1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

[Tscarborough]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Make the dough, let it double at least for an hour, then ball it, and it can be immediately put in the fridge. The best dough is fermented in bulk for around 24-30 hours at room temp (68 degrees), then balled and fermented for another 6-24 hours, also at room temp. That will make pizza like the picture, which is not mine, but a Gentleman in Houston who has it figured out extremely well.

I normally let it double for an hour or 3, then ball it, and fridge it until use. I do not bring it back to room temp, it is easier to use high hydration doughs cold.

[mrchipster]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Make the dough, let it double at least for an hour, then ball it, and it can be immediately put in the fridge. The best dough is fermented in bulk for around 24-30 hours at room temp (68 degrees), then balled and fermented for another 6-24 hours, also at room temp. That will make pizza like the picture, which is not mine, but a Gentleman in Houston who has it figured out extremely well.

I normally let it double for an hour or 3, then ball it, and fridge it until use. I do not bring it back to room temp, it is easier to use high hydration doughs cold.

I will try your method next time. Sounds interesting.

Chip

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

So you have not made dough before? Flour is cheap, start making it now to get a feel for it, even if you just throw it away, although I keep doughballs in the fridge for several weeks with no degradation in quality.

Hydration is measured as a percent of the total weight of the ingredients.

From the recipe I linked:

Ingredient Baker's Percent Grams Ounces Pounds
OO Flour (100%) 691.04 g 24.38 oz 1.52 lbs
Water (60%) 414.62 g 14.63 oz 0.91 lbs
ADY (.075%) 0.52 g 0.02 oz 0 lbs
Salt (2%) 13.82 g 0.49 oz 2.88 tsp
Total (162.075%) 1120 g 39.51 oz 2.47 lbs
Single Ball 280 g 9.88 oz 0.62 lbs


Flour is always 100%, then the weight of everything else is expressed as a percent of the weight of that. This allows you to scale the recipe up or down regarding batch size. That recipe is a 60% hydration, which is low for what I currently make, but still manageable for a newcomer.

If you do not weigh ingredients (I don't normally), you have to have a feel for what is supposed to be like at the various stages on making it.

The same recipe expressed in a volumetric notation:

5 cups OO flour
2-1/2 to 3 cups water
1 tsp ADY
almost 3 tsp salt


As you can see, it is much less precise, and is not really scalable to a larger or smaller batch.

Thank you for the info. I purchased a scale today. I also did make a test dough yesterday, it went well. Its in the fridge as we speak and is looking good, smells good and has risen.

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

For sauce, go to Walmart and buy Classico crushed tomatoes. Taste them and add a small amount of salt and/or sugar to balance them, and that is all you need to do. Walmart also has whole milk mozzarella and generally carries some fresh mozzarella that is OK in a pinch.

(I hate Wallie-World, but I do go there for those 2 items as they are excellent)

I dont have Walmart around here, its about 30 min away, but i can get crushed tomatoes everywhere, there are many many shops around that carry quality stuff, so if thats what you guys use i can get that. Thank you again.

Regarding Mozz cheese, i notice people put fresh? chunks of Mozz, what is up with that? where can i get those bad boys. As you can see im a total newb

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

3. I agree about the dough keeping it atleast for 24hrs. So i can i make the dough 2 days in advance and just store it in the fridge and take it out the day of and a few hours before i bake them. So do i need to keep the dough out of the fridge for it to properly rise of will it be just fine in the fridge?

Ball the dough in the sizes you want the morning of the event or the night before place them in lightly oiled bowls or plastic bags or wrap also work.

Remove them from the fridge 2 hours before cooking, I usually remove 6 at a time in 30 minute increments or faster if needed.

Just before tossing flour well and then stretch into pies, a bowl filled with flour works well for this, just toss them in and flip them over.

Chip

Great thanks chip. The party will be help Saturday night, So ill make the dough tonight, place in fridge and follow your advice. Thanks

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Make the dough, let it double at least for an hour, then ball it, and it can be immediately put in the fridge. The best dough is fermented in bulk for around 24-30 hours at room temp (68 degrees), then balled and fermented for another 6-24 hours, also at room temp. That will make pizza like the picture, which is not mine, but a Gentleman in Houston who has it figured out extremely well.

I normally let it double for an hour or 3, then ball it, and fridge it until use. I do not bring it back to room temp, it is easier to use high hydration doughs cold.

Thanks man, Ill store it in bulk then, however room temp here is 78F, its warm here. so i will put it in the fridge sooner than that. I will make them into balls the morning of the event? will this work, and bring it to room temp before pulling the balls. lol.

[Gulf]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

........ room temp here is 78F, its warm here..............

V-Wiz,
Down here we have a saying, coined by Bocephus, "a country boy can survive". But, he is more comfortable when he has air conditioning .

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

V-Wiz,
Down here we have a saying, coined by Bocephus, "a country boy can survive". But, he is more comfortable when he has air conditioning .

Ya i have air conditioning, lol. But why when i can conserve energy by opening my large sliding door and windows. We have natural breeze here in these part of the hills

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

So you have not made dough before? Flour is cheap, start making it now to get a feel for it, even if you just throw it away, although I keep doughballs in the fridge for several weeks with no degradation in quality.

Hydration is measured as a percent of the total weight of the ingredients.

From the recipe I linked:

Ingredient Baker's Percent Grams Ounces Pounds
OO Flour (100%) 691.04 g 24.38 oz 1.52 lbs
Water (60%) 414.62 g 14.63 oz 0.91 lbs
ADY (.075%) 0.52 g 0.02 oz 0 lbs
Salt (2%) 13.82 g 0.49 oz 2.88 tsp
Total (162.075%) 1120 g 39.51 oz 2.47 lbs
Single Ball 280 g 9.88 oz 0.62 lbs


Flour is always 100%, then the weight of everything else is expressed as a percent of the weight of that. This allows you to scale the recipe up or down regarding batch size. That recipe is a 60% hydration, which is low for what I currently make, but still manageable for a newcomer.

If you do not weigh ingredients (I don't normally), you have to have a feel for what is supposed to be like at the various stages on making it.

The same recipe expressed in a volumetric notation:

5 cups OO flour
2-1/2 to 3 cups water
1 tsp ADY
almost 3 tsp salt


As you can see, it is much less precise, and is not really scalable to a larger or smaller batch.

Ok i really need help here, i need to make 20 balls. How much total do i need of each ingredient? I have started the yeast, someone please help.

[Les]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Ok i really need help here, i need to make 20 balls. How much total do i need of each ingredient? I have started the yeast, someone please help.

Sorry, I haven't been following this thread and I don't want to confuse you. But... (sounds like you need help) I have used this for a long time and I'm happy with it. It is something that James put together a while back. Go to link 21 for the recipe, it will make 4 pizza's

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/10/p...ht-691-15.html

[V-wiz]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

Well i got the dough, Used 7.5 pounds of flower, 11 pounds of dough, should be enough for 18 pies right?

[mrchipster]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

9.77 oz balls will make 18 pies from 11 lb of dough. That is a nice size to work with for 12 inch pizzas. They may be a little thicker than you will be able to achieve in the future but your guests will think it is the best they have ever had.

Try to keep them in a 12-14 inch range. You may find thinner pizzas harder to get into the oven.

Best of luck on your party.

Chip

[stonecutter]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

That is a nice countertop you have there!

One last bit of .02....Don't worry too much about this stuff. It's just pizza....things get way over thought (with the builds too) and that creates apprehension. Once you make a couple you will settle into a rhythm, and it will be fun. But take pics so we can all laugh at you.

[stonecutter]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

For sauce, go to Walmart and buy Classico crushed tomatoes. Taste them and add a small amount of salt and/or sugar to balance them, and that is all you need to do. Walmart also has whole milk mozzarella and generally carries some fresh mozzarella that is OK in a pinch.

(I hate Wallie-World, but I do go there for those 2 items as they are excellent)

I can get Cento peeled tomatoes at ours...that's what we use for the sauce. Though after seeing herds of 400lb people stuffed into clothing 5 times too small, my appetite seems to disappear for the evening.

[mrchipster]

Re: 1st Pizza, 1st Pizza party & its going to be a big one...

That is a nice countertop you have there!

One last bit of .02....Don't worry too much about this stuff. It's just pizza....things get way over thought (with the builds too) and that creates apprehension. Once you make a couple you will settle into a rhythm, and it will be fun. But take pics so we can all laugh at you.

So true, I showed my first pie to this group and.... Well they wanted to make a string called "the ugliest real pizzas" I was in the running I am sure. The string never popped up but here is the upside. It still tasted great.

Tonight's dough balls 200g in oiled stretch wrap, loosely wrapped. Teaching a "making fresh mozzarella from milk" class tonight to 5 couples. We make cheese and then eat pizza and appetizers made from the cheese.

Chip