Woodfired pizza

[mikm]

Just wondering if anyone has tried the pizza dough recipe/tecnique on this (http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm) site with pizzas in a woodifired oven, or any pizza recipe with a sourdough starter, for that matter? I love the idea of sourgough, but it seems a little high maintenance to keep one alive unless you bake with it every day. Any thoughts?

I've been cooking pizzas in my oven (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=19702) for years, but its getting a bit same old, same old and I'm keen to step up to the next level. In the first link, Jeff Varasano used a sourdough starter in an electric oven, but the next time I fire the oven up, I reckon I'll use his tecnique with just dried yeast as a back to back comparison with normally made dough to see if there's any benefit.

[Gingermick]

those pizzas look quite good. (But I know nothing aobut sour dough)
Mine bloody stick to whatever they are on and refuse to get onto the hot stone from the oven . Maybe I have to make them on the stones and not preheat them.

[watson]

Mick, a dusting of semolina on the pan or stone stops the sticking.....I think it works like little ball bearings.

[watson]

I love the idea of sourgough, but it seems a little high maintenance to keep one alive unless you bake with it every day. Any thoughts?


From my bread making area.....the sourdough doesn't have to be maintained every day. Fridge until required......warm to room what you want to use.......feed the remainder...leave at room till it starts working........back into the fridge for next week.
Hope that makes sense.

[watson]

Just had a horrible thought......the next think is we'll have a sourdough starter swap thread.....:doh:

[wheelinround]

Just had a horrible thought......the next think is we'll have a sourdough starter swap thread.....:doh:

To Late Noel been done

[Lignin]

I keep my sourdough starter in the freezer!
When I want to make a loaf or two, I thaw the old girl out, give her a feed of rye flour, wait for her to bubble up, and away we go!!
I spend some longish periods away from home, so refrigeration doesn't work for me, and, as any sourdough baker will tell you, the older the starter, the more flavoursome the loaf.

[Wardy]

Hi mikm,
Tried varasano's recipe just last week in my wood fired oven, taste was just like the wood fired pizza from the restaurant down the corner. Had friends over and they were very impressed. Takes a bit to get used to shaping wet dough but overall i got there in the end. I think next time i will follow the same procedure but make the dough a little bit stiffer. Definitely recommend using the sour dough starter because the flavour it producers when kept in the fridge for 2-5 days is 100% improvement. When i made my starter it smelt like sweet wine. The dough had been in the fridge for 5 days.I think i will be using Varasano's recipe from now on.
Cheers

[mikm]

I keep my sourdough starter in the freezer!


Now this is what I wanted to hear. Are we talking days, weeks or months, Lignin?

[mikm]

A question for Lignin and Wardy:

Did you get your own starter going from scratch or get a culture from somewhere?

[mikm]

Sorry to leave you out there, Watson :-
I just noticed your post looks like you have played with sourdough as well, so please jump in if appropriate.

[watson]

No sweat......I started my own...........tasted Bleech! for a while........until I left it in the brewing area for a week or two....but after a year it's to die for.
I've passed brews on from the original to other bread makers, and they've used it and passed it on to others.

[Lignin]

Started mine from scratch too.
Used stone ground wholemeal flour and rainwater.As Watson said, bloody horrible to begin with, but a few feeds and it really began to improve.Rye flour gives it a "treat".
I freeze it for anything up to three months, and it (so far) has always restarted OK.:U

[Wardy]

Hi Mikm,
Started culture myself. Only 3 weeks young but already has a great flavour.Feed it weekly.Pizza dough will only get better in time.
cheers

[mikm]

Mmmmmm. Looks like I'm going to have to give sourdough a go after all. Thanks for your input, guys.

Any sourdoughers in Melbourne? Could be fun to compare strains isolated from different suburbs. We could have a bit of a cook up in my woodfired oven to showcase different starters and recipes if there is any interest.

[Gingermick]

Mick, a dusting of semolina on the pan or stone stops the sticking.....I think it works like little ball bearings.

Thanks, I'll have to try again this weekend