Continue to Site

Another noobie question about ovens!

That sure sounds like a great pizza, Tom. I’d have to travel to one of São Paulo’s nicer districts to get a pizza like that. Not where I live, though. I actually have yet to find a pizza shop in the area that I actually enjoy, which lead me into baking pizzas for family parties and stuff, and then having everyone insist that I open up a shop of my own.

But even if I can’t get an air impingement oven, I’m probably not going to get a wood burning oven just to keep things simpler as far as staff and fuel goes. I’m only experienced at using a deck oven w/ pizza pans, anyway…

One pizza that my wife always gets me to make for her is layered like this: tomato sauce, sweet bell peppers, pineapple, tomato, onion, mozzarella, and then on top, I sprinkle crushed almonds all over the whole thing. Watery, but so tasty if cook slowly and until the almond pieces have nicely browned.
 
Last edited:
Hummm. Sounds good. But watch those almonds. If they are not toasted before you add them, and they get wet, and don’t bake properly, they will end up with the mouthfeel of eating an artgum eraser. I always like to lightly toast mine and add them late in the baking stage.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the tip. Yeah, it’s not like they have to impart their flavour to the rest of the ingredients, and quickly throwing them on would be a cinch while they’re baking in a deck oven. I got into the habit of incorporating them into some of my pies when I was moonlighting at an organic, mostly vegetarian pizzeria. The owner just had us grabbing a hand full of sliced almonds and then crunching them up in our hands. I guess that was the best way to go with his single-belt conveyor ovens; pushing those pizzas back into the oven wasn’t always an option.
 
Last edited:
Kurtis;
Were those almonds raw/blanched or toasted? If you were crunching them up in your hands, it sounds like they were toasted as raw or blanched almonds are pretty tough to just crunch up in your hands.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
Last edited:
Good point! I can remember them being sliced, but I can’t remember them looking toasted. Are almonds usually toasted or dehydrated when they’re being sliced? They were definitely dry enough to crunch up.
 
Last edited:
Almonds are pas plain raw (still in the brown skins); raw blanched (these are the creamy white color ones you usually see); and as toasted (typically a very light golden color). Raw almonds don’t have a lot of flavor, and they tend to be a little chewy. Toasted, they develop a great flavor, this is the type you find being used in candies. Also, the toasted ones don’t develop the overly chewy texture like the raw ones do when exposed to any type of moisture, like during baking. Thet are also available in a number of forms, such as whole, sliced, slivered, ground and meal. If you crunched them up in your hand, I’m betting that you used the sliced ones. They’re sliced paper thin, and crunch up quite easily. Their large surface area also helps to keep them on the top surface of the product, so if you were using sliced, raw, they wouldn’t sink down only to become steamed and chewy, instead, they would remain on the surface to be toasted and develop that great, characteristic flavor that you’re remembering.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
Last edited:
Don’t over do it. Just put some out on a dry sheet pan, put them into a 350F oven and toast them until they JUST begin to devcelop a slight golden cast. If you apply a thin layer of nuts to the sheet pan you don’t need to turn them during baking. Allow the nuts to cool on the pan after toasting until the pan can be handled without protection, then, while still warm, put the toasted nuts into a plastic bag and seal tightly for storage. I like to toast about a weeks supply at a time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
Last edited:
Sounds like a good system. Thanks for sharing it with me.

I’m still trying to find a location, but once I do, all that I’ve learnt on this board will make starting my place up much easier!
 
Last edited:
I think a brick oven does not fit the operation you have envisioned. Typically the wood ovens work for a more high end operations – meaning higher menu prices as well because you are not going to make up for it with volume with that oven.

If the “look” is really what you are after, you should consider getting some type of deck oven and encasing it in brick/stone.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top