HI,
A couple of things you might find handy...
First, expect an upgrade to the ebirdseed.com FaceBook page... We'll let you know when the upgrade happens, but expect sooner vs. later...
Now, about that New York City style pizza contest...
Yeah... That pizza contest... We most definitely have a winner! Thank you Jefe for the following, and rest assured that your prize shall be well placed...
Just saw this. I spent about 4 years landlocked in the midwest. The end of that sojourn culminated in construction of Gypsy (the model there, the real thing once I was coastal again.)
Anyway, I could never find the NY style pizza I liked and spent a ton of time researching, experimenting, etc. I spent a lot of time reading on pizzamakingforum.com
There are a couple really basic things that I found made a pretty big difference in terms of quality for me.
The first was using "raw" sauce. Canned tomatoes in a blender - experiment with seasonings (salt, pepper, thyme, basil, "italian seasoning", garlic powder, onion powder etc) and also the time interval between blending with seasoning and using . Not using already cooked tomato sauce (home-made or in a jar) was a huge first step.
Second was cooking on a really hot stone. Some of the people on the other forum advocated a proprietary product called fibrament (I think). I ended up getting a piece of cordierite on clearance from a kiln supply company online. This is the same material bakers pride uses in the deck of their commercial ovens. These are the only kinds of ovens I ever saw in "real NY Pizza" places. And using the oven as hot as you can get it. Some people take this seriously (disable the locking latch and cook using the cleaning cycle!)
Third was cold fermenting the dough (in the fridge; experimenting between 2-7 days). I used King Arthur bread flour (blue bag) (Also, Google Jeff Varasano.)
Fourth was buying bulk mozzarella, pre-shredded (Sam's Club or somewhere where you get more of a wholesale type product.) This somehow always turned out better than buying a block or bag of polly-o from the grocery store and grating it myself (or buying a small bag of shredded from a grocery store). I also have experimented with fresh mozz for more of a Neopolitan.
Since moving back to where I can get NY style, I haven't done much of this lately.
Now... Where is that pizza stone, and just how hot can I safely heat the oven???
Cooking in the kitchen that looks out on the feeders...
CapeCodAlan
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