Did some learnin' today about pizza

[Tab]

I finally, FINALLY, got myself into a how-to-make-pizza class at King Arthur Flour. I've been trying to do this for years, but it's always something (divorce, money, schedule, travel, illness, sold out, whatever), but I finally pulled it off. Some of you who have been here for years have heard me mention before how I wanted to take this class but never quite managed it.

For cooks not familiar with King Arthur Flour, they're the top flour company in the country in terms of quality flours, and they run baking classes for everyone from beginners to professionals. These guys take the science of baking Very Seriously. And they're a short driving distance from where I live.

So, one of the classes is on making pizza in a wood-fired oven. I'll just start by saying that they had a couple of loaves of some kind of bread (and butter) out, along with coffee/tea/water, for anyone hungry to snack on while working. That was damned good bread. Damned good. Pretty much the best ever.

Anyway, in my quest for pizza over the years I've more or less perfected the technique of baking it in a home oven, and it came out similar to KAF, cooking-wise, but I usually didn't make my own dough, the making of which was the key point for the class. We made both a whole-wheat dough (with pre-ferment) and a Semolina (white) dough. Actually I really liked the whole wheat - I've had WW pizzas elsewhere but they're dry and marginal; this one was warm and soft and tasty.

So, a couple of quick snapshots. First, the oven and the layout tables in front, for final staging before putting the pizza in the oven (dough was mixed and prepped and topped sort of to the right and behind, sorry no pic for that):



Oven was running about 550 or so degrees today - they like it more to 700, but 550 was still okay.

Time to put in the pizzas!



They cook relatively quickly. Interestingly they use a WOOD paddle to put it IN the oven, but a metal paddle to rotate it and take it out, because it's easier for the metal to slide under the pizza. Also, they recommended, when cooking on a pizza stone, to use parchment to cook the pizza on. The paper won't burn and you won't leave little semolinas or corn meal around to mess up your oven (not an issue in the wood oven).

Finally it's time to take it out and put it on the cooling rack. I used just some marinara sauce, slices of mozzarella, a couple roasted red peppers, basil after it comes out (but still is hot) et voila:



Yummm.

To given credit where credit is due: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/

[Dover]

1. Oh my heavens that looks GOOOOOD!

I'm so envious of the class too. Congrats! And thanks so much for sharing a peek inside. It looks like a lot of fun with great rewards. Any pizza making tricks to share - like how to make a good dough? And I hope you got the recipe for that bread appetizer they served.


I wish I had a wood-fired oven.
Oh the things I would bake..... :9

[htuttle]

2. Every culture on earth puts goodies on or in flatbread

From burritos to shawarma to gyros to egg rolls, 'bread and food stuff' is a global meal.

Still, there's nothing like pizza!

:9

[MajorChode]

3. Now I want to go

Not so conveniently located for me, though. I did order some of their instant yeast, which looked interesting.

[EFerrari]

4. Omg, I'm so jealous!

Good going, Tab! I would kill or at least bruise to be able to take a class there!

[beac]

5. That pizza looks delicious!

Thanks for sharing your culinary adventure. :)

[NJCher]

6. loved the story and pic

What's "relatively quickly" in a 550 oven? Five minutes? Ten minutes?


Cher

[Tab]

7. Till it's done. :)

In a superhot oven it can be as little as 2 or 3 minutes to be fully cooked, but in this one it usually went through three phases:

1) Initial cook, 2 or 3 mins, crust rises, starts to harden up

2) Pull and rotate, put back in the oven

3) Another 2 or 3 mins, pull and check. Bottom should be done (but not burnt), toppings on their way to melting

4) You could pull it at that point, but usually you pop it back in, closer to the fire, to finish the top with more intense heat. You could rotate again after a few minutes but chances are you don't have to, and you just pull it out of the oven.

[pengillian101]

8. Thanks for sharing, Tab!

Hope it was all you wanted to learn, and by the looks of that pizza, it was! Glad you enjoyed it. Yum, indeed...

:hi:

[hippywife]

9. Glad you finally got to do this

and hope you are doing well these days. :hug:

[WhiteTara]

10. that's beautiful

and I'm looking forward to the knowledge you gained. Thank you so much for sharing. I love pizza and have been striving to create a good crust for a long time. That the ww is really tasty excites me. I'm looking forward to great pizza that isn't killing my beloved with high glycemic white flour.