thin-crust pizza with chicken sausage and roasted red peppers

Obsessing over Peter Reinhart: The quest for the perfect pizza round three, air pockets

Watch this woman in my kitchen as she leans over my husband’s hands, noting the spin of his wrist as he pushes a ball of cream- colored pizza dough against the wall of a stainless-steel bowl.

She's got a book that she keeps checking. Is the angle right? How is the consistency looking? Should we do the window test, or is that later?

Who is this freak?

Where is the free-form kitchen dervish who normal greets me in the mirror, smudge covered and mid-spin? What’s with the book? And the clipped questions?

For most of my cooking life, my motto has been simple: Recipes are for reading not following. And though this put a whole school of cooking out of reach – I’ve never, for example, made a soufflé – I was content with my heathen, non-follower existence.

This state of affairs lasted until a seemingly random Saturday night last year.

My husband and I went out for a rare and wonderful date. It was the kind of evening that makes you step out of your laundry and pay-the-bills reality and remember when you used to sit around saying things like, “Maybe we should move to Italy for a year.”

And then in the middle of my reverie, I sunk my teeth into a pizza crust that snapped like a health-food store cracker. Uggh. It had been years since I’d tasted a great crust.

And because the evening was so lovely, and the sauce was deserving of so much better than the flat bread it was sitting on, and because, instead of sulking in my overwhelmed mommy state, I was floating on a half a bottle of wine and the whimsy of a night out, I made a decision. I would learn how to make great crust. Not just decent dough that didn’t threaten to break your teeth, no, really, really great crust. The kind of crust that can make you swoon and give up your convictions.

I knew I would need a recipe.

pizza with chicken sausage and roasted red peppers

Not a recipe just for inspirational reading as I was falling asleep at night. I needed something I could follow.

I read and read some more. But everything seemed too dry, too complicated, too chemical. How could pizza, one of the most passion inducing foods of all time, come from this?

And then I stumbled upon Peter Reinhart’s book, “American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza.” By the time he got to the recipes in the second part of the book, I was a convert. Follow these recipes and you too could reach pizza heaven.

Here’s our first attempt.

The second pizza night, the results were mixed. (Sorry forgot to take pictures.) The dough was very thin, crisp on the bottom and supple on top. But there was nothing going on at the edges. It reminded me of the pizza I had recently at the Cheeseboard in Berkeley, CA. Wonderful flavor, but the crust was thin through and through with no bubbles or air pockets or chewy bits.

I like pizza with a discernable edge. Not the bread-stick end that you find at so many local shops around here, but something different than the thin, crisp middle. This is where you get that wonderful set of contradictions that is great pizza: soft and crisp, char and dough, air and density. They should all be at play on the edge. And, most of all, I want air pockets.

By our third pizza night, I was a hovering woman with a pointy finger and a timer. After all my years of tossing stuff around, I turned in to a pain-in-the-ass recipe zealot. I reread all the instructions and discovered that the wetter we could make the dough, the closer we were going to get. So we used a bit more water. The dough was harder to work with, but I liked the results much better.

thin crust pizza with olives and onions

In one case, we may have gone a little too thin. But even when it is wafer thin, this dough in no way resembles a cracker.

I, on the other hand, need to relax a little.

posted February 16, 2009 | link | comments (15)

filed under: Ingredients, Recipes, Peter Reinhart, pizza, pizza dough

AllOverAlbany.com

Comments

Reinhart's a great place to start.
I know I've mentioned this site before but when you're ready for the graduate school of pizza go here;

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php

Check this thread for no knead pizza dough (really!)
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7745.0.html

The volume of information is a little daunting but read for a while and then post your questions.

Get a good electronic scale and use weight, not volume measurements and learn to use bakers percents.

Related info from King Arthur Flour
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/RecipeDisplay?RID=340

Michael

- by Michael Marston on Feb 17, 2009 at 6:37 PM | link

OK, I went to the site you recommended. I think I may not be quite ready for this yet. I didn't know where to start. It was like showing up mid-way through a very large cocktail party and trying to catch the drift of 100 different conversations.

Any recommended places to start?

On a side note, I've been working on ways to get the most heat out my oven. Right now, I am cooking the pizzas on convection 530 degrees. I pre-heat for a good long time first. Also, I am put a pan on the top rack and cook the pizza on a rack right underneath it.

It is intense to open the oven, though. It makes my eyes sting.

I think what I'd like to do next is get more in to toppings. Fig sounds good....

Also, a sourdough crust sounds interesting.

C

- by celinabean on Feb 18, 2009 at 10:12 AM | link

You have my mouth watering for this pizza crust-at least the description matches perfectly the crust at the pizza shop I worked in when I was a teen. I never made the dough and was too distracted by teenage things to be insightful enough to watch how it was done so I could make the perfect pizza as an adult.

What you have here looks pretty yummy

- by Thea on Feb 18, 2009 at 8:26 PM | link

The only pizza dough I've tried is from Mark Bittman's _How to Cook Everything_. His attitude is that it is incredibly simple, very forgiving and hard to screw up, done quickly in the food processor. Maybe it's a trick of lowered expectations, but the result is a tasty, serviceable crust. My biggest problem (and the reason I don't do it very often) is getting my oven hot enough.

- by Brigham on Feb 21, 2009 at 10:58 AM | link

I have spent the last few hours reading the "hunt" section of Peter Reinhart's book, and while I haven't gotten to the recipes yet, my mouth is certainly watering and I'm ready for a trip to Italy.

- by Jenny on Feb 21, 2009 at 11:01 AM | link

Cheeseboard in Berkeley has always been my inspiration for making pizza, so we may have difference 'ideal' pizzas. From them I learned the value of brushing garlic olive oil on the baked pizza and a last-minute sprinkle of mixed fresh herbs.

I am a loyal follower of the recipe in Chez Panisse Cafe for pizza dough and, most of all, their recommendation that you leave the dough to rise slowly, overnight in the fridge. It really makes a difference. With this recipe, I get air bubbles if I roll the dough a little thicker.

Your pizza looks great and I plan on tracking down the Reinhardt book.

- by newishtoalbany on Feb 21, 2009 at 11:11 PM | link

Sorry not to get back to you sooner.

I know the site can be overwhelming but persevere. Start only with the type of pizza you are trying to make. In your case most likely a NY style.

Introduce yourself in the newbie area and look at the Lehmann NY style section of the New York style area.

There are moderators who will help with any and all questions and many of them use sourdough starters.


I usually start my NY style pies on a perforated round pizza pan 6-7 min and finish them on the stone 2-3 minutes.

I now mainly make Neapolitan style that bakes at 800º for about 2 min.

Michael

- by Michael Marston on Mar 1, 2009 at 1:58 PM | link

I was on the road when I made my last comment and neglected to provide these links to some basic info.

Here's a great NY style recipe that uses an overnight rise in the fridge and can be kept refrigerated for a number of days before use. You just have to let it rise at room temp for about 2 hours before use.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/lehmann_nystyle.php

Use this calculator to determine the quantity of ingredients.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/dough_calculator.html

The overnight rise provides much better flavor than a short room temperature rise. Preferment methods (poolish, biga, ect) can get you even more flavor and starters are the best if you have the time and patience.

For the bake preheat the stone for at least half an hour at 500º or hotter if you can. If you want to save a few bucks you can use one or two layers of unglazed 8 inch red quarry tiles from Lowes or Home Depot instead of a stone. Four tiles give you a 16 inch surface.

There are many different techniques for baking and it's worth experimenting. Typically the stone is put in the lower part of the oven.

Pans or screens should be used in the upper part of the oven for all or part of the bake.

Some people even use the broiler at the end to brown the top.

Rolling pins are considered bad form for the type of pizza.

- by Michael Marston on Mar 2, 2009 at 10:20 AM | link

Wow, thanks!!! But one question...How do you bake at 800 degrees? Do have a special oven?

- by celinabean on Mar 2, 2009 at 2:11 PM | link

I got an early prototype of one of these ovens. The next best thing to a wood fired oven.

http://www.2stonepg.com/

I really wanted a wood fired oven but I don't think my marriage would have survived.

If you're handy you can build your own.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4753.0.html

- by Michael Marston on Mar 2, 2009 at 8:54 PM | link

Celina

For more info regarding Reinhart's pizza dough see this discussion and reply # 7 in particular.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8100.0/topicseen.html

Michael

- by Michael Marston on Mar 3, 2009 at 5:31 PM | link

I wasn't quite sure where to post this but here it is.

I ate at Harvest and Hearth last weekend after a kayak excursion (it's next door to the Kayak Shak rental place). It was quite respectable wood fired pizza in the American Flatbread style.
Nice addition to the area.

Harvest and Hearth
251-B County Route 67
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
(518) 587-1900
www.harvestandhearth.com

We had the salad w/poppy dressing and these pizzas.

Hearth House - homemade organic tomato sauce, all natural whole milk mozzarella and asiago cheeses with fresh organic herbs.
7.50 / 13.50

The Natural - sun dried tomato pesto, caramelized onions, organic mushrooms, nitrate free maple fennel sausage, all natural whole milk mozzarella, cheese and herbs. 8.95 / 17.50

Everything was very good.

Michael

- by Michael Marston on Sep 9, 2009 at 2:35 PM | link

Thanks for posting this. I reviewed them a few weeks back for the TU, but forgot to take a picture when I was there, so I didn't end up posting a link to the review on celinabean.

I liked them, too.

- by celinabean on Sep 9, 2009 at 2:40 PM | link

Sorry I missed your review. We would not have spent ten minutes in the parking lot deciding whether to eat there or not. As you know I am just a little fussy about my pizza.

Michael

- by Michael Marston on Sep 9, 2009 at 3:15 PM | link

I love this pizza. I can't make it at my house because I don't have the right pan, but I use my moms and it works perfectly. Kudos.
-Sylvia

- by Sylvia on Jul 5, 2010 at 12:35 AM | link

Say Something!

I'd very much like you to join the conversation. The only rule: treat everyone else in the conversation with kindness and respect. Comments are moderated so it might take a little while for your comment to show up. Thanks!