New York Style Pizza - Attempt 1

I've been wanting to branch out and try my hand at making other kinds of pizza lately. My biggest problem is that I don't plan ahead well, and a lot of doughs take time to prepare. Not something you can come home from work and whip up. Now there's nothing wrong with buying store bought dough when in a pinch (or from a local place) or using a bread machine dough (I do both all the time), but there are other types of pizza I've been wanting to try, one of them being New York style. I decided to go with the recipe on the Serious Eats website for my first attempt.

I made the dough Tuesday after work so that it would have time for a cold fermenting in the fridge for 24 hours. Interestingly enough, their recipe calls for making the dough in a food processor.


Wednesday, I took the dough out of the fridge and allowed it to warm up for two hours in the oven with the light on. Dough was a little stickier to work with at first than what i've been used to, but with a bit of flour it became easier. Kept the sauce light, went with fresh grated mozz, a bit of Asiago, some parm-regg and just a sprinkle of cheddar and then topped it with pepperoni.


The recipe had it going for 12-15 minutes at 500F. This is about halfway through. I didn't like how the crust was coming along, so I brushed it with some olive oil with some garlic powder mixed in.


After 15 minutes, I went ahead and pulled the pie. Wasn't quite happy with the top, but was afraid the bottom was going to get burned, so I brought it inside and popped it under the broiler for a minute of two.


Bottom


Required side view of the crust


And how the crust came out for Serious Eats


Wasn't quite what I was expecting, but getting closer. And some of that is my fault. I didn't read the recipe carefully and when I went to make the dough Tuesday I saw that it called for bread flour. All I had was AP flour. That probably made the most difference.

Second, at this I'm not sure on, the recipe calls for Instant Yeast. What I had was Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast. I really don't know if they are the same, but I looked in the store and nothing said Instant Yeast. So I don't know if that was a factor.

Third, the recipe says it will make 3 12-14" pies. I generally make my pies in the 12" range (as that's how big my pizza pan is which I carry it out to the Egg on). I thought the dough was a little bit on the thick side when I stretched it out to 12". Maybe if I had stretched it out more so that it was thinner, but then would it have fit on the Egg? I think I'm gonna cut some of the dough out of the next ball and try and get it thinner.

I still have two dough balls to play with, so I think I'm gonna experiment and see how a 3 day fermenting process works out (and a 5 day after that). I think I'm on the right track and next time for sure I'm going to make sure to use bread flour. Half the fun in making pizzas is trying over and over again to get that perfect one, right?

Looks like you're off to a good start. Maybe the first attempt didn't turn out exactly how you wanted but it still looks good!

Thanks. yeah, not quite where I wanted it, but I'm excited about the leftovers for lunch.

Irresistible! I do like the looks of your pizza, Griffin, especially noting the big air holes in the crust.

For whatever good, if any, instant yeast does not need to be activated in warm water before use. It can be mixed in directly with the dry ingredients. It is also generally the go to yeast of artisan bakers. I luv it, especially the SAF brand. You can get a whole pound of the stuff real cheap and it will last forever. Just keep it well sealed in the freezer. I find it far superior and a whole lot cheaper than Fleischman's. Here's a pic:



Also the "Better for Bread" flour is fantastic for making a crust that is more like a French bread texture than a cake-like one. The drawback is that it makes the dough extra elastic so that it tends to make like a rubber band, snapping back, everytime you try to stretch it out. And then there's the quick bread option-- a yeastless bread that uses baking powder for its rise instead.

What I really appreciate, and for a minimum amount of work is to stretch the dough out immediately after finished kneading. You could even sauce and top it then. And if you like, just let it set covered in your fridge till you want it. Pull it out to rise to the point you want it, then bake or cue.

Looks terrific, Griffin! Been waaay too long since I had pizza on the egg. Taking a break tonight and waiting for Chinese takeout right now.

Looking good Griffin. I jusy tried NY style myself and used this dough calculator. Best dough I made yet.
I just ordered caputo flour and central milling 00 flour can't wait to try them out.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/dough_calculator.html

Great looking pizza Griffin!!
I’ve always though NY pizza had a thinner crust. Not sure if you ever watched the debate about Chicago style pizza vs. NY pizza on the Travel channel. They rave about how thin the crust is in NY.
Regardless what’s it’s called, your pizza looks great.
I have read somewhere a while back that if you want a thin pizza crust, then you should use cold dough straight out of the frig. And if you want it to rise a little more, then the dough should be at room temp. I’ve tried that a couple of times and it worked for me.

beercuer,
That’s the same type and brand of yeast that I use and agree with you it is excellent.

I agree: great-looking pizza cat Griffin! You may not have been entirely happy with it but it looks real good.

Z, around here there is quite a bit of New York style pizza or is it sometimes called Brooklyn style pizza and it has a crust that's about twice as thick as normal pizza crusts. Griffin's pizza certainly fits the bill.

I've been using SAF instant yeast for about five years now. What sold me on it is they were using it in baking classes at the King Arthur Flour Company cooking school. They said that all of their bakers use it and they sell it in their brick-and-mortar and online stores.

Jim

Nice start. I myself have been on the quest to make the perfect NY Style pizza at home. After living in NY and CT for 31 years I move to Seattle and there is only a few good pizza joints so I started making my own and it is really fun. I would suggest if you have not already to join pizzamaking.com as they have tons of great info.

Dont give up!

It looks really good Griffin. Nice job.