The Pizza Thread.... show off...

[Raffe]

[Raffe]

In case anyone is pondering over an Effeuno: looks like they are preparing Black Friday offers, you may want to follow them on Facebook.

[Devonian]

In case anyone is pondering over an Effeuno: looks like they are preparing Black Friday offers, you may want to follow them on Facebook.

^^^ I would, these are amazing. We use ours nearly every week.

[wileeeeeey]

Seriously tempting. Will keep an eye on it but I’m meant to be ordering a sound bar on Friday instead. Already been rejected when mentioning a pizza oven last week but I could let it turn up and wait for the wife to be on a Teams call and quickly set it up. It’s what she normally does to me!

[guinea]

This has me excited. I don't really have anywhere to keep it, but I want one.

[Raffe]

This has me excited. I don't really have anywhere to keep it, but I want one.

First buy, then worry where to put it. That's the way I do things. I promise you won't regret it, if you have passion for pizza, this will change your life.

[demonloop]

Saturday night, from the Effeuno..

[guinea]

Stop it.

[Raffe]

Stop it.

[Ares]

For people with smaller budgets - Ooni has 20% off everything: https://uk.ooni.com/

[Pitch3110]

[Pitch3110]

Great looking pizza there chaps......

Pitch

[jakesblue]

Pizzas looking awesome!

Got my oven installed last week, just lighting a few small fires to cure it then should be giving it a proper go tomorrow

[demonloop]

A friend of mine has started knocking out pizzas from a van he’s converted. He has some great topping combos on his menu if anyone fancies a look - he’s Fire and Feed on IG / FB

[Rodder]

Pizzas looking awesome!

Got my oven installed last week, just lighting a few small fires to cure it then should be giving it a proper go tomorrow

Now that’s a serious oven!

[jakesblue]

Now that’s a serious oven!

Done a lot of Kamado cooking but this is a different beast. I’ve not quite got my temperature control figured out in it.. bit of practice I think!

[Raffe]

Done a lot of Kamado cooking but this is a different beast. I’ve not quite got my temperature control figured out in it.. bit of practice I think!

A friend of mine has one that looks very similar. We have done great food in there, also baked bread - but its temperature can only go to 350 degrees which is unfortunately not enough for Napoletana pizza. How hot does yours get?

[jakesblue]

A friend of mine has one that looks very similar. We have done great food in there, also baked bread - but its temperature can only go to 350 degrees which is unfortunately not enough for Napoletana pizza. How hot does yours get?

Apparently it goes to 500, all the manuals and website etc. suggest it will do that too although I was going to shoot for 400 for pizza tomorrow. Not had it anywhere near that yet as I’ve just been curing it, which I was told to do for 2 x 4 hour sessions at 200.

Will report back once I find out!

[Raffe]

Apparently it goes to 500, all the manuals and website etc. suggest it will do that too although I was going to shoot for 400 for pizza tomorrow. Not had it anywhere near that yet as I’ve just been curing it, which I was told to do for 2 x 4 hour sessions at 200.

Will report back once I find out!

That sounds like the real thing!

Best of luck if this is your first go. I pity the people who had to share one of my first 30 or even 50 pizzas with me. It's a steep curve, but nothing but fun once you are over the worst.

[jakesblue]

That sounds like the real thing!

Best of luck if this is your first go. I pity the people who had to share one of my first 30 or even 50 pizzas with me. It's a steep curve, but nothing but fun once you are over the worst.

Thanks! It’s my first go in a pizza oven, tried a few times in the kitchen oven but still lots to learn. Just picked up “The Pizza Bible” book which seems full of good tips, will report back with the mess I make

[Raffe]

My plan for the weekend: Alsatian Flammekueche.

[Raffe]

Salsiccia, spinach and mushrooms.

[Pitch3110]

That’s doesn’t look shabby, beautiful (in a Norfolk accent)

Pitch

[Boss13]

Nice work, as always Raffe !

[Raffe]

Thanks gentlemen. It was delicious.

[Raffe]

Garlic, olives and burrata.

[Pitch3110]

Do you cook the burrata or just spread Buddy??

That famous German super near me had that wonderful cheese in recently and that’s the only place locally.

Pitch

[Mj2k]

Do you cook the burrata or just spread Buddy??

That famous German super near me had that wonderful cheese in recently and that’s the only place locally.

Pitch

Looks to be uncooked to me, it looks stunning - on the list to try shortly

[Raffe]

I always use burrata fresh, i.e. uncooked. Not sure if you could bake it, as it's so delicate.

[Franco]

I always use burrata fresh, i.e. uncooked. Not sure if you could bake it, as it's so delicate.

I would suggest to open it with a cross cut, and let it drain two minutes in a colander before transferring on the baked pizza. The reason is not to flood the pizza.

[Raffe]

I would suggest to open it with a cross cut, and let it drain two minutes in a colander before transferring on the baked pizza. The reason is not to flood the pizza.

I always let it drain for 30 minutes in a cheese form.

[Franco]

I always let it drain for 30 minutes in a cheese form.

Excellent, that’s perfect

[Mj2k]

I always let it drain for 30 minutes in a cheese form.

I’d assumed you would have.

Kitchen still not complete, but complete enough to get back on the pizzas.

[jakesblue]

Looks nice! Apologies if you’ve mentioned this before but, do you use fresh yeast? The rise on the crust and air looks really good is all.

Had my first couple of goes with the pizza oven, not bad so far, lots to learn though. (Half and half was a request from my son, and I know pineapple is a polarising topping )

[Raffe]

Very nice!

I have tried sourdough in the past, but have returned to fresh yeast again. Simpler.

[Raffe]

Tonight we had a few pizzas, pretty standard margaritas with anchovies.





The highlight was definitely the dessert pizza: berries with Nutella:

[Mj2k]

That dessert pizza looks fantastic

[dustybottoms]

Raffe, hoping you can help me with some advice please?

I have on occasion (perhaps too frequently) burnt the bottom of my pizzas on the stone floor. It seems to be either the flour, palenta or both that is burning.

What am I likely doing wrong would you suggest?

Thanks!

[jakesblue]

Pizza looking awesome Raffe! My first go at using fresh yeast today, fingers crossed!

[Raffe]

Raffe, hoping you can help me with some advice please?

I have on occasion (perhaps too frequently) burnt the bottom of my pizzas on the stone floor. It seems to be either the flour, palenta or both that is burning.

What am I likely doing wrong would you suggest?

Thanks!

Hey Dusty, if your bottom burns it can have a couple of reasons. Most likely the stone is too hot or you are baking too long. Also, try either rice flour or semolina for the preparation phase, as it doesn't turn bitter when hot compared to pizza flour.

Which oven do you use of what's the stone temperature when launching, how long do you bake? What is your dough hydration, do you add sugar or oil to the dough?

[dustybottoms]

Hey Dusty, if your bottom burns it can have a couple of reasons. Most likely the stone is too hot or you are baking too long. Also, try either rice flour or semolina for the preparation phase, as it doesn't turn bitter when hot compared to pizza flour.

Which oven do you use of what's the stone temperature when launching, how long do you bake? What is your dough hydration, do you add sugar or oil to the dough?

Hi Raffe, thanks for taking the time to answer, much appreciated. I fear my answers may not help you much more in trying to solve my issue, but I'll give it a go.

Thanks for the advice on rice flour or semolina, I'll give those a go.

The oven is a steel full sized Aldi oven with stone base inserts. Don't know the stone temperature when launching, clearly something I need to check for next time. Oven temps circa 600 on the dial, obviously that may not be an accurate reading, but I'm guessing that could be a little excessive?

Dough Hydration 65%, yes I add both a little sugar and oil.

I am suspecting the stone is to hot as the burning happens almost immediately when I place the pizza in the oven. I also have an Uuni compact oven but not encountered this problem using that, with that oven reaching and keeping temperature is the challenge.

Thanks again!

[Raffe]

Drop the oil and sugar, they got no business being in your pizza. Invest a few quid into an IR temp gun and measure the temperature - should be around 430 degrees on the stone when you launch, max 450 if you prefer classic Napoli.

[dustybottoms]

Drop the oil and sugar, they got no business being in your pizza. Invest a few quid into an IR temp gun and measure the temperature - should be around 430 degrees on the stone when you launch, max 450 if you prefer classic Napoli.

Many thanks Raffe, appreciate you giving your time to provide answers and guidance, I'll do exactly that.

[Raffe]

Many thanks Raffe, appreciate you giving your time to provide answers and guidance, I'll do exactly that.

Let us know how it goes.

[jakesblue]

Had some decent pizzas turnout so far (see pic), now looking to do some tinkering to try and improve my process. Looking for some advice from the pizza experts please :-)

I’m now using a sourdough liquid starter, bought it from Amazon apparently a really old starter from a bakery which I feed/refresh etc. Results are pretty good, I’m using about 80g of the starter for 6 dough balls on a 16 hour room temp proof.

Couple of questions:
1/ Does anyone use poolish instead?
2/ Do people use a combo of fresh yeast plus a preferment?
3/ What is this for? Caputo Ancient Mother Yeast - Criscito di Casa Caputo (1000g - 2.2 Lb) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01CAQR3...ing=UTF8&psc=1


Thanks in advance!
Jake.

[Raffe]

Had some decent pizzas turnout so far (see pic), now looking to do some tinkering to try and improve my process. Looking for some advice from the pizza experts please :-)

I’m now using a sourdough liquid starter, bought it from Amazon apparently a really old starter from a bakery which I feed/refresh etc. Results are pretty good, I’m using about 80g of the starter for 6 dough balls on a 16 hour room temp proof.

Couple of questions:
1/ Does anyone use poolish instead?
2/ Do people use a combo of fresh yeast plus a preferment?
3/ What is this for? Caputo Ancient Mother Yeast - Criscito di Casa Caputo (1000g - 2.2 Lb) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01CAQR3...ing=UTF8&psc=1


Thanks in advance!
Jake.

Hi Jake, nice looking pizza you made.

The 80g of liquid sourdough is a bit on the high side if I calculate 6 dough balls (280gr each for me) and 16 hours, but if the result confirms your amount I wouldn't change it. Sourdough gets more powerful over time, so if yours was dried for a while before you re-activated it, I would just stick with your process until you feel the fermentation is too quick, then you can reduce a bit (I calculate 60g).

Your questions:

1. Poolish is not an alternative to sourdough, it is just an additional step of fermentation. Poolish is a liquid starter dough (pre-ferment) with a 100% hydration. It is supposed to improve dough quality, just like its cousin biga (which is a solid pre-ferment with a 50% hydration). I have experimented with both poolish as well as biga, don't really see the point of it but I know some hard-core pizzaiolos who wouldn't dream of knocking a dough up without. In any case, both poolish as well as biga require either sourdough or yeast to get them going.

2. See 1.

3. This is a wheat-based dry yeast, but it isn't self-starting and requires a starter yeast to work. I think that makes more sense in a professional context, I work with regular baker's yeast or self-made sourdough.

[jakesblue]

Hi Raffe, thanks so much for the detailed response. That makes a lot of sense! I’ll see how my next couple of batches go and perhaps experiment with adding poolish to the mix - just to reconfirm, based on the above I would use poolish in addition to my sourdough, correct?

It’s quite an addictive rabbit hole making pizzas!

[Raffe]

Hi Raffe, thanks so much for the detailed response. That makes a lot of sense! I’ll see how my next couple of batches go and perhaps experiment with adding poolish to the mix - just to reconfirm, based on the above I would use poolish in addition to my sourdough, correct?

It’s quite an addictive rabbit hole making pizzas!

You start the poolish 12 to 24 hours in advance with about two thirds of the total flour and add 100% of water and a little yeast or sourdough. After the initial fermentation, you add flour until you have reached the desired hydration and add the rest of the yeast/sourdough and the salt.

I am sure you can find a recipe online that describes it in more detail (including weights and timings).

[jakesblue]

You start the poolish 12 to 24 hours in advance with about two thirds of the total flour and add 100% of water and a little yeast or sourdough. After the initial fermentation, you add flour until you have reached the desired hydration and add the rest of the yeast/sourdough and the salt.

I am sure you can find a recipe online that describes it in more detail (including weights and timings).

Thank you! Will give it a go and report back

[Raffe]

Have a look in Vito's channel, he has a few videos about poolish:
https://youtu.be/lAFKQoSMbxI

One thing about his videos: he has a very good technique, but somehow I find that he uses excessive amounts of yeast. I always recalculate the yeast before I try anything from him, he is sometimes out by a factor of ten. I cannot explain why, but that's what I find when I recalculate his recipes.