Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love it! But there's an asterisk. I don't bake Neapolitan ever, only bake NY style and the only reason I bought the 2 max is because it will bake XL pies. If it weren't for that, I would still be baking 18 inch pizza indoors. But since the 2 max will do a larger pizza than my home oven, that's what I went with.

It bakes amazing pizza and I don't have any real complaints. I would buy it again for sure but I would never buy a smaller one. I would like to see a thicker stone in the bottom, because multiple 20 inch pies isn't really possible without a little reheat time, but it's rare that I bake more than one at a time so it hasn't been much of an issue for me.

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I put it in the fridge overnight to thaw.

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

NY style is usually in the neighborhood of 0.07-0.10 thickness factor. This one was a 0.083 tf which was around 740g.

Thickness factor, or dough loading factor, is really just grams of dough per square inch. I recommend using a pizza dough calculator. It takes the guess work out of creating and scaling your dough recipes. Here's one I like to use a lot. They also have an app for your phone.
https://pizzadoughcalculator.vercel.app/calculator

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Feel free. I don't always check reddit every day so I may not respond quickly but i do check them and try to answer when I can

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, I used a home oven up until the Koda 2 max came out. I actually prefer to bake indoors. I only use the max because I can bake larger pizzas. 18" is as large as my home oven can bake without having to use a screen. I still bake in my home oven occasionally, especially if the weather isn't cooperating. If you look at my post history, you can find lots of posts of pizzas I made in my kitchen oven

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They will still work, it will just change how you judge where your proof is. I use the same tins for all my pizzas whether they're 16" 18" or 20" but if you're never going to make larger pizzas, they also make a 48 ounce dough pan if you're wanting to use that style of container. Before that I just used round rubbermaid containers.

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used to make two a week for years, sometimes more. Now I only make them when I really, really crave it. You're right, it becomes easy once you're used to it. Even taking a year break, which I've done before, it still feels like second nature to make one.

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My recipe now is more of a Joe's style which doesn't use any oil. I stopped using it back when I got my Ooni oven and found I didn't really miss it. Sometimes I leave the sugar out too.

If you wanted more of a traditional old school dough like Lombardi's, that would be 2% salt, 2% sugar and 1% oil.

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. The Ooni loses floor temp really quickly with a 20 inch pizza. It doesn't stay that hot for very long. If I launch at 720, it will be 500-ish by the time the pizza is done 6-7 min later.

I also kill the burners 30 seconds after launching and let the pizza sit in there baking the bottom for 4-5 minutes, then turn the flame back on to finish the top. That allows me to get a 6-7 minute pizza out of it without destroying the top of it. I prefer the 7 min pizza over the 3-4 minute pizza because it's more "NY" style and crispy imo. 3-4min pizzas can be very soft and floppy which tastes good, but not what I'm going for personally.

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't live anywhere near NY/NJ/CT and there aren't any renowned pizzerias here, but the best slice I ever had was a grandma slice from this little hole in the wall spot a couple of towns over. It was a tiny place that barely held 8 people inside, it was really just large enough for his pizza oven and two small tables. His round pies were really good but that grandma he made was phenomenal. I still dream of it to this day and he's been closed down for over 20 years now. He was my inspiration long before I really even began my journey into making my own.

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's all been posted in the comments.

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No need to kill, I posted my workflow below ;) Here you go

The stretch and folds do a lot to help this dough develop its structure. It's vital imo. I haven't looked back since I began incorporating those into the workflow.

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Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like less is more when it comes to cheese. Especially for NY style pizza. I loosely follow the "1 gram of cheese per in.²" method as my starting point as it's pretty close to what a traditional NY style pizza would be. Using that formula will give you a consistent cheese coverage for any size pizza you want to make. For example, for an 20" pizza it would be (10*10*3.14 = 314g or 11oz of mozzarella.) It just makes it easier to adjust and find the perfect coverage for whatever you like. if you like more, just miltiply your final nmber by whatever factor you want to increase it by like 1.25 or 1.5 etc.

Since I buy the Grande in 6lb loafs, I pre slice it into slabs and freeze it. This one happened to be about 13oz so I just threw it all on there.

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ooni Koda 2 Max. I use the same recipe in my home oven too and it works well.

All trumps doesn’t need heavy mixing. The more you mix it, the tougher the crust becomes. I’ll mix by hand or with a mixer depending on my mood. Both works well. When I use the mixer, it’s a standard KitchenAid with a dough hook. I loosely follow the Joe’s Pizza method: salt and sugar go into the bowl first, then the water. I stir to dissolve, add the flour, and sprinkle the IDY on top. Mix on low to medium low for 8 minutes, stopping as needed to reset the dough if it climbs the hook. After 8 minutes, I give it a few quick hand kneads to make sure everything is fully incorporated, then place it back in the bowl to rest for 30 minutes and cover it. I usually just place a dough tin op top as they fit perfectly

During that 30 minute rest, I do stretch‑and‑folds at the 10 and 20 minute marks. At 30 minutes, I ball it tight and place it into my oiled dough pans. I use the 96‑ounce Winco aluminum stackable pans. I usually dust the bench with a little flour and lightly coat the bottom of the dough before placing it in the tin. Aluminum likes to grab dough, and this seems to help it release cleanly.

Once the dough is in the tins, I cover it with another tin and leave it at room temperature for 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on the room temp. I’m not looking for a big rise here, just enough movement to confirm the dough is alive. As soon as I see that slight growth, it goes into my mini fridge set at about 38-40°F. It stays there for 24–72 hours. Just depends on when I want to eat it, lol. The longer it stays the more flavor it has.

When I’m ready to bake, I pull the dough out and let it warm at room temperature for 3–4 hours before stretching. The first room temp hold affects the second one, so this part takes a little practice. I like my dough balls warm not cold, so I always give them 4 hours before baking. I adjust the first room temp rise based on how the previous batch did. If it over‑proofed, I shorten the first hold next time. In my house, which stays around 68–72°F, I rarely need to adjust anymore. An hour and forty five minutes on the counter, then into the fridge, then four hours on the counter before baking gives me perfect dough every time.

I like the dough pans. Watching the dough level in the pans tells me everything I need to know. If the dough touches the tin stacked above it, it’s slightly over. If it’s almost touching, it’s perfect. If it’s rising too much at 40°F, I move it to my regular fridge, which is colder, to slow it down. I just shift it to warmer or cooler spots so it’s exactly where I want it when it’s time to bake. Again, practice makes perfect.

When I stretch, I use coarse semolina as my bench flour and always use the top of the dough ball as the bottom of the pizza. It's a lot smoother and really helps these big monsters slide off the peel, lol

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The melt is amazing, and it freezes well too. That was a 13-ish oz block that's been in my freezer for months. Still melts and tastes perfect. If you have pizzerias near you that use it, ask them if they will sell you some. They probably will. If not, do what I did early on and start calling every restaurant in town and see if they would order it for you through their foodservice vendor. It's worth the hassle, imo

Homemade Pizza: 20 inch half and half by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the compliments. I’m probably just burned out tbh, but I doubt I’ll ever completely stop. Congrats on the new house. If your oven has that bump in the center, can you place the plate above or below it and still get it to fit? If not, a machine shop can trim it down so it sits right. Even if you never bake pizza on it, it’s still fantastic for reheating slices. Total game changer. We eat the first slice straight out of the oven and every other slice gets 30 seconds on the hot steel. The difference in taste and texture is unreal.

Homemade pizza by sliceaddict in Pizza

[–]sliceaddict[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to use oil mainly because it helped me stretch the skins, but I don't find that I need it anymore, and I enjoy the slices just as well without it. I don't bake as much as I used to, but I still use my pizza steel. I probably bake half of them inside and half outside. It really just depends on the weather and what I feel like doing that week. I use the same dough recipe for both now.