Wow that's going back a bit! There are several pizzarias here with wood-fired ovens now. Unfortunately a good one just went under, such is life in the restaurant business.
Allan Craig via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> writes: > I mentioned recently about us talking about pizzas; well today I found > the original email. It's attached below. > > > Craig > > > Begin forwarded message: > > Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:58:43 -0500 > From: Allan Streib <str...@cs.indiana.edu> > To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Subject: Re: [MBZ] pizza oven talk > > > Conveyor ovens are awful. They do produce a consistent quality pie > without the need for any real skill on the part of the operator, which > is why the chain pizzarias use them. Unfortunately for the consumer, > however, the consistent quality they achieve is not excellent or even > good, but medocre. > > In college I worked at a Domino's franchise. Not world class pizza > maybe, but at the time really not bad. Back then they used deck ovens, > which were later replaced by conveyors. The pizza took a noticable turn > for the worse at that point. Same dough, sauce, cheese and toppings; > the only difference was the ovens. > > The deck ovens could turn out a really nice crust, nicely browned and > crispy on the surface but moist, airy and flavorful on the inside, > cheese carmelized on the surface but melted and stringy underneath, the > tastes of the toppings individually discernable. The conveyor ovens, > with the same ingredients going in, turned out a tough cardboard-like > crust that had no crunch, with the cheese and all the toppings hardened > into a tasteless, dehydrated layer on the surface. > > All the chain pizzarias here, as well as most of the independents, use > conveyor ovens now. Some do better than others, but the best pizza we > have is found at one or two independents that still use deck ovens. > > Our deck ovens at Domino's were electric, and ran at about 580 degrees > F. A coal-fired brick oven could approach 1,000 degrees. Intense > radiant heat is the key to a great pizza. Baking at these temperatures > requires experience and attention. The difference between an underbaked > and a burnt pizza can literally be a matter of seconds. > > Aside from the oven, another critical element of a good pizza crust is > the flour. You need to use a high protein flour, which you cannot buy > at the typical supermarket. So-called "bread flour" is better than > all-purpose, but still not ideal. The best I've tried is "Sir Lancelot" > high-gluten flour from the King Arthur flour company. You can order it > on-line. With this flour, you really have to work the dough to develop > the gluten, so it's best to use an electric mixer such as a Kitchen-Aid. > > For anyone interested, I can enthusiastically recommend a book on the > topic, "American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza" by Peter > Reinhart. The first half is sort of a diary or narrative of his "hunt", > starting in Italy then moving to New York and across the USA, sampling > and comparing locally famous pizzarias. The second half is a collection > of recipes and instructions for how to make a decent pizza at home from > scratch. The author's love for his subject is obvious throughout. > > Allan > -- > 1983 300D > > _______________________________________ _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
