PIZZA THREAD

[Aimless Ryan]

A lot of the things I say not to do are things I used to do. I did a lot of things wrong for a long time. Then I learned; partly by paying attention when I've been in NYC.

Oh yeah. When dumpster diving, don't mess with the trash dumpsters. Only look through the cardboard dumpster.

 

[vtac]

You guys motivated me to make a pizza pilgrimage recently to one of the original NYC pizza joints.

The standard slice could be described as the embodiment of a slice. Nothing pretentious or fancy about it. Simple crust done right with a nice flavor and texture. The sauce had a relatively deep yet bright tomato flavor with some sweetness and the cheese was just enough to add the right amount of oiliness, chew and salt to each bite. I got an extra slice for you @Aimless Ryan.

It was good enough to get back in the long but brisk line for one more slice. Had to try the fresh mozzarella slice this time and it was even better. The first slices came from a pie only a minute or so out of the oven - they were really cranking out pies. The fresh mozzarella pie must have been out a bit longer because they put this slice in the oven for ~30 seconds. I'm assuming this is what gave it a noticeably crispier crust throughout. It also seemed to have a thinner crust. 10/10 pizza for me.

Well worth the trip if you're in the area IMO. I had high expectations and left with a smile.

 

[gaseous_clay]

I need to make a run down to Joe's soon. The only problem there is waiting for it to cool so you don't melt your mouth.

Living in NYC the last 17 years (mostly) has me spoiled on pizza.

I moved back home to Detroit for a couple years & found a few good spots, but it's not the same. For thin crust, the best spot in Detroit for a slice (don't always want a whole pie) is Supinos, but I find it weird that the pies aren't on display... and that they put the slices in little cardboard triangle boxes (oh, how cute and unnecessary... just a paper plate & bag work well, thank you.) For a sit down family restaurant thin crust, Vince's (on Springwells) is really good.

"Detroit style" pizza is quite good too... Buddy's Pizza is fantastic. There are several satellite locations, but they are merely blah compared to the original location, where they don't bother doing the corporate thing of measuring ingredients. They just make damn good pies!

Speaking of "Detroit Style," the only corporate pie I can stand is Jets. In fact, I'm in NYC craving a Jets pie right now.

 

[biohacker]

It's 6am and this thread is making me want to eat pizza for breakfast! I drool for this stuff similar to quality cannabis buds!

I have eaten more pizza in the last couple of weeks than in the last couple of years because of this thread! Last night again, but still not at the point where i'm making them from scratch.... for some reason I still fear dough making!

Kind of a bummer not have access to "real" quality pizza like in NYC and Detroit.... i'm sure there are incredible places in Toronto, but it's way too far to visit just for Za. Then again....

There are a few great restaurants around.... I gotta start reconsidering all the thai, indian, and greek restaurants I frequent... and there is an all-you-can-eat sushi place that is just downright addicting that I drool about often!

Nice pics @vtac and @gaseous_clay !

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Off topic. I'm only posting this because ceramic bakeware has been mentioned recently. Please do not reply to this post.

I don't know if this is true about ceramic bakeware in general (probably is), but I do know all ceramic pans sold for pizzamaking are not only useless; they're less than useless. Ceramic pans (particularly deep dish pans) keep oven heat from reaching whatever you're trying to bake. That is never an objective when baking pizza. Ceramics (stones, never pans) are used for pizzamaking only in situations where the ceramic is heated for an hour or longer before the pizza begins baking.

 

[Aimless Ryan]

I posted the previous post in the grinder thread specifically because it related to something that was being discussed in the grinder thread (where it no longer resides). I didn't post it here because it's not very relevant to what has been discussed here. But whatever.

 

[Vaporcussion]

Let's get one thing straight; you judge a pizza by the sauce...

 

[biohacker]

Had to fucking give up on the za's....just can't do wheat anymore....my guts just reject it! Back to meatza's I guess!

 

[DeeCee5]

Not sure if this is the right thread to place this, but a dispensary in Quincy, MA is now serving "Pot Pizza"; http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pot-pizza-offered-at-boston-area-medical-marijuana-dispensary/

 

[biohacker]

I'd rather not eat pizza than have to tolerate "gluten free" crust. Shit's just nasty.

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Not sure if this is the right thread to place this, but a dispensary in Quincy, MA is now serving "Pot Pizza"; http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pot-pizza-offered-at-boston-area-medical-marijuana-dispensary/

Well, it is a pizza thread. On a pot website. Don't know where else would be more appropriate.

 

[YaMon]

I'm a bit embarrassed as a native Chicagoan never to have heard of Pequad's. Thanks for the tip. When I was going to grad school in New Haven CT, I experienced some great pizza. People would come from NYC to New Haven just to get pizza. Lots of Italians in Connecticut...

Any chance you went to a place called Jimmy & Bobos? (sp?)

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Now that I have a better understanding of how YouTube operates (I think), my videos are much better organized than when I shared some of them earlier in this thread. Here's a playlist of my pizzamaking videos (which didn't exist then):

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpheHPi3wu5PQUXamyDkWdRHAA3dDsLCc

Hopefully I will be able to make more videos like this someday, but right now that doesn't seem likely.

Even though I'm very critical of everything I do, I really like these videos. Not everything went perfectly, but a lot of things went really close to perfectly; beginning with what happens in the short first video. And whenever I did anything wrong, I did my best to inform viewers that I did something wrong; either in the video or in the description of the video.

Everything in these videos was done in one take. The videos might not be one untinerrupted clip, but the pizza in every video received one chance. The pizza you see come out of the oven is the same pizza you saw go into the oven. It's the same dough you saw in my mixer, too. And the same sauce and cheese. Unlike TV, I did nothing to deceive you (in hopes of making myself appear more knowledgeable than I really am).

 

[Diggy Smalls]

There's a local place that does a pizza that might not sound right on paper, but in your mouth, it's delectable and awesome. We're in NY, so it's a classic hand tossed thinner style pizza, but without the big bubbles in crust. Anyway, it's got black beans, mozz, feta, and roma tomatoes on it. When it comes out of the oven they put fresh avocado and basil on top! Yeah, it's awesome!

 

[2 Cycle]

Recommend me the BEST pizza sauce please!

 

[virtualpurple]

Recommend me the BEST pizza sauce please!

Are you opposed to putting in a little effort to make your own (not difficult and you can cater your flavors a little to discover your preferences) or are you just looking for a brand recommendation?

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Recommend me the BEST pizza sauce please!

It depends on the style of pizza, but I think simple chopped, unseasoned, canned San Marzano tomatoes makes a great sauce. That's what I used for years.

I'd say by far the most important rule with pizza sauce is NEVER COOK PIZZA SAUCE!!! When you buy pizza, the sauce was not cooked (until the pizza baked).

Seriously, cooking pizza sauce ruins it. I used cooked pizza sauce for the first several years of my now-20-year pizzamaking journey. My sauce always sucked. I figured it was because home cooks don't have access to the tools and ingredients available to restaurants.

Then I got the idea that maybe I shouldn't cook my sauce (early 2000s, when there was still no one talking about this stuff on the internet), and everything changed.

This is possibly the only pizzamaking tip I'll give that I consider pretty much 100% true pretty much 100% of the time.

I haven't thought about sauce in quite a while, but here are some things I think may be helpful:

• Keep it simple. With good canned tomatoes, you don't have to add anything. But if you do, start with conservative quantities of basil, sugar, and maybe salt (I rarely add salt, but my sauce might be better if I did.)
• Other seasonings you may opt to use very conservatively: oregano, fresh chopped garlic, garlic powder, red pepper flakes...
• Don't add oil. That's for pasta sauce.
• DO NOT COOK!!!

I think for NY style sauce I use something like:

• 28 oz chopped/crushed tomatoes. Preferably Tomato Magic or 7/11, which you won't find in grocery stores. 6 IN 1 if you live near GFS Marketplace.
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp oregano. Be very careful with oregano. I feel like it's very easy to use too much, which then makes the sauce suck.

You can make it ahead of time or you can make it right before you intend to use it.

 

[invertedisdead]

A lot of New York style pizza uses a cooked sauce, or at least did, before the availability of pre-cooked tomato product such as Saporito. Since Saporito is hard to find, pre-cooking may very much be necessary IMO, since attaining the same level of cook-through as a commercial deck oven at home can be difficult.

 

[Tranquility]

I have a pizza theory based on personal experience. Most everyone has a favorite style/type/brand of pizza. My theory is that most people's favorite is the one they first had when young.

For me it is a thin crust, high flavor sauce, mixed cheese pizza from a place that has gone out of business. Sure, I like other styles with my current favorite being a thick sweet crust with the cheese below the sauce. (Chicago type.) Still, I miss the pizza I first had.

Anyone change their favorite pizza for reasons other than particular topping or the prior pizza man went out of business?

 

[Aimless Ryan]

I like all pizza.

A lot of New York style pizza uses a cooked sauce, or at least did, before the availability of pre-cooked tomato product such as Saporito. Since Saporito is hard to find, pre-cooking may very much be necessary IMO, since attaining the same level of cook-through as a commercial deck oven at home can be difficult.

That stuff isn't pre-cooked. It's pasteurized. Big difference.

More specifically, as I think you know, much of the tomato product used as sauce base in the pizza industry comes in a very concentrated form (even when it comes in packaging that say it's never from concentrate). And yes, it gets that way from being heated. However, it's not the same thing as cooking or simmering for hours to thicken, I think because it's also done under immense pressure or something. Which allows moisture to be removed at a much lower temperature than cooking temperature.

And then it's pasteurized.

That kind of stuff is generally used by pizza joints that offer cheap pizza or relatively cheap pizza. No one cooks it, though. Taking time to cook pizza sauce is nothing more than wasted labor for inferior product. Anyone who would even think of doing that will go out of business. Not just because it's horribly inefficient and creates an inferior product but because doing things like that indicates the management/ownership doesn't know what they're doing in general.

Pizza joints that use that kind of tomato product don't use it because it has been cooked more than higher end (fresher-tasting) products. They use it because each can produces two or three times more sauce than each can of higher end products. They're not paying for water to be shipped. At the cost of having inferior sauce.

 

[Dio]

My favorites

 

[dapperdopamine]

I was just searching around and saw this thread, but had to weigh in. I was born and raised in ny, and we do have great pizza, but far too often overlooked is the new haven style pie. I remember always driving up to massachussets from ny to see family, I would always stop at pepe's or sally's on the way with my dad.

 

[Aimless Ryan]

I've been to Pepe's once. (That one.) Not Sally's, though. Been by it, of course. Not sure if it was open that day (Sunday?). I thought Pepe's pepperoni pizza was much better than their famous clam pie.

 

[psychonaut]

Western Bacon Cheeseburger Slice =)

 

[Pussyholeyute]

Mushroom and olives is where it's at