pizza lesson/experiment. Cheese drying out. *pRon*

[BBQchef33]

Just a quick thing I have been meaning to do and got to try it tonight.

made a couple of margarita pies tonight. Margarita use fresh whole mozz and what i have seen in the past, is that sometimes the breaks down before the crust is finished cooking. So, the obvious fix is to give the crust a head start without the cheese. First pie tonight, the cheese dried out.. and i had to remove the pie earlier than I would have like to.. the cheese was seperating and the crust wasnt as crisp as I'd like. This happens more often with whole wheat crusts since they take a litlle longer to cook.

so the obvious key(and i always forget to do) was to put the pie in, with sauce only... for about 3 minutes, or until the crust is starting to brown, at which time I pulled it, put on the cheese(and a little extra sauce) and returned to oven for about 2 minutes. Came out with a crispy and airy crust.. and the cheese was melted, and still moist.. perfect... now if i can just remember to keep doing this.

May be obvious, but i jsut wanted to add this to our pizza threads for those starting out.

[n-2-que]

Parbaking your crust can help... you don't have to sauce it to parbake as it will soften once the sauce is put on.

[NelsonC]

What temp were you cooking at? I've seen where some of the traditional pizza joints that use fresh mozzarella (a rarity these days) cook at insanely high temps (500+)... maybe that's the key to a crisp crust and soft cheese? I've never tried it, so I can't be sure... but it makes sense to me.

[MilitantSquatter]

pfft... make a thinner crust or use bigger pieces of cheese

I wonder if Domenico DeMarco or Anthony Mangieri ever considers this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8z0ajsvFPc

http://www.vimeo.com/6938721

[landarc]

I think they get better cheese than the rest of us. I have a friend here that is a great Italian chef, and he gets better stuff than I do. From time to time, I see this great bufalo mozz that is dripping with whey, I gotta believe it won't dry out on a pie.

[BBQchef33]

the cheese is thick.. I whould have qualified this with its the TYPE of cheese.

The fresh mozz in water wont dry out, but the stuff that has been drained starts to dry.. gets the holes in it and starts to evaporate.

the oven is at 600-650.. the whole wheat crust takes longer to cook.. and thats what wrecks the cheese.. its simply getting overdone...

like i said, this is just another thread for our knowledge pase, and pizza guys to read.. its some notes. its not always a problem, but when it is, heres a quick fix.

[Redheart]

I just want to know what margherita pizza uses sauce? I also thought pizza margherita was fresh tomato slices, fresh basil leaves and mozzarella.
RED Tomatoes + GREEN Basil + White Mozzarella = The Italian Flag.

[BBQchef33]

thanks.. i knew i speeled it rong.. but after trying 3 differnt spelling of wchich nune made sense.... i gave up. :)


but good point.. it should use fresh tomato.... i forgot.. (whatever.. it still tasted good.)

mine uses lime and tequila in the dough tho :)

[landarc]

Is ketchup involved at any point?

Actually, I plan on trying the cooking the crust a bit first mod as it is a good way to do herb pizzas and white pizzas that use cream instead of cheese.

[Redheart]

Originally Posted by BBQchef33

thanks.. i knew i speeled it rong.. but after trying 3 differnt spelling of wchich nune made sense.... i gave up. :)


but good point.. it should use fresh tomato.... i forgot.. (whatever.. it still tasted good.)

mine uses lime and tequila in the dough tho :)

Well I guess the lime and tequila in the dough makes it a Margarita Pizza and not a Pizza Margherita.
Mexican vs Italian spelling.
I am sure it tasted wonderful and was only busting chops. Guess I should have added on of these or one of these to bring that across a little more clearly.
Did you use corn meal on the top of your stone or the bottom of the pizza? That little lift of the crust from the meal does help with circulation and not sweating under the dough.

[BBQchef33]

Redheart...i knew your were busting chops. Makes me feel wanted. :) i was buistin back too. (notice the speeling). :)



i corn meal the stone. Stone was hot.. oven was hot.... first pie went in at 650 and came out in 4 minutes. The cheese was too well done for my liking.. the dough was acceptable, but i like a little char on it.. in order to get that char, i would have had to leave the pie a little longer and the cheese would have dried out more.

second pie was done in 4 - 5 mins.. but by adding the cheese later, i got the extra minute, the charred crust, and the cheese was dripping down the face. :)

[Norcoredneck]

With all these spelling errors maybe I should try makin some Za. Hey Boss we have rules here. No pics didn't happen.

[beerguy]

Saw his pics on Facebook, it happened! Looked great.

[early mornin' smokin']

jeez phil, quit trying to be so damn healthy and your cheese wont dry out.

[willkat98]

Originally Posted by BBQchef33

cheese would have dried out more.

second pie was done in 45 mins.. but by adding the chees elater, i got the extra minute, the charred crust, and the cheese was dripping down the face. :)

I would have thought 45 minutes for a pizza would be too long.

Did you drop the temp down to 200*, or dial down the FEC?