First attempt @ home made pizza!!!

[bfunk13]

This is my first attempt at home made pizza.
The town i live in has Pizza Hut and Dominoes, no "real" pizza till now. LOL

I bought a pizza stone and it works great, the crust bakes up like brick oven NY style.
I made the dough from scratch and will not change a thing. It was great. Although the hand tossing is tougher than it looks.
I made enough dough for 3 pizzas, so tomorrow i will try to perfect it. I think i will try a pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, black olive tomorrow.

Mamma Mia!

 

[hossthehermit]

Looks great, except you forgot the onions

 

[fishingpol]

Looks mighty fine. Here is one of the ones I made on the Weber grill this past summer. Barbecue chicken with onions, my favorite. Small oak chunks on the far side of the grill provided 500*.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

They both look yummy!!
Fishingpol.....Blue Moon eh??? Nice choice... ;-)

 

[fishingpol]

Yeah, they're my back up when the Sam's run dry. I do miss the summer.

 

[lukem]

Looks mighty fine. Here is one of the ones I made on the Weber grill this past summer. Barbecue chicken with onions, my favorite. Small oak chunks on the far side of the grill provided 500*.

Pizza on the grill is the BEST! Nice job.

 

[PapaDave]

bfunk13, so was this done in your stove, or in your insert?
Looks extremely edible. I have yet to get my crust just right, not sure what I'm doing wrong. I can bake a really nice loaf of bread, but the pizza dough doesn't rise enough for my taste (I've only made 2).
I'm a pizzaholic. :coolsmile:

 

[muncybob]

almost 9 am and I'm jonesing for a pizza!

 

[bfunk13]

bfunk13, so was this done in your stove, or in your insert?
Looks extremely edible. I have yet to get my crust just right, not sure what I'm doing wrong. I can bake a really nice loaf of bread, but the pizza dough doesn't rise enough for my taste (I've only made 2).
I'm a pizzaholic. :coolsmile:

Are you using a pizza stone?
The recipe i used calls for letting dough rise for over an hour.
Most NY style dough recipes looked about the same, maybe check that out.

 

[mayhem]

I've made scrath pizza before...came ot ok but nothing to write home about.

Bought a pizza stone and it was the worst thing I could imagine to cook anything on. I had to throw away the pizza and the stone because they became permanently bonded while cooking. Since people use these things to cook on, I logically inferred that it was pilot error and I screwed something up bigtime, but I never figred out what it was.

Since my wife and daughter are gluten free and I buy special GF pizza crusts for them, I now just get myself Digiorno frozen pizza. Its about as good as I've been able to find for frozen, but its not exactly fantastic.

 

[bfunk13]

I've made scrath pizza before...came ot ok but nothing to write home about.

Bought a pizza stone and it was the worst thing I could imagine to cook anything on. I had to throw away the pizza and the stone because they became permanently bonded while cooking. Since people use these things to cook on, I logically inferred that it was pilot error and I screwed something up bigtime, but I never figred out what it was.

Since my wife and daughter are gluten free and I buy special GF pizza crusts for them, I now just get myself Digiorno frozen pizza. Its about as good as I've been able to find for frozen, but its not exactly fantastic.

I am new to this, but did you preheat the stone along with the oven?
From what i have read, the stone should be preheated to as high as your oven will go. 500 or so before putting pizza on top.
I luckily had no sticking. I did dust the bottom of the dough with flour and cornmeal.

 

[mayhem]

It was so long ago that I don't recall if I did. I'm usually a directions guy...try a product out as recommended by the manufacturer and then see how bad I can screw it up on my own. For some reason I just had a bad experience, but I know its atypical.

That first pic at the top inspired me though and I ran out for a couple slices at lunch, so thanks!

 

[bfunk13]

Here is attempt #2.
Awesome flavor, pepperoni, onion, mushroom, whole sliced tomato. Topped with some basil and grated parmesan.
The crust is perfect, if i could only make a circle.

 

[firefighterjake]

The wife and I whip up our own pizza all the time . . . although we usually cheat and just buy a whole grain pizza dough from the Shop N' Save . . . and we use a metal pan with holes in it . . . I can never get the dough to be a perfect circle . . . my wife can . . . and can even get it to stretch enough to make a stuffed crust pizza . . . one day I should try cooking one in the woodstove.

 

[bfunk13]

Lookin' good Fishingpol, i will have to try that one.

 

[fishingpol]

Your right on the nail with a pizza stone. Pre heat to 500*, some corn meal and you are good to go. A local wood-fired pizza restaurant gave me the idea fo rbbq chicken pizza. They use goat cheese clumps on theirs, not for me though. They make a carmelized onion, mushroom and sausage pizza that rocks too.

Here is their menu for ideas.

http://www.kruegerflatbread.com/index.php?link=menu

 

[pen]

Looks great funk! I prefer thin pizza done on a hot stone, but the wife and kids prefer I make Sicilian.

Here's one from this summer on the grill. No extra toppings, just scratch crust and sauce.

Can't have a better food to experiment with.

pen

 

[bfunk13]

Thanks for the menu, very interesting.
You are right Pen, no better food to experiment with. And good looking pie.
I like the idea of making enough dough for 3-4 pizzas and freezing or using throughout the week.

 

[PapaDave]

No stone, bfunk13. I use the cookie sheet like pen. Not preheated. Maybe that's my problem.
No peel to transfer either. I need more gear.

 

[pen]

No stone, bfunk13. I use the cookie sheet like pen. Not preheated. Maybe that's my problem.
No peel to transfer either. I need more gear.

that cookie sheet I have in the picture is stone.

W/ sicilian pizza, you wouldn't want to preheat it as your crust would burn before the dough cooked through.

I do preheat my round stones if I am making thin crust.

Here's a good read on Pizza from Alton Brown

Never tried this recipe but it has great reviews and I enjoyed the episode on TV.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pizza-pizzas-recipe4/index.html

pen

 

[PapaDave]

Thanks pen. Pics can be deceiving, eh?

 

[bfunk13]

I have made 5-6 pizzas now.
The last one was by far the best. I would say restaurant quality.
My neighbor jokingly called the other night to order a pizza. He was surprised when i brought one over about 45 minutes later.
It was really good with the cooler full of beer he always has on hand.
I think i finally got my crust just about perfect. This beats pizza hut and dominoes any day.

Here is last nights pie.

 

[bfunk13]

No stone, bfunk13. I use the cookie sheet like pen. Not preheated. Maybe that's my problem.
No peel to transfer either. I need more gear.

Yeah, the stone makes all the difference.
I have read that unglazed quarry tiles can be used as a pizza stone and are about .60 a piece.
I think my stone was $25 and the peel is a cheap wooden one that does the job @ $10.

The dough is really easy and makes enough for 3 pizzas.

 

[Gasifier]

Alright. Enough already. Now I am hungry and it is all your fault! Going to put a pizza in the oven for lunch right now. I make home made pizza as well. But I have to admit most of the time I find it awfully convenient to just buy the crust at the local grocery store. The deli there sells their own pizza, and will sell you two large rectangular crust for $4. Hard to beat it for time saving. Crust taste good too. Hard to really say it is homemade when you don't make the crust though. All I care about is how it taste. I eat pizza three times a week. Love it.

 

[bfunk13]

Alright. Enough already. Now I am hungry and it is all your fault! Going to put a pizza in the oven for lunch right now. I make home made pizza as well. But I have to admit most of the time I find it awfully convenient to just buy the crust at the local grocery store. The deli there sells their own pizza, and will sell you two large rectangular crust for $4. Hard to beat it for time saving. Crust taste good too. Hard to really say it is homemade when you don't make the crust though. All I care about is how it taste. I eat pizza three times a week. Love it.

I hear ya, i am a pizzaholic. But like i said we don't have any real pizza places in this town.
I should try the pre made dough from our deli. I don't mind making the dough as the wife follows me around cleaning up after me.