I decided to try putting the pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven this time before preheating it, as with my previous methods since watching the action at Luzzo's in New York involved putting the stone as close to the broiler as possible. The reason was that I was not getting a good char on the bottom, and I theorised that if the stone were nearer the bottom element I could cook the pizza on broil (550F) and the top wouldn't get incinerated before the bottom had a chance to get done.
Blork, my partner in pizza crimes, agreed with me, so that's the way I did it. Results, however, were disappointing.
The pizzas turned out okay but there was no appreciably upped char on the bottom of the pizzas even with an extended cooking time. The ones nearest the broiler had been done in seven minutes and the ones on the bottom took at least ten. The char on both kinds was not very developed, but the ones done near the broiler had their toppings very well cooked, as you can imagine.
Blork stresses that getting a good char in a domestic oven is probably not going to be possible, and I agree with him. But I'll keep working on it . . .
Another thing I noticed with this batch is that making three pizzas out of the boule de pâte from the pizza place at Atwater is a mistake; I should divide it into four pizzas instead of three because the ones I tried to make were too huge and became square. My pizzas have to be hip.
Pictured is a goat cheese pizza with Hungarian peppers, garlic, olives, Toscano ham and Marechal de lait cru cheese with cherry tomatoes. Damned good if I may say so myself.
I came upon your site because I was looking up "pas de quoi", which someone said to me after a game of go, and I noticed pizza, as a post.
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of a zellot on this subject. My thoughts are
1. make your dough, it's easy, and youcan only get a good bread from a very long fermentation (Sicilians aren't even aloud to call their dish pizza, if it doesn't have a min 6hr fermentation). A long fermentation,with only a very small amount of yeast added, is needed to unlock enzymes in the flour, which breaks down longer carbohydrate chains into shorter, tastier chains. You can also add a little wholewheat flour for a slight nuttiness if you so choose, also.
2. Pizza ovens should be super hot, as what you are really making is a flatbread, which means that the dough is "done" pretty quickly. So that you get browning and carmelizing, you need the stone( you have that), and the hotest oven possible. I put mine at 550F convection. I'd bake at 800F, if I could.
3. Your pizza looks delicious, but you might get better results with fewer ingredients.
There was an article in the New york Times, several years ago, which outlined what can be called Pizza. This is informative and entertaining. Also read what Peter Reinhart, winner of many awards, has said about baking, in general, and pizza, specifically,