The Great Pizza Search (GPS) #13 was Homemade Pizzas #12 & #13 on July 21.
The Dough
We used the remaining dough from July 15 (also used on pizzas #10 and #11). It was still very active as the size doubled after removal from the refrigerator. It had cool looking, large bubbles on the top and along the sides!
Once again, this dough easily worked into shape, but even with ample cornmeal, I had trouble sliding it off of the peel onto the hot (550F) pizza stone. The dough tore along one side causing some trouble that we’d not find out until later.
The Sauce
Last time, I only added a couple of pinches of crushed red pepper (CRP) and thought the sauce was a little weak. So, I added a full teaspoon! The result was a sauce with good sweetness and tang but slightly too much CRP! I hope that I can find the right balance of CRP soon!
BTW, we switched from Cento brand to Wegmans Italian Classics brand San Marzano canned tomato. The cost of Wegmans is about 30% less, and the taste seems equal.
The Cheese
We used the remainder of the Cabot 5 cheese blend (which I didn’t like too much) but mixed it with at least 1.5 cups of freshly grated parmagian.
I was excited to find out that the parmasian was DOP because of the printing along the rind. The rind’s DOP printing means that it’s certified to be from Parma in Italy.
We topped this with Wegmans Italian Classics low moisture moozedell.
Cooking times for both the pepperoni and Margherita were both at about 8 minutes.
The Results
Both were Very Good, but the spiciness of the sauce held both of these back from being great.
The majority went to our daughter who’s now working two jobs, taking a class, and studying for the GRE. We asked if she shared with her roommates…there was a firm NO! That’s my girl, a little spicy!
Now for my “problem”…I mentioned that I tore the dough when sliding the 1st pizza off the peel. The tear caused sauce and cheese to flow onto the pizza stone and then down into the oven…ugh! Within a minute, the oven started smoking and…OUR SMOKE ALARM WENT OFF! Though I’ve tested the alarm many times, it was the first time that it had to work for real! Fortunately, we were able to clear the smoke with the vent fan.
BUT, to add insult to injury, the leaked sauce and cheese, seeped into the pizza stone’s pours causing it to crack into two pieces. Big bummer 😦
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