Pizza

58%, 24 h dough, mashed and salted canned tomatoes, mix of gouda and fresh mozza, hot peppers, olives, oregano.

Delicious.

This time more of a Napoli style. Delicious. 48h dough, about 58 % of water, salt and bit yeast, turned out fantastic. Mashed (canned) tomatoes, fresh mozza, tiny bit of Grana Padano, sprinkle of olive oil and some basil.

Fourth time using my pizza oven. Still working on my launch.

Full cook video

Cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, red onion, basil, balsamic vinegar. It was thick and messy enough to eat with a fork and knife, but damn it was delicious.

Not my best example of a pizza. It started out as "caprese salad and focaccia" and I figured why not combine them. It was too tasty not to share.

I used to make pizza with regular super market flour, but i recently found some caputo flour in an italian super market around here and gave it a try. I had read about it before but kinda brushed it off, but this flour is seriously just great to make dough with. I bought caputo 'pizzeria', they also had some other flavors at the store. So... I guess i was wrong brushing it off and will go to that supermarket again tomorrow and buy more of it.

For the past year, my main oven is an Edil Planet Nonno Peppe oven, an RVS oven for 1-2 pizza's. But putting 2 pizza's in there at the same time isn't really a very spacious endeavour. So I've been thinking of getting the bigger version, the Edil Planet Pizzaiolo (2-4 pizza's). That will cost me around 1500€. I also have an Ooni Fyra, but that's even smaller so... Any recommendations for a possible alternative?

Pizza takes practice! Don't be discouraged by first attempt results. Here's a look back at my progress over 5 years of pizza making in a conventional oven. I do most of the bake these days on a steel in the dedicated broiler drawer of my old oven. Early attempts used 00 Flour which sucks for conventional ovens since it doesn't brown at lower heat. KABF for the win. Recipe below.

Recipe measurements for 3 dough balls about 290g.

King Arthur Bread Flour - 100% - 530g

Water (90-95 degrees F) - 61% - 323g

Sea Salt - 2% - 16g

Instant Dry Yeast - .25% - 1.3g / or two-thirds of a half tsp

Steps:

1. Dissolve salt in lukewarm water by swishing around in large bowl or food container

2. Add yeast, and swish around to dissolve

3. After a minute or two add flour and mix by hand until just incorporated

4. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes

5. Remove dough and knead for 30-60 seconds on lightly floured surface

6. Bulk ferment for 2 hours, covered, at room temp

7. Divide dough and shape into balls.

8. Put dough balls on floured plate. Sprinkle with flour, and cover plate with plastic wrap. Or use sealed food containers that provide space to ferment.

9. Ferment dough in fridge for 24-48 hours.

10. Remove dough balls 90-120 minutes before baking, during that time preheat your pizza stone at the hottest temp. Roll dough on lightly floured surface to about 13-14 inch diameter

I used pizza dough from Aldi as well we there pizza sauce. It turned out really good.

Peppe Pizzaria, Paris, France. Shop was rated best pizza in Europe in 2021 and 2022. The front pizza is the "CAMPIONE DEL MONDO" with yellow tomatoes, jambon, provolone, mozzarella di bufala, grilled almonds, and fig jam. Behind a more standard Pizza PIccante with a spicy ham (not sure if sopressata, salami, or something else) and onion confit.

A few weeks ago I posted about the trouble I had with 100% whole wheat pizza crust. I've been tweaking the recipe since then, so I think it's time for an update. The summary is that the most recent recipe works pretty well.. as long as I don't let the dough get over-proofed. Decent structure, crumb, and taste. The big innovation isn't too surprising: Adding vital wheat gluten to strengthen the dough.

The recipe for two NY-style pizzas: 562 grams home-milled white whole wheat flour, 370+ grams water, 120 grams ripe sourdough starter, 28 grams vital wheat gluten, 19 grams olive oil, 11 grams salt, and 6 grams sugar. Optional: Half a teaspoon each of onion and garlic powder. Knead, divide, 72 hour proof in the fridge, bring to room temp, shape, top, and bake (preheated to 550°F then switched to broil, baked 5 minutes on steel).

Pictured here: Kale, potato, red onion, and fennel seed.

Better success with my 3rd roccbox attempt. Sourdough at around 65% hydration. My peel skills are weak as evident by the odd shaped but still delicious pizza.

I've been making sourdough bread for the past 2 years and got very good at it. About 9 months ago, I started working out a sourdough pizza dough recipe and began learning how to make my own homemade pizzas.

After much trial and error, and a lot of experimentation, my pizzas started getting much better. Here's my latest.

Details: 100% sourdough pizza dough - 70% hydration. Custom cheese blend: 60% mozzarella, 15% cheddar, 15% sharp provolone, 10% parmesan. Sauce base: made from scratch using canned whole san marzano tomatoes & some seasonings/spices. Toppings: mushroom, green bell pepper, red onion, and hard salami.

The most awesome part is that we no longer order pizza delivery - my pizzas are coming out better than anything we used to get delivered (and it saves a ton of money)!

Lately I've been adding a bit of vital wheat gluten flour to strengthen the dough and add a bit of chewiness to the crust. I know a chewy crust isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I've been really happy with the results.

I froze a few balls of pizza dough last time I made a big batch. I put the in oiled zip lock sandwich bags.

It was less than an hour from remembering I had the dough to eating. The bags let me defrost in a waterfilled bowl which made it extra fast.

Now to make more dough!!!

Made with KA 00 flour and a 12" ooni

This is one of the best pizzas I've ever made.

Used this whole wheat crust and sprinkled Everything Bagel seasoning around the edge.

Used these toppings, replaced the goat cheese with feta, and added dollops of ricotta and walnuts. I used the strawberry balsamic glaze from Aldi. Baked at 350 for 35 minutes.

All in all, first real pizza fail in like, ten years. I've dropped them, torn them, had to repurpose some as calzones.

Bottom on this one got too thin and wet while teaching my daughter how to make her own pie. Went to turn it in my dome and it ripped right through. Fortunately, I was able to burn the oven clean in 5-10 minutes and get another one on.

Made in the Ooni.

Homemade dough, hydration level same as New York style pizza.

Pizzas are the best.