/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>10091217
Very unusual, but those olives look like my favorite kind.

>>10091226
The goal isn't that basic. First, a pizza must taste good, second it should look good - round or otherwise. Take your hate elsewhere, swine.

>>10091164
Sorry to say I don't know what Brexit means, but eh, I'd still have a sit down with you and crunch/chew on a slice of your pizza.

>>10091161
Oh nice, thats a fine blend of tomato, heh. Your crust really looks nice.

>>10091126
I'll take a corner slice of this, heh. Love the shrooms. The bread could do with a bit more toasting though.

>>10090706
I didn't notice this one before. Nice technique, but I think you could do with some more care with the cheese. It is more work, but its good to squish the fresh mozzarella in your fingers to distribute it equally. I do like your crust result though. Sauce looks kinda boring though. Was it just straight from the can, or did you blend it that fine?

>>10090760
Looks close to great, but I think you burnt it a bit too much. I'll bet you've made some amazing ones though. Fuck Year! PIZZUH.

>>10090763
Doing pretty good and happy. Thats what matters most, huh. Life is good. Food is good.

>>10089223
Is that cilantro? No complaints... my Mexican wife makes lasagna in a way that I somehow feel compelled to top it off heavily with fresh cilantro. haha.

I've been away for a looong time from the internet and this board. I moved out of my apartment and into a house... doing the family thing. This is the first, and only thus far, pizza I've made in the new house, a few weeks ago. Just got internet here today too. Also a totally different oven and heating method. My old oven was electric, this one is gas. LOVING the gas stove top for sure, but was a bit scared of the gas oven since I hate change/adapting to new /everything/ with my pizza method. Yet... Under crust was perfect with a nice crunch layer and inner soft bread. Gas rocks both on stovetop and in oven. This was baked on an Emile Henry pizza stone. Its good to be back on /ck/.

>>10089169
This looks super tasty.

OP, I think you could have got a better result if you used your oven differently. Looks a bit burnt for the toppings, yet not enough time for the cheese and bread. I'd still eat it, but I think it could be improved upon. You need the oven hotter before you put the raw pizza in, and don't use the upper coils (assuming you used electric) unless to finish off / toast the top in the last minute or so. Still looks like potential, but is a bit burnt.

>>6220480
You DID tell him that, though.

>>6217768
You are bad at photoshop and no one likes you.

>>6217537
I quoted the wrong post...

Dude, I'm pretty damned drukn

>>6217519
What do you presume I am tying together...?

I wouldn't have even posted a pic if I hadn't been asked to, and when I was asked to I decided to use my trip that I put on my past posts with my food pics. Didn't think it would cause a problem at all. It's been a long time since I posted with the trip, a very long time indeed. Only use it when I post OC food pics, and it's almost never. Sounds like you got some problems within You, man. Holy shit, hah.

>>6217493
Umm, I guess because I made it back when the /ck/ challenges were going on, and I saw it to be an ok idea to use a trip when posting an entirely OC image thereafter. Probably wrong. Outdated. Asshole? Meh. I don't fucking know why, really. Hah. Fuggit.

>>6216852
Well, alright. But when I post original photos, I tend to use this trip, and only in such cases, so please no one flip out over it now.

My pizza pic from tonight.

>>5963663
>limp and gushy

It was neither. Bite was firm. I am quite simple though, yes. Problem?

Made this a couple of years ago. Posted it here once before. Still haven't really topped it, as far as pasta goes. Made the pasta from scratch. Semolina dough, rolled out with a pin. Sliced with this thing I found that has 6 thin wheels on it for doing just that. And the pesto, I made it in a mortar. Basil, pine nuts, etc. Was GOOD.

Homemade pizza thread? I'm in. But I'm not 100% happy with tonight's result. Mainly because I bought "low fat" pepperoni, which I did not anticipate would burn so easily. I had to choose between letting them burn more or leaving it in longer to let the cheese brown more to my liking. I didn't want black pepperoni so I took it out. Lesson learned - use regular pepperoni or none at all. My bread turned out good though. Crisp bite exterior, chewy interior.

It's better than it looks.

OP, did you use your skillet like a stone? I mean did you have the skillet in the oven to get hot before you put the pizza on it? I've used a stone before but just prefer my thick metal pan after all. My result is pretty consistent and favorable to me, so I stick with the thick pan, no "preheat" of the surface, and no stone.

>>5625509
I suppose you recommend microwaves for heat?

hmm.

4-of-4

You don't need a cooking time length, you need to know that it will be in there about 10 minutes and then you need to watch it after that point. It is done when the cheese is bubbling up with brown spots, assuming you are using the same cheese as I do.. at room temp. If not, it is done when your crust is just about browning... Assuming you put the oil on there like I do. many, many factors to consider here, friends. Many of these will be up to your own preferences. I've done the pizza stone thing, it's great, but I still like my result that I am accustomed to with my thick metal pan. I'm in the works for a planning of somehow building or having a wood-fired, brick oven built here at my place. If I manage to get that worked out, my entire current routine will vanish instantly, but it will be a fun change, hey?

...There you have it. That's what I do. Open to criticism and suggestions, even after all this time of doing it "my way".

3-of-4

At this point, if you want to sprinkle something like corn meal or Parmesan on your oiled crust, do so. I've done one, the other and sometimes both. You should have all your toppings ready, and depending on how you want them to turn out, they should either be cold or room temp, accordingly. I use Bel Gioioso Fresh Mozzarella because I found it to work the best with my cooking temp and my preferences for cheese. I buy the ball, pic related. I have it at room temp. This size of pizza and the amount you saw in my photo earlier calls for about 80% of that 8 Oz ball. I cut it into chunks. I keep my sauce at room temp. (I cook it briefly and let it rest before everything comes together. I guess I need to do the sauce recipe next). Basically if you want your toppings well done, keep them room temp, if you want them less cooked, keep them in the fridge until you assemble the pizza. The cheese will get more browning if at room temp. But your oven is not the same as mine, so this will vary and I can't comment much on that factor. Mine is a regular, non-convection, 550f max temp oven, cheap-o Kenmore oven. Assemble your pizza with sauce and toppings. I like to sprinkle dry oregano both before and after baking. Love that aroma it puts in the air and also like it to be refreshed a bit by adding it onto the hot pizza after it's out of the oven. Anyway, the oven should be heated to your max temp, and as I said, mine is 550f.

2-of-4

Get your bowl of dough and slide a rubber spatula down all around the inside of the bowl, tucking the dough in a bit, but really it's to break it loose from the bowl. This is also part of why I get such a round shape with no effort. Flip the bowl over and drop the dough onto the surface. Drop some of the flour & cornmeal ontop of that wet, now upturned side of the dough. Not a lot, but pat it on all around. Press it down. At this point I use a rolling pin strategically to achieve a uniformly round disc shape. Pretty thin. Once it's about the size of my 12.5" pizza pan (thick metal) I then rub a very thin layer of olive oil onto my pan and sprinkle a layer of cornmeal onto that oil. You can either try to lift that dough up and lay it into/onto the pan or ...well my "surface" is a large plastic board which I lay the pan over the rolled out dough, pick up everything together and flip it, resulting in the dough disc now laying perfectly in the pan after the big flip. But do what you can with what you have. Once it's in the pan, I run a line of olive oil around the outer edge that will become the crust. I spread it in with a spoon. Oh, I often just put a thin layer of oil down all over the top of the dough because I find it can lock out the water from the tomato sauce, which mostly just matters depending on how watery your sauce is. I think no one bothers with this so it probably doesn't matter as much as I have been assuming.

>>5623651
>>5623306

Ok, here's my usual dough routine:

1-of-4

First I turn my tap to warm. I fill my Pyrex measuring glass full of hot water because it's thick, cold glass that will make small amounts of warm water cold. When the glass is warm, I dump the water out and then fill about 130-150 ml of water back in with a little less than a tsp. of cane sugar stirred in. When the sugar is dissolved, add 1 tsp. of highly active yeast. It will take a few minutes to activate so in the meantime put about a cup of bread flour (I use King Arthur, unbleached). Add 1/2 tsp of salt and stir in. Add in the foamy yeast sugar water along with 2 tsp. of olive oil. I like to do most of the work in a bowl with a wood spatula. You will be adding flour gradually until your dough is very thick but still wet. Some people say don't overwork it, then they go and knead it for 10 minutes.. I don't know, but I work the hell out of it in the bowl so I only require about a minute on the board to finish up, no sticky mess ever. Typical fold and press kneading. Very smooth ball result. Pour some olive oil in the palm of your hand and get it all over the ball. Put back in the mixing bowl and cover with a wet cloth, or plastic wrap, or anything that will prevent drying BUT also allow somewhere for air to escape or expand. (You guys know all this though, right? Oh well, covering every angle here for my method). Let that rest in a warm place to double in size. In winter, I put it near a heater or put it in an oven that is like 130-150f and gradually dropping. In summer, just put it in a warm place of the house or something. Once it doubles, you can put some flour and cornmeal down on your work surface...

I haven't had dinner yet, but I was happy with what I did for lunch.

Went pier fishing last Saturday. Mostly caught whiting. Was lazy and just baked the whole haul in one go a few days later, with lemon pepper. So with the abundant leftovers, I decided to make fish tacos today and an experimental avocado sauce, then lettuce and tomato. It's 1 avocado, juice from 1/2 a lime, handful of cilantro, another of fresh dill, and another of green onion, tsp. of cayenne powder, freshly cracked pepper and salt. Pureed while adding liquid until reaching desired consistency. It's the kind of condiment you spoon on before each bite.

I don't know if this means I'm getting back into cooking and food photos again, but this was nice.

Here's the photo. (trips for OC).

My attempt from last night at recreating the pizza I had in a bakery a few months ago. Experimenting with pizza methods again.

>If anyone is interested in details:

Things for the pictured one which I have altered from my norm: Less water (and therefore less flour). It was around 110ml of water in the past, now reduced to 80ml, same diameter achieved by rolling out thinner, past thickness achieved through longer proofing after rolling, whole canned tomatoes crushed, strained out most water and didn't cook them in a pot or any time between going from can to oven, no mozzarella but a little bit of parmesan, and finally - a pizza stone.

I don't have a peel, so I placed the pan on the hot stone. Perhaps not as effective, but it has made a difference compared to no stone. The dried herb is oregano. I really enjoyed this pizza, but it wasn't quite as good as the bakery. I'm sure they have very great ovens and skills. I plan to repeat this method with further tweaks. If anyone has tips for stewing tomatoes like they do for canning, I'm interested. I'm obviously not against canned products but I really do enjoy doing some of these things myself. Are canned tomatoes more tangy because of the metal can or what? I love that tangy taste and haven't ever quite achieved it with cooking fresh tomatoes. That said, I often do tend to cook the hell out of my tomato sauce, and that might be the reason for loss of that presence.

I guess that's about it. Sorry for the heavy depth blur (and -another- pizza thread). It was like 3AM and this was the only snap I bothered to take because I just wanted to eat. If any of you have made a pizza recently, I'd like to see it and check out your details about it.