Pizza ovens

Damo 2k9

I remove dough from fridge, let rest for 2 hours to get to room temp, then divide up and ball, pop them into the tubberware mentioned her previously.

But, sometimes when I go to actually make them, its like theyve risen again and theyre not in a ball anymore, if that makes sense? Any ideas?

RonnieL

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

I remove dough from fridge, let rest for 2 hours to get to room temp, then divide up and ball, pop them into the tubberware mentioned her previously.

But, sometimes when I go to actually make them, its like theyve risen again and theyre not in a ball anymore, if that makes sense? Any ideas?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but isn't that what you want? The balls need time to prove again, so the crust will be nice and airy. When it's time to actually make the pizza, you should work that air towards the crust, then stretch to the correct size/thickness before adding sauce/toppings.

Damo 2k9

RonnieL wrote: »

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but isn't that what you want? The balls need time to prove again, so the crust will be nice and airy. When it's time to actually make the pizza, you should work that air towards the crust, then stretch to the correct size/thickness before adding sauce/toppings.

No, your completely right. Me being an idiot and not realising that its effectively a second proof and its going to rise again....

I think sometimes I leave it out at room temp for too long and it rises too much, perhaps.

Anyways, still tastes lovely! Just thought I was doing it wrong.

nomoedoe

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

I remove dough from fridge, let rest for 2 hours to get to room temp, then divide up and ball, pop them into the tubberware mentioned her previously.

But, sometimes when I go to actually make them, its like theyve risen again and theyre not in a ball anymore, if that makes sense? Any ideas?

For me I divide the bulk dough into balls as soon as I take it out of the fridge and let the dough balls proof at room temp until I’m ready to cook

MacDanger

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

I remove dough from fridge, let rest for 2 hours to get to room temp, then divide up and ball, pop them into the tubberware mentioned her previously.

But, sometimes when I go to actually make them, its like theyve risen again and theyre not in a ball anymore, if that makes sense? Any ideas?

I don't think you need to put them in the tupperware for the 2nd proof, just cover them with a cloth

adrian522

Bit of a disaster tonight, pizza went on ok but was sticking to the stone when trying to rotate after 20 seconds or so. Not sure what I can do to prevent this, plenty of flour on the peel.

Complete mess in any case.

Haven't had a successful pizza yet from 3 attempts, at least tonight I was able to stretch the dough properly fairly well without breaking it etc.

Muahahaha

adrian522 wrote: »

Bit of a disaster tonight, pizza went on ok but was sticking to the stone when trying to rotate after 20 seconds or so. Not sure what I can do to prevent this, plenty of flour on the peel.

I think 20 seconds is too soon. Id normally leave it in there 40-50 seconds before it gets its first turn. This allow the base to bake and crisp up whereas at 20 seconds the dough is still sticky, hence your problems trying to turn it

budgemook

Ordered an Ooni Karu on May 6th and it finally arrived today - first one got lost, second one didn't take too long. It looks good, I am surprised how compact it is. It will be no hassle to bring somewhere if I want to. It fits in a spot in my shed too which I was worried about.

I am going away this weekend so I won't get to try it out until next weekend. Gives me some time to find a table for it at least!

adrian522

Muahahaha wrote: »

I think 20 seconds is too soon. Id normally leave it in there 40-50 seconds before it gets its first turn. This allow the base to bake and crisp up whereas at 20 seconds the dough is still sticky, hence your problems trying to turn it

Would it not burn at one end if you leave it 40-50 seconds before turning?

Muahahaha

adrian522 wrote: »

Would it not burn at one end if you leave it 40-50 seconds before turning?

not really but if you left it any longer it would. There is a fine line between burning where it turns into black cinders and getting it crisp with leopard spots which are brownish going to black. The way I do it is launch it and count to 40 in my head, at that point get the peel underneath and check the crust nearest to the flame, depending on doneness it might need another 10 seconds, if it doesnt then I turn it 180 degrees and go again for about another 20-25 seconds. I watch it like a hawk at all times during cooking because as said there is a very fine line between perfect doneness and burnt black to a cinder

Are you using gas? If so and you're worried about it burning what you can do is launch it but then turn the gas flame down to about 50%. That way the stone gets longer to bake the base without the flame burning the top of the pizza.

adrian522

Yeah, I'm using Gas, I've never thought to turn down the heat before.

Muahahaha

adrian522 wrote: »

Yeah, I'm using Gas, I've never thought to turn down the heat before.

Give it a try next time out, I find it works quite well in that by turning the heat down you stall the cooking of the toppings while you allow the base to cook out and crisp up. Once the base has crisped up then you wont have any problems with sticky dough so its important to allow enough time for that to happen.

Another technique for getting the crust cooked and browned is to slide the peel underneath the pizza and then lift the crusts edge into the flame for 3-4 seconds but no longer. Again at these high temperatures it is a fine line between getting the crust perfectly done and it turning into black burnt cinders.

It sounds to me like youve dont everything right but just trying to turn it after 20 seconds before the base had cooked and formed a uniform crisp layer is what tripped you up. Give it another go with the timings discussed and I think you will have have good success.

Damo 2k9

Note to self, always make a spare doughball...

Made two doughballs at 65% hydration, cold proof overnight with 6 hours or so at room temp, shaped after two of those hours.
Put them in a bowl each and cling film on top.

They were fairly difficult to get out of the bowl while still keeping the ball shape if that makes sense. Garlic bread turned out cracking but the pizza was a disaster.

The doughball lost all shape when getting it out of the bowl and therefore couldn't shape it into a circle. Huge on one side, really thin on the other etc. Ended up breaking in the middle and sticking to the peel.

Any ideas? Hydration to high to work with this early on? Wrong bowl?

StupidLikeAFox

adrian522 wrote: »

Bit of a disaster tonight, pizza went on ok but was sticking to the stone when trying to rotate after 20 seconds or so. Not sure what I can do to prevent this, plenty of flour on the peel.

Complete mess in any case.

Haven't had a successful pizza yet from 3 attempts, at least tonight I was able to stretch the dough properly fairly well without breaking it etc.

Stick at it. Next time make a few pizzas at 60, 65, 70% hydration and see which one you like. Also try semolina for dusting. I tried adding it to the dough and didn't think it did much, but as a dusting I think the pizza slides off real easy. Also leave it longer than 20s as someone else says - when turning the pizza you want to have the base "set" before sliding the peel underneath

Took me a good 10 or 15 goes to figure out a base i liked that I could make consistently

simons104

adrian522 wrote: »

Bit of a disaster tonight, pizza went on ok but was sticking to the stone when trying to rotate after 20 seconds or so. Not sure what I can do to prevent this, plenty of flour on the peel.

Complete mess in any case.

Haven't had a successful pizza yet from 3 attempts, at least tonight I was able to stretch the dough properly fairly well without breaking it etc.

I use semolina on my peel. Made all the difference for me

RonnieL

adrian522 wrote: »

Bit of a disaster tonight, pizza went on ok but was sticking to the stone when trying to rotate after 20 seconds or so. Not sure what I can do to prevent this, plenty of flour on the peel.

Complete mess in any case.

Haven't had a successful pizza yet from 3 attempts, at least tonight I was able to stretch the dough properly fairly well without breaking it etc.

I'd agree with all the replies to this post - the problem is most likely early rotation. However, it could also be happening because the dough is stretch too thin in spots - you can then get a small tear as it goes in, and sauce etc leaks through and it gets messy when you come to turning. Ensuring you've got dough that stretches consistently comes down to lots of things (balling technique being one). These videos by the dough bros in galway aren't geared towards proper pizza ovens, but include good tips about the dough making: https://www.facebook.com/450299675059263/videos/360958284842057

scarepanda

Lads, any advice on how to manage the logistics of making a couple of gluten free pizzas during a cook? Is it even possible? The only way I can think of is to try clean the stone prior to cooking and doing the gluten free pizzas first, but I'm not sure how high the risk of cross contamination would be doing that?

Muahahaha

RonnieL wrote: »

I'd agree with all the replies to this post - the problem is most likely early rotation. However, it could also be happening because the dough is stretch too thin in spots - you can then get a small tear as it goes in, and sauce etc leaks through and it gets messy when you come to turning. Ensuring you've got dough that stretches consistently comes down to lots of things (balling technique being one). These videos by the dough bros in galway aren't geared towards proper pizza ovens, but include good tips about the dough making: https://www.facebook.com/450299675059263/videos/360958284842057

Thats a good point and I think when people are starting out making and stretching dough balls for the first time it is a good idea to make them a bit heavier than the default 200 grams suggested by a lot of Neapolitan pizza recipies. Going to 300g to begin with would be a lot more forgiving when it comes to stretching it out to 12 inches. The base will be a bit thicker for sure but at the beginning it is all about learning the technique of stretching and launching the pizza without it sticking to avoid disasters. Once that skill is mastered then you can reduce the weight of the dough ball down to about 220g to get that thinner crust pizza.

Its kind of funny because we were discussing this topic on disasters on the thread last summer and at the time the default dough ball weight on the Ooni app/calcuator was a very light 160 grams. When starting out I followed their 160g recipe and it ended in several disasters basically because hand stretching 160g of pizza dough out to 12 inches is (despite Oons instructions) not something a novice pizza maker should attempt, At that thinness the dough will easily rip ending up in disaster. That must have been the feedback to Ooni too because I just checked their app now and they have upped the default dough ball weight to 250g, Id presume that is because of feedback from customers like myself who were having disasters following their 160g recipe. I aim for 220g per dough ball when making dough now which I find perfect for stretching out to 12 inches. But if I were starting out again Id start at 300g until the techniques of stretching and launching are mastered and then reduce the weight later.

adrian522

I followed the ooni recipe for 250g. I don't think it was stretched too thin to be honest. I did find it weird that the video accompanying the recipe mentioned 160g, but the recipe was for 250g balls.

Muahahaha

adrian522 wrote: »

I followed the ooni recipe for 250g. I don't think it was stretched too thin to be honest. I did find it weird that the video accompanying the recipe mentioned 160g, but the recipe was for 250g balls.

yeah thats because in the early days of these ovens Ooni were advising 160g dough balls in their recipe, they have upped that now to 250g but didnt re-do the video. I presume they upped it because other people like myself were having trouble getting 160g of dough to stretch out to 12 inches without disasters like the professional chef in their video does. Even now I dont think I could hand stretch a 12 inch pizza with just 160g of dough, it could be done with a rolling pin but then you lose the airy puffy crust around the edges.

I think 160g is what what Neapolitan pizza restaurants use to get razor thin pizza but those lads are stretching dough all day long and have a lot of skill. Ive settled on 220g as a good mid point of being actually able to work the dough without disaster and it still being a pretty thin pizza. 250g is also good. If I was starting out again Id go 300g to begin with and then reduce it as your skill improves.

nomoedoe

scarepanda wrote: »

Lads, any advice on how to manage the logistics of making a couple of gluten free pizzas during a cook? Is it even possible? The only way I can think of is to try clean the stone prior to cooking and doing the gluten free pizzas first, but I'm not sure how high the risk of cross contamination would be doing that?

Flip the stone over and cook on the other side ?

adrian522

Happy to report tonights effort was much better, turned down the heat a bit once the pizza hit the oven, turned it 3 or 4 times total.

scarepanda

nomoedoe wrote: »

Flip the stone over and cook on the other side ?

Ya, we thought of that alright, but didn't know how easy it would be to flip a hot stone. Also though of buying a second one. I was talking to the person this evening and asked them and they are happy to just have the stone cleaned off well and cook theirs first.

nomoedoe

scarepanda wrote: »

Ya, we thought of that alright, but didn't know how easy it would be to flip a hot stone. Also though of buying a second one. I was talking to the person this evening and asked them and they are happy to just have the stone cleaned off well and cook theirs first.

What oven have you? ,on the ooni’s there’s a small hole at the front of the oven under the stone just push that up and turn it over using a oven glove obviously not to burn your finger!

Ryath

I can't see how you could seriously flip a hot stone they are well over 400°C I've had mine over 500. An oven glove is designed for a 200°C oven 250 max. Yes you might lift it out but you'll probably drop it before getting it back in when it starts burning you through the glove. A 200°C oven shelf burns pretty bad if you tip it. Wouldn't chance a 400 plus stone that's going to shatter if you drop it.

I really can't see how it's an issue, flip your stone before preheating, it's going to be clean from last cook anyways if it got properly up to temp. Give everything a brush down to be sure. Anything left is going to be turned to ash and and cook the gluten free pizza first.

Oat23

Springwell wrote: »

Golden Bake Sourdough, Tesco. 2 ball in a pack in the freezer aisle.

They do fine in a pinch or a rush! Still much better than a frozen pizza

Decided to give these a go since I'm running low on caputo (if anyone knows where to get the 25kg bags in Sligo let me know please). They make a nice pizza if a little bland tasting compared to what I'm used to, but it's still far better than any pizza you get around here. At €1.50 per ball they're not crazy expensive either.

It took 5 hours on the counter to reach room temp.


They are 250g balls but I managed to stretch is out to a 14", which was a bit dodgy but it worked out okay. I'd probably stick to 12" on them in future as 14" made it so thin I was certain the thing was going to rip when I attempted a turn.


I've got the 2nd one cold fermenting in the fridge until Monday so that might give it a nice flavour. We'll see.

baconsarnie

scarepanda wrote: »

Lads, any advice on how to manage the logistics of making a couple of gluten free pizzas during a cook? Is it even possible? The only way I can think of is to try clean the stone prior to cooking and doing the gluten free pizzas first, but I'm not sure how high the risk of cross contamination would be doing that?

That seems like the only option to me. As mentioned above, the safety issues with trying to flip a hot stone would make it a non-runner. Also the stone expands when hot so I’m not sure you’d even squeeze it out the door to flip it over.

Cheshire Cat

Would a pan pizza be an option for the gluten free pizza? That is if you have a cast iron pan. If you are going to make gluten free pizza regularly a pizza steel on top of the pizza stone might work?

What hardwood logs are peps using for the their Karus?
I plan on using charcoal and throwing a bit of wood on near the end.
My karu should be here soon

Bassfish

Mr.Thompson wrote: »

What hardwood logs are peps using for the their Karus?
I plan on using charcoal and throwing a bit of wood on near the end.
My karu should be here soon

Pretty much just the kiln dried hardwood you get in any garage/shop. Isualyy throw a few lumps of charcoal in too. I've found once the fire is going you need to cut the chunks of wood fairly thick as the burn out quickly.