Topic: Pizza Recipe (by chriswg)

[pizzaman]

Also i forgot to say the pizza dough needs to be 65% hydrated,this is very important to keep the braed moist and not like a crispy piece of cardboard.I will take some pics next time which will be a while as the missus has put me on a diet so no pizza or curries for a bit but i will return!!

Pizzaman

[JerryM]

pizzaman,

everything u say is spot on from what i've experienced.

i'm interested in the oven - can u give a few more details on the spec to look out for. i realise i'd have to save up but this would be the same as going on hols to me.

ps appreciate the hydration value - will check how close i am (arrived at through trial and error).

best pizza i've had was in Crete on wood. again agree with u that a bridge to far given the UK weather. however saying that UB seems to have success with his tandoor. i guess having the right wood is v.important too.

[Stephen Lindsay]

I am moving house in 4 weeks and one of my plans for the back garden is a wood burning oven and a tandoor - probably won't be able to afford that for a few years though.

I now have a really stupid question - 65% hydration - how do you measure that?

[JerryM]

i take it as the proportion of "liquid" in the dough. for example the naan recipe i use is 300g of liquid and 450g flour giving 66% hydration.

i just need to check what i use for pizza dough.

[Malc.]

Hydration is measured by weight and is the ratio of water to flour. Fortunately, 300ml of water weighs 300g so its fairly straight forward to calculate.

A 100% hydration is equal parts of water to flour.

[JerryM]

pizzaman,

i use 59% hydration for pizza dough - established via trial an error over several yrs.

is this close enough for use in a domestic oven or do u think going up to the 65% is advisable. having realised that i'm quite close to it at 67% for my SR naan dough i do appreciate that this small difference makes quite a difference in terms of the stickiness (which is fine at 59% for the pizza dough but very sticky naan dough at 67%).

[pizzaman]

Jerry

If you are happy with your bread at 59/60% hydration then thats fine.At 65% hydration the dough is very sticky and needs to floured well before lifting with a pizza peel,believe me i have had many stuck pizza's on the worktop before!If they stick they become a calzone!
Yes the hydration is important because the bread is moister just like naan bread,but if you are cooking it in a concentional oven for a lot longer then it maybe too much with the topping and the pizza base in the middle will be soggy,espcially if its in a pizza pan.
If your bread when cut holds the topping without sagging then thats fine.
I always remind myself that pizza is a food for sharing and when i have guests or family get togethers i make loads of bread and let people make their own,i think this is more special than the food itself as i love to see people enjoying themselves and seeing what the pizzas come out like!
In question to my oven it is a Lincat PO49X they are about ?500 new or maybe keep your eye out for a good used one on ebay

Hope this all helps and happy cooking!

Pizzaman

[JerryM]

pizzaman,

many thanks for oven details - i'm going to get one as soon as i've saved up.

since switching to thin base (i made thick "american" base for a long time) i'm getting the cooking pretty good - u can hear the steel circular slicer as it cuts through the base.

my real niggle is that the fan oven is rubbish (for pizza) and the convection oven has too much bottom heat. if i'm being picky i'll flash the top with the grill.

as u say pizza is food for sharing - we probably eat over a 4 to 5 hr period cooking ea when it's needed.

the only real bug bear i have is that the rest of the family don't share my love of big garlic portions on top so i end up having to make sections to order.

my fav is pepperoni & onion. but i do like what i call american Bolognese (made with green pepper no tomato).

[Malc.]

I'll have to try a higher hydration of dough by the sounds of things. Though I have always been happy with the results we get from JO's dough recipe, nice crisp thin base and a puffed up crust which I love. 

Went online to look for Pizza Stones and it turns out these are cheap enough too, so off to Robert Dyas tomorrow to try one,

[JerryM]

just a thought but I used to make my own Garlic Oil. Great for getting a little extra garlic on individual Pizza slices. Might be worth a try?

Axe,

appreciate the thought - i literally shovel it on - i have to put markers on the pizza to show where the minefield is or my daughter makes them and i end up getting a tiny slice.

ps i'm thinking the oven for more than pizza and if u were thinking of buying a new one why not keep the old one and buy a new one that's just a tad different (that's how i think i'll approach the good lady anyhow)