©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

 

I learned something important this last time which I may have to incorporate into my normal pizza making routine. After putting the ingredients for boli dough in the bread machine to mix we left the house for over an hour. This meant that the dough was left to mix for 30 minutes, then allowed to rise at room temp (or slightly higher) for over an hour in the bread machine. When I returned, I cut and balled it then placed it in the refrigerator for the normal 24 hour rise. This double rise had great effects on the dough!

The next day, I stretched the dough balls into two 12 inch blanks. I noticed that one dough ball began to deflate as it sat on the counter indicating a good amount of gas had formed inside (a good thing). One was topped with pepperoni, the other with three cheeses (mozzarella, mild cheddar, monterey jack) and oregano. I baked them on a pizza stone at 480 degrees for 8 minutes.

As you can see from the photos, the crust had great spring and a soft inner crumb with large bubbles. The outer edge was just right. Tiny blisters formed on the outer edge of the crust which seem to be a good sign that the dough will have excellent texture (see photo).

Since I’m pretty sure the first warm rise allowed the yeast to work hard for the first hour and that the low temperatures in the refrigerator most likely slowed the yeast. To me this means the action in the crust resulted from the first rise. I plan to look for other ways to increase the yeast activity while the dough balls are in the refrigerator (more yeast or warmer water), but until then I will continue to use this double rise method. This crust was closer than I’ve ever been to my ideal! Best yet!

Now if I could just get that crust to brown more…

We’re having so much fun here that I just couldn’t resist getting a domain name! Welcome to PizzaManiac.com! I got the idea when one of my friends called me a maniac for being so into pizza. Hey, I’ve been called worse …

Look for a logo and redesign at some point - ideas and suggestions are welcome!

 

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

 

For a while I’ve been looking into making grinder hoagie buns with pizza dough. Today was my first attempt to actually try it. For my first attempt, I wanted to try my boli dough recipe simply because it would be great to have a dough that could be used for everything.

I mixed the dough and allowed it to rise in the breadmaker for about an hour. Then, I cut the dough ball in half and cut one half into quarters. This made for one large hoagie and two smaller ones (see photo).

Next, I rubbed the outside of the rolls with water. I read that this will make the outer crust a bit more brown and crispy. The oven was only at a temp of 300 degrees when I place the rolls on the stone, but I turned it up to 450. After about 12 minutes, the rolls had risen and become brown. The rolls had risen higher than I expected.

I removed them, allowed them to cool somewhat, then sliced one of the smaller ones to examine the crumb texture. The inner dough was very dense - too dense for me. I built a grinder with pepperoni, salami, provolone, mozzarella, lettuce, tomato and mayo. It tasted pretty good, but there was just too much dense dough inside.

I’ll be looking for ways to get my grinder rolls to be a bit on the lighter side and have a little less rise. I ate one of the rolls, but the others were too dense to eat and had to be thrown away. It’s too bad the boli dough didn’t cut it (they looked so good, too). Stay tuned for more of these grinder roll experiments!

 

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

 

I found myself in a jam when I realized I was out of Tomato Puree for my Neapolitan Sauce! Digging through my closets I found two cans of Contadina Tomato Paste. I decided to replace my normal Furmanos Puree with the paste and see what it tastes like! To get the consistency I wanted, I used two cans of paste and two cans of water. After stirring well, I added spices according to my Neapolitan sauce recipe in double.

The dough was Bill’s Boli Dough with a 24 hour rise. I made 2 pies, both half pepperoni, half triple cheese. After baking them at 480 degrees for 8 minutes, I served them up to a group of friends. The results were wonderful. The sauce was as good as ever. There was a slightly different taste due to the brand of tomatos, but everyone seemed to like it a lot.

From this experience, I’ve learned that paste can be on hand as an alternative to puree. In fact, it seems all you gain by using puree is the time it takes to add water and mix. Also, I now know that Contadina is just as tasty as Furmano. I don’t think I will change the recipe, but I was glad it happened. I may even try a few other brands of tomato in the coming months.

Here’s a picture of my friend and his son chomping on the pizza!

Now I’ve seen it all! Someone has figured out how to get pizza out of a vending machine! Apparently there is some debate about who was first to attempt this amazing feat. After looking online, I found a few references. First, we have a claim by Lew Cenotti who apparently built an elaborate Pie-O-Matic Pizza Machine in the 1950s!

Then I found a company called Wonder Pizza Italy who apparently has been installing the modern version all over Europe. Created by entrepreneur Giovanni Demaggio, the machine holds over 100 pies and serves a four-slice pizza in 90 seconds, for about $5.

Paul Pattaini of Wonder Pizza USA has launched a venture to bring Pizza Vending Machines to America. There’s already one on campus at Brown University.

I think I’ll keep making my own, but keep an eye out for Pizza Machines in your neighborhood!