What's in your (PIZZA) oven?

Evan B said:
Nice. I really recommend using a poolish as well, Start that the day before you do the dough. I know many here don't do it, but the recipe I gave calls for one. If you don't plan to use one, I can rework my recipe and post again for no poolish.

Edit: adding this:

With Poolish:​

  1. Flavor: Poolish adds a complex, slightly tangy flavor to the dough due to the extended fermentation process1. This can result in a more nuanced and rich taste.
  2. Texture: Dough made with poolish tends to be lighter and airier, with a more open crumb structure. This can give your pizza a softer, more tender crust.
  3. Workability: The dough is generally more elastic and easier to stretch, making it more manageable when shaping your pizza
Click to expand...
I second the recommendation on using a poolish. I started using poolish this fall, and feel that the dough comes out a lot better and for me, it's a bit easier to work. Previously I had just proofed my dough in the fridge for 24~48 hours.
 
Evan B said:
Ok so here's the jist of the recipe I use. I have actually put together a spreadsheet calculator so I can adjust the recipe as needed based on how much I'm making. That way I can calculate how much to make based on the size of the dough balls I need.

This is the recipe I use for my Sicilian/Detroit style pizzas, but I've found it makes for awesome neopolitan-ish pizzas as well. I often will make a bit extra so that I can make a few regular pizzas in addition to my deep dish sicilians. I've basically abandoned my old neoplitan recipe and just go with this now. Not that they're worlds apart different.

First: I do make a Poolish (starter). It's a 100% hydration starter (equal parts in weight water and flour) with dry yeast. I make it a day in advance and it gets added to the recipe. You don't NEED a poolish, but it does give better end results and is easy enough that there's no reason not to. If you need poolish specifics, I imagine many resources online show how to do it. Or I can make another post on here about it.

Makes 39oz total (my neopolitan dough balls are roughly 10oz (280g))

3g (1tsp) active dry yeast
90g (1/4c plus 2TBSP) warm water
578g (4.5c) pizza flour
13g (1.5tbsp) diastatic malt
116g poolish (see description above)
296g (1.25c) ice water
13g fine sea salt
7g extra virgin olice oil

1. start the dry yeast in a small bowl with the warm water
2. combine flour and malt in mixer bowl with dough hook
3. while running mixer, pour in most of the ice water. save a bit of it to wash out the yeast you just started.
4. Pour in said yeast. Use that bit of water to rinse it out and dump in the mixer bowl.
5. stop the mixer and pull the ball off to kind of reset it (it'll stick to the hook and just kind of bang around at this point)
6. restart it and add all of the poolish
7. add the salt and mix some more
8. stop it, reset the ball and scrape the sides. Then add the olive oil for another round of mixing for about a minute.

1b. Put the ball on a pan lightly greased with olive oil. use wet hands or you're gonna have a bad time.
2b. Stretch and fold the dough (if you don't know how, I suggest looking it up. it'd be another long post explaining)
3b. Cover the dough ball with a damp towel and let it sit for 20mins.
4b. Remove the dough from the pan, weigh it, then divide up in to your pizza dough balls. (again, mine are roughly 280g for a typical pizza).
5b. Stretch and fold the dough balls. Make sure the folded side is nicely pinched and sealed, and put that side down in the container.
6b. Place in an airtight, lightly oiled container, and keep in the fridge for 48-72hrs.
7b. Remove roughly 1-2hrs before stretching and making in to a pizza.
Click to expand...
Thank you for posting this!

You use yeast and the poolish? I will have to give that a try. I have just been using poolish when I make my dough.
 
et64 said:
Thank you for posting this!

You use yeast and the poolish? I will have to give that a try. I have just been using poolish when I make my dough.
Click to expand...
Yup I do it just as shown on that recipe there. It was made by a person much smarter than me so I don't argue with it 😂
 
Evan B said:
Yup I do it just as shown on that recipe there. It was made by a person much smarter than me so I don't argue with it 😂
Click to expand...
What do you consider the hydration of that dough to be? It appears that the flour weighs considerably more than the water rather than 35% - 40% of the total. But I majored in journalism not math so my calculations may be awry.
 
Last edited:
albula said:
What do you consider the hydration of that dough to be? It appears that the flour weighs considerably more than the water rather than 35% - 40% of the total. But I majored in journalism not math so my calculations may be awry.
Click to expand...
That's a question for a smart person. I do believe the poolish factors in. But I THINK it's like 65% or so.

Edit: OK I checked. It's 386g water / 578g flour. Not factoring in the poolish you're at about 67%
 
Last edited:
Evan B said:
That's a question for a smart person. I do believe the poolish factors in. But I THINK it's like 65% or so.
Click to expand...
The way I add it up you have 90 gr of water in the yeast prep, 58 grams of water in the poolish and 296 gr of ice water for a total of 444 grams. The flour is 578 grams so I believe that is a hydration level of only about 44%. Just trying to make heads and tails of this new affliction. For Neapolitan pizza doughs the "experts" say aim for 65% to 75% hydration.
 
albula said:
The way I add it up you have 90 gr of water in the yeast prep, 58 grams of water in the poolish and 296 gr of ice water for a total of 444 grams. The flour is 578 grams so I believe that is a hydration level of only about 44%. Just trying to make heads and tails of this new affliction. For Neapolitan pizza doughs the "experts" say aim for 65% to 75% hydration.
Click to expand...
90g+296g water / 578g = 66.7%

The poolish is 100% hydration so factoring that in would bump that up.
 
albula said:
The way I add it up you have 90 gr of water in the yeast prep, 58 grams of water in the poolish and 296 gr of ice water for a total of 444 grams. The flour is 578 grams so I believe that is a hydration level of only about 44%. Just trying to make heads and tails of this new affliction. For Neapolitan pizza doughs the "experts" say aim for 65% to 75% hydration.
Click to expand...
444/578=0.768 or 76.8%
 
Wayne Kohan said:
444/578=0.768 or 76.8%
Click to expand...
I told you I was a journalism major. I was figuring the percentages as a portion of the finished whole. 444 + 578 divided by 444 = about 44%. That having been said tonights effort created no leftovers. Starting to get this Gozney thing figured out. Baby steps. A classic Margherita that I deemed somewhat respectable.

PXL_20250202_024756717.MP.jpg
 
In
albula said:
I told you I was a journalism major. I was figuring the percentages as a portion of the finished whole. 444 + 578 divided by 444 = about 44%. That having been said tonights effort created no leftovers. Starting to get this Gozney thing figured out. Baby steps. A classic Margherita that I deemed somewhat respectable.

View attachment 140494
Click to expand...
I mean... I respect it.
 
albula said:
ShrI told you I was a journalism major. I was figuring the percentages as a portion of the finished whole. 444 + 578 divided by 444 = about 44%. That having been said tonights effort created no leftovers. Starting to get this Gozney thing figured out. Baby steps. A classic Margherita that I deemed somewhat respectable.

View attachment 140494
Click to expand...

I’d eat it 🤷‍♂️
 
Hey @Evan B and @iveofione .... thanks for sharing guys! Tonight's pizza was awesome (y)

In fact it was a fun evening....

I set the tone with a little musical inspiration on Pandora....

IMG_E8298.JPG

and then I learned that if one doesn't have a pizza stone or an oven metal thingy, it's not a good idea to substitute the wife's baking sheet with a light coating of oil and some corn meal.

Evidently 500 degrees is a wee bit warm for the corn meal....and I don't think the olive oil liked it much, either....

IMG_E8297.JPG

and the dog's reaffirmed they don't like smoke alarms :p

So I did them the old fashioned way.....on round pizza pans... and things turned out great. The crust was just what I'd hoped for...thanks again guys.

IMG_E8295.JPGIMG_E8296.JPG

Mike d
 
M_D said:
Hey @Evan B and @iveofione .... thanks for sharing guys! Tonight's pizza was awesome (y)

In fact it was a fun evening....

I set the tone with a little musical inspiration on Pandora....

View attachment 140640

and then I learned that if one doesn't have a pizza stone or an oven metal thingy, it's not a good idea to substitute the wife's baking sheet with a light coating of oil and some corn meal.

Evidently 500 degrees is a wee bit warm for the corn meal....and I don't think the olive oil liked it much, either....

View attachment 140641

and the dog's reaffirmed they don't like smoke alarms :p

So I did them the old fashioned way.....on round pizza pans... and things turned out great. The crust was just what I'd hoped for...thanks again guys.

View attachment 140642View attachment 140643

Mike d
Click to expand...
Yeah… olive oil has a REAL low smoke point.
 
  • Like
Reactions: M_D
I take that back. I do have some pure olive oil I use when I remember. Pure olive oil doesn't scorch the same way as extra virgin. So, sometimes I do things properly. But avocado oil is legit as well.
 
Evan B said:
I take that back. I do have some pure olive oil I use when I remember. Pure olive oil doesn't scorch the same way as extra virgin. So, sometimes I do things properly. But avocado oil is legit as well.
Click to expand...
Italy I hear is well known for their avocados!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top