Apizza Scholls - Portland

[texassourdough]

I went to Apizza Scholls on Saturday night thinking it was a WFO pizzaria. While it is not, I am poking it up on this site for the pie I had was simply the closest to WFO that I have had from a deck oven.

First, the dough is a 24 hour dough. Fabualously developed (probably based on IDY using old dough). Superbly light and airy. The cornicione was divine! Crust flavor was very clean (IDY???) and not as wheaty as most, but with an awesome crunch with a soft interior. Gorgous pie bottom - about 30 to 40% browned spots. Toppings are very good and the pies were very well done. Probably the most perfectly baked pie I have had - ever!

The key I think is that the deck oven is kept at 700 degrees (per interviews). While not a WFO pizzaria, I would strongly recommend visiting Apizza Scholls if you are in Portland!
Jay

[deejayoh]

Re: Apizza Scholls - Portland

I love that place! I go there every time I am in portland. The Bacon Bianca is a favorite. I make it in my WFO all the time.

If you are still around portland, you might want to check out this guy's blog

http://thisispizza.blogspot.com/

[scott123]

Re: Apizza Scholls - Portland

First, the dough is a 24 hour dough. Fabualously developed (probably based on IDY using old dough). Superbly light and airy. The cornicione was divine! Crust flavor was very clean (IDY???)

It's definitely IDY/not old dough:

How to get rid of the water

I'm probably splitting hairs here, but calling this a '24 hour dough' might be a bit of a stretch. 20% of the flour is seeing 19-24 total hours of fermentation (13 of which are in a poolish), but the other 80% is only getting 4 hours bulk, 2-7 hours balled.

How to get rid of the water

With the 100% hydration pre-ferment and bulk, you're developing a decent amount of flavor, so maybe this might be comparable to a traditional straight mix, immediately balled 24 hour dough, but if 80% of a dough is same day, I'm not really sure I'd call it a '24 hour dough.'


On a separate note, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Very few people understand this, but NY style, when done well (in a hot oven, with fast bake times) more than stands it's own against WFO pies. The problem is that the number of American NY style pizzeria owners that understand this can be counted on one hand. Even in the Mecca of this style pizza, New York, where hot ovens used to be commonplace, it's pretty much all been adulterated/chainified.

Imagine a time and a place were you were able to get the pizza you had on Saturday just about anywhere in your area, and, 20 years later, you can only find it at two out a couple thousand places, one of which is a 30 minute drive, and the other, 2 hours. That's my life.

[texassourdough]

Re: Apizza Scholls - Portland

Thanks, Scott!

The texture of the dough seemed consistent with my experience with 24 hour dough but the flavor was.....light. Your comments make sense and I appreciate them. Still, the crust had a beautiful cornicione and lovely surface crunch. The interior was fully cooked and still moist but not doughy. I was really impressed by that. Also interesting to see what a really hot deck oven can do since most are operated closer to 500-550 degrees. I usually keep my hearth in the 750 range and this was shockingly similar. Really worth trying when in Portland!

Thansk! (And who do you recommend in a 2 hour radius of Northern NJ???)
Jay

[scott123]

Re: Apizza Scholls - Portland

Jay, there's plenty of solid Neapolitan places in the NY metro area, of course, but when it comes to something Apizza Scholls-ish, there's Pizza Town in Elmwood Park, NJ and New Park Pizza in Jamaica, NY.

[texassourdough]

Re: Apizza Scholls - Portland

I will be in NYC next month. Probably won't go far from the city but I do plan to hit Di Fara to have a slice of his famous pie! Thanks for the recommendations!