Pizza: 3 Day Ferment…

Tags

cold ferment, homemade pizza, pizza

I made two more pizzas from the same batch of dough, only now the dough has had a three day cold ferment…  The dough balls are about 285g.

The oven set up remained the same:  An oven rack was positioned at the second from the top setting and a 1″ terracotta tile was placed on this rack.  On top of the terracotta tile, I placed a 1/2″ Baking Steel.  The oven was set to “bake” and pre-heated for 1 hour before I cooked the first pizza.

The oven hit a maximum of about 280C before cycling off again.  I have had difficulty getting the grill to turn on once the oven is up to temperature, so I had to time the cooking so that the pizza was launched onto the pizza stone as the oven cycled back on.

I pulled the pizza dough out of the refrigerator at the same time I turned on the oven, so the dough was shaped and had a final proof of about 45 minutes before I baked the first pie.  The dough was more extensible and slightly less elastic and could definitely ferment for at least one more day.

Pizza Margherita: Fresh tomato sauce, fiore di latte, fresh basil, grated Grana Padano

The pizza was launched onto the pizza stone at the beginning of the heating cycle.  The pizza baked for approximately 6 minutes with the oven set to “bake” and the temperature set to the maximum setting.  The pizza was turned half way through cooking.  Good oven spring on the cornicione.  Only light browning in spots on the crust – probably because I have not been able to get the grill to turn on to preheat the stone prior to launching the pizza.

Pizza con Pepperoni e Blue Cheese: Fresh tomato sauce, fiore di latte, blue cheese, pepperoni, red onion

The pizza was launched onto the pizza stone at the beginning of the heating cycle.  The pizza baked for approximately 6 minutes with the oven set to “bake” and the temperature set to the maximum setting.  The pizza was turned halfway through cooking.  Good oven spring on the cornicione.  Only light browning in spots on the crust.

Cornicione

These pizzas had great oven spring.  The cornicione had decent colouring and a wonderful soft, chewy texture.

This pizza dough fermented very nicely over three days and could have easily fermented for four or possibly 5 days.

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Sourdough Pizza: Two Day Fermentation

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aubergine, blue cheese, cold ferment, fennel, italian, mushroom, pizza, pizza stone, sourdough

Testing sourdough pizza with 2 day bulk fermentation…

Pizza al Finocchio, Funghi e Formaggio Erborinatio (Pizza with Fennel, Mushroom, and Blue Cheese)

Pizza alle Melanzana (Pizza with Roasted Eggplant)

36 Hour Sourdough Pizza

Tags

aubergine, basil, cheese, cold ferment, fior di latte, grana padano, italian, kalamata olives, pizza, pizza stone, red onion, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough, thyme

I pulled out the sourdough retarding in the refrigerator and divided it into three 260g portions. I folded and shaped the dough balls and let them rest while the oven warmed and I prepped the toppings.

When the oven came to temperature I switched the oven from bake to broil and made the first pie.

One portion was a bit smaller than the others, so I made a bambino pizza with Kalamata olives, red onion, fresh thyme, and freshly grated Grana Padano.

The next pie was topped with a bit of fior di latte, roasted melanzana, and freshly grated Grana Panano.

The last pie was topped with fior di latte, Kalamata olives, red onion, fresh thyme, freshly grated Grana Padano, and basil.

These pies cooked in about 6-7 minutes. I had some of the best oven spring I’ve ever had out of this dough. Next time I’ll mix the dough and probably give it four turns over two hours at room temperature, then bung it in the refrigerator for two to three days before using.

Sourdough Adventures: Sourdough Pizza

Tags

basil, cold ferment, fior di latte, italian, pizza, pizza stone, scamorza, sourdough, tartine basic country sourdough

I have pizza withdrawal. I have not made pizza since I started making sourdough bread.

I drove to the farmer’s market at La Cigale and picked up fresh basil and some fantastic fior di latte and scamorza made locally by Italian Cheeses.

My first try making sourdough pizza dough…

I made a 2kg batch of sourdough, same as I do for my Tartine Basic Country Bread. After bulk fermentation was complete, I shaped 400g portions of dough into balls and let them bench rest for 40 minutes, whilst the oven came to temperature and I prepared the toppings.

I reserved enough dough to make two more pizzas and stored it in the fridge for a longer, cold ferment. I would normally have let the whole batch ferment for two or three days, but I really wanted to make some pizza the same day, purely for testing purposes…

The cornicione had good flavour. I may have to play around a bit to get the bulk fermentation timing right. The dough balls had good extensibility, but lacked some elasticity, perhaps due to too short a bulk fermentation or too long a bench rest. The dough may have benefited from a second shaping and bench rest to make up for a short bulk fermentation.

The cornicione showed decent oven spring, but I need to work out proper temps and timing with my oven, cooking on a terracotta paving stone. The electric home oven I currently use does not hold a high temperature very well. I may need to move the stones to a lower position in the oven. It is also difficult to get the stone to a high enough temperature to get much colour on the bottom of the crust.

The oven is set at the highest temperature setting and allowed to warm up for 1 hour. Just before I start to stretch a dough ball, I switch the oven to broil. These pizzas were in the oven for between 6-8 minutes.

I may make a couple more pizzas tonight to see how the dough handles after a 36 hour fermentation.

For my next batch, I may turn the dough every 1/2 hour for the first two hours, then store the dough in the fridge for 1-5 days.

Daily Bread

Tags

baking, bread, cold ferment, jim lahey no knead dough, no knead dough

Champion High Grade flour, 24 hour bulk fermentation.

Oops! I forgot to score the dough before it went into the oven.