The Official Pizza Discussion thread (was: Cooking Neapolitan Pizzas with the Uuni 3)
- Thread starter Loki
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Soldato
Soldato
Finally got a couple of pictures, including the fabled Christmas dinner pizza (ran out of gravy half way round to use as the sauce base, so had to go half tomato!).
Batch just made came out really well, but we ate all 6 pizzas before I could take a photo ...
Batch just made came out really well, but we ate all 6 pizzas before I could take a photo ...
@Dave superb !!! Will have to see if I can top that this weekend 
Cornicione on the last one looks brilliant. What dough method did you use and how long was the proof on it?
Cornicione on the last one looks brilliant. What dough method did you use and how long was the proof on it?
Finally got a couple of pictures, including the fabled Christmas dinner pizza (ran out of gravy half way round to use as the sauce base, so had to go half tomato!).
Batch just made came out really well, but we ate all 6 pizzas before I could take a photo ...
They look great.
I got laughed at for using gravy as a base, but its amazing. KFC pizza.
Nice to see someone that understands you don't cook the basil leaves.
Soldato
It is roast potato pieces on the pizza (cut small as you don't want to put too much weight on it), the sliced apple was just to keep my daughter occupied whilst pizzas were being made
Christmas dinner pizza is roast potato, roast chicken, roast carrots and then chicken stock-soaked bread and sausagemeat from the stuffing.
@Dave superb !!! Will have to see if I can top that this weekend
Cornicione on the last one looks brilliant. What dough method did you use and how long was the proof on it?
Thanks - I do 65% hydration (Caputo blue pizza flour) with water mixed to 100 deg F (1/3 boiled, 2/3 tap) and knead in stand mixer for 10 mins before finishing by hand. I let it rest for 1 hr before putting it in the fridge for 3 days for cold ferment. Out of the fridge and balled for a 5 hr prove before being put in the oven. I do the slap-and-stretch method (like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzbW8CZx538&t=140s but a lot less elegantly!) to shape the pizzas.
We have a Kona 16, I launch the pizza when the stone is at 800 F in the middle (on the Ooni logo) and turn the gas down to around half setting, rotate when it's just starting to dot. They take around 45 seconds to cook in the oven.
Sauce for me is San Marzano (well, Californian version!) strained and then blended in a small blender. 1 tsp salt & 1 tsp oregano per 800 g tin of tomatoes (enough sauce for ~6 pizzas).
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Epic xmas dinner pizza there. I once did one with left over sliced Chicken fajitas, it was excellent. I am looking at getting the Ooni Fyra as I want to see how much I use it, also to use it at reenacting camping and also transportable up to my parents house. Does anyone know when Ooni do sales or NHS discount. I tried to register for the newsletter and 10% off first order but can't subscribe anywhere.
Soldato
If you're not already sign up to hotukdeals and set an alert for Ooni, My old alert is still up and I got a ping earlier this week.
Soldato
Anyone care to post exact ingredients and measurements they use to make dough.
I tried some YT videos yesterday and Im not sure what I did wrong but the dough kept breaking when I was stretching it out, Ive done it before and it was fine, so not sure why it was breaking, I was kneading it for well over 10 mins as well.
I tried some YT videos yesterday and Im not sure what I did wrong but the dough kept breaking when I was stretching it out, Ive done it before and it was fine, so not sure why it was breaking, I was kneading it for well over 10 mins as well.
How long did you leave it to prove?
Sounds like you need to leave it a lot longer.
Soldato
I was making the dough from scratch and just testing it for stretch without it breaking before I put it in fridge for use in the next few days or so.
Exactly you need to leave it before you can stretch it.
Soldato
I see well its in the fridge now, so hopefully it will be fine then, I was just going off a video from YT that was posted somewhere on this forum.
Can you link me to a good recipe for dough?
And when storing dough in fridge I normally use small glass containers and add a little oil, (again something I watched on YT).
Thanks
edit/
I might try the ooni recipe, I just never know best method for storing pizza dough, the ooni recipe for example doesn't tell you. It makes 3-5 dough balls but doesn't mention anything about storing them, should I just place in a sealed container for up to a week in fridge or perhaps freeze the dough?
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It is roast potato pieces on the pizza (cut small as you don't want to put too much weight on it), the sliced apple was just to keep my daughter occupied whilst pizzas were being made
Christmas dinner pizza is roast potato, roast chicken, roast carrots and then chicken stock-soaked bread and sausagemeat from the stuffing.
Thanks - I do 65% hydration (Caputo blue pizza flour) with water mixed to 100 deg F (1/3 boiled, 2/3 tap) and knead in stand mixer for 10 mins before finishing by hand. I let it rest for 1 hr before putting it in the fridge for 3 days for cold ferment. Out of the fridge and balled for a 5 hr prove before being put in the oven. I do the slap-and-stretch method (like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzbW8CZx538&t=140s but a lot less elegantly!) to shape the pizzas.
We have a Kona 16, I launch the pizza when the stone is at 800 F in the middle (on the Ooni logo) and turn the gas down to around half setting, rotate when it's just starting to dot. They take around 45 seconds to cook in the oven.
Sauce for me is San Marzano (well, Californian version!) strained and then blended in a small blender. 1 tsp salt & 1 tsp oregano per 800 g tin of tomatoes (enough sauce for ~6 pizzas).
Great stuff. Started a Poolish mix yesterday morning (approx 30%) and pretty similar methods, although I am going for a 62% hydration for this one. Will post up some pics tomorrow evening after the cold ferment
Hey Ken, when you are making your dough, essential ingredients are Flour, Salt, Water, Yeast and the two overlooked ones are time and passion. Freezing dough balls is perfectly fine, you can prob get away with freezing for a month or two. Various different recipe's you can use modify pretty much any recipe. From my experience, one golden rule is the bakers percentage. Make sure you keep everything in grams then you can understand the ratio's. If you are just starting out or not too confident then the straight method is probably the best.
When I went on my course with a pro Pizza Chef, this is the recipe he gave me
- 1000g Strong Flour
- 1g IDY (Instant Dried Yeast) or 2g of Fresh Yeast
- 620g Water at Room Temp
- 21g - 25g of salt depending on your own taste. (I find 25g to be too salty)
Advise getting a thermal temperature probe if you don't have one, costs around £10.00 - £15.00 from the rainforest. It's important as you are aiming for 21 Degrees Celsius for your final dough temperature as this is optimum for the yeast to do it's magic and start helping with gluten network and creating great flavour
1) You should be aiming for a combined temp of around 60 degrees for your flour, ambient room temp and water. So lets say your room temp is 15 degrees, flour is 15 degrees, get your water to 30 degrees. You will modify this over the course of the year, obviously summer is hotter.
2) Mix the water and yeast, let it stand for about 5 mins and make sure all the yeast is dissolved
3) Assuming you are using a stand mixer, put 90% of the water in the bowl and slowly add in 50% of the flour
4) Mix on slow speed until the dough starts to come together (approx 6-8 Minutes)
5) Start to add in the salt and make sure it's fully incorporated into the flour.
6) start to drip in the remaining 10% of the water and mix for a further 6-8 minutes. What you are aiming for is a total mix time of around 12-15 mins and a target dough temperature of 21 degrees.
Once you have achieved this, this is where a little experimentation comes in. Again from personal experience, I find planning backwards really helps e.g. I want Pizza on Saturday, I will start on Thursday morning, Maybe weds night. So you have your final mixed dough, it's at 62% hydration so it should be fairly easy to manage.
7) Transfer to another bowl and now you have two choices. (Bulk Fermentation or 1st Fermentation)
i) Let it rest for two hours
ii) every 30 minutes do the stretch and fold method. Pretty easy and helps build up the gluten network.
From here you can leave at room temperature and let it grow or you can refrigerate and leave it there to 'COLD Ferment' for upto 48 hours. As above, work it backwards, if you want Pizza at say5.00pm you will prob need to take out of the refrigerator earliest 10.00am, latest 14:00.ii) every 30 minutes do the stretch and fold method. Pretty easy and helps build up the gluten network.
From here you can ball up and let your balls get to room temp (ding dong) Getting the dough to room temp is important,, I have fallen foul in the past of trying to shape balls into pizza bases within 60 - 90 mins from coming out of the fridge and it's a TASK.
The above is called the straight method for Neopolitan Pizza Dough. Makes very good dough balls that are quite tasty if your overall fermentation time is around 48 hours.
PM if you want some more recipe's. Must have about 10 books here on Pizza methodology, straight dough, poolish starter, biga, NY Style, etc
What is that not a legitimate reply. I just kept tweaking it each way until I eventually got my perfect dough. It works out your quantities for you, works out how much yeast you need for the time and temperature you want or have.
Some of my best dough had been in the freezer for many months, had an almost sour dough taste.
Soldato
Thanks for this, I have one question once I make the dough, say I make enough for 4 pizzas, can I freeze 3 dough balls straight away after making.
I might try the ooni recipe next, I have been using bread flour, seems like 00 grade flour is good to use as well.
I was just a little unsure about storing the dough for a later date.