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Ever wonder why a pizza made in your home oven doesn't taste as good as one made in a brick oven? You're not the only one. Some researchers think they've figured it out:
The fact that you need a vaulted brick oven to bake a great Italian-style pizza is well-known, but Glatz and Andrey Varlamov, also a pizza-eater and physicist at the Institute of Superconductors, Oxides and Other Innovative Materials and Devices in Rome, wanted to know why. The secret behind a pizzeria's magic, they concluded in a paper published on arXiv.org last month, is in some unique thermal properties of the brick oven.
They started off interviewing pizzaiolos, or pizza makers, in Rome who were masters of the Roman style of pizza. For this, the bake lasts 2 minutes at 626 degrees Fahrenheit. (Neapolitan pizzas usually bake at an even higher temperature — at least 700 degrees.) That turns out a "well-baked but still moist dough and well-cooked toppings," Glatz says. The same settings in a conventional steel oven produce far less ideal results. "You burn the dough before the surface of the pizza even reaches boiling, so this is not a product you will want to eat," he says.
The story goes on to note that the temperature conductivity of a metal oven is much greater than a brick oven, leading to burning of the crust. Adjusting with a lower temperature fails as it then leaves a dried-out crust and toppings. Accommodations with a pizza stone, oil, and a broiler can help, but cannot entirely mitigate the difference.
If you're hungry, and in a hurry, it looks like the brick-oven pizzas can be prepared much more quickly, too.
When I was in college the original Battlestar Galactica television series came out. We would gather in an upperclassman's dorm room and watch the show on a 13-inch TV. This was followed immediately by a trip to the local Rathskeller and an order for what we called a "death star" pizza... "double loaded extra everything, no guppies" (i.e. anchovies). That and a couple of pitchers of beer was a fine way to wrap up a Sunday.
What are your favorite toppings? Alternatively, are there any toppings you think should never be put on a pizza (such as pineapple)?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 01 2018, @03:24PM (3 children)
Though, I'm certainly not a Pizza expert. I also love me some Pineapple on my Pizza. You really need to slightly squeeze the pineapple to get some of that juice back in the can, though. You don't want a soggy pizza from the pineapple juice.
I found a delicious thin crust recipe that makes delicious Pizzas. I tweaked the recipe a little, because I don't typically keep honey on hand.
Pre-Heat the Oven to 450F - Pizza Bakes for 11min 30sec. Your mileage may vary.
6 Cups of Flour
2 Cups of Warm Water (Pretty warm, but not so hot that it kills the yeast.)
1 Package of Active Dry Yeast (I've used the instant vs the regular. Get the regular.)
2 Tbsp of Sugar
(Salt, if you want. Other dry herbs or the like as you want. It's kind of nice to add some Italian Seasoning, but I usually just make it plain. That way I can make a desert pizza too, if I want.)
Mix Sugar with warm water.
Add 1 package of Active Dry Yeast to the Warm Sugar Water. (2 1/4 tsp, if you keep it in bulk. Think original recipe called for 2 tsps or something like that.)
Stir gently for a couple seconds to get it mixed in.
Let the Warm Sugar Water sit for about 10 minutes. It should develop a nice foam. (My Oven pre-heats in about 10 minutes or so.)
(Word to the wise/not so wise. The Sugar reacts with the yeast, if you have no foam; your water is too cold, you forgot the yeast, or you forgot the sugar.)
Mix flour and water mixture after the water mixture has foamed up.
Knead the dough for a minute, so it's thoroughly mixed.
Split the dough into 4 balls.
(Recipe said to let it rest for 10 minutes. It's really the best way to do it, but most of the time in a hurry and skip that step.)
Roll out the pizza dough you will be using.
I then, usually make 1 or 2 pizzas, put the rest of the dough in ziploc bags and put them in the freezer.
Correct Way to top your pizza dough.
Pizza Sauce.
Toppings.
Cheese.
Don't forget to set the Timer! 11min 30 sec.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 01 2018, @03:42PM (1 child)
I forgot to mention that I usually put non-stick spray / oil on my pizza pan. Would probably work best on a stone, but I just use a pan with no holes in it. I also roll it right onto the pan.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday August 01 2018, @04:15PM
Further methods you can use.
Parchament paper/baking paper under the pizza all from the time the dough is shaped to when you just have taken it out of the oven (remove the paper from the pizza the first couple of seconds).
You can prepare the entire pizza up until the point where it is ready to be put into the oven and instead put it into the freezer, unless you ingredients are excessivly watery or you heap on the toppings it will freeze before the dough gets soggy. Actually bakes quite nicely straigth from the freezer (once one has adjusted time and heat).
Thin tin pie-forms are also great to freeze and bake the pizza in. If done propery you can basically remove the cleaning of work-surfaces part if doing this.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Friday August 03 2018, @05:50PM
This is how Trump got elected.
You are still welcome on my lawn.