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Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart
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The Hwy 15 Pizza
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Wednesday, 19 September 2012 20:52
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 A few months ago I went to Las Vegas for the Pizza Expo. I wrote about visiting with John Arena of Metro Pizza. While driving to Vegas I had been a little lost in thought. No, I wasn't on my phone, but I was drifting along somewhere out in there in the desert. I was thinking about the email exchange I had with John and the fact that he mentioned he'd love to make some pizzas with me. As this worked it's way around my brain, I started noticing that the desert valley I was in was reminiscent of something familiar. I was driving along in an air conditioned car, with a cool venti iced latte from a Starbucks stop a while back. I said to my father, who was riding with me, "Look at the mountains that are encircling us. Don't they look like the crust of a giant pizza?"
 He looked around and said, "No." I told him he was crazy and unimaginative! All he could see was the white sand and scrubby sage and rocks. "Can't you see how the sage brush is like little bits of herbs poking out from the desert sand (which would be the cheese)?
We then came upon a hill that appeared to be formed from a lava eruption, or burst from under the ground. To me, that was it, it sealed the deal, I was literally in the middle of a giant 10-mile wide pizza and that burnt rock hill was a bubble in the crust.
I think I brought it up to my father again in the next valley. (There are two distinct "Pizza Valleys" on Hwy 15 from LA to Las Vegas -- you heard it here first.) He just couldn't see my vision. Topics turned to the more mundane banter bouncing between laughter and arguments that we always have - especially while trapped in a small car for 4-5 hours together.
 I've written before about my experience meeting up with John Arena at the Pizza Expo, which was great. During the show, John took me by a booth that he had made dough for and I noticed that there was a huge air bubble with a burnt top. I mentioned my desert pizza "vision" to John and, being far more visionary than my father, he loved the idea. We kicked around some ideas for desert ingredients. On my way home I was all ready for the pizza valleys and admittedly, I did ask
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Are You Ready to Turn Pro, Part Two
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Thursday, 18 October 2012 18:46
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Note from Peter: Don't forget to scroll down the home page for Part One of this new series from our friend John Arena, owner of the hugely popular Metro Pizza in Las Vegas. We've been getting some great response to this. Thanks John!!)
There are many components to opening and sustaining a successful pizzeria, but for now let’s focus on essential pizza making skills. So here is lesson number one:
From now on, every time you make a pizza, or any element of a pizza make it as fast as you can. It doesn’t matter if you are making one pizza for your family or 100 pies for a lunch crowd on a tight schedule. Work fast. You cannot make a living in the pizza business if you are slow. Speed is both a skill and a habit.
--Dividing and rounding dough balls? Do it at top speed.
--Extending dough? Work fast. You need the practice.
--How fast is fast enough? Of course that’s a matter of opinion, but for starters, 2 people should be able to divide and round an 80 pound batch of dough in the time it takes to mix a second batch so there is no idle time in production. The most crucial task in your pizzeria is dough management-making dough, fermenting dough and using it at exactly the right time regardless of ever changing conditions.
--When it comes to making pizzas, you should be able to fill your ovens before the first pizza is ready to come out. So, if you are making large pizzas in a standard 2 deck gas oven you have to extend (stretch), top, and insert 8 pizzas in the oven in about 9 minutes, while taking the time to rotate the pies if necessary. In a wood burning oven the same rules apply. You must be able to fill the oven and move pies around to get the desired bake, take them out without burning or dropping anything or having any down time where the oven is empty. Now cut and plate the pies and keep moving.
--Sorry, but if you intend to be a pro there will be no more painstaking placement of every single mushroom. Yes, your pies have to look beautiful but the next hungry guest is waiting. Now here is the hard part- Once you can fill the ovens…do it again. OK, now do it again… and now again. Keep doing it for at least 3 hours without a break or slow down, because that is how long the average dinner rush will last. Speed is important but it is useless without endurance.
--Now, let’s not forget that all of these top speed pizzas must also resemble each other. Even if you are making artisan pies your guests are going to expect that there is a basic defining look and consistency to your pizzas. So like it or not, pizza making is repetitive work. What you do right now is what you are going to do again in 60 seconds and what you do today is going to have to be done again tomorrow.
--You are going to find that there is a rhythm and spirit to each part of your day. Throw away your clock -- and your calendar-- because from now on you are living on pizza time. You’re a football fan? So are your customers. From now on you will be using your DVR. You like to spend holidays with your family? Give them a job, so you can build the business together.
Is this starting to sound daunting? Be fearless, because here is the great part. You are going to take flour, water, and yeast and, using your own hands and some fire, create the world’s greatest communal food. You are going to join the ranks of a time honored profession and your pizzeria will become a vital part of your community.
In the next installment we will explore the common pitfalls of creating a pizzeria and teach you how to avoid them.
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Special Webisode: The Italian-American Experience
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Wednesday, 16 November 2011 22:10
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While we were filming at Tony's Pizza Napoletana we met Marti Casey, the editor-in-chief of Salute' Magazine, a publication dedicated to celebrating the Italian-American experience. Of course, there we were, in the heart of San Francisco's Little Italy section, North Beach, eating amazing pizza at Tony's, surrounded by quintessential Italian-American focaccerias, pork shops, bakeries, and classic spaghetti and meat ball trattorias, so what better place to discuss the immigrant experience. As you will see, we got off the subject a few times (don't miss Marti's description in the first part of the video, of her first business, making beef jerky, and the slogan they came up with to sell it), but we soon realized that the Italian-American experience was, in a sense, a metaphor and microcosm of the entire American immigrant experience. What used to be called a melting pot is now often called a salad bowl, but the common thread and essential commonality is that people came to this country, and still do, because it represents the single greatest symbol of opportunity in the history of the world. The immigrant experience is all about the possibility of reinvention of one self and freedom from any preconceived boxes that held individuals back in the past. Not everybody manages to leverage that opportunity into a successful life but the odds sure are greater here, even now during these turbulent times. North Beach, and its adjacent China Town, are perfect examples of that, so it was enjoyable spending time with Marti, sharing our own stories and viewing them through the lens of the Italian-American version.
One thing we've learned over and over again while out on our pizza quest is that when you're on a quest you meet some really interesting people and it reinforces an intuition that I think many of us have: no matter where you are from, when it comes right down to it, we are not all that different from each other.
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Peter's Blog, December 14th, 2012
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Friday, 14 December 2012 07:59
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I just got back from Denver where I had the great joy and privilege to film a mini pizza course for Craftsy called, "Perfect Pizza at Home." As I mentioned in a previous post, this is going to be offered in January, by Craftsy, to the world for free!! (My bread course, on the other hand, sells for $39.95 -- or $19.95 if you sign up via the special link they gave me for our PQ followers: www.craftsy.com/artisanbread -- so the pizza course giveaway is quite a deal, a steal actually; steal, or steel, is today's motif, as you will soon see.) Anyway, I'll have a lot more on the pizza course and on Craftsy next month, when I get the word that it's available.
At the wrap party afterwards, we gathered at Basta, in Boulder, for a nice reunion with Kelly Whitaker and his whole team of pizzaiolos and talented cooks. As you you have seen, and will continue to see over the next few months in the Basta webisodes, this is a very special place and I was pleased to be able to to bring my new friends from Craftsy over to meet Kelly, as well as to meet Joseph Pergolizzi (founder of The Fire Within, whose mobile wood fired ovens you've seen featured on many of our instructional videos), and my friend and artisan bread baker extraordinaire, Andy Clark, of Udi's Breads, who joined us for the celebration. (I will post some photos as soon as I gather them.)
But, as I said, I'm home again and I promised to comment on the new Baking Steel, which arrived just before I left for Denver and which I tested with a dough ball from my freezer stash a few hours before I flew out. As you may recall, Adam A. wrote in a "comment" to a previous Peter's Blog, raving about his Baking Steel, so I called the foundry where it's made, Stoughton Steel, and spoke with Andris Lagsdin's dad (and the owner of the steel mill and the proud papa of the inventor of this new, innovative tool). He said, "What can I tell you, I'm no cook but my son is and ever since he came up with this they're selling like crazy!" An hour later, Andris, the inventor himself, called me and we had a great chat about the Steel, which was inspired by his love of cooking, both professional and at home, and his interest in the new "modernist cuisine" as described in the recent amazing books by Nathan Myhrvold as well as all the molecular gastronomy chefs like Ferran Adria, Jose Andres, Grant Achatz, and others. He combined his food and his steel knowledge and fabricated this simple, but beautiful, slab of steel that is now destined to be the next big thing among pizza freaks as well as serious cooks of all types.
My oven typically takes about seven minutes to bake a pizza, using a one-inch thick ceramic baking stone. With the steel, the pizza was ready in five minutes and, just like Adam A. reported, perfectly baked, top and bottom, with superb caramelization. The faster bake time allowed the dough to be both crisp and moist, just the way I (and most of us) like it. I have to admit, I was totally impressed and the Steel now sits proudly in my oven, waiting for me to test it out on other foods. I'm particularly curious to see how it will do with a rib eye steak, ever since the benchmark of my "four minute steak," cooked in my Primavera 60 wood-fired oven (yes, a shameless plug for our friends at Forno Bravo) -- the best steak I ever made. I posted about this last year -- it's somewhere in the Peter's Blog archives but, if anyone wants me to repeat the method I'll post it again over the holidays -- just let me know in the Comments section below. If the Steel can get me close to that in a home oven I'll do back flips, so stay tuned.
When mine arrived, it came with a very cool carrying case, which I suggest you also purchase, for both it's functionality and its sweet design. (Ever since I read Walter Isaacson's bio on Steve Jobs I've become obsessed with Job's brilliant insight and execution of the merging of these two aspects, form and function; the Baking Steel and it's case is kind of like the I-Pad of baking platforms -- very Apple-like.) Here's an excerpt from an e-mail I received from Andris for those of you who want to check this out.
Currently, our website has the Baking Steel listed at $72 and you can purchase the case and steel together for $102. These are both introductory prices. After the first of the year the price may tweak up a little bit. Likely to $79 & $109. This price includes delivery anywhere in the U.S. We charge a flat rate of $15.00 to Canada. Anywhere else in the world we are charging freight. Our website is www.bakingsteel.com and orders can be placed online.
The material used to make the Steel is A36 low carbon. This is the same material you see your local diners use on their griddles for eggs, pancakes etc. So yes, the options are plentiful. Likely a nice searing steel for outdoor grills as well. We also sell a cleaning brick for the Baking Steel -- it is a nice way to keep the steel clean.
I'll try to get some photos up soon -- after all, I just got home but wanted to get this news out asap. If any of you already have a Baking Steel and want to send us your own reviews, that would be wonderful. Congratulations to Andris Lagsdin (and his dad!) for coming up with what may be a game-changing tool for many of us. Hey, it may not be too late for some of you to get one, or give one, for Christmas!!
More soon....
Peter
PS I nearly forgot to mention that when you receive your Steel, it comes with a recipe for NY-Style Pizza Dough by noted food blogger Kenji Lopez-Alt. I thought the recipe looked familiar so I was pleased to discover that on his blog, Kenji was generous in sharing the credit (he also dd a nice job of tweaking the original, to make it his own, as I advise you all to do as you zero in on your own recipes). Thanks Kenji! Here's what he wrote: Luckily for me, there's already a pretty fantastic recipe for New York style pizza dough out there in Peter Reinhart's American Pie, a new classic on pizza, which if you don't already own, you should. His method is to mix together the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer, knead it slowly for a couple minutes, then allow it to rest for a few minutes in a step called an autolyse. Autolysis allows time for flour to absorb water, and for the gluten-forming proteins to shorten themselves through enzymatic action, allowing them to be more easily aligned and stretched with subsequent mixing.
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Sriracha Dough
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Thursday, 30 August 2012 09:05
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 I have only experimented with this dough one time. It's nothing earth shattering, though it sounds like it should be, but it's certainly interesting, so I think it's worthy of a post.
I was making up some pizzas recently and we were doing a Vietnamese inspired pizza. Since I make the doughs the day before, I noticed my Sriracha Salt just sitting there staring at me on the counter. As I went to grab the Kosher Salt, the jar of Sriracha Salt shuddered a little, maybe beckoned. It was just a little, but enough for me to notice.
 Ok, just kidding of course, but I did notice it while grabbing the regular salt and a little light bulb went off. "Why not?" I was making Peter's Signature Bruery Beer Dough and thought I'd substitute the Sriracha Salt for the regular salt. I didn't know if the dough would work because of the spices -- perhaps causing it to not rise, or explode or something. But it did work. The result was a subtle hint of spiciness throughout the dough. As I took my first bite of the finished pizza, I didn't notice it right away. There was so much going on with the Banh Mi Pizza (see that post from a few weeks ago), that the subtle flavor it added to the dough didn't show up immediately.
 As I got to the crust, though, I could definitely sense the Sriracha flavor. It was subtle and interesting. Like I always say about making and eating pizza, it's always interesting. There's a unique opportunity to experiment when making pizzas. You can try little things while making the meal because you'll be making 3 or more pizzas at a time and each one can be an experiment with slight changes, or major changes help you figure out what you like most. And, I believe that the excitement of trying to find that "Ah-Ha!" moment is almost as much fun as eating that perfect slice. The quest is about the questing and also the time spent with friends and family eating the results of your madness!
So, the recipe for the Sriracha salt is already posted -- just use it instead of regular salt when making any dough and let us know the results. Sometimes it's just the little things that the difference....
For Peter's Signature Bruery Beer Dough recipe - click: *HERE
*Note: This would work with any dough recipe.
Enjoy!
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