Time and Temperature

[pizza bill]

I have been experimenting with optimal time and temperature for NY type pizza and my best guess is that that a temperature of 650 and a time of 4-5 minutes works best. Higher temps do brown and blacken the crust but do not bake the dough as crisply as I would like. I would be interested in other's experiences.

pizza bill

[james]

Hey Bill,

Excellent topic. Thanks. I moved this from "guidelines" to "pizza", where I think we can keep the thread going.

I'm a thinner crust, 2-3 minute pizza, 750F oven kinda pizza chef, but I know lot's of people like it a little thicker. How thick is your crust? How thick is your sauces and toppings? I think chunkier pizzas need a little more time. With the thinner Italian pizza, you can see the pizza base through the sauce, and the cheese does not cover the whole pizza.

Whadya think?
James

[james]

Any takers here?

Mel, I know you like a thicker pizza with a chewier base. NY style? How does that work in your oven?

Would anybody venture their thoughts on how to describe the various pizza types. Be brave.

Napoletana
Italian (generic)
New York
Roman
Sicily
Calabrese
Chicago

James

[vitoduke]

Hi James---The pizza that I've been doing is similar to a N.Y. street pizza. The dough ball is a little over 24 oz. and the pie is 18". I found that keeping the deck at about 800 degrees and turning the pie 3 to 4 times to avoid burning the edge works for me. They cook in about 3.5 minutes ---Mel

[james]

NY Pizza

Hey Mel,

How are the grapes doing?

I am going to give your recipe a try using those weights and measures. But until then, how thick is your crust and your frame? It looks great. I remember that you use King Arthur, not the Italian pizza flour. Is it difficult to strech your dough ball out to 18"?

I am guessing that 3 1/2 minutes gives you a nice brown crust (great photo) and a moist and chewy crumb. More substantial than pizza Napoletana. Is that right?

Does anyone have a good story on the roots of NY Pizza?

James

[vitoduke]

Hi James ---The ingredients are 46 oz. King Arthur Sir Lancelot Flour
29 oz Water
.46 oz. Olive Oil
.69 oz Salt
.12 Oz IDY
This will make 3 pies
The flour is high gluten flour. My pizza is a Tom Lehman recipe from the pizzamaking.com web site. I learned a tremendous amount from those guys over there. There's a dough calculating sheet on the site that you enter your % in, and it gives you the weight of each item. With weighing the ingredients, the pizza is consistant. Our grapes look great. I dusted with sulfur every 14 days and have had no mildew problems this year. We are looking forward to the crush. When I grew up in Brooklyn, you could go to any corner pizza parlor and have a great pie. The pizza that I make now is very close to what I remember as a kid. When we have friends over, they are amazed at the taste of the pizza. I'm using Polly-o whole milk Mozzarella that a friend ships to me. It doesn't break down with the heat. I use 6 in 1 brand canned tomatoes and add fresh herbs and garlic to it. I just bought a DLX mixer, and the dough is much better than I was getting with my Kitchen Aid. The dough can actually get larger than 18 ", but the opening of the oven is only 18.5". ---Mel

[taroman7]

the quest for optimum dough

Hi Fellow Pizza addicts,
Outside of not having a brick wood fired oven, I use a small electric which tops 500 with a stone. The Caputo flour seemed tough at first attempts and perhaps thats because as I have been reading, I handle the dough too much so I add one half cup of semolina for that lovely crunch when slicing. This helped but I wish I didnt have to use it.
Can anyone tell me why after stretching out a pizza then transferring it onto paddle it shrinks back? I hate using a rolling pin. Any and all advice appreciated. Thanks!

[maver]

Gluten

The shrink back is the gluten protein which behaves like a spring when stretched. I think the best way to minimize this is to let the dough rest a few minutes after stretching it before placing it on the peel. Different dough recipes (hydrration levels, flours, length of time with kneading) will alter this as well, but letting it rest before moving will allow the gluten to relax.