Pizza ovens

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119891673#Comment_119891673

As mentioned check your yeast isnt dead as that is what forms gluten to make it elastic and easy to stretch. Dried yeast is so cheap it is no harm to throw it out every few months to avoid a dead yeast problem. Or use fresh yeast every time and chuck what is unused, it is only 60 cents in the Polish shops and delivers better depth of flavour than dried yeast anyway. If using fresh you need to double the amount a recipe says to use for dried.

Ive been using this recipe for almost 2 years now with great results. It is a high hydration dough (70%) but when learning it just go to 65% water as it can be tricky (sticky!) to handle. If it is too sticky after kneading cover it in cling film and leave for 30 minutes and it will smooth itself out, also cover your hands in oil to make it easier to handle. Write down all the steps in the video in a note on your phone and then follow them rigidly every time you make it. The only time that dough didnt work out for is when I didnt follow the steps fully and left it at room temperatire a lot longer than I should have. So now I have every step on my phone and I follow it to a tee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7Hd6ZzKgBM

Also what weight are your dough balls Ive seen some recipes written for 150g dough balls which is way too little for a learner to master and stretch out to a 12 inch pizza base, it will result in the dough ripping. When learning aim for dough balls of about 280-300g as that is a lot more forgiving. With time and confidence you can reduce it down to 220-240g for a thinner pizza.

bamayang

Thank you both for the responce. I had thought the yeast was gone off, so got new packet. That definitely helped, as the previous balls were not rising enough. THese ones rose nicely enough, but failed once I moved onto to stretching out.

I had thought the ambient temp in the house was too cold, put them into the boiler press, but thats not overly warm either. Is there an ambient temp the room should be at for the processes to happen?

I will give that video recipe a go. Not certain on the sizes of the dough balls to date, but its an interesting idea. As i would have actually assumed it was better to keep things smaller and more managable. But i will try the other way and go a bit bigger next time.

I'll report back after I have given it ago.

Muahahaha

yeah definitely weigh out the balls and aim for 300g, using more dough is more forgiving when it comes to stretching out, you can reduce it later with more confidence. Watch a few videos on stretching on Youtube and study the techniques, thats the important bit to get down. I find the clock stretch on the counter with your both hands and the gravity stretch the easiest. Use plenty of flour on the counter top so it doesnt stick and rip.

keane2097

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119899149#Comment_119899149

Do you hand knead or use a machine? I use the same recipe as you but think I am possibly leaving it in the mixer too long.

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119906018#Comment_119906018

I use a stand mixer and then just hand knead a small bit to shape and get it into a big ball. Ive made the mistake of over mixing pizza dough in a stand mixer before and it resulted in a dough that was too elastic and very hard to stretch out, it would keep shrinking back to a smaller size. Even a rolling pin couldnt get it stretched out to a 12 inch base, it kept shrivelling back to like 6 or 7 inches. I made one pizza with it which was way too thick and bready and then binned the rest of the batch.

All stand mixers are different but I think 6-7 minutes at a medium speed generally works. My mixer has 7 speed settings and I put it on 5. Better to do too little kneading in the mixer and then finish it off by hand kneading than to over mix it so that the gluten becomes way too elastic.

thejaguar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119909260#Comment_119909260

Would you recommend investing in a mixer? And if so - would the mixers that come up in Aldi/Lidl from time to time be good enough or is it something you need to spend a bit more on to get good quality.

I'd probably use it about once a week on roughly 1kg of dough or less (sometimes pizza dough, sometimes sourdough bread).

keane2097

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119909260#Comment_119909260

What you describe there with the over-elastication is what I've run into hence the question. I would have left it running at a similar setting for more like 15 mins as up to that point the whole dough is still extremely wet and doesn't really cohere into a ball. Would you find it's still quite wet coming out after 6-7 mins? I guess it's just a case of oiling up the hands to knead it for another little bit and getting it back into the container

893bet

Ooni question

Do I need to change this connection to fit to the standard gas bottle?

or it it a special gas bottle I need?

It’s the 37mbar connection

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119910141#Comment_119910141

yeah I would recommend investing in a stand mixer and can also recommend the Aldi version, Ambiano is their brand. Cost me 60 euro and has been making pizza dough for 3 years now without a problem.Thats what 90% of its use is as Im not a big baker, the other 10% is whipped cream for the odd dessert. It saves that 8-10 minutes of hard hand kneading that used to put me off making pizza dough altogether. I dont see a need to be spending 300+ on a fancy Kitchen Aid when a 60 quid mixer from Aldi or Lidl can do the job just fine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119910454#Comment_119910454

yeah 15 minutes is definitely too long and the dough is then is over kneaded which brings its own problems and cant really be reversed. When it is over elastic and bounces back upon stretching its basically only good for the bin because it will result in thick bready doughy pizzas that are uncooked around the crust.

What Id advise on your next run is to only add 50% of the water to begin with on speed 3 setting and then trickle in the next 25% over minutes 2-3. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of flour with a spatula. Then start the mixer again and keep trickling bit by bit and watch how the dough reacts like a hawk. Wait about 15 seconds between water trickles. You wont always have to do this but its important to log in your head how the dough changes with more water being added. Keep trickling water but be mindful that at this point even a tiny bit like 25mls can be the difference between a dough ball that has formed around the hook and is slapping the sides of the bowl (how you want it) and a dough that goes all gloopy and wet again. When the dough has formed you can up the speed more to about no. 5 out of 7 speeds. Remember you do not have to use 100% of the water the recipe calls for, if your instinct is that adding all of it will result in a really wet dough then dont go that far.

With that recipe in the Youtube video the hydration of that dough is 70% so it is very high. Like in the video it is still a very wet dough but it has come together properly and it isnt total gloop. It means your hands need to be well oiled to handle it or else they will stick and you need to move fast to shape it. Id advise only going to 65% hydration on your first go, you can up it later with confidence. Also if the ball is not totally smooth cover it air tight on the counter with cling film and leave it rest for 30-40 minutes. When you return it will be a lot smoother, have no ideas how or why that trick works but it does and I almost always use it.

cython

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119917614#Comment_119917614

What are you calling "standard" as a gas bottle? Specifically what colour cylinder? That looks like a connector for the grey patio gas cylinders but a lot of people would still consider the light orange butane cylinders as being standard when to all intents and purposes they're probably legacy at this point where outdoor usage is concerned.

StupidLikeAFox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119917614#Comment_119917614

Unless you are planning on putting it in a permanent place, I'd try get a bottle of patio gas that will fit that connection, it's much easier to pop on and off

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918139#Comment_119918139

Yes the orange gas butane is my standard. Seems it’s patio gas I need so.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918220#Comment_119918220

Yup. That's a patio gas connector

thejaguar

Thanks Muahahaha - I'll keep an eye out for it in Aldi

keane2097

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918103#Comment_119918103

Thanks a lot for the detailed advice. I'll report back the next time I'm making a batch as to how I got on. The coherent ball slapping against the sides of the bowl is what I have managed to achieve by leaving the thing running for ages so I know what to look out for at least.

Muahahaha

Tonight's effort, chorizo, streaky bacon, jalapenos, onions and red peppers

All prepped and cooked during half time in the World Cup football

budgemook

This looks great - do you use gas or a real fire?

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922249#Comment_119922249

Im on gas with the Ooni Koda. Used to be on wood pellets with the Ooni 3 but sold that and upgraded to the Koda more or less this day last year with the 20% off on Black Friday

Tree

I've finally given in, and bought a Karu 12 (I've been electric ovening with gusto, which is perfectly good, and how I fed my wedding guests back in January)

893bet

my first two pizza were disaster.

a hole formed in one and other split.

struggling with the move from the counter onto the peel. Maybe less toppings help?

then struggle with the launch. Maybe more flour

and struggle to get the peel under the pizza to turn it. Maybe let the stone heat for more than 20 mins?

Comerman

I know I won't be popular but I always put my pizza to launch on tinfoil for the first few minutes and then remove it when turning

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119928838#Comment_119928838

3rd attempt went well! 25 minute heat time. First 15 on low.

Extra flour.under pizza and on peel. Did have that bitter burned taste from that.

Left the base a little thicker to make the transfer to peel easier.

is there a main pizza thread somewhere?

Paul MCM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119933374#Comment_119933374

I recently bought an Ooni so am a complete beginner.

I do use semolina instead of flour for dusting the peel and it works well.

might be worth turning down the heat once the pizza is launched.

I’ve had some good pizzas and disasters including the pizza that fell apart in the Ooni and just went on fire.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119934143#Comment_119934143

will try semolina for the peel!

I have been turning down the heat to lowest setting for cooking. More time to move it before burning.

Family party this weekend so 10 pizza to be made……what are the chances I ruin the first one and the stone is covered in burned cheese from the start 😀

thejaguar

I've had my fair share of disasters, but once or twice I've had pizzas which have stuck to the peel or had holes in them and I've managed to salvage them as a "calzone".

Always worth bearing it in mind if things start to go wrong.

Ooni even have a blog post about it: https://ooni.com/blogs/recipes/the-recovery-calzone

Manzoor14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119934164#Comment_119934164

I cooked for a group of eight before, someone suggested on here/or the FB group, to par-bake the bases first so I had a go at it to make my life a bit easier. Just stretch out the bases and add some tomato sauce and pop them into the oven for a minute or so. Makes it a bit easier for people to make up their own pizzas then and easier to launch etc under pressure. If nothing else you could par-bake a few bases as back-up. I think it results in a slight difference in the texture of the final pizzas, but anyone that isn't eating the fresh baked pizzas regularly won't even notice.

zedhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119934433#Comment_119934433

Ive done the par baking for pizza parties and it takes so much stress out of it. Guests can top their own pizzas in their own time and there is very little chance of disasters. It definitely not 100% the same as pizza cooked fressh, but it takes the stress and risk of completely ruining everyones night if the first one is a disaster and also leaves you as the host more time to spend with your guests rather than being completely tied to the pizza station.

The Nal

Any pizza hosting party is a hands on two person job. Tried to do it on my own before and its a mare

thejaguar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119934433#Comment_119934433

This might be a stupid question - do you par bake in the conventional oven or in the pizza oven? And for how long?

Manzoor14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119934751#Comment_119934751

Pizza oven. I didn't bring it up to full temp, maybe only 300/350 degrees, and then turn the flame down a bit to avoid any leopard spots on the crust. Timewise I can't remember exactly, maybe a minute or less per base. Cook it by eye, you'll know by looking at it after one or two. I overcooked the first one, so make a few extra dough balls maybe. Not too much tomato sauce either, just enough to help stop large air pockets in the middle of the pizza. I've about 6 or 7 lightweight wooden peels/boards so I just flour up a few of these and pop a pizza on each peel.

The come party time each person gets a par-cooked base on their own peel. They add their own toppings (having it par-baked also removes the issue someone piling up a mound of toppings that's impossible to launch!) and then they just line the pizzas up for me to launch directly from their peel, shake the excess flour off the peel, bake and then remove the pizza when cooked back onto their original peel which they now use as a serving board. Launch next pizza and so on.

I usually have a couple of fresh dough balls on hand as well that I make small flatbreads out of, topped with some smoked butter, garlic, rosemary etc. They're easier to make as you don't stretch them as thin, and they're smaller and easier to launch and get those cooking first to people can tear and share them while the pizzas are cooking.

Like the posters said above, it makes things a lot easier. The first time I for a group I was stretching/tearing the dough, adding toppings, running around covered in flour trying to keep an eye on the oven temp etc all at once under time pressure for about 45 mins before I got my own pizza. Anything you lose in taste/texture is definitely made up for in the stress saved by par-baking!