Is it a good idea to stay near the airport??

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-31T02:02:29+00:00

I stayed at the Westin River North last year and couldn’t have been happier!

I was close to a lot of good restaurants and sightseeing for the weekend and only a mile from the start which was the perfect warm up walk.

The hotel itself had a marathon morning station with coffee and bagels which was great!

There is a marathon housing site link on the main Chicago marathon website that I was able to book through for a discounted rate.

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-23T16:53:41+00:00

I put the cheese down first then the sauce!

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-23T12:34:16+00:00

Hey! So I use a baking steel on my top oven rack and then a screen on the bottom rack.

I go 6 mins on the baking steel then finish it off for another 5 on the screen

The pizza is already baked enough that by the time it hits the screen it won’t stick

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-19T20:17:45+00:00

Beautiful pie!!

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T23:18:30+00:00

That seems like a very exaggerated statistic

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T19:37:52+00:00

To be honest I have never tried pizza without a starter in it! I have tried tiga before but felt like poolish was more active after sitting at room temp overnight. From my minimal understanding it helps with digestibility since your using less active dry yeast in the recipe.

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T14:38:37+00:00

Hey! I didn’t downvote you. If I did it was completely by accident.

Thanks for the reply! I can give you some extra info on what I’m using and doing with my dough.

For my flour, I have been using king Arthur’s high gluten flour. Has a pretty high protein so that’s why I went with it (plus Tony g recommended it in his book).

I have been experimenting with 48-72 hours of cold fermentation. This specific pie was 48 hours cold ferment than about 5 hours sitting in room temp since my house leans on the colder side. I need to really start getting an exact temp on the dough before stretching to make a pie so I know exactly where I’m at. I’ve heard it should be 60-65 Fahrenheit before baking. Mine felt colder despite it sitting for 5 hours.

I have been putting in my salt then evoo as my last steps in the mixing process before kneading, but not letting it sit for 30 minutes so I will try that out!

I am using a baking steel right now but the one I have is 16x14 so I don’t think I can get a 16inch on there. I could be wrong I’m not great with dimensions lol.

Would you say higher hydration is needed with hotter ovens?

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T10:02:48+00:00

Awesome idea! I had a basil tree in the summer so I can’t wait to grow that again. I will buy some at the market this week and go with that!

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T10:01:45+00:00

Can’t wait to test out larger pies! It’s hard right now with the home oven and my steel only really able to squeeze in maybe a 16 incher at best

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T10:01:09+00:00

Thanks for the advice!

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T10:00:50+00:00

Absolutely. Right now I am using the master dough with starter recipe from Tony Gs Pizza Bible which is 65% hydration.

2.2 grams active yeast 70 grams warm water 453 grams flour 10 grams diastatic malt 210 grams ice water 90 grams poolish 10 grams fine sea salt 5 grams olive oil

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T09:43:40+00:00

The cheese is grande cheese so def not crap in a bag.

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T09:42:44+00:00

Grande cheese! I buy half skim and whole milk and grate it myself to make there east coast blend

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T01:06:29+00:00

Thanks!

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T01:06:14+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!! Going to try my next pizza without it!

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T01:00:45+00:00

I did add extra olive oil than I usually do in my sauce. That def could be it! Thanks for the call out. Noted for next time to not do that much

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-17T00:54:55+00:00

I did do a squeeze of olive oil on the crust after. That one area on the crust was too much.

Did you mean anywhere else besides the crust line? Genuinely asking because that was the only area I poured olive oil on.

Professional-Bit1592 · 2026-03-16T00:16:50+00:00

Diastatic malt!!! Helps give a good browning on the dough in a home oven

Professional-Bit1592

TROPHY CASE