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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)

#141

Post by RyanOD »

princeb wrote: post #39
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...

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…

princeb, your comment filled me with happiness and put a smile on my face.

Outside of my family, I have four passions in my life: cooking (bread baking in particular), music (guitar and piano), and programming (I'm a hack, but always working at it). For years, I've said to others, "It's the creation of something new that is so fascinating and satisfying."

Thank you.

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

#142

Post by princeb »

MegaDeKay wrote: post #130
princeb wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :-)

no I don't use a waterbath, I measure temp of water when first mixed and also room temps randomly through the fermentation process. I also don't have a sub-gram scale, I improvise by marking out levels inside a measuring spoon... measure 5g, and approximate 10 equal portions for 0.5g. and then try to correlate those markings to how well the bread turned out.

I think part of the fun is that you don't necessarily have full control over the fermentation process. as you come close to the end of the fermentation you observe the size of the dough, the quality of the rise, and you adjust your baking schedule depending on how hot or cold the room has been. the dough is the master of you, and you can only try to tame it.

it's the same for the levain - the feedings can be exact, but the nature of the culture, the smell, the taste, the vigor... everybody has a different culture even if they follow the same recipe.

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

#143

Post by solidsnack9000 »

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"…

I suppose technically it is a kind of biscuit or pudding?

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

#144

Post by davidinosauro »

1024core wrote: post #112
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…

> 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. Does it _have_ to be a wood-burning oven though? Does only the heat matter?

Personally, I find that you can get very good results with an electric oven, which is great because you use it indoors (my granddad had one that is now sitting at my parents'). However, a wood-fired oven will give that great smoky bit to the pizza and in my experience tends to be a bit dryer (the one I have now is from uuni)

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

#147

Post by Eric_WVGG »

stevep98 wrote: post #96
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found that you can coax some extra heat from an uncooperative oven via a cast iron "cookie sheet" (flat side of a griddle). https://www.amazon.com/Lodge-LDP3-Reversible-9-5-inch-16-75-... (flat side) Preheat the oven with the cookie sheet inside, prepare your pizza on a lightweight cutting board. The trick is to slide the uncooked pizza onto the hot sheet. A dusting of cornmeal on the cutting board will make the…

When I tried cornmeal in a pizza oven, I ended up with what looked like black styrofoam. I think the corn 'popped' then burned. What did I do wrong?

Cornmeal can't pop, it's ground-up kernels.

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

#148

Post by jackhack »

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…

>>generate gluten

Unless I misunderstand, gluten is a protein in the wheat. How is gluten generated? If anything the yeast will break down the carbs and fats in the flower into simple sugars and alcohols. Or was this a misnomer?

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

#149

Post by jclem »

diego_moita wrote: post #46
jclem wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pizzaiolo is good, reminded me of Paulie Gee's and Speedy Romeo, both of which are places in Brooklyn I really like. I always find Una Pizza Napoletana extremely soft and doughy, and personally I think it's really overrated. Maybe I've just gotten bad pies on the two occasions I've tried it.

> Una Pizza Napoletana extremely soft and doughy This is just hilarious. Compared to NY pizza, "soft and doughy" is what most pizzas in Naples and Rome are. That's precisely the original concept.

I'm not comparing it to "NY pizza", if you're referring to common pizzeria pizza. Compared to other Neapolitan pizzas, I have found Una Pizza Napoletana to be really doughy, even on the outside.

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

#150

Post by shaklee3 »

blehn wrote: post #38
shaklee3 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is from the Italian 00 flour. I think it's a nice alternative.

It's not from the flour — most of those other places use 00 flour as well. It's from the dough not being stretched as thin.

It's from the flour.
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