Topic: Pizza from scratch

[Micky Tikka]

Just to let you know fellows this thread has given me the urge
To build my own Wfo
 Over the last week or so Ive been thinking a lot about it plus I done some baking bread over Christmas with a little success . I must add they actually tasted like bread and did not come out like bricks
Anyway I PM'd   tb and he kindly gave me some good advise and If I needed anymore help I should try
Thewoodfiredoven forum  which seems a good friendly forum not as fiesty has ours but I did see they had 2 new members  steviejet66 and Mr big  ;D
No seriously what I'm saying is I'll keep you posted with pictures of my build

ps curry will always be my first love 

[harley]

Tried blocking the vent off on my oven mostly and covering the thermocouple with no success, still 20+ mins.

Determined to fix it I bought an oven thermometer just to see what's happening. At stock the oven is getting to 350-375f. I then tried moving the thermocouple outside of the door through the vent which came in handy. Now I'm getting 525f without blocking the vent so very pleased with that.

Still to test a pizza with my modified oven. My second pizza, prior to the mod, I noticed two thirds of the pizza base under the cheese and tomato was just warmish, you would've thought it was left to stand for 10mins. Still, had some success with some proper mozz in the watery bag suggested by natterjack and also tried my own tomato sauce mixed with some dried methi/fenugreek leaves, very tasty. Can't wait to try this with my new oven temp. My new batch of dough will be ready tomorrow. Also got some parmesan and padano cheese to try.

Time to rustle up a Chicken Madras tonight.

[StoneCut]

One thing to keep in mind: Don't use pre-shredded cheese. Never. It's covered in starch so the bits don't stick to each other which ruins the cheese, IMHO. I also found that it's better to shred the cheese coarsely and not finely (like you would Parmesan for Pasta, for example) because that seems to make the cheese burn easier.

On the other hand, I have a very hot oven (400+

[harley]

That's a very hot oven StoneCut.

The bag variety I meant is the whole piece of mozz in a watery bag, not the standard grated stuff. I've edited my post above.

For the real buffalo mozz, seems I'd have to order it online or find a specialist shop.

[JerryM]

a few extra pointers on what i've learnt from www.pizzamaking.com and wfo site (www.woodovenukforum.forumup.co.uk - old, http://ukwoodfiredovenforum.proboards.com - new).

this my domestic oven setup. i have recently taken the middle cut tiles out ie i now just use 4 off quarry tiles. this has increased the clearance at the sides of the oven and improved my top heat - well pleased

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,12351.msg119136.html#msg119136

shaping & peel video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjYqw1CLZsA
balling video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN9fwlCEY2Y and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfUONu_gnBk&feature=player_embedded

you ideally need a wood peel for putting the pizza in (i use a piece of hardboard as i had it to hand) and an aluminium peel for turning/taking out link http://www.nisbets.co.uk/Pizza-Peel/F037/ProductDetail.raction

to help on the peel going in it's best to mix up a batch of normal bread flour and semolina (mine from sainsbury's). a good starting point for the mix is 50:50.

"toppings" are my next quest. cheese is 1st on the list. i've previously tried the wet mozzarella (used to dry it out in the fridge) and need to revisit. i also like the idea of adding in perhaps some of the fancy ones suggested in the above recent posts along with trying some better quality too. i currently used a mix of bagged grated cheese both cheddar and mozzarella (both from aldi).

ps well pleased there are takers on the wfo front. i've had real good fun and much still to learn. have included link to my wfo pics: http://s266.beta.photobucket.com/user/jerrym07/library/

[harley]

Good videos there. I've watched countless videos over the past few days and read lots of threads. Tony Gemignani seems really good. I read Jeff varasano's site and he calls out pizza champions but I rate this Tony G guy. Seems to do everything the right according to his interviews and other vids.

I enjoyed watching this series. Perhaps you've seen it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dtiOxq73uM

I'm using Allisons strong bread flour and ADY at the moment. Couldn't find any semolina at tesco. Wanted it to help with spreading out the dough and also combine it with the bread flour as Jamie Oliver suggests.

[harley]

before going into this pizza making I thought cast iron would be a good platform, cooking here we use iron or ally and i've worked on car engines and other metal related repairs in the past, ally would be too fast

doing some searching it seems to be the case and led me back to pizzamaking.com and heston's cast iron pan trick

edit


don't have the final pizza pic, had a crowd gathering and it quickly went. Still don't have a stone or plate so it wasn't that crispy underneath although much better than before, cooking time was 5mins, can't remember exactly. getting to 525f wasn't very long, 20 odd mins

Got my mind set on a cast iron or steel plate or maybe some quarry stone if not and to also use the top oven and grill, pre heat the iron plate. unfortunately I can't use both the top oven and grill at the same time, would be ideal if I could, perhaps I can mod it.

[JerryM]

harley,

i had seen the video. i'll try and capture the steps i use now (collected as we all do from www).

the baking steel is something i've held back on despite seeing good results by others. will be interested on your thoughts if you do end up comparing. i'm pretty much 100% sure i'm sticking with stone (quarry tile or fire brick).

sounds as if your on the right track and well pleased.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Plenty of buffalo mozzarella at Waitrose; I noticed their stock when I was in the Paddock Wood branch earlier today.

** Phil.

[JerryM]

i've taken a few pics of the steps i go through. i can extra clarification if needed. i still have a few pics to take later in the day.

http://s266.photobucket.com/albums/ii262/jerrym07/Pizza%20Make/?albumview=slideshow