[squirrel_nut]

deep dish, thin, whatever, i make it all from scratch every friday... sauce, dough, sometimes sausage, etc.   a friend recommended i try 00 flour.  does anyone have experience making pies with this?  i would have to purchase online with some hassle and expense.

[cab]

get some caputo 00 flour for neopolitan style pizza. Have to bake at high temps to get the most out of it....Try it once, no going back.....magic.

[jtwrace]

Post some pics!!!

[avta]

I'm a home pizza maker too and have tried a few types of flour including Caputo 00 flour. I was not that pleased with the results. I agree that it may require higher temperatures to get the desired end product. I will soon be trying to use my new gas grill to cook the pizza using a stone. This should produce temps around 600 degrees or more. I'll keep you posted.

[Syrah]

I've always found technique more important than flour, to some extent.  I like it when the dough has spent some time in the fridge.  Modernist Cuisine suggests getting a big thick slab of steel, putting it on the top shelf, getting it red hot with the broiler, and cooking pizza on that.  Also, if you Google around you'll find some that disable the lock on their ovens to be able to open it in cleaning mode - which gets it much hotter than the hottest temp on most ovens.  Definitely an at-your-own-risk move.

[cab]

Try the caputo at about 55-60% hydration, 2 day cold ferment, bake at at least 550-600F (it really starts to sing though at 800F or so). Recently topped with smoked gouda, wild leeks, asparagus, and thick bacon....Unbelievable....

[squirrel_nut]

thanks for all the replies.  the person that recommended 00 flour has a brick oven. they bake at ~800deg.  i just have an electric convection oven thats lucky to get to 500.
a few links to my pies and recipes:

SAUCE:  http://www.grouprecipes.com/125146/pizza-sauce.html
Stromboli: http://www.grouprecipes.com/125144/italian-stromboli.html
Deep Dish: http://www.grouprecipes.com/124441/deep-dish-pizza.html

i usually make thin crust, but havnt posted a recipe for that.

[Devil Doc]

Garlic Powder? You ain't Italian are you? I wouldn't worry about the flour, If I were you.

Doc

[squirrel_nut]

nope, not Italian, but my father-in-law is from Tuscany.  his suggestion to use powder instead of fresh.  fresh can easily burn and become bitter if cooked too long.  you have to add it at just the right time....   so he suggested and uses powder.  that is "powder" not "granulated".  we have a specialty store that sells it bulk      for most other dishes, fresh minced is all i use.

[Devil Doc]

I tell people all the time, cooking is about paying attention. If you pay attention, you won't  burn the garlic. I find that throwing in the oil and garlic in a cold pan helps. If you heat up the oil then put in the garlic, that's when problems arise. Just let me say, as a first generation Italian, garlic powder is an abomination, an infamnia. I also suspect your Tuscan Father-in-law doesn't trust his Anglo-Saxon daughter-in-law. Don't feel bad, my wife isn't allowed in the kitchen.

Doc

[squirrel_nut]

that is the first time i have heard of the cold skillet.  will give it a try.  thanks!

my father-in-law is from Tuscany and has been a chef since 16 after completing a 3yr program. he was then sent to different hotels across europe to head their kitchens, 1 year at a time.  a different era.  that old guy can cook!

[sfox7076]

I am late to this party, but am a bread baker.  For NYC style, king Arthur sir Lancelot is required. Try it for bagels too

[pjchappy]

I tell people all the time, cooking is about paying attention.

Yep!  If you have the passion/love to cook, you always pay attention.  If you don't, and just like to cook for others every once in awhile, simply paying attention (including tasting, etc.) will help to guarantee a wonderful pizza (or whatever).


Paul