Neapolitan pizza dough, old school style

[Rich G]

Heat looks good, Brett....nice color on the bottom. Nice puff on the cornicione, too. Looking forward to seeing how the rest of them go.....the first pie for me is always not quite what I want.....which probably means I need to slow my roll on timing for launching it!

R

 

[Brett-EDH]

A little too much moisture on wife’s pie.

 

[Brett-EDH]

Chefs pie.



Cook time 4 mins plus a little

















Backyard’s looking good

 

[Tony-Chicago]

Looks good.
Porch light is on.
Hurry I am hungry these pictures are not helping

 

[DanHoo]

Lookin good Brett.

How was the taste and chew?

 

[Brett-EDH]

Lookin good Brett.

How was the taste and chew?

Nice crunch and chew. I’d say a perfect dough recipe. And the 2 days is the minimum cold ferment I’d do. I think at 4 days it’d be even better. The dough was supple and strong. Held its shape well.

 

[Grant Cunningham]

Brett, what cheese are you using?

 

[Grant Cunningham]

Lmao. I love this thread. I think we've arrived at the point whereby "Pizza Cooks" should be its own sub-topic/thread.

Beware — dough discussions can be as contentious as Lawry's debates.

 

[Brett-EDH]

Brett, what cheese are you using?

Low moisture whole milk mozz. Comes in blocks. Sliced and then cubed to even sizes for consistency melt/cook results.

 

[Brett-EDH]

Beware — dough discussions can be as contentious as Lawry's debates.

We need an E/S6 dedicated forum. This cooker has a life of its own. It’s fast becoming legend. @Chris Allingham

 

[JimK]

Good looking pies!

 

[RLittle]

Great looking pizza! Your documentation on the cooks is spot on.....and very helpful.

 

[Grant Cunningham]

Low moisture whole milk mozz. Comes in blocks. Sliced and then cubed to even sizes for consistency melt/cook results.

Brand?

 

[Brett-EDH]

Brand?

I think the Costco one is galbani? I can check next time I buy it. I’ve used different brands in the past and that composition/style is consistently the same across many brands.

Now fresh mozz is very different. The key component here is the low moisture. Too much moisture and your pizza shell will be soggy on top and cooked on the bottom.

My wife had fresh sliced tomatoes on her pizza and it was too much moisture. I should have oven dried the slices before using them.

 

[Brett-EDH]

Great looking pizza! Your documentation on the cooks is spot on.....and very helpful.

I’ll draft a postmortem today with my notes from this cook and post it.

 

[DanHoo]

I think the Costco one is galbani?

Galbani is the brand at Costco Folsom in the last month or so. 2 lb blocks.

 

[Rich G]

Galbani is the brand at Costco Folsom in the last month or so. 2 lb blocks.

View attachment 50924

Yep, that's what I get at our local market, too. Though, like Brett, I haven't found much difference across brand names as long as it's all low moisture.

 

[DanHoo]

Yep, that's what I get at our local market, too. Though, like Brett, I haven't found much difference across brand names as long as it's all low moisture.

Yeah, It was easier for me to snap a pic than describe it.

 

[Brett-EDH]

Galbani is the brand at Costco Folsom in the last month or so. 2 lb blocks.

View attachment 50924

i think what i used last night was whole milk and not part skim. i'll have to ask in my house where we bought it from. might have been winco.

the only time i use fresh mozz (costco sells this too), is when i want to mix in some fresh and the low moisture. it creates a nice texture and flavor. again, you have to use very little fresh mozz, and especially if you're making Neapolitan which traditionally does use FRESH MOZZ only but in very sparing amounts.

there was once a brand of low moisture (like shown in Dan's pic, but not that brand) i used and it was plasticky when it melted. it was weird, for sure. so i would recco you taste and eat the cheese uncooked before you commit to a new brand or if you're new to pizza making. i'd say the plasticky thing was a very rare instance, but it's better to be sure than take all your time making a pie and the cheese is what lets you down.

note, i never use pre shredded cheese from the store. those products have cellulose or potato starch on the cheese to stop the shreds from clumping or sticking in the bag. cellulose is usually a wood byproduct that is food grade but i'm not into eating wood.

 

[DanHoo]

The more I think about it, I think I've used both part skim and whole mozz.

here's a side tunnel off the dough rabbit hole...

excerpt: Fat and calories aside, the main difference between whole-milk and part-skim mozzarella is that the whole-milk version melts better, while part-skim browns faster. Neither is better; it really depends on what you want your cheese to do.

https://www.wisconsincheeseman.com/blog/cooking/best-cheese-pizza-beyond-mozzarella