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How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

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41–50 of 297 posts

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#41
post #30

I always have a hard time getting the dough stretched out really thin. I end up with super floof pizza. What am I doing wrong?

It obviously depends on what you prefer, but Neaples style pizza is fluffy: it doesn't get flattened but instead air pockets are pushed by hand towards the outside border.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#42

The secret to great pizza sauce is more sugar than you’d expect.

I don't understand the downvotes, given that sugar both feeds the yeast bacteria needed for proper rising, and to balance the high acidity of tomatoes.

yes but you don't mix the dough with the tomatoes until the very end so it wouldn't impact the yeast. With proper flour sugar is not necessary, as the flour itself will be broken down by the yeast (hence the maturing/proofing stage). If you "exhaust" the flour, then you'll need sugar to get an "artificial" Maillard reaction and a nice browning of the crust.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#45

My favorite read on pizza: http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

Damn, he bakes those at 825F (440 °C), which unfortunately is unattainable with most regular home ovens. Mine e.g. maxes out at 300 °C so it's not hot enough to let the crust rise significantly and produce a nicely charred underside, at least not before completely burning the top. What I'm currently experimenting with to solve this problem is to put the pizza on a flat, heavy and preheated iron pan or plancha and hea…

A few years back I gave the Roccbox a shot (https://us.gozney.com/products/roccbox). It takes a special flour (Tipo 00 is what I use) so it doesn't char at 850F. The oven is certainly not cheap and there are cheaper alternatives, but I wanted something portable and more rugged-makes camping fun and we cook more than pizza. It get's me that nice charred bottom, but I typically tend to overcook the cheese.

I still continue to use my oven at times, especially when the weather isn't helping. The broiler is helpful there with a pizza stone.

No matter what I use, it's a fine dance to get things right. Sometimes it comes out great, especially when I give things a few days to cold-rise in the fridge. Usually something goes wrong, either too burnt, not fully cooked, or simply not enough pizza :)

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#46
post #7

Please ignore all these experts, all they want is to make you feel special because you drink/eat their stuff. Above a certain threshold one cannot tell the difference between good and very good. Wine tasters know it and it has been very well documented. When it comes to flavours, as long as it doesn't harm you, your judgement is as good as anybody else.

Just as importantly, don’t fall for fetishism. Neapolitan pizza is a very specific style of pizza that, while “authentic” and photogenic, is by no means a superior style of pizza. Especially made poorly, at home, in an oven that is 200 degrees colder than necessary!

Neapolitan Pizza is the poster child for fetishism, hipster cargo cult, worshiping a style that has only been deemed by the community as superior, not experienced individually to be so. At its absolute best it is significantly inferior to top American examples.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damn, he bakes those at 825F (440 °C), which unfortunately is unattainable with most regular home ovens. Mine e.g. maxes out at 300 °C so it's not hot enough to let the crust rise significantly and produce a nicely charred underside, at least not before completely burning the top. What I'm currently experimenting with to solve this problem is to put the pizza on a flat, heavy and preheated iron pan or plancha and hea…

For a quick pizza, I use a "Ooni" pizza oven and the results have been great. It's relatively cheap and you can get the temperatures you are looking for. I joined their first kickstarter and have been buying their ovens ever since: https://uk.ooni.com/collections/shop-all/products/ooni-koda

For years I've dreamed of building a wood-fired pizza oven, or buying one of the cast kits from https://www.fornobravo.com/. But this looks way easier and cheaper.

How long does a gas cylinder last?

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#48
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the downvotes, given that sugar both feeds the yeast bacteria needed for proper rising, and to balance the high acidity of tomatoes.

yes but you don't mix the dough with the tomatoes until the very end so it wouldn't impact the yeast. With proper flour sugar is not necessary, as the flour itself will be broken down by the yeast (hence the maturing/proofing stage). If you "exhaust" the flour, then you'll need sugar to get an "artificial" Maillard reaction and a nice browning of the crust.

Yes obviously you don't add tomatoes and sugar to the dough, you prepare a sauce on the side and add a bit of sugar to that.

Yeast needing no sugar to work is something I've never heard of, could you please forward more information about this? Thank you.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#49
post #7

Please ignore all these experts, all they want is to make you feel special because you drink/eat their stuff. Above a certain threshold one cannot tell the difference between good and very good. Wine tasters know it and it has been very well documented. When it comes to flavours, as long as it doesn't harm you, your judgement is as good as anybody else.

That threshold is very different for different people. I'm not a wine drinker so I won't comment but different people definitely have or have developed a much more refined sense of "what is good".

In general of course a person can eat whatever crap they want and it doesn't affect me except when that person is cooking or picking out food for me.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#50
post #30

I always have a hard time getting the dough stretched out really thin. I end up with super floof pizza. What am I doing wrong?

You may not be letting it sit long enough or you may not be stretching it long enough.

The advantage of the dough toss is the centrifugal force that adds enough force to stretch the dough a lot and evenly.

If I don't spin my dough I get a pie crust that's too thick.

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