[lokie]

That's beauty!

Thanks for sharing.

[uncola]

Lol it looks the same as the pizza from two years ago.

[MikeInAustin]

If the crust is good the toppings don't matter.  You could put spam on it.  My Wife uses sourdough in her crust and you could top it with peanut butter and get goosebumps.

[avta]

Ever consider one of these? https://ooni.com/products/ooni-koda?variant=18623397494881&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_campaign=gs-2020-07-22&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIta64ybux6wIVgT6tBh0ECQwIEAQYBCABEgIaXfD_BwE   I used to make pizza all the time but since moving to LA I found some very good pies. I'm a convert to Neopolitan style although I like a NY style once in a while. Luckily I can get both here. BTW I'm from Brooklyn and old.

[Ice10]

Great thread.  Years ago I was in pursuit of creating the perfect pizza at home and loving every second of it.  Without going into a long back story I had to quit that pursuit as I realized that I was suffering from what was determined to be a gluten intolerance.  While I’m working on some gluten free options, for all you others I just ask that you appreciate how good you’ve got it.  I’ll just be over here on the sidelines watching....

[wushuliu]

Ever consider one of these? https://ooni.com/products/ooni-koda?variant=18623397494881&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_campaign=gs-2020-07-22&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIta64ybux6wIVgT6tBh0ECQwIEAQYBCABEgIaXfD_BwE   I used to make pizza all the time but since moving to LA I found some very good pies. I'm a convert to Neopolitan style although I like a NY style once in a while. Luckily I can get both here. BTW I'm from Brooklyn and old.

Those are quite the rage right now. Not my style though. For me pizza has always been a simple, affordable, accessible 'mensch' food. Rich or poor, this or that, everyone stops by the neighborhood shop for a slice or pie. Spending a bunch of money just to make a trendy type of pizza isn't for me, though it's great it's become so popular. I can make something just as good in my oven. Most of the pizzerias from my childhood didn't bake above 550 anyway.

When I was in LA, my favorite pizza was The Coop in Culver City. A real hole in the wall, hot, the guy working there too busy to talk much and kind of grumpy sometimes - a sign of quality!

[wushuliu]

Great thread.  Years ago I was in pursuit of creating the perfect pizza at home and loving every second of it.  Without going into a long back story I had to quit that pursuit as I realized that I was suffering from what was determined to be a gluten intolerance.  While I’m working on some gluten free options, for all you others I just ask that you appreciate how good you’ve got it.  I’ll just be over here on the sidelines watching....

Sorry to hear that. I've tried Bobs Red Mill Gluten Free Mix in the past and although trickier to handle, I really enjoyed it.

[Ice10]

Thank you.  There’s a restaurant in Southern California that makes a gluten free pizza that equals the best pizzas that I’ve ever eaten so that’s my treat when I’m down there.  Their pizza gives me hope...

[wushuliu]

FYI, here's the recipe for that last pizza:

Mix for 3 14.5in Pizzas:

30oz. Grain Craft Power Flour
18.5oz. H2O (63%)
1TB Salt
1TB Ghee
1TB Wholesome Unfiltered Honey
1/64+1/32 Instant Dry Yeast (NOT Rapid Rise-Quik Rise)

Hand mixed w/spatula for a couple minutes. 30min rest. Hand mixed again. Rest.
Balled. Let rise for 15-ish hours at 79-81F.

Sauce: First Street Crushed Tomatoes, 1tsp ghee, oregano, handful of Kirkland Pecorino.

Cheese: North Beach Low Moisture Part Skim (Business Costco).

[Bemopti123]

I have not been idle.

Since the initial post I have been on again off again honing my NY pizza game:

I finally bought a pizza steel. 1/4in. This stepped up the crust game considerably.

I've used about a dozen different Mozzarella brands and have settled on some good ones. Bella Rosano and North Beach from Business Costco, and Galbani Professionale from Cash&Carry (now Smart Foodservice under Smart & Final).

Settled on Tomato brands STM Crushed, DiNapoli, and First Street Crushed Tomatoes. All these have a nice balance for what I'm looking for.

Favorite hard cheese still a work in progress: Hard cheese is a secret umami bomb ingredient but really varies by type and brand. Kirkland Pecorino Romano is solid but more nutty than salty. Cello Parmesan vice versa. Locatelli Pecorino nails it but expensive supermarket prices.

Latest pie uses honey instead of sugar in the dough. Ghee instead of oil in the dough. Room temp fermented at 79-81F over 15hrs.

Results: Delish AF. Honey added a nice brown to crust and just a hint of sweetness with depth. Dough tasted wonderful, ghee made it tender and munchy like a proper NY slice. Mozz melt was excellent.

This Jersey boy sez I'm not payin' $20+ for a worse version of this here in the PNW. Sorry Seattle, you can't beat this for da money:



Not gonna lie. Makin' these beats any audiophile gear for me.

After almost 2 years I believe I am ready to add a topping. We'll see.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

Now that is some good looking DIY NY Style pizza.

I hope that the pandemic did not do in the pizza parlors that are so iconic in NYC....Sadly I have heard that about 50-60% of restaurants have shut their door forever.  I do not know if these figures are accurate but if they are, OMG.   

[SoCalWJS]

Those are quite the rage right now. Not my style though. For me pizza has always been a simple, affordable, accessible 'mensch' food. Rich or poor, this or that, everyone stops by the neighborhood shop for a slice or pie. Spending a bunch of money just to make a trendy type of pizza isn't for me, though it's great it's become so popular. I can make something just as good in my oven. Most of the pizzerias from my childhood didn't bake above 550 anyway.

When I was in LA, my favorite pizza was The Coop in Culver City. A real hole in the wall, hot, the guy working there too busy to talk much and kind of grumpy sometimes - a sign of quality!

You sure turn out some good looking pies! I need to give a serious look at your recipes & techniques. I can Cook. I can BBQ.......

...but I can't bake. Give me flour and all the other correct ingredients, along with good instructions, and I can make a huge mess and either paste or a rock.

Need to practice i guess.

On the topic on cooking methods for these things, I just saw a link to something that I would have tried several years ago when I lived in the Country and had enough room to try such things. I've always wanted to have a wood fired PO, but they are out of my reach. This is a very inexpensive alternative WFO, but now I live in Suburbia, and there's not enough room to safely do this at my place. Still intriguing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMQ_QQJtbY

I "make do" with a Blackstone Pizza oven and pre made dough from various sources (TJ's, Grocery store, Pizza places, Italian restaurant) but think that there is better out there. I need to plan ahead and follow a recipe closely allowing enough time to let things happen at the right speed.

[wushuliu]

You sure turn out some good looking pies! I need to give a serious look at your recipes & techniques. I can Cook. I can BBQ.......

...but I can't bake. Give me flour and all the other correct ingredients, along with good instructions, and I can make a huge mess and either paste or a rock.

Need to practice i guess.

Consistency and nailing texture and flavor takes practice but the dough should be easy to do. Simplest way to make pizza dough is to just do the Lahey No-knead bread recipe: 3 cups of flour, 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, 1.5-2 cups of warm water. Toss it all in a bowl, mix by hand or mixer only until everything is incorporated. So like two minutes. You want the dough to be just slightly mushy, not soup. Then cover and let sit on the counter for 12-18hrs. That's it. You can then make 2 or 3 balls in the morning and let those rise or put in the fridge for 3 days or whatever you want to do.

The more time you have to let the dough just ferment, the less work you have to do and the more digestible it will be (no more rock hard pizzas that sit in ur gut). The shorter the time frame the more yeast you need to add, the more kneading/mixing you have to do, and the harder it will be to digest.

[wushuliu]

This pie is a cheese-less mushroom, sausage, bell pepper and basil pie. Without the cheese I let it bake longer to get the beautiful toasty crust (I prefer less browning but the recipient loved it).

The pics makes the pies look thicker than they actually were (my phone camera sucks).

[vrao81]

Not as impressive as some of the pizzas here, but here is my dinner tonight