Passionate About Pizza Blog » Passionate About Pizza: Making Great Homemade Pizza Cookbook

Passionate About Pizza Cookbook Earns Top Honors

pizzaman383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:56:33 +0000

Pizzameister has run an award-winning pizza web site for almost ten years. He has reviewed 100 (yes that number is correct!) pizza cookbooks. In his own words, he’s never met a pizza cookbook he didn’t buy. Pizzameister recently reviewed Passionate About Pizza: Making Great Homemade Pizza which was given five stars and is NUMBER ONE ON THE LIST out of 100 pizza cookbooks! You can find the list and a link to Pizzameister’s review at:

Pizzameister Pizza Cookbook Reviews

Family Pizza Nights

PizzaMan383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:56:52 +0000

Ward writes:

Apparently engineers make great chefs! The author has an engineering background that comes through clearly in this book. It is clear that the author has systematically examined what makes good pizza in every aspect and from every angle, and has assembled that knowledge in a clear and organized manner in this book. It’s easy to read, too!

The result is that not only does the book provide fantastic recipes to follow, but it provides you with the principles and techniques that you can use to customize the recipes to produce pizzas that are ideal for your personal taste. The ideas are presented in such an orderly and logical manner that it is easy to do.

The pizzas are so good and the process of designing them and making them is so fun that making pizzas using the book is a fun family event that occurs about once a week in our household. The pizzas we make using the recipes and principles in Passionate About Pizza are so much better than any other pizzas we have ever bought or made that it doesn’t even seem right to use the same word to refer to the bland, circular chewy things that we used to eat before we bought Passionate About Pizza.

Feedback from a Pizza-Making Dad

PizzaMan383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:56:37 +0000

After buying the PDF version of Passionate About Pizza: Making Great Homemade Pizza he says:

I am a divorced dad of 2 teenagers that has limited skill in the kitchen. This book is so well written and put together that it was simple for me to on the first attempt have success.

I made a batch of the basic sauce and dough exactly how it was described in the book. I was expecting to fill a trash can with my first few attempts but to my surprise the first was as good as the sixth. My kids and their friends eat every bite and one even said it was the best pizza he had ever had. This book is a life saver it will allow me to serve my teenagers pizza when they want it now because before it was out of my budget. I can’t wait to work my way thru and learn as I go trying the different types.

Thank You for a remarkable book!

Clay

Dough needs help? Don’t forget the Salt!

PizzaMan383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:56:35 +0000

Here is an exchange PizzaMan had with a friend:

Scott

January 26 at 12:29pm

when you have time. I’ve been working on my pizza for a while now but its still lacking.

Scott

PizzaMan

January 26 at 4:34pm

Hi, Scott!

What about your pizza needs improvement?

May your dough rise,
PizzaMan

Scott

January 26 at 4:42pm

Well, I tried this last week to serve on Saturday:

* 3 1/2 cups flour
* 1 packet of yeast
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 2 tbsp honey
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup water

# Put all ingredients in mixer, except 25% of flour
# Mix low for 1-2 mins (consistency should be like pancake batter)
# Cover and let sit for 20 mins
# Mix on low for 8 mins, 5 mins in start adding flour gradually
# After for 6 mins, increase speed,
# Then remove dough and work by hand, should be very sticky
# Pour on floured surface and portion into balls
# Once it’s ready (smooth when you sprink flour), cover and let it rest for 15-20 mins
# Put into glad containers with tiny amount of oil and then put in fridge
# Let it cold-rise in fridge for at least 24 hours, up to 3 days
# Take dough out fridge when i start oven (roughly 60 mins before cooking)
# Don’t use rolling pin – build a little rim around the edges then spread the dough
# Dunk the dough lightly in a bowl of flour then work it on granite counter top, only tiny amount on peel

I did this on Thursday and let it cold rise until Saturday afternoon. My biggest problem before was getting it to a workable state where its very plyable easier to work. (like the restaurants).

My issue is it wasn’t very tasty and a little too bready for my taste. I like it thin and a bit crispy. My buddy Jimmy said it could be the lack of salt.

As far as the dough itself, precooking, it was just the way I want it, now my problem is the taste…

Scott

PizzaMan

January 26 at 5:26pm

Scott,

Definitely use 1 tsp of salt for that recipe. It makes it taste MUCH better. I tried the no/low salt and it is very bland and tastes like flour not pizza crust.

With 1 cup water, I usually use 2 3/4 cups flour for a short rise (1-2 hours) and 3 cups for long/cold rise (1-3 days). Less flour makes it stretch easier.

For thinner dough, try splitting it in two pieces and make two pizzas. This let’s you stretch/roll until it is the thickness you like.

More details in Passionate About Pizza

PizzaMan

Mixing Dough

pizzaman383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:56:29 +0000

The goal is to mix the right amount of the proper ingredients together to create uniform dough. Good dough has all the ingredients evenly distributed throughout the dough. There are two basic methods – the dry mix and wet mix methods. Both work well, so use the method that suits your fancy. I generally use the wet mix method because it gives me a chance to see that the yeast is active.

Dough Thickness Not Right? Adjust it to your taste!

PizzaMan383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:56:21 +0000

Here is another consultation between PizzaMan and a friend:

From: ADAM
Date: Sat, 2 May 2009
To: PizzaMan

Hey a quick question on my "P.A.P.B."….My biggest problem is being consistent about my dough. It’s a little tough on the bottom. Not as soft as I like. Maybe too tough on the bottom. Did I knead it too long? Not let it rest enough? Too much flour? Stone too low/high in the oven?

Hope all’s well.

Adam

From: PizzaMan
To: ADAM
Date: Saturday, May 2, 2009

Do you mean too crunchy? Too thick? Too dense?

PizzaMan

From: ADAM
Date: Sat, 2 May 2009
To: PizzaMan

Nobdy else seemed to notice, but almost too stiff. Nice crunch though. I always prefer a limp NY style, but mine are definitely more hearty. Even thought my dough is your NY style, I seem to add enough flour along the way….Now I need a metal scraper to get the sticiy dough off the maple chop block!

Adam

From: PizzaMan
Date: Sun, 3 May 2009
To: Adam

To make limp, thin crust you need to stretch it thinner. Try adding 1/4 cup (or even up to 1/2 cup) more flour. This will make the dough less sticky and more elastic. Then cut the dough into two pieces after rising to make two dough balls. Stretch each ball to 12-14 inches and the crust will be thinner. The pros stretch the dough to 4-6 inches bigger than the size it will end up. As they drape the dough on the peel it springs back and is a little rippled. This should give you thinner, floppier crust.

There is more information in Passionate About Pizza.

PizzaMan

The Magic of Sourdough

PizzaMan383 — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:55:19 +0000

Sourdough is wonderful! It’s an adventure that harkens back to the days before commercial bakers yeast was available. Sourdough starter is a wild yeast culture that imparts a distinctive sour flavor to the dough. You can purchase a sourdough starter or you can let a sponge made with rye flour and some pineapple juice go “wild” for a few days. The conditions in which the starter grows such as the amount of sugar, the strain of yeast that thrives locally, and the other starter ingredients a can influence the starter’s flavor.

After you have established a sourdough starter, you can keep it in your refrigerator between uses. As you take out some starter to make sourdough, replenish the starter with equal parts of flour and water so that the wild yeast can continue to multiply. For example, if you take out one cup of starter, replenish the starter with a half-cup of flour and a half-cup of water. The more frequently a sourdough starter is used and replenished, the stronger sourdough personality it will have.

When you make dough using sourdough starter, you start with a cup of the starter. This counts for about 1/2 cup of water (or liquid) and 1/2 cup of flour as you prepare the recipe. Keep the sourdough starter cooler than lukewarm so you do not kill the wild yeast. You will probably want to use some commercial yeast with the sourdough starter or the dough will rise only a little. Beyond these adjustments, you can use sourdough in almost any dough recipe.

While it does add some effort making and maintaining a sourdough starter, the additional taste is worth the effort!

Pizza Ingredients

pizzaman383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:57:08 +0000

Pizza Ingredients

The most important thing you can know about the ingredients for making pizza is that you should use the highest quality ingredients you can. Higher quality usually does not cost much more, and you will notice the difference in taste. Beyond that tip, I want to pass on to you some of the things I have learned about various ingredients.

Yeast for Pizza

pizzaman383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:57:07 +0000

Yeast is amazing stuff. It is a single-cell organism. It gives off carbon dioxide gas and alcohol as it multiplies. When allowed to grow inside dough that has gluten in it (as most pizza dough does), the gas is trapped in the gluten and the dough "rises." Yeast exists in many different strains. Some are wild and others are cultivated for specific purposes and sold commercially. Brewer’s yeast and baker’s yeast are two such strains. Sourdough starters capture and cultivate wild yeast. Both baker’s yeast and sourdough starter are excellent sources of yeast for making pizza.

Preparing Your Oven

pizzaman383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:57:01 +0000

Pizza Pans

Pizza Screens

Baking Stone

Your home oven is all you need to make great pizza. Using pizza pans, pizza screens, or a baking stone will turn your oven into a fine pizza-baking machine!