Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008) • Hacker News Board

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#101

Post by adrianmonk » Mon, May 08, 2017, 7:10 PM UTC

contingencies wrote: post #84

FYI for Americans: when you describe pizza as pie and non-American English speakers are listening, their inner child recoils in horror. pizza = flat thing with cheese on top, pizza base at bottom pie = closed thing with significant vertical component, pastry on top and bottom Otherwise, every flatbread or similar thing on earth is a pie. Observe: "Oh, I really dig these Indian roti -pies". "Pass me another naan -pie"…

First of all, a pie must be baked, so that would eliminate omelettes, pancakes, and more from your list. Second, a pie must have a crust and a filling. That eliminates a lot of the list too.

Second, a pie needn't have pastry on both top and bottom. There are numerous pies with no crust on top, such as pumpkin pie, key lime pie, banana cream pie, lemon meringue pie, chess pie, pecan pie, or chocolate icebox pie. These are so similar to pies with crust on top that it is hard to see how a reasonable definition could include one but not the other.

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#102

Post by MegaDeKay » Mon, May 08, 2017, 7:12 PM UTC

huhtenberg wrote: post #18

MikeTaylor wrote: post #4

Folks who know pizza: What can those us with regular ovens do? You know, the sort of oven you find in most kitchens that top out at 250C (500F)?

Baking Steel can _sort of_ get you close to a proper pizza oven, but it's expensive, exceptionally heavy and still not quite "it" - http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/09/the-pizza-lab-... Pizza stones or ceramic tiles don't work well in the ovens, even though they are often marketed for oven use. They are great on BBQ grills though. OTOH, the Fool Proof pan pizza is excellent and works every time - http://www…

Cast iron is better than ceramics (and will never crack!) but the Steel still comes out on top. Wish I'd have known this before buying my Lodge. This article also links to a roundup of all the other types of pans Kenji tried.

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/10/the-pizza-lab-...

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#103

Post by Tarrosion » Mon, May 08, 2017, 7:13 PM UTC

mb22 wrote: post #91

There is some good stuff in this recipe. It's a great starting point for learning. I built a wood burning pizza oven and have been doing experiments for 5+ years, and what I've discovered is only certain things make a taste-able difference. 1. Oven. 900 degrees baby. Pizza cooks fast, and tastes delicious. You can get the "leoparding" on the edges. 100% worth it if you have time and space. 2. Yeast. Get the Ischia: h…

I see a lot of recipes recommending autolyse in both bread and pizza. I'm not sure I understand what the benefit is in a recipe which is already high hydration and has a long rest.

E.g. my typical sourdough recipe is something like: feed starter generously, let sit overnight. Build dough with bubbly starter, bread flour, additional water, some rye or whole wheat. Bulk ferment for most of the day, with about 4 folds in the first 4 hours. Shape, proof overnight in the fridge. Bake from the fridge.

It's my understanding that salt slows the "automatic" formation of gluten in a high hydration dough at rest. Okay, sure. But if the dough is already resting 24 hours between mixing and baking, does that much matter?

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#104

Post by princeb » Mon, May 08, 2017, 7:14 PM UTC

MegaDeKay wrote: post #99

princeb wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this guy reminds me of Ken Forkish whose book "Flour Water Salt Yeast" is a James Beard award winner (like J Kenji's "The Food Lab") and is considered one of the bibles of bread making. he also owns a bakery in Portland that is supposed to be very good (never tried, can't say). also reminds me of the microsoft solitaire guy who eventually left software and started an apple farm and a cider brewery. i am personally qu…

Do what I do and put all your formulas and methods into a spreadsheet. This a) gets back some of your geek cred, b) makes it trivial to scale the recipe up and down, and c) makes it easier to share recipes with friends if you use something like Google Sheets. I also make many different breads, and found that with a spreadsheet I was much better at putting notes for next time ("try with 15g less water next time"), upd…

I've already done that. what kind of geek do you think I am! ;)

baker's percentages are the easy part. I also log temperatures and fermentation times. analysing the effect of those two inputs on bread quality is much harder.

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#105

Post by angrydev » Mon, May 08, 2017, 7:15 PM UTC

jdlyga wrote: post #41

I had a slice of pizza from the 99 cent pizza place across the street from my apartment in Queens. It's still really good. After living in rural Pennsylvania, I don't get why other areas of the country have such a hard time making decent pizza.

Yeah same story here. Am from Long Island and grew up with amazing pizza on every corner. Moved to Michigan and after a few years of disappointment I started a pizza diary (http://tightpizza.com) where I break down why I am dissatisfied with the state of pizza out here.

Recently I started making my own with a recipe similar to what was posted here (but mostly from Ken Forkish's book The Elements of Pizza), and I'm pretty happy with the results so far. It's at least something to hold me over until trips home.

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#106

Post by contingencies » Mon, May 08, 2017, 7:16 PM UTC

adrianmonk wrote: post #101

contingencies wrote: post #84

FYI for Americans: when you describe pizza as pie and non-American English speakers are listening, their inner child recoils in horror. pizza = flat thing with cheese on top, pizza base at bottom pie = closed thing with significant vertical component, pastry on top and bottom Otherwise, every flatbread or similar thing on earth is a pie. Observe: "Oh, I really dig these Indian roti -pies". "Pass me another naan -pie"…

First of all, a pie must be baked, so that would eliminate omelettes, pancakes, and more from your list. Second, a pie must have a crust and a filling. That eliminates a lot of the list too. Second, a pie needn't have pastry on both top and bottom. There are numerous pies with no crust on top, such as pumpkin pie, key lime pie, banana cream pie, lemon meringue pie, chess pie, pecan pie, or chocolate icebox pie. These…

Interesting view regarding the pastry on top. Would you consider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasagne, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moussaka, and other https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_casserole_dishes all pies then?

Toasted sandwiches are baked and by your definition could still then be pie. If you would argue otherwise, where do you draw the line between baking and toasting?

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#107

Post by mi100hael » Mon, May 08, 2017, 7:16 PM UTC

chiph wrote: post #88

lhl wrote: post #6

Here's a couple interviews from a few years back on what it was like to transition from basically an extremely dedicated hobbyist to a pro (Varasano opened his first restaurant in 2009): http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2014/04/jeff-varasano-... http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2014/04/the-slice-inte...

FYI - His location is in Concourse A in the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport (ATL). I'll try it next time I've got a layover.

Fuck me, I was just there last week for the one and only time in my life thus far.

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#108

Post by mi100hael » Mon, May 08, 2017, 7:20 PM UTC

contingencies wrote: post #106

adrianmonk wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all, a pie must be baked, so that would eliminate omelettes, pancakes, and more from your list. Second, a pie must have a crust and a filling. That eliminates a lot of the list too. Second, a pie needn't have pastry on both top and bottom. There are numerous pies with no crust on top, such as pumpkin pie, key lime pie, banana cream pie, lemon meringue pie, chess pie, pecan pie, or chocolate icebox pie. These…

Interesting view regarding the pastry on top. Would you consider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasagne , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moussaka , and other https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_casserole_dishes all pies then? Toasted sandwiches are baked and by your definition could still then be pie . If you would argue otherwise, where do you draw the line between baking and toasting?

No, casserole and pie are different. Casseroles are typically multiple layers and/or a mixture of many ingredients in one pan. Pies have a single, distinct pastry/dough base that contains a filling.

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#109

Post by camperman » Mon, May 08, 2017, 7:23 PM UTC

Dowwie wrote: post #35

camperman wrote: post #15

I've been using this recipe for a good seven or eight years now and it has never let me down. But you really do need an oven that is capable of 800F. I eventually knuckled down and bought a small dedicated pizza oven with a thermometer.

How often do you make pizza?

Several times a month.

Re: Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe (2008)

#110

Post by cr0sh » Mon, May 08, 2017, 8:06 PM UTC

contingencies wrote: post #84

FYI for Americans: when you describe pizza as pie and non-American English speakers are listening, their inner child recoils in horror. pizza = flat thing with cheese on top, pizza base at bottom pie = closed thing with significant vertical component, pastry on top and bottom Otherwise, every flatbread or similar thing on earth is a pie. Observe: "Oh, I really dig these Indian roti -pies". "Pass me another naan -pie"…

Something you may or may not be aware of: You can purchase or make a double-crust pizza; the upper crust can have ingredients as well. If you do it "deep dish" style, you have the pizza equivalent of a "pizza pie" - completely sealed.

This isn't quite the same as a calzone (which is usually a single serving affair - think of it as a large pizza-filled pasty).

Honestly, though - aside from getting it to cook properly - I'm not sure that a pie crust with pizza filling would be that bad; blind-bake the crust, add the fillings, cook at as hot as you can get your oven, maybe broil the cheese on top (or take a torch to it).

To me, that sounds pretty good...