General Pizza Weight/Sauce/Etc.

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

Hi,
I’m new to posting to the forum but have perused a lot here. We make a Northern Italian style pizza. It’s a thin crust (very little air) which is hand stretched and tossed. I am testing whether or not I like 10oz or 11oz for my dough balls, which will yield a 14" crust. I use half 00 and half AP flour. My first question would be, do those ounces seem reasonable to you? I have read in the archives about dough ball weights and of course, most answers were for general, larger pizza crusts, with larger weights. We cook in an inherited electric deck oven (yes, I know this might not be ideal, but you make do with what you’ve got for the time being!) and I’ve got the temperature between 475 and 525. We were getting some char/burn on the bottoms, and temped the oven–sure enough, the upper deck needed calibration while the lower deck needs a new thermo.
Second question: We tested ounces for sauce/cheese/meats etc. 3oz of sauce, all the way to the edge, is how the owner likes it (maybe 4oz when he’s not looking). For cheese, I’m using 4oz. For meats and other toppings, I’m using 1.5oz. Does this seem skimpy to you? As I said, I looked through the archives and some of y’all are using A LOT of sauce (remember, this is a Northern Italian sauce–zero paste, very few ingredients, San Marzanos that I cook down and use a burr stick on).

So, that’s all for now. I appreciate your input tremendously. Thanks!
Beth

2

Yes, seems very skimpy on cheese and meat to me. We use 2X that much.

3

I’m going to re-evaluate the portions, to be sure. Thank you for your input!

4

From your description it sounds like your making neapoltian pizza, if thats correct your portions seem inline with what other neo joints do, on that style of pizza the saying less is more seems to apply

5

It’s definitely Neopolitan-based. Thank you. Still may add some more cheese, but don’t want limp slices from too much weight.

6

I think for the Northern Italian pizza you have right amount of cheese. And I would put little bit more of sauce. I personally love this pizza, but not sure how customers in U.S. like it. I am European… and don’t like tons of cheese and sauce on pizza. I actually hate it. I love when the cheese and sauce stick to the pie and don’t slide down when eating.