Freddy K's Pizza Thread.

[Freddy_Krugerrand]

@BrickStoneOven

When I first started about 4 months ago I was making 10-12 every Sunday. For the past two weeks I have been doing 4 pizzas twice a week. Making more will get you more used to how things work. You will get the hang of opening 10 pizzas in a row better then if you were opening 2 pizza a week. Learning comes from repetition, so the more you do it the more you will learn.

What do you do with the 40-50 pizzas a month you make? Are they all 6" pizzas?

If I made 40-50 pizzas a month, most would go in the garbage can.

[Freddy_Krugerrand]

@Kris

Forgive me if I repeat some of the posts…I didn’t really have time to read all the posts.

We use a dough roller (sheeter) and for no other reason than to form the dough.

If I were to use a dough PRESS it would be to make a thin and crispy crust. We are in missouri and it is known as a st. louis style crust. It par bakes the crust a bit to make it crispier. Similiar to a bonici or tnt crust you can buy from a vendor.

You might want to try a good ol fashioned roller with your recipe and see if you are getting the same results as far as the color goes. Par baked crust do not cook the same as fresh. You may also want to check your sugar. Sugar helps the crust to brown.

Have fun with it…good for you for getting in there and trying to learn a bit before jumping in head first (or would that be debt first) like most folks tend to do.

As for a dough roller sheeter…good luck finding one of them for 500 bucks. Even a used will be around 1500. They are easy to maintain and fix ourselves and even used ones are like tanks. We bought one used 15 years ago and the thing still works like a champ!
I am not sure what kind of oven you will be interested in using but if it is a deck you can buy a stone and use it in your own oven. (I think target sells something, or even pampered chef) It will greatly effect the flavor of your pie.

Take a trip to used equipment shops and just look around. I feel like a kid in the candy store when I go.

Good luck to ya.

Kris

That’s good advice, thanks. I have been experimenting with both stones and screens.

Unfortunately, where i live there are no used equipment shops. My comment about a $500 sheeter was meant to say that if I found a cheap enough one I would buy it just to practice with it (even if I never used it in the shop).

[Tom_Lehmann]

Freddy;
It is common for the dough to shrink back after pressing. How much it shrinks back depends upon a number of factors. Age of the dough (how long it has been fermented), protein content, water content (absorption), as well as the temperature of the dough. One thing that can be used very successfully to reduce/eliminate shrinkage at the press is PZ-44 <www.foremostfarms.com>.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[BrickStoneOven]

[/quote]

What do you do with the 40-50 pizzas a month you make? Are they all 6" pizzas?

If I made 40-50 pizzas a month, most would go in the garbage can.
[/quote]

I always have friends over and I give some to my neighbors. They are full 16" pies, if my oven was bigger I would be making 18" or 20" pies. Why would you throw them away, do you live in the middle of nowhere? Make them and give them away to your neighbors they are going to be your customers right? They can give you their opinions and you can see what they do and don’t like.

[Freddy_Krugerrand]

@Tom Lehmann

Freddy;
It is common for the dough to shrink back after pressing. How much it shrinks back depends upon a number of factors. Age of the dough (how long it has been fermented), protein content, water content (absorption), as well as the temperature of the dough. One thing that can be used very successfully to reduce/eliminate shrinkage at the press is PZ-44 <www.foremostfarms.com>.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Thanks for the link. I will order some and try it out.

I think from now on I will wait 48 hours before using my dough. I’ll let you know how it goes.