Home style pizza

[skiezo]

Any tips for getting the raw pizza from the peel to the stone without making a freakin mess?
I did a thick crust in a cast iron skillet that turned out pretty good. Had enough dough left for a 10" thin crust. Got it dressed and on the peel. When to transfer to oven and, well kinda made a big mess of my stone. Cheese and toppings all over the place.

[Too Tall]

Any tips for getting the raw pizza from the peel to the stone without making a freakin mess?
I did a thick crust in a cast iron skillet that turned out pretty good. Had enough dough left for a 10" thin crust. Got it dressed and on the peel. When to transfer to oven and, well kinda made a big mess of my stone. Cheese and toppings all over the place.

Toss some flour onto the dry peel. Put your dough on and build the pizza quickly. Don't linger or the moisture from the dough will cause it to stick. Just before putting it into the oven give the peel a sharp shake to break the surface tension and it will slide onto the oven stone.

Does that answer the question?

[guido]

I have been having great luck with a sheet of baking parchment between the peel and the developing pie. The pie and paper go into the oven, and after a couple of minutes as the crust starts to set up, it can be tipped up and the paper griped and pulled out from under the pie. Continue to bake as usual. Little fuss, no muss.

[rwsaunders]

Wood peel and corn meal for your oven feed and metal peel for when the pizza is in need...oven turning and extraction. Parchment paper is your friend too, as Guy suggested.

[Too Tall]

So true, my wood peel has never failed me and doubles as fan for hot summer days on the porch reading and sipping lemonade.

[twowheels]

Wood peel and semolina under the dough. Works like a charm and doesn't leave crunchy artifacts like corn meal. I'm not fond or parchment and far and away prefer semolina.

[twowheels]

Here's one!

[Too Tall]

Twowheels what's with you and the zucchini? Now I really have to try it. Looks like whole wheat crust? I've got a 50 lbs sack of 00 about to land at casa TT so you can be assured there will be lots of "test" pizzas to show you.

FWIIW My new new new favorite pizza base is charred eggplant roasted until a little burned than scraped into a cast iron pan where I've been sauteing some onions and garlic and scant EVO. Good grief so good.

[guido]

FWIIW My new new new favorite pizza base is charred eggplant roasted until a little burned than scraped into a cast iron pan where I've been sauteing some onions and garlic and scant EVO. Good grief so good.

I use that base for other things but haven't done a pizza with it yet. Thanks for the reminder!

[twowheels]

I just love to put zucchini, tomato, mushrooms, onions, halapenos, over a pesto and marinara sauce base. My typical dough is 2 part 00 and 1 part whole wheat. Sometimes I go 1 to 1. Typically, I roll my dough for a thinner crust but sometimes I simply press the dough for a more typical thicker crust. Most guests prefer the thinner crust.

Lots of ways to make pizza. Josh, I like the charred eggplant idea as a base. I'll give it a go.

[dgaddis]

I have been having great luck with a sheet of baking parchment between the peel and the developing pie. The pie and paper go into the oven, and after a couple of minutes as the crust starts to set up, it can be tipped up and the paper griped and pulled out from under the pie. Continue to bake as usual. Little fuss, no muss.

This is what I do, and it's sooooo easy. No mess. No flour or semolina getting thrown into the oven. I don't think it makes any difference in the finished product either.

[COVRTDESIGN]

Any tips for getting the raw pizza from the peel to the stone without making a freakin mess?
I did a thick crust in a cast iron skillet that turned out pretty good. Had enough dough left for a 10" thin crust. Got it dressed and on the peel. When to transfer to oven and, well kinda made a big mess of my stone. Cheese and toppings all over the place.

Always do your final stretch and toppings on a peel. Toss some flour on the peel, place the stretched dough on top, stretch out to make into a circle if need be and final adjustments, toppings, then slide onto your stone.

For a home oven, always have the bottom of the oven covered in aluminum foil so that you can just pull it out and no burnt flour.

[nick k]

Homemade ricotta has been an eye opener for me. Aside from being easy and delicious, I made a particularly dry batch on Sunday and it has helped keep my crust from sogging up. Maybe a little too crisp even.
2490A71C-4497-45CD-BC9F-1A6460B15713.jpeg

[COVRTDESIGN]

Homemade ricotta has been an eye opener for me. Aside from being easy and delicious, I made a particularly dry batch on Sunday and it has helped keep my crust from sogging up. Maybe a little too crisp even.
2490A71C-4497-45CD-BC9F-1A6460B15713.jpeg

Good looking pie. Cheese is incredibly easy to make, especially ricotta. Mess around with the draining time and you will get such incredible results. Every restaurant I have ever been an exec chef in, I always do house burrata with house made mozzarella and house made ricotta. So good!!

[guido]

The Ken Forkish dough with Mr Tall's roasted eggplant/caramelized onion idea plus lots of garlic and accented with some leftover braised broccoli rabe.

Nice pie, perhaps a bit too much eggplant mix so it was a bit moist. A really awesome crust...

[Too Tall]

Nice pie. The crust came out great. Guy I roasted the onions/garlic separately and put everything on a cutting board than used the old flat of a big knife smear technique. The result was fairly dry. Scant oil for cooking and a good cook off in the oven are key, for me, to get the eggplant moisture level low.

[guido]

Nice pie. The crust came out great. Guy I roasted the onions/garlic separately and put everything on a cutting board than used the old flat of a big knife smear technique. The result was fairly dry. Scant oil for cooking and a good cook off in the oven are key, for me, to get the eggplant moisture level low.

Thanks! I grilled the eggplant (the oven was busy heating the stone), chopped the slabs and added it to the black iron pan caramelizing the onions/garlic. Enough oil to keep things from sticking but not more than I generally have in my onion/pepper/schroom base. I think I just had too much eggplant for the size of the pie... It was close to a half inch thick layer when I cut the pie, but it was hard to tell in the heat of the moment how much I'd need as spread it out on the dough...

Just need to practice. That will just suck...

[nick k]

This was blistered cherry tomatoes, the rest of the homemade ricotta, red onions and garlic. I think my oven tops out at 550F, and the inverted sheet pan isn’t going to survive that. I may try my ancient 14” cast iron skillet upside down. Gonna need to improvise a peel and some technique for that....

DAA87144-26A8-44A5-BD95-2DA1CB7EA0FA.jpeg

[guido]

Nice looking pie Nick!

[Too Tall]

Thanks! I grilled the eggplant (the oven was busy heating the stone), chopped the slabs and added it to the black iron pan caramelizing the onions/garlic. Enough oil to keep things from sticking but not more than I generally have in my onion/pepper/schroom base. I think I just had too much eggplant for the size of the pie... It was close to a half inch thick layer when I cut the pie, but it was hard to tell in the heat of the moment how much I'd need as spread it out on the dough...

Just need to practice. That will just suck...

Well you can be forgiven, that base is spoon-worthy. Yeah, I smear it around very thing. Anyother gambit is to go with garlic infused EVO for the base than use the eggplant in dots the size of a teaspoon. That satisfies the need for a real bite of the stuff. I've also made a pumpkin reduction for the base which is curiously good and nobody guessed what it was.