Sunday, February 25, 2007

if pizza could talk it would say, "turn it up!"

this pizza isn't round, i know. it's harder than it looks.











my largest pizza yet! and possibly my roundest too.
sadly i didn't get it all onto the baking stone and had to sandwich an edge

worked with the sourdough culture this time, though the dough was still pretty bland, next time i'll put more in. overall, the second batch made for an improved pizza. i worked in two sets. the first two pizzas i made the same day i doughized the water and flour. the second set was from the same dough, just aged in the fridge a couple of days. the theory was that it would have (a) more time to rise and (b) more time for the sourdough flavor to permeate the mixture. it did seem to help a little bit to age the dough, both in terms of rise and in terms of flavor (but only marginally). overall though, i think it may have been too wet a mixture for the heat i'm using (roughly 550F). even after a nine minute bake, the crust was still wet and pretty gummy. i think that if i make the dough much drier, it'll be hard to pull without breaking. the sauce this time i think was a bit better. added a ton more oregano and some baking soda as per (erica's recommendation) as well as some diced fresh tomato (supermarket off-the-vine variety... didn't have any roma). definitely an improvement, but still not up to par. next time i might just not cook the sauce beforehand... it could work... i guess only more pizza-making will tell...


3 comments:

Emiko said...

pizza mania! exciting!

Emiko said...

i'm so impressed that you made your own sourdough. it has always been my dream to make sourdough. mmm. i was reading a baking book, and the way i understand these cultures, their tastes matures as the culture matures, so if your starter is still young, it might taste better as it ages.

i was also watching a tv on italian cooking, and if you ever burn your tomato sauce, apparently the trick is taking out the burnt part, and then cooking it with a bit of apple. apparently the sweetness of the apple is close to the sweetness of the tomato, and thus brings it back to a normal tomato sauce taste. i hear its a trick that's been passed down through generations.

and sandy was a great baker. if you are still in touch with her, she might have some tips.

Flushy McBucketpants said...

noted. i think my next batch will use uncooked sauce on the pie. so hopefully it will just cook while the pizza is baking in the oven... we'll see what happens.