Zeppoli to you.
Yeah. I have a metal peel. It works well enough to not buy a wood peel, but it definitely isnât as slippery as wood. Dough sticks to metal more than wood. Itâs actually a little bit of a pain in the ass to get it to slide off, even with cornmeal, but again, Iâm cheap, and I donât know how much better wood would be.
I have both wood and metal peels. I personally prefer metal for smaller pies because of the thinness. Wood is less sticky and the thickness is less of an issue for big pies.
Hmmm. That makes sense. My metal peel is large (well, at least I think it is). I could see a small, thinner peel being useful for smaller pizzas.
I have a metal peel and it works fine after using the advice of folks here and using semolina. I like that itâs so thin.
Iâm coming to love the wooden peel my girlfriendâs mother gave her. Itâs the first peel Iâve used, and I like how it works. Itâs such a gratifying kitchen tool. It just takes practice. And as @stusser says above, flour makes a world of difference.
Now I just have to find an easier way to make pizza dough. The stuff from the store is okay, but I kinda want to start making my own on a regular basis.
-xtien
Try buying dough from a pizzeria instead, or buy from the supermarket and let it cold ferment in your fridge for a week to improve the flavor and texture.
Iâve been getting the stuff from Trader Joeâs, which is pretty good, and pretty cheap. I had no idea about the cold ferment thing.
-xtien
Yep, just buy it a week early and leave it in the fridge, nothing more to it than that. When youâre going to cook it up, take it out and let it sit at room temp for an hour or two, then punch it down and go to town.
Thanks for the tip!
-xtien
Kitchenaid Mixer,.
I got one from my mom a long time ago, and never really used it for anything for years⊠but recently, as Iâve started making pizza, it has finally found a use. Makes making pizza dough pretty trivial.
I use this recipe, with various modifications due to my mood:
You just put the mixer bowl on a scale, and add the ingredients by weight, add the water last, then mix it in the mixer with the dough-hook attachment. Add flour while itâs going until it comes together off the walls into a ball, and youâre good to go with about 4 pizzaâs worth of dough.
Yeah, pizza dough is really simple to make if you have a stand mixer. And you can mix it and use it same day - though some recipes call for overnight in a fridge and such, there are others that just tell you to let it rise for an hour, then punch it down and use it.
You just made me very happy. It just so happens I have one of those. That my mom gave me, as well.
Thank you!
-xtien
You probably also have the dough hook, as I think itâs one of the attachments that comes standard.
I do. I just always spend about fifteen minutes looking for it because Iâm a total dork.
-xtien
Like Slyfrog says, if you use that recipe, you can let it rise in the bowl, then punch it down and cut it into 4 pieces.
After that, let it rise again and youâre good to make pizza⊠you can let it sit in the fridge for up to a few days before you use it too.
You can also put that dough into the freezer and then have dough balls that you can pull out and thaw whenever, which is generally what I do.
Sorta gadgetry related. Picked up one of these but itâs a bit too wide for the sides of the cabinets I had in mind.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IIXR2II
There is nearby wall space, but I want to put something else in that location instead. The side of the refrigerator, however, is very convenient. I found a magnetic clip clamp refrigerator magnet thatâs rated for up to 15lbs. but I suspect a full load of canned food items would exceed that limit pretty easily.
Only other fridge solution that I can think of is glue. Someone out there surely must have figured out a nifty way to hang heavy stuff on the sides of fridges?
You can make the dough and use it the same day, but try letting it sit in the fridge for a couple days to cold ferment and I think youâll agree itâs worth the extra trouble. This applies to bread also, by the way.
I generally make the dough, make a pizza that day, then make a pizza the next day or the day after, and freeze the other two balls.
This may have been covered, probably has I imagine, but do you folks use a pizza stone? Have you tried the cheap method of getting a non-glazed tile or paver as a pizza stone?
Iâve baked a few pizzas just using a regular old baking sheet and it seems to work fine. Doesnât always crisp up perfectly, but that might be because I didnât preheat it enough.
Anyway, interested in your thoughts.
-xtien
P.S. EDIT: Iâm also kind of interested in this cast-iron method I saw in this Bon Appetit video. I mentioned this guy in the cooking thread, and since I like his videos (they are really well produced), and I love my cast-iron skillet the mostest, Iâm intrigued.