What to do when you screw up and your pizza sticks

[Brett-EDH]

Thanks, There's a WinCo not far from me. I'll check it out.

I bought the last one Kilo bag of Caputo Semolina at a Nugget near me a little while ago, but haven't been able to find it before or since. None of the other stores near me carry it, and Whole Paycheck has been out of stock every time I check.

00 Caputo Red or Blue has also been hit and miss to find.

Corti Bros on Folsom Blvd below 65th St off Hwy 50. That's my source. WF hasn't had the rimacinata semolina in ages. you want the double ground as it's like powder. or just dust with regular flour and enure a light dusting so you don't burn the unincorporated flour when baking your pie. too much flour on your peel will stay with your pie shell and burn when cooking it casuing a bitter flavor on the pie. yes, i've been reading too much on pizza over the years.

 

[Ed P]

Just steer clear of Grocery Outlet aka GrossOut aka The Used Food Store.

Funny you said that...there's one within a stone's throw of me and my wife just found something there that she's interested in!

 

[Brett-EDH]

this is retail without amazon's sometime markups: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0045RE69A/?tag=tvwb-20

it's the same price per bag as i buy locally (WF and Corti Bros). THIS and not blue bag is for the temps yall are using. the blue bag is for very high temps and pro cooks (real pizzareias who do a less than 24 hour ferment in a damn hot oven). red bag is for up to 7 day ferments (3 days is best but some people like a funky dough) and a no sugar rise, cold in the fridge for max dough flavor development.

i digress. to each their own here. use the flours you want/desire/like. i just prefer the Caputo after many years of cooking pies; bite, pull, crunch, texture, flavor.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Since gluten helps the stretch, has anyone tried adding gluten to regular flour to make pizza?

 

[Ed P]

Joe, you can find those pizza screens at Walmart for $5, if you have one near you. They are stainless steel, not aluminum, unlike the other one I have. But just know that some people recommend seasoning them just like you would cast iron or stainless, and even that won't prevent sticking in all cases. They can be hard to clean, too. YMMV.

 

[Ed P]

Since gluten helps the stretch, has anyone tried adding gluten to regular flour to make pizza?

I have, but I'm not gonna go near that one. Be free. Experiment.

EDIT: Here's a link to an online vital wheat gluten calculator if you are feeling adventurous:

VWG Calc.xlsx

Sheet1 Protein Calculator for adding Vital Wheat Gluten (VWG) to common flour to desired percentage Blue color items are to be entered. Red color items are calculations and performed automatically. Enter numbers below: Grams of flour needed for dough batch:,318.000 Protein percent of base flour ...

docs.google.com

 

[Ed P]

I have, but I'm not gonna go near that one. Be free. Experiment.

EDIT: Here's a link to an online vital wheat gluten calculator if you are feeling adventruous:

VWG Calc.xlsx

Sheet1 Protein Calculator for adding Vital Wheat Gluten (VWG) to common flour to desired percentage Blue color items are to be entered. Red color items are calculations and performed automatically. Enter numbers below: Grams of flour needed for dough batch:,318.000 Protein percent of base flour ...

docs.google.com

And here's the YT video on how the author makes his same-day NY/American style pizza. EZ-PZ. Worth watching, IMO.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Joe, you can find those pizza screens at Walmart for $5, if you have one near you. They are stainless steel, not aluminum, unlike the other one I have. But just know that some people recommend seasoning them just like you would cast iron or stainless, and even that won't prevent sticking in all cases. They can be hard to clean, too. YMMV.

I have some smaller ones, but for $5 I will check these out next time I am at WM.

 

[Ed P]

I have some smaller ones, but for $5 I will check these out next time I am at WM.

Some people like them that size because 1) you can put a smaller pizza on them...it doesn't have to be a 16 incher 2) if the pizza is smaller than the screen it is easier to grab the screen because it sticks out away from the pizza 3) if the pizza is larger than your peel you can launch with the screen and then turn/pull the pie with the smaller peel 4) depending on your home oven, your oven may not accommodate anything larger than a 16" 5) that's the max size of many home pizza ovens and 7) arguably, 16" screens seem to be more commonly available.

 

[DanHoo]

Some people like them that size because 1) you can put a smaller pizza on them...it doesn't have to be a 16 incher 2) if the pizza is smaller than the screen it is easier to grab the screen because it sticks out away from the pizza 3) if the pizza is larger than your peel you can launch with the screen and then turn/pull the pie with the smaller peel 4) depending on your home oven, your oven may not accommodate anything larger than a 16" 5) that's the max size of many home pizza ovens and 7) arguably, 16" screens seem to be more commonly available.

Ed is saying size doesn't matter.

I'll see you all in a few days when I get out of jail

 

[Joe Anshien]

Try #2 of pizza with no parchment paper. Better but certainly not perfect. Lot more flower on mat and peel. Moved it around often to check for stick. Went pretty OK until I went to put it on stone and it did not go smoothly as seen in pics. I also should have rotated it as one spot burned. After scraping off burned part I discovered that the char is really tasty;-) That was my favorite part of the crust.

 

[Brett-EDH]

Try #2 of pizza with no parchment paper. Better but certainly not perfect. Lot more flower on mat and peel. Moved it around often to check for stick. Went pretty OK until I went to put it on stone and it did not go smoothly as seen in pics. I also should have rotated it as one spot burned. After scraping off burned part I discovered that the char is really tasty;-) That was my favorite part of the crust.
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try making your pie on the mesh screen. stretch your dough to form a round pie. then place the shell on the screen. top it till you're crazy and then place the whole assembly on your stone/steel. oce your dough sets, likly at around 4-5 mins, deck the pie (remove it from the mesh) and onto the stone/steel for final crisping. the mesh will insulate against burns, make having a round pie very easy and give you more control of the entire process as you build more confidence.

looks yum. i'd eat that one!!!

 

[BruceB_AlbanyNY]

Be careful of cornmeal. It contains fat, and if you use too much, it will turn black. Some suggest semolina or plain flour instead.

 

[Bruno]

try making your pie on the mesh screen. stretch your dough to form a round pie. then place the shell on the screen. top it till you're crazy and then place the whole assembly on your stone/steel. oce your dough sets, likly at around 4-5 mins, deck the pie (remove it from the mesh) and onto the stone/steel for final crisping. the mesh will insulate against burns, make having a round pie very easy and give you more control of the entire process as you build more confidence.

looks yum. i'd eat that one!!!

I have some of those screens, at the time I bought them I thought they couldn’t handle high temps, rereading the Amazon listing it mentions they are fine for commercial ovens, I will certainly try them out next pizza cook on my SmokeFire with GNG pizza oven.

 

[Ed P]

Pizza screen review by America's Test Kitchen:

The Best Pizza Screens | America's Test Kitchen

When we heard raves about the thin, perforated metal disks called pizza screens, we wondered if using them would make our pizza-making easier.

www.americastestkitchen.com

 

[Brett-EDH]

Pizza screen review by America's Test Kitchen:

The Best Pizza Screens | America's Test Kitchen

When we heard raves about the thin, perforated metal disks called pizza screens, we wondered if using them would make our pizza-making easier.

www.americastestkitchen.com

Hahahaha. Go tell that to just about half the NY pizzarieas.

Pizza isn’t just pizza. There are many different kinds of pizza and as many different dough recipes.

So take their review with a grain of salt. It all depends on your dough and pizza style your making.

 

[Ed P]

Hahahaha. Go tell that to just about half the NY pizzarieas.

Pizza isn’t just pizza. There are many different kinds of pizza and as many different dough recipes.

So take their review with a grain of salt. It all depends on your dough and pizza style your making.

From what I understand, the screens are hard to keep clean in a commercial establishment that is subject to periodic food safety inspections and not all that durable so require frequent replacement, and if I saw someone using a screen in a commercial establishment I would probably think they didn't know any more about making pizza than I do. Be that as it may, use a screen or don't, it's your pizza, Joe, make it the way you want it. I use a screen, but I consider it a gimmick and my end game is to make pizza without one, but that's my pizza and that's the way I want to make it.

 

[Joe Anshien]

From what I understand, the screens are hard to keep clean in a commercial establishment that is subject to periodic food safety inspections and not all that durable so require frequent replacement, and if I saw someone using a screen in a commercial establishment I would probably think they didn't know any more about making pizza than I do. Be that as it may, use a screen or don't, it's your pizza, Joe, make it the way you want it. I use a screen, but I consider it a gimmick and my end game is to make pizza without one, but that's my pizza and that's the way I want to make it.

Interesting article and good explanation. I will probably wait a few weeks until my next attempt as I have had my carb limit for this week I have had great results with parchment paper buy sort of feel like that is a crutch so I was attempting to do without it.

 

[Ed P]

Interesting article and good explanation. I will probably wait a few weeks until my next attempt as I have had my carb limit for this week I have had great results with parchment paper buy sort of feel like that is a crutch so I was attempting to do without it.

The other thing I notice with a screen, and it may just be me, but I think I get less "oven-spring". And then there was the time when I pulled the screen when the center of the crust wasn't completely baked and I ended up with a pizza donut...we still ate it and it was good!

 

[Ed P]

Also, I noticed you had the IR burner on...

Did you use a wooden peel or metal for launching?