, hearth temp of 750 to 800F or so. Keep the fire going, maybe another round in a half hour or so...The cold weather makes it more of a challenge, but here in Michigan now we have no choice! Jim