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How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

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Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#271

Post by jjeaff »

auiya wrote: post #159
jefftk wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he bakes those at 825F (440 °C), which unfortunately is unattainable with most regular home ovens He was using a regular home oven, subverting the cleaning cycle: "The cabinet of most ovens is obviously designed for serious heat because the cleaning cycle will top out at over 975 which is the max reading on my Raytec digital infrared thermometer. The outside of the cabinet doesn't even get up to 85F when the oven i…

I've eaten there, it was pretty good. If you're going for that kind of dedication to pizza however, breaking off the lock on the cleaning cycle of your oven is a wonky way to go about it. You'd be better suited building a wood fire oven or just buying a commercial oven instead. Eventually this is the conclusion they learned, they just took the way long way to get there.

Building a wood fired oven? You'd be better off airlifting an authentic clay oven from Naples. Might as well bring in a Neopolitan chef as well.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#272

Post by chrisbennet »

golover721 wrote: post #225
misiti3780 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes -- but on the same show they highlighted people making ridiculous high quality fresh naples-style pizza in other countries other than italy - japan, denmark, etc. the cheese is the hardest part of the pizza to replicate outside of italy for sure, you can easily buy high quality imported olive oil, flour, and san marzano tomatos.

I don't know, I think the tomatoes you find in Italy are far superior to anything I have found in the US. I still dream of the bruschetta in Tuscany.

I think grocery store tomatoes are "optimized" for being shipped, not taste.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#273

Post by OJFord »

heelix wrote: post #257
devchix wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He hacks his home oven to use the self-cleaning cycle to bake at 800°F. :blink: I'm not comfortable doing that. I rarely crank mine to 500°F, when I do there's quite a bit of smoke that has to be vent.

We like doing pizzas on our grill, which can get to 500F+ easy enough. A cheap pizza stone works really well on there and has a bonus of not heating up the house in the summer.

> on our grill

What is this, that it's 'on'? In the UK a grill is the hot element you put something under, in the oven. 'Broiler' in America I believe. I realise you're not in the UK ('500F'), but what then is this grill, that's clearly not the same?

> not heating up the house

An outdoor covered barbecue/smoker/pizza oven type thing?

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#274

Post by 2dvisio »

tigershark wrote: post #239
omnimus wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As european coffee fan Italys coffee is just overrated. The lowest quality, might be a bit better than elsewhere but best rosteries and cafes are generally in London, Berlin (number of great cafes and roasters there are of the charts) and scandinavia. But you will find really good cafes in any bigger city (including Italy). And even quality roasters are decentralized. The problem is not so much roasting but getting t…

Absolutely not. Source: I’m Italian, I live in London, been to Berlin a couple of times, in the best case you can get something drinkable but nothing comparable to a nice espresso in Italy. I was actually surprised to find a pretty nice illy coffe in Kobe train station, but then I also found a very good Naples pizza in that city.

I relate to this 100%. Same background, lived in several places before ending up in London.

You can find good roasted coffee of many types in most of these places.

But if you need an espresso or any other Italian styled coffe. Nothing can beat Italy.

I admit one exception: Portugal. In a long trip to Lisbon I’ve done I had some of the best coffee there !

Edit: still using my 18yr old Bialetti for most of my coffee here and buying coffee when going back occasionally (ever brought back a trolley full of coffe through airport security checks?). Only reliable way so far to have decent coffee.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#275

Post by heelix »

OJFord wrote: post #273
heelix wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We like doing pizzas on our grill, which can get to 500F+ easy enough. A cheap pizza stone works really well on there and has a bonus of not heating up the house in the summer.

> on our grill What is this, that it's ' on '? In the UK a grill is the hot element you put something under , in the oven. 'Broiler' in America I believe. I realise you're not in the UK ('500F'), but what then is this grill, that's clearly not the same? > not heating up the house An outdoor covered barbecue/smoker/pizza oven type thing?

Yup, you got me. (US) The temp gauge on our outdoor grill is in Fahrenheit, so ~260C for the rest of the world. When I say grill, I'm talking a propane based patio cooking surface, with lid. One of these sorts of things:

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Outdoor-Cooking-Grills/...

The oven has the classic broiler, like you.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#276

Post by phonypc »

OJFord wrote: post #273
heelix wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We like doing pizzas on our grill, which can get to 500F+ easy enough. A cheap pizza stone works really well on there and has a bonus of not heating up the house in the summer.

> on our grill What is this, that it's ' on '? In the UK a grill is the hot element you put something under , in the oven. 'Broiler' in America I believe. I realise you're not in the UK ('500F'), but what then is this grill, that's clearly not the same? > not heating up the house An outdoor covered barbecue/smoker/pizza oven type thing?

Probably equivalent to what you'd call a barbecue. Charcoal or gas fed, bottom heating, usually with a grated surface and outdoors. Though with proper ventilation you can use them indoors.

Some Americans will call it a barbecue too, but barbecue should really be equivalent to smoker.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#277

Post by phonypc »

alanfranz wrote: post #25

Norther Italian here: the recipe for the dough is reasonable. I usually go for 500g flour (typically a mix of 0 and 00 which I find at my grocery store) and 300ml water. If you want a much quicker fermentation, You can use between 15g and 25g of yeast. Put a couple teaspoons of sugar to let the yeast work better, and make sure the water is between 20°C and 45°C. But the most interesting idea for home baking is the "d…

>Norther Italian here

No offence intended, I'm genuinely curious; isn't pizza a southern thing? This reads to me like a person from the northern US weighing in on BBQ. It's perfectly allowed, but why qualify with northern?

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#278

Post by dariosalvi78 »

toohotatopic wrote: post #144
lisper wrote: post #126

I can't speak to pizza, but I have an espresso story to tell. One of my favorite things about going to Italy is the quality of the coffee. I really like extreme dark roast (your typical American diner coffee doesn't even count as coffee in my book). In Italy you can go into pretty much any coffee shop and come away with a top-quality espresso. (Don't even get me started on Starbucks.) It's a taste I inherited from my…

Those Italians in your coworker space, were they baristas or office workers? I would expect that Italians in Italy also cannot produce perfect espresso unless they made it their profession.

In Naples, where I am from, if you work in a bar you're not allowed to touch the espresso machine unless you have worked there for at least 1 year. Maybe, only then, you could start asking questions about how to use it. So, I agree, you don't learn how to use those things unless you have worked with them.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#279

Post by omnimus »

2dvisio wrote: post #274
tigershark wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely not. Source: I’m Italian, I live in London, been to Berlin a couple of times, in the best case you can get something drinkable but nothing comparable to a nice espresso in Italy. I was actually surprised to find a pretty nice illy coffe in Kobe train station, but then I also found a very good Naples pizza in that city.

I relate to this 100%. Same background, lived in several places before ending up in London. You can find good roasted coffee of many types in most of these places. But if you need an espresso or any other Italian styled coffe. Nothing can beat Italy. I admit one exception: Portugal. In a long trip to Lisbon I’ve done I had some of the best coffee there ! Edit: still using my 18yr old Bialetti for most of my coffee he…

It must be different expectations about what is a good coffee.

London is i think the original place from where high end coffe culture spread out to europe and where idea of small independent roasters came from.

I often buy coffee from London when i can get it. Square Mile, Has Bean, Union Coffee, Caravan coffee all mostly highest quality stuff.

Funnily enough i've lived in portugal for a while and coffee was so bad i had hard time finding good beans. Luckily some cafes were importing stuff but no roasters.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#280

Post by omnimus »

tigershark wrote: post #239
omnimus wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As european coffee fan Italys coffee is just overrated. The lowest quality, might be a bit better than elsewhere but best rosteries and cafes are generally in London, Berlin (number of great cafes and roasters there are of the charts) and scandinavia. But you will find really good cafes in any bigger city (including Italy). And even quality roasters are decentralized. The problem is not so much roasting but getting t…

Absolutely not. Source: I’m Italian, I live in London, been to Berlin a couple of times, in the best case you can get something drinkable but nothing comparable to a nice espresso in Italy. I was actually surprised to find a pretty nice illy coffe in Kobe train station, but then I also found a very good Naples pizza in that city.

Illy? Are you serious? Megabrand corporation that often uses mix of Arabica and Robusta not even full Arabica (meaning blend of cheapest cofee).

Look around a bit you can for sure find awesome cafes in London. If not there than probably nowhere. I posted few of my fav London roasteries to comment under this one.

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