I have taken the advice of others and got my own domain name. Check it out with this link.
I reposted the wood oven / pizza technology write up at my new site but will be adding more soon... as promised.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Cook Here and Now _ Wood Fired Oven Pizza Event _ 5 18 08
for the second time, Cook Here and Now (chn) and SFBI (San Francisco Baking Institute) teamed up and held a wood fired oven pizza dinner event at the institute. as always the event filled up fast as people signed up for making pizza, appetizers, salads, dessert or bringing wine or beer. with coolers in tow and bags filled with local produce, meats and cheeses about 45 people filed into the baking labs, set up station and began their prep.
the basic concept behind chn is that people come together, prepare food and then eat the food together. and what an amazing, simple concept it is. the food is hopefully local and in season, and the food always is quite flavorful. the uniqueness of this pizza event is that it pairs the preparation and making of food with fermentation... of the pizza dough... which is not always an easy thing to get a handle on.
depending on the fermentation (or lack there of) of the dough, it will have a direct affect on the quality of the crust. from the basic ingredients of flour, water, salt and yeast (i like to add a bit of olive oil to my dough), we can have many different styles of crust. thin and crisp. thick and chewy, tender, bubbly, etc. the balance of all of the ingredients will determine which of these characteristics are highlighted and the main ingredients which determine this are the water and the yeast.
when water comes in contact with flour, it hydrates the starch and the protein in the flour. the higher the protein level of the flour, the more water the dough can take. final dough viscosity is determined by the quantity of water in the dough. more water = softer dough, less water = stiffer dough. for pizza, some like a stiff dough, others like a softer one. stiffer doughs should be stretched out to thinner sheets. the resulting crust will have crisp characteristics and it should be baked very quickly. softer doughs can be thicker or thinner and their texture will be a bit chewier and there will be a more open crumb.
yeast is responsible for the fermentation activity of the dough. the type of yeast, the temperature of the dough and the temperature of the workroom all play a role in the activity of the dough. the two most common types of yeast for the home baker are fresh yeast, active dry yeast and instant yeast. all of them have their merits and special considerations:
fresh yeast: available at most grocery stores in the refrigerated section. this must remain refrigerated and it is only good for about two weeks after the date of production. it should have a creamy color and a pleasant, yeasty aroma. off colors and off aromas are a sign of old or improperly stored yeast and should not be used. to use, simply add it to the other ingredients of the dough. there is no need to mix it into the water first.
active dry yeast: this is surely the most widely available form of yeast at the grocery store and it requires special attention. due to the manufacturing process the small granules of yeast cells need to be hydrated before they can be added in with the other ingredients. the outer portion of the granule is essentially deactivated, or dead yeast. once this is softened from the warm water, the dormant yeast cells from the center of the granule are activated and are ready to ferment. note: if the water is too warm it can kill the yeast, if it is too cold, the outer later of the granules will not wash away. the use of this yeast gives a heightened yeasty flavors as well as greater extensibility of the dough (beneficial for pizza). the down side of this yeast is that all of the water should be used. yeast which was not stored properly or is over two years old may not come out of its dormant state. once the package is opened, it should remain refrigerated.
instant yeast: sometimes called rapid rise yeast, instant yeast has the benefit of being shelf stable without refrigeration and it can be added directly to the dough. because of advancements in the processing of yeast, the granule of yeast dissolves easily when hydrated with water at ambient room temperatures within the dough. once the package is opened, it should remain refrigerated. one precaution: never add the yeast directly to cold water or it will not dissolve.
the type and quantity of yeast will affect the rate of fermentation. if switching types of yeast, use the following conversion:
typically a 1 hour first fermentation is sufficient. next, the dough can be divided and preshaped into a loose ball shape. it is important to shape loosely because if too much strength is added to the dough, it will be difficult to roll out into a thin sheet. typically the dough rests for 20 minutes before shaping the pizza but it can rest for up to 18 hours under refrigeration (or in the freezer for up to one week with good results. the longer the dough has to rest, the easier it will be to work with. during resting times which extend beyond 20 minutes, the dough must be kept cold. this will retard, or slow down the yeast activity allowing there to be sufficient activity once the dough is ready to be used.
once the dough is rolled out, it is ready to be used. for a good pizza, the quality and quantity of the toppings is a make or break point. the quality and flavor or the vegetables, tomato products, meats and cheeses will clearly be evident. also, how much of and how the toppings are placed on the dough will affect how it cooks and tastes in the mouth. my preference is a bit of sauce, then the cheeses and then the veg and meats. cooking the pizza fast and hot roasts the veggies to perfection. if the cheese is over the veg... they sweat and release a lot of humidity.
the cooking of the pizza should be fast and hot. thankfully we had a 8' diameter hearth in a wood fired oven. for home cooks, a thick pizza stone (the larger the better) will do the trick. at the peak of the burn, the oven was over 1000 degrees f. too hot for pizza. once the fires turned to embers, the were spread over the hearth to evenly distribute heat, after an hour or so they were all pushed to the back of the oven and the surface of the brick was mopped to remove the ash. one participant was disgusted... though it was a floor mop and outwardly raged for a moment. no mam, it's an oven mop... surface temp after several mops: 800 degrees f. optimal temp: 650 - 700 with continual heat from the back portion of the oven. so we waited... had some wine and special lemonade.
i slid about 40 pizzas into the oven that night and pulled them out a bit with the peel, rotated them and finished cooking/baking them for seconds or minutes. the difference in the doughs and toppings was incredible. classic to contemporary. indian to italian. from stiff and thin doughs baking crisp to wetter doughs baking chewier. underfermented doughs taking forever to take color, non yeasted focaccia taking on the most amazing color and texture. there were about two or three pizzas left. simple, amazing and very memorable.
the basic concept behind chn is that people come together, prepare food and then eat the food together. and what an amazing, simple concept it is. the food is hopefully local and in season, and the food always is quite flavorful. the uniqueness of this pizza event is that it pairs the preparation and making of food with fermentation... of the pizza dough... which is not always an easy thing to get a handle on.
depending on the fermentation (or lack there of) of the dough, it will have a direct affect on the quality of the crust. from the basic ingredients of flour, water, salt and yeast (i like to add a bit of olive oil to my dough), we can have many different styles of crust. thin and crisp. thick and chewy, tender, bubbly, etc. the balance of all of the ingredients will determine which of these characteristics are highlighted and the main ingredients which determine this are the water and the yeast.
when water comes in contact with flour, it hydrates the starch and the protein in the flour. the higher the protein level of the flour, the more water the dough can take. final dough viscosity is determined by the quantity of water in the dough. more water = softer dough, less water = stiffer dough. for pizza, some like a stiff dough, others like a softer one. stiffer doughs should be stretched out to thinner sheets. the resulting crust will have crisp characteristics and it should be baked very quickly. softer doughs can be thicker or thinner and their texture will be a bit chewier and there will be a more open crumb.
yeast is responsible for the fermentation activity of the dough. the type of yeast, the temperature of the dough and the temperature of the workroom all play a role in the activity of the dough. the two most common types of yeast for the home baker are fresh yeast, active dry yeast and instant yeast. all of them have their merits and special considerations:
fresh yeast: available at most grocery stores in the refrigerated section. this must remain refrigerated and it is only good for about two weeks after the date of production. it should have a creamy color and a pleasant, yeasty aroma. off colors and off aromas are a sign of old or improperly stored yeast and should not be used. to use, simply add it to the other ingredients of the dough. there is no need to mix it into the water first.
active dry yeast: this is surely the most widely available form of yeast at the grocery store and it requires special attention. due to the manufacturing process the small granules of yeast cells need to be hydrated before they can be added in with the other ingredients. the outer portion of the granule is essentially deactivated, or dead yeast. once this is softened from the warm water, the dormant yeast cells from the center of the granule are activated and are ready to ferment. note: if the water is too warm it can kill the yeast, if it is too cold, the outer later of the granules will not wash away. the use of this yeast gives a heightened yeasty flavors as well as greater extensibility of the dough (beneficial for pizza). the down side of this yeast is that all of the water should be used. yeast which was not stored properly or is over two years old may not come out of its dormant state. once the package is opened, it should remain refrigerated.
instant yeast: sometimes called rapid rise yeast, instant yeast has the benefit of being shelf stable without refrigeration and it can be added directly to the dough. because of advancements in the processing of yeast, the granule of yeast dissolves easily when hydrated with water at ambient room temperatures within the dough. once the package is opened, it should remain refrigerated. one precaution: never add the yeast directly to cold water or it will not dissolve.
the type and quantity of yeast will affect the rate of fermentation. if switching types of yeast, use the following conversion:
- if using instant yeast instead of fresh yeast, use 40%
- if using active dry yeast instead of fresh yeast use 50%
typically a 1 hour first fermentation is sufficient. next, the dough can be divided and preshaped into a loose ball shape. it is important to shape loosely because if too much strength is added to the dough, it will be difficult to roll out into a thin sheet. typically the dough rests for 20 minutes before shaping the pizza but it can rest for up to 18 hours under refrigeration (or in the freezer for up to one week with good results. the longer the dough has to rest, the easier it will be to work with. during resting times which extend beyond 20 minutes, the dough must be kept cold. this will retard, or slow down the yeast activity allowing there to be sufficient activity once the dough is ready to be used.
once the dough is rolled out, it is ready to be used. for a good pizza, the quality and quantity of the toppings is a make or break point. the quality and flavor or the vegetables, tomato products, meats and cheeses will clearly be evident. also, how much of and how the toppings are placed on the dough will affect how it cooks and tastes in the mouth. my preference is a bit of sauce, then the cheeses and then the veg and meats. cooking the pizza fast and hot roasts the veggies to perfection. if the cheese is over the veg... they sweat and release a lot of humidity.
the cooking of the pizza should be fast and hot. thankfully we had a 8' diameter hearth in a wood fired oven. for home cooks, a thick pizza stone (the larger the better) will do the trick. at the peak of the burn, the oven was over 1000 degrees f. too hot for pizza. once the fires turned to embers, the were spread over the hearth to evenly distribute heat, after an hour or so they were all pushed to the back of the oven and the surface of the brick was mopped to remove the ash. one participant was disgusted... though it was a floor mop and outwardly raged for a moment. no mam, it's an oven mop... surface temp after several mops: 800 degrees f. optimal temp: 650 - 700 with continual heat from the back portion of the oven. so we waited... had some wine and special lemonade.
i slid about 40 pizzas into the oven that night and pulled them out a bit with the peel, rotated them and finished cooking/baking them for seconds or minutes. the difference in the doughs and toppings was incredible. classic to contemporary. indian to italian. from stiff and thin doughs baking crisp to wetter doughs baking chewier. underfermented doughs taking forever to take color, non yeasted focaccia taking on the most amazing color and texture. there were about two or three pizzas left. simple, amazing and very memorable.
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