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

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

#121

Post by archagon »

colordrops wrote: post #17
tribby wrote: post #3

surprised to see this here, but it doesn't have style sheets, so maybe not too surprised ;) jeff varasano's website is a great resource for pizza hackers and lays a lot of myths to rest (like proofing). my own process (which I cook in a blackstone pizza oven at ~800°) has a bit more in common with tony gemignani's basic neopolitan (described in his pizza bible ), with the addition of the earlier and longer autolysing…

Any recommendations for L.A.?

I've only been once, but Mozza is fantastic (if a bit unorthodox). They have a bar special where you can get a pizza, glass of wine, and dessert for $30. It used to be an insane $20, but it's still a bargain when you consider that some of their pizzas cost $20+ and their desserts are in the $10 range.

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

#122

Post by tdumitrescu »

colordrops wrote: post #17
tribby wrote: post #3

surprised to see this here, but it doesn't have style sheets, so maybe not too surprised ;) jeff varasano's website is a great resource for pizza hackers and lays a lot of myths to rest (like proofing). my own process (which I cook in a blackstone pizza oven at ~800°) has a bit more in common with tony gemignani's basic neopolitan (described in his pizza bible ), with the addition of the earlier and longer autolysing…

Any recommendations for L.A.?

On a recent trip I discovered DeSano, which was awesome. Some of the most realistic Neapolitan I've found in the states.

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

#123

Post by tdumitrescu »

olleromam91 wrote: post #93

To me...These do not look like traditional New York Style Pizza. The solid chunks of Mozzarella are pretty direct Naples style. If you want a SERIOUSLY thin crust NY style pizza from a hole in the wall shop in the Bay Area, I highly recommend Arinell in the Mission. Nice big 3 dollar cheese slices, served on a piece of parchment paper. No bells and whistles...just delicious

Don't forget the original Arinell in Berkeley, which I find slightly better than the Mission one. But both top notch for slices.

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

#124

Post by someheavyocean »

ccmonnett wrote: post #94
tribby wrote: post #3

surprised to see this here, but it doesn't have style sheets, so maybe not too surprised ;) jeff varasano's website is a great resource for pizza hackers and lays a lot of myths to rest (like proofing). my own process (which I cook in a blackstone pizza oven at ~800°) has a bit more in common with tony gemignani's basic neopolitan (described in his pizza bible ), with the addition of the earlier and longer autolysing…

Awesome! I saved every one since I've never been to any... can you do the South Bay/Peninsula (anyone else too)? About the OP: I effing _love_ pizza but struggle to make it at home. The quality and quantity of knowledge in this post is fantastic!

Bibo's NY Pizza on Bird in San Jose is amazing.

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

#125

Post by chrisseaton »

bshimmin wrote: post #89
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"…

Don't all non-Americans (like me), whenever they see pie in this context, quietly sing to themselves, "When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..."?

I thought it was 'big piece of pie'.

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

#126

Post by blacksmith_tb »

MegaDeKay wrote: post #102
huhtenberg wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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-...

Doesn't that link suggest that it's primarily the mass, not the material? Steel is just an iron alloy after all, I don't think its thermal properties are much different (but 15lbs of steel will transfer more heat to your pizza than 10lbs of cast iron). Also cast iron can certainly crack, if it's dropped on a hard surface, or thermally shocked (but it is tougher than most ceramics).

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

#127

Post by exclusiv »

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)?

On a related note - I'd highly recommend doing Khachapuri [1]. You'll get experience with making dough and it turns out great in the oven.

[1] http://simplyhomecooked.com/khachapuri-georgian-cheese-bread...

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

#128

Post by RangerScience »

My family cooks hand-tossed pizzas every year for xmas eve (we're not religious at all). Oven with pizza stones. Dad's been playing with the dough recipe fore awhile, tweaking it this way and that...

...but really, we're going nuts with the toppings. It all started when we got a white pizza with grape halves (and other stuff) from the Cheeseboard Pizza Collective.

If I remember it correctly, this year's best pizza was a white pizza with figs, bruschetta (sp?), goat cheese and truffle oil. Barely any topics, but the most amazing thing to put in your mouth.

Another story: Back in college (upstate NY), the local late night food was (of course) many, many local pizza places, all of which were basically the same and thoroughly standard. I once asked them what kind of dough they used, and they said "Pizza dough..?". I took their confusion about the question as an explanation as to why I never really liked their pizza: if they don't care enough about pizza to learn about dough, it's reasonable to expect they don't care enough to make a great pie.

PS - Shoutout to Zachary's deep dish in the Bay, and Masa's in LA.

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

#129

Post by bshimmin »

chrisseaton wrote: post #125
bshimmin wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't all non-Americans (like me), whenever they see pie in this context, quietly sing to themselves, "When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..."?

I thought it was 'big piece of pie'.

Excuse me while I kiss this guy.

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

#130

Post by MegaDeKay »

princeb wrote: post #104
MegaDeKay wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Are you the kind of geek that puts their dough bucket in a temperature-controlled waterbath maintained to 0.1 degrees C for proofing? Or the kind that uses a "drug dealer" scale accurate to 0.01g for measuring salt and yeast? Because I'm both of those, plus others :-)
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