/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.12430245]

Hey cu/ck/s

Just recently got into pizza making. Mind telling me what you think of mine? One has a tomato base, spicy Italian sausage, chopped roasted garlic, mozzarella and gruyere. The other is a bechamel base, cooked spring greens, chopped roasted garlic, mozzarella and asiago with a balsamic glaze. They were pretty tasty. Though I think the white pizza could've baked a little longer. Oh and everything including the sauces are from scratch.

Also, post pictures of your pizzas? Or pizza making tips?

[Anonymous No.12430484]

Bump

[Anonymous No.12430501]

>>12430245
Did you put oil in the crust or put some into the dough?
Crust looks pretty pale.

[Anonymous No.12430511]

>>12430245
right looks a little too thick and the crusts have very little colour leading me to believe they're undercooked.

[Anonymous No.12430534]

>>12430501
Yeah I read a recommendation to brush olive oil on the crust before baking? Is that what's making it so pale?
>>12430511
The bottom is done perfectly, but yeah it definitely looks undercooked. I think I'll skip the oil in the crust next time

[Anonymous No.12430537]

>>12430245
Looks underdone. You should buy a pizza stone or baking steel. Did you use cornmeal underneath the crust? I made this pizza yesterday, although I'm a scrub and use prebought everything.

[Anonymous No.12430545]

>>12430537
Yeah I have a pizza stone. Guess I should've took pictures of the bottom side cause it looks a lot more done then the crust

Also would eat/10

[Anonymous No.12430577]

>>12430245
Looks good, I agree the crust could stand to cook a little longer, but not bad. Would totally eat, I'm interested in pizza making and am so glad you've posted some pizza oc. How did you bake it? Crust recipe? Sauce?

[Anonymous No.12430585]

>>12430245
Your oven wasn't hot enough. Could also use some anchovies.

[Anonymous No.12430610]

>>12430577
Baked them at 475 for about 8-10 minutes on a pizza stone. The red sauce was just tomato paste with crushed garlic and a bunch of spices. It wasn't phenomenal but it was alright. The white sauce was fantastic. It's not really a bechamel, but it's heavy cream, butter, a little cream cheese, white pepper, nutmeg and salt simmered together for a few minutes.

The crust recipe makes two:
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups water

I'm not crazy about the crust though. It's too fluffy, though the density is right. Tried thin crust and it just wasn't right either. Just need to find that one reliable crust recipe..

[Anonymous No.12430613]

>>12430585
Are anchovies comparable to anything else? I've never tried them actually

[Anonymous No.12430618]

>>12430245
left looks okay, right looks seriously undercooked.
if you're going to use really thick crusts like that you need to pre-bake them on a pre-heated pizza stone.

[Anonymous No.12430625]

>>12430613
It's a salty and savory little bite, I prefer them chopped up and mixed into the sauce.

[Anonymous No.12430634]

>>12430610
imo the best pizza sauce is just really good italian tin tomatos, crushed, and drained in a seive.

not cooked.

>>12430613
not him but fish sauce is made from anchovies
they're salt umami bombs
they don't have the fish sauce smell though
get some, they're great to add into a pasta sauce or into mayo to make caesar salad dressing

[Anonymous No.12430638]

>>12430613
They're nothing like sardines, herring, tuna, or any other canned fish. They're more like a garnish rather than a topping, as they're really salty and taste like the ocean, but are not comparable to any finishing salt. They're their own thing, and are amazing.

[Anonymous No.12430646]

>>12430618
Oooh, I never even thought to pre bake it. Bake it like half way before adding toppings?

[Anonymous No.12430661]

>>12430634
Do you add much to the crushed tomatoes as far as spices? Or just plain tomatoes for the sauce?

[Anonymous No.12430670]

>>12430646
when making pizza at home, a very good idea is preheating a pizza stone in your oven and then putting the pizza on that, or if you don't have a pizza stone just prebake the dough

[Anonymous No.12430671]

if you wanna be a fucking weirdo with your pizzas (which I like to do) I'll share some of my favorites

>garlic oil base
>fontina cheese
>ricotta cheese
>thin lemon slices
>picked thyme
this always comes out nice. I love the sour punch from the lemon with the creaminess of the cheeses

>pimento cheese, preferably homemade
>red onion
>pickled tomatoes, I prefer halved cherry
>arugula salad to finish
like this one a lot. the pimento can make it a little sloppy, but it's owrth it. I've added fennel sausage to this one and it works

[Anonymous No.12430682]

>>12430670
I actually did bake this on a preheated pizza stone. 475°. I think the oil on the crust kept it from getting brown, and I think I should've had it higher up in the over

[Anonymous No.12430689]

>>12430671
Holy shit that first one sounds amazing. I don't get too crazy with my pizzas, but using a variety of bases is really nice. I get tired of tomato.

[Anonymous No.12430707]

>>12430610
>475
If your oven will go to 500 or higher do it. If there's ever a time to redline your baking environment in the preheating stage, pizza is that time. Also make sure your rack is positioned as close to the top as possible (and maybe even stack the your pizza stone on top of some oven-safe pans during pre-heating to get it as close to the heating element as possible). When you put your pizza in, it's also a good idea to switch the oven over to the "Broil High" setting if you have one.

Make sure your sauce/cheese/toppings are all at room temp when you apply them so you aren't introducing lower sources of temperature to the bake that take longer to bake as well.

>>12430646
Prebaking is how a lot of thicker & Chicago/Detroit-style pies are made.

If you want more advice/discussion of various recipes and ingredient recommendations visit the pizza-making forums:
https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php
I can vouch for ordering their rec canned tomatoes (6-IN-1 is also a popular choice).
There's also this nice test series evaluating the various components of pizza by BA that's very informative:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STpv0aTReIw&list=PLKtIunYVkv_RSLdWzWGYx8kmJQBVhNP0w&index=2&t=0s

>>12430661
Garlic powder (unless you are slicing/grating it fresh as over top after baking), dried oregano, salt, pepper, crushed red chili flakes (some people like to grate a hard cheese like pecorino roman or parm into the sauce or blend in anchovies AKA "Italian MSG"). A really good tin whole peeled tomatoes won't actually need much seasoning. Some diced/crushed canned tomatoes are treated with a firming agent (usually calcium chloride) to preserve their texture during the canning process which makes them hard to break down into a sauce so avoid them.

[Anonymous No.12430721]

>>12430707
Thank you so very much!

[Anonymous No.12430730]

>>12430661
>Do you add much to the crushed tomatoes as far as spices?
No
nothing.

DEFINITELY not fucking garlic powder
yuck

[Anonymous No.12430732]

>>12430707
>heating element
>not gas
lol!

I put my stone on the bottom rack 450 for 15 minutes and it turned out great.

[Anonymous No.12430735]

>>12430689
honestly, one of the best non-tomato bases for any pizza is unsweetened whipped cream imo. keeps the dough from burning in the middle and doesn;t get too heavy. I've gotten away from that to using garlic oil for health reasons but it's unbeatable.

[Anonymous No.12430737]

>>12430245
Cast iron crew checkin in

[Anonymous No.12430757]

>>12430721
You're welcome. Also if you don't have one, it is highly recommended that you get a kitchen scale when making dough so you can be exct in your flour and water measurements so your hydration ratios & oil % doesn't get fucked up. Also an oven thermometer (not really necessary for pizza baking specifically as you want to bake in as hot a temp as possible) but in other baking projects your oven's temp will drift from the stated preheated readout and you can compensate.
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-kitchen-scale/
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/28-finding-a-good-oven-thermometer
Good luck in the kitchen.

[Anonymous No.12430772]

>>12430661
because think about it.
what does a pizza taste like?
it's rich, it's heavy, you've got cheese, oil, processed meats, umami heavy things, if you put many fresh veges on it ruins it because they're too wet

I used to make pizzas with my slow cooked red sauce which is very rich, and delicious

but i think if you just use good fresh drained tomatos, that adds freshness to a pizza. It gives it complexity and it works well to balance all the other rich things you use.

So don't weigh it down with fucking garlic powder or spices. Keep the sauce as the fresh element. And yeah people disagree but try it both ways and form your own opinion.

[Anonymous No.12430877]

>>12430671
that first one sounds so good. do you leave the rind on the lemon slices? and how thin are we talking here?

[Anonymous No.12430882]

>>12430245
Looks comfy 8/10 would eat. You can get a little more color on the crust at normal house oven temps if you add 2tbs honey to the dough recipe FYI

[Anonymous No.12430908]

>>12430671
lemon pizzas need artichoke imo

[Anonymous No.12430931]

>>12430245
looks good

[CHAD J. SUPERCHRIST, HOLY WIZA(...) No.12431158]

>>12430245
yeah, looks underdone and the temp a tad low.
you don't need oil in your dough - you can of course do a drizzle when you do your toppings and before it goes into the oven.

ALSO: a source of moisture in the oven to help CARAMELIZE the crust once you get a hot eough oven.
FIGHT ME .

[CHAD J. SUPERCHRIST, HOLY WIZA(...) No.12431190]

>>12430610
crust:

you can mix 00 flour and a high gluten flour, go straight 00, or mix 00, high gluten, and a dash of semolina if you like - always leaning toward 00
I stopped using precise measurement ages ago but still manage to get a good crust every time:

less than 5 cups flour, perhaps around four
2 cups in bowl, add about 1/2 cup water - more water as needed or less flour if you prefer to get a 'just wet' mix
rest 20 minutes min. - can leave it for a hour if you like or what not.
then I add the yeast - you can use as little as 1/8 teaspoon. mix with warm water (perhaps less 1/4 cup at about 114 F) and hand mix into the dough.
let it sit til the yeast is making bubbles in your dough.
then take 1 or two cups remaining mixing flour and whisk in your salt to the dry flour. again - very little salt. id go less than a teaspoon to start and explore your taste. like way less. once the dry goods are mixed fold the salt/flour into the wet dough, hand mix and fold till its all together and a consistency you like - somewhere between silky and a tad moist.
rest your dough a few hours min and the shit is ready.
cold ferment for a night is a great addition. then can let sit and further fermenting as you like or freeze some.
that's it.
use a preheated oven as high as it goes with a stone.
a source of steam helped the crust.
10-12 minutes baking time. turn you oie if your oven heats unevenly after about 6/7 minutes.
works every time.
FIGHT ME.

[Anonymous No.12431291]

I've been making my own pizzas for the last few weeks too. The last few doughs I've made have been pretty awesome, I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to takeaway or frozen pizzas again.

Currently just doing a 3 hour rise at room temp and 48-72 hours cold proof in the fridge.

What I really need to do now is to restrain myself with the toppings and not overload it. Less is more...