Pizza Skunk Works

March 24th, 2010

Show Your Pass at the Gate

Tomorrow is shaping up to be an exciting day, by my standards.

I have doubts about the Bouncer flour I’ve been using to make pizza at church, so I put a couple of pounds in a bag, and I’m going to make test pies tomorrow. I also took a pound of Sorrento cheese and a pound of Arrezzio cheese, which is distributed by Sysco.

We had toppings that were not going to make it to Sunday, so I took some of those, too. I had to chuck a lot of sauce due to age considerations, so I stuck some in a bag, and it’s in my fridge. This stuff will be fine tomorrow and Friday, but by Sunday, it would be too risky to use it.

I have to see if either cheese compares to Kirkland, and I also plan to do a sauce experiment. If it works, I should end up with the tastiest pizza sauce imaginable. Mike was jealous when I described it to him. I have a secret ingredient.

Pizza hobbyists have been needling me because I make dough in an hour, instead of letting it ferment for days. In the past, when I’ve tried leaving dough in the fridge overnight, it has been a little better than usual (I think), but not enough to justify the aggravation. And who can plan pizza a day in advance? That’s insane. Meatloaf, you can plan a day in advance. Because you don’t care if you ever see it on the table. But pizza is too good to put off.

I’m going to slap some dough together today with less yeast than usual, and I’ll let it rise for a day. We’ll see what happens.

I know sourdough would be worth the wait, but plain old yeast?

Pizza nuts talk about “poolishes” and “preferments.” I’d be pretty excited about those things, if I were not already making the best pizza I know of.

Mike may be here on Saturday. If so, Sunday will be interesting. I’ve threatened to turn him loose in the church kitchen, making garlic rolls. Should be a blast. I was hoping he’d be here early enough on Saturday to help me make test pies, but maybe we can do that on Monday.

I have to hit the store to get my secret ingredient. In fact, I need to get two versions of it. Hope it works.

Comments are closed.