Homemade Pizza I Cooked - Delicious!

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the preparation and enjoyment of homemade pizza, including the techniques for making dough and sauce, as well as the challenges of achieving a crispy crust. Participants share their experiences, preferences, and tips related to pizza-making, with a focus on both the cooking process and the final product.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express admiration for the homemade pizza and share their own preferences for toppings, such as mushrooms and sweet vegetables.
  • There is a discussion about the difficulty of achieving a crispy crust at home, with some suggesting that home ovens do not reach the necessary temperatures.
  • One participant mentions the use of a pizza stone and emphasizes the importance of preheating it properly to avoid soggy crusts.
  • Another participant shares their method of making sauce, including the use of canned tomatoes for consistency and the technique of blending and simmering to thicken the sauce.
  • Some participants discuss the merits of using fresh versus canned tomatoes, with differing opinions on their quality and taste.
  • There are suggestions for additional techniques, such as using a cast-iron pan for cooking pizza, and the importance of allowing the dough to brown before adding toppings.
  • One participant notes that they prefer not to use oil on the dough, citing concerns about burning.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of agreement and disagreement regarding the use of fresh versus canned tomatoes, as well as the challenges of achieving a crispy crust at home. The discussion remains unresolved on these points, with multiple competing views presented.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention specific techniques and personal experiences that may not be universally applicable, such as the quality of ingredients and the effectiveness of various cooking methods. There is also a recognition that results can vary based on individual circumstances, such as oven type and ingredient quality.

Who May Find This Useful

Home cooks interested in pizza-making, culinary enthusiasts exploring homemade sauces and dough, and those looking for tips on achieving better results in their pizza preparations.

gravenewworld
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Homemade pizza I cooked

Check it out:

http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/3075346/640/3075346.jpg

http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/3075348/640/3075348.jpg

Homemade dough from scratch: check
Homemade pizza sauce from fresh tomatoes (no canned stuff): check
Buffalo milk mozz: check
One of the best pizzas I've ever eaten in my life: check


Not too hard to make. Just need a little bit more practice with the dough.


(just realized the title was a bit redundant)
 
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Oooh, I want the one with the mushrooms! They both look great.
 
Evo said:
Oooh, I want the one with the mushrooms! They both look great.

Yeah that one definitely turned out better of the 2 pies.


The only thing that can't be reproduced at home is a very crispy crust. Home ovens simply don't get that hot. I even used a pizza stone, but still you can't reproduce what you get at a pizza shop or restaurant. Time to build a brick oven in the back yard I guess.
 
Nice work, gravenewworld!

The consistency and color of your sauce is appealing to me, and your crust seems to be fairly even all the way 'round. Did you drain any excess water from the tomatoes before making your sauce? Not doing this can sometimes make for soggy crust (and sloppy lasagna, should you ever pursue making one), but you seem to have done well.

I love sweet vegetables on my pizza (bell peppers, sautéed onions, etc.). Keep experimenting! :approve:
 
Yeah I used a large spoon w/ holes in it to get out a lot of the water from the sauce before spreading it on the dough.
 
gravenewworld said:
Yeah that one definitely turned out better of the 2 pies. The only thing that can't be reproduced at home is a very crispy crust. Home ovens simply don't get that hot. I even used a pizza stone, but still you can't reproduce what you get at a pizza shop or restaurant. Time to build a brick oven in the back yard I guess.

A common mistake with using pizza stones is that one does not allow the stone to heat up. Make sure you are putting the stone in the oven cold, and allowing it to remain in the oven during the preheating process. Sorry if I am telling you something you already know, but I've seen many people place their dough into a cold stone and then bake it.

Some suggest brushing your dough with a bit of vegetable oil, but I don't like doing this. As soon as you start putting oil on things, it has a tendency to start burning your creations! Be careful!
 
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Very nice! I make a large batch of sauce every month or two and freeze it up in small tupperware containers so we can make 2-3 pizzas at a time. I tried using fresh tomatoes to make the sauce, but the results were inconsistent and highly dependent on the quality and ripeness of the produce. Years ago, I standardized on Pastene peeled ground tomatoes, and have gotten reliable, repeatable results. If you haven't tried this before, put your sauce ingredients in a blender and liquefy everything. This breaks the walls of the tomato cells and allows them to de-water as you simmer the sauce. I simmer the sauce for hours and hours until it is nice and thick.

Also, when making fresh dough, I slide the dough onto a pre-heated stone and let it brown just slightly before putting sauce, cheese and toppings on. This helps keep the sauce from wetting the crust and keeps everything crispy.

BTW, your crust looks like it's nicely done. Do you have a convection oven?
 
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turbo-1 said:
... This breaks the walls of the tomato cells and allows them to de-water as you simmer the sauce. I simmer the sauce for hours and hours until it is nice and thick. ...

This is an excellent idea. I do something very similar for lasagna; the simmering process evaporates all the water out of the sauce. I had never thought to do it for pizza sauce.
 
I want that pizza!
 
  • #10
Ah, but did you milk the buffalo yourself?
 
  • #11
gravenewworld said:
The only thing that can't be reproduced at home is a very crispy crust. Home ovens simply don't get that hot.

i saw on tv a guy who put a cast-iron pan on a stove at max heat for 15-20 mins, then he turned it over, put the pizza on it & then into the oven under the broiler which had been heating up all along. it only took ~2 mins.

 
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  • #12
Gorgeous pizzas! Yum!
 
  • #13
Where's the meat?
 
  • #14
I just discovered how much fun and delicious homemade dough is. Now, I can't eat store bought bread without knowing what an inferior product I am eating. Only issue is now the wife and kids want me to make it every weekend and my wasteline is showing it.
 
  • #15
Ronnin said:
I just discovered how much fun and delicious homemade dough is. Now, I can't eat store bought bread without knowing what an inferior product I am eating. Only issue is now the wife and kids want me to make it every weekend and my wasteline is showing it.
Ronnin, there is a book (1973, I think, but it's still in print) by James Beard called "Beard on Bread" - it has some fantastic recipes. My wife has gotten into bread-making so I bought a large stone through Amazon so she can make several loaves at once. So far we have tried rye bread, black bread (both good) and she's going to make a few loaves of pumpernickel this weekend. I'm going to have to find and buy a nice pizza peel for her, too. right now she's using a flat non-stick baking sheet for a peel.
 
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  • #16
turbo-1 said:
Very nice! I make a large batch of sauce every month or two and freeze it up in small tupperware containers so we can make 2-3 pizzas at a time. I tried using fresh tomatoes to make the sauce, but the results were inconsistent and highly dependent on the quality and ripeness of the produce. Years ago, I standardized on Pastene peeled ground tomatoes, and have gotten reliable, repeatable results. If you haven't tried this before, put your sauce ingredients in a blender and liquefy everything. This breaks the walls of the tomato cells and allows them to de-water as you simmer the sauce. I simmer the sauce for hours and hours until it is nice and thick.

Also, when making fresh dough, I slide the dough onto a pre-heated stone and let it brown just slightly before putting sauce, cheese and toppings on. This helps keep the sauce from wetting the crust and keeps everything crispy.

BTW, your crust looks like it's nicely done. Do you have a convection oven?

That is exactly what I did. I blended all the tomatoes after peeling and de-seeding them in order to break up the tomatoes. I then cooked the sauce for a very long time to boil off the water to thicken it up a bit. I then used the large spoon to drain off any water that was left. I saved all the water though, I'll probably cook some pasta in it.


A common mistake with using pizza stones is that one does not allow the stone to heat up. Make sure you are putting the stone in the oven cold, and allowing it to remain in the oven during the preheating process. Sorry if I am telling you something you already know, but I've seen many people placing their dough into a cold stone and then baking it.

Yup, that's the first thing I did. Youtube is very helpful.

Where's the meat?

Didn't want to ruin the flavor of the cheese with meat that gives off grease when it cooks. The cheese cost a good amount of money, so I wanted it to be the star of the show.
 
  • #17
There is nothing wrong with canned tomatoes, even the most traditional italian pizza bakers in naples use canned tomatoes. Unless the tomatoes are from your own garden, the tomatoes you buy in the store are grown to look full and red, the taste is secondary. They have to be shipped and often ripe only after they were already reaped. They often taste watery if you ask me. But canned tomatoes are fresh from the tomato field and then conserved, and how they used to look is irrelevant.
 
  • #18
Amanheis said:
There is nothing wrong with canned tomatoes, even the most traditional italian pizza bakers in naples use canned tomatoes. Unless the tomatoes are from your own garden, the tomatoes you buy in the store are grown to look full and red, the taste is secondary. They have to be shipped and often ripe only after they were already reaped. They often taste watery if you ask me. But canned tomatoes are fresh from the tomato field and then conserved, and how they used to look is irrelevant.
And consistency is key. I have had such good luck with Pastene's peeled crushed tomatoes that I tend to use their canned tomatoes even when I have fresh ones in my garden. They don't specify the variety that they use, but there are pear-shaped sauce tomatoes pictured on the label (maybe Romas, or San Marzanos...). Their product quality is consistently good, and the tomatoes de-water more easily than most other brands.
 
  • #19


gravenewworld said:
Check it out:

http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/3075346/640/3075346.jpg

http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/3075348/640/3075348.jpg

Homemade dough from scratch: check
Homemade pizza sauce from fresh tomatoes (no canned stuff): check
Buffalo milk mozz: check
One of the best pizzas I've ever eaten in my life: check


Not too hard to make. Just need a little bit more practice with the dough.


(just realized the title was a bit redundant)

A little more practice and you can participate in http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t1k5" :biggrin:
 
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  • #20
Is that fresh basil I see on the top of the first pizza? It looks especially appealing to me. After eating home-baked pizzas, the take-out stuff just does not appeal at all.
 
  • #21
GeorginaS said:
Is that fresh basil I see on the top of the first pizza? It looks especially appealing to me. After eating home-baked pizzas, the take-out stuff just does not appeal at all.
My wife will not eat commercially-made pizzas. I have spoiled her badly. If she sees that we're getting down to the last couple of Tupperware tubs of frozen sauce, she'll ask if I have everything I need to make a batch of sauce (hint, hint).
 
  • #22
Ugh, seeing this thread makes me want to make my own pizza. It's raining too much right now for me to go out to the store to get what I would need though :cry:.

Your pizza's did look delish... especially that mushroom pizza, mouth watering :-p.
 
  • #24
That pizza looks fantastic.

Good God, I need to learn how to cook. Stupid school is taking up all my time though! Perhaps I should drop out.
 
  • #25
This thread makes me wonder if there's anything wrong with me eating 2 "takeout" meals a day... I go to a deli(on my way to school) that gives really good sandwiches and salads so I spend around 20 dollars a day at the same deli. I haven't gained any weight so far and the food seems healthy enough.

My mom also cooks food, but she's extreme about it(she won't put any oil on it). Most foods require at least a little oil, or butter to taste good... We got a foreman grill recently which cooks meat nicely, but you have to marinate the meat for 24 hours prior to grilling.
 
  • #26
It looks a lot better than the attempt I posted. I had issues with the crust as well. It came out very dense. I think I may not have let it rise enough or perhaps pushed all the air out of it when I made the crust by hand (since I don't have a rolling pin).

I've been meaning to try it again.
 
  • #27
Amanheis said:
There is nothing wrong with canned tomatoes, even the most traditional italian pizza bakers in naples use canned tomatoes. Unless the tomatoes are from your own garden, the tomatoes you buy in the store are grown to look full and red, the taste is secondary. They have to be shipped and often ripe only after they were already reaped. They often taste watery if you ask me. But canned tomatoes are fresh from the tomato field and then conserved, and how they used to look is irrelevant.


That is true but I like knowing that my food has no BPA in it, even if it has health effects or not. Plus peelingand de-seeding that many tomatoes is like meditation. It doesn't bother me that much. You get to think (or not think at all) a lot while peeling and de-seeding.







Btw of course it is fresh basil. Plucked it straight from the plant.
 
  • #28
gravenewworld said:
Btw of course it is fresh basil. Plucked it straight from the plant.

I was confirming that the green stuff was basil. You never know what some people might throw on top of pizza. :biggrin:

And yes, fresh basil directly off of your own plant. Oh heavens. Is there any flavour better on this planet? I mean, seriously?
 
  • #29
Can I ask what dough recipe you used?

I am a little of a baker myself. I do a good italian-style white, a decent wheat and while not yeast-leavened, I do GREAT flour tortillas. However, I have NEVER been able to make great pizza dough. Mine always seems to turn out a little too "bready".

I have tried AP and bread flour, wheat flour and combinations of all. I have seen recipes that use evaporated milk (IIRC) and am not sure if perhaps that's the key.
 

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