Let Me Help You👇🏼 ✉ Start Making Restaurant-Quality Pizza in Just 3 Minutes a Week charlieandersoncooking.ck.page/7a77956bb5 🍕 Discover The Dough Handling Secrets To Make Perfect Pizza EVERY Time charlie-s-site-1fe4.thinkific.com/courses/pizzadoughmastery
When you buy a slice from a NY pizza shop, they'll typically re-heat the slice for you. The re-heating makes the pizza bottom super crispy. If you're looking for that NY style crispiness, you'll need to let it cool, then re-heat. You can just do it in a pan for convenience.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking what I’ve been doing is taking the pizza out after normal cook time, allowing it to cool slightly, slicing, then throwing the individual slices back on the steel for a minute or two. Would love for you to give it a try and hear your thoughts!
As someone who's gotten pretty good at pan pizzas (Sicilian, Grandma, etc) but has aspired to making NYC pizza and has been too chicken to start, this series has to be one of my favorite things ever. I've enjoyed every second of it and it's really gotten me fired up to just go for it. First pie goes in the oven this weekend, thanks Charlie.
@@Detriment44 It went incredibly well the first time, total disaster the second time (tried to stretch my dough out too thin and had a blowout during the bake lol), and then has been smooth sailing since then as I'm much more careful while stretching to avoid thin spots. I recently challenged myself to bake at least once a week to get practice and I'm already seeing great results in my confidence in stretching and forming the dough. I haven't had a failed launch yet, which feels great.
Hey man. Love yours videos. I’m hooked. But most importantly, I actually learned something INCREDIBLE from this one: proper dough shaping. Thank you so much. Your research, your confidence, your teaching style and your hard work are all paying off. Ur gonna change a lot of peoples lives as you continue to grow.
Best pizza videos on TH-cam. The strategy, detail and delivery are great. These videos keep getting better. The subtle, deadpan humor adds to the entertainment and enjoyment to keep the viewer engaged while the content is educational.
@@AnteMickowatch his first video on New York pizza. He already saw the pizzamaking forum thread with the exact recipe. He said he wasn’t trying to make a Joe’s clone, but something like Joes, Scarrs, etc.
Yep. I came down to the comments to say the same thing haha. We should've expected it after the pizza peel moment but nope, he really got me with that!
Man, I've been making Adam's pies ever since the pandemic started. I was pretty content with the results too and figured there was no more learning to be done on my part. Boy was I wrong. Your videos have helped improve upon his recipe. Can't thank ya enough!
yeah, started to watch him when this series started, love his way to explain thing easy to understand, and have realistic goal instead of telling you to buy expensive ingredients and fancy equipment
I started making one pizza a week at home less than a year ago. It's amazing how many of these videos reach the same or similar sources, ingredients, ideas, and conclusions. Keep up the great work. Can't wait to hear about sauce!
If you want more browning of your crust try adding malt extracts, it's used in the beer making process and will make the fermentation process produce more and different types of sugars. There are several different types, like diastatic and non-diastatic, syrups or powders, and they will yield a different type of result.
Love the way you present information. It's very easy to follow. Also love your mission in cooking the perfect NY pizza from home. It's clear you have put a lot of time and dedication into this and it clearly shows.
Another alternative to a high glutton flour is to buy a bread flour and then add a small amount of Vital Wheat Glutton flour (which is pure glutton) to the bread flour. You only have to add a small amount of Vital Wheat Glutton. I buy my Glutton flour on Amazon but I'd imagine a good health food store should stock it. Enjoying your series.
Yes I have done that with bread baking. Makes a big difference. I wondered if it could be done for pizza dough too. Maybe Charlie Anderson will test it and let us know. I got the tip from Sunrise Flour where I buy Heritage flour.
@@me1747 I don't see why it wouldn't work. I was born and raised in NYC and lived there 39 years so my tastes in pizza tend to favor New York style. It works for me, however, what you like and consider NY pizza may differ from mine.
You add the vital wheat gluten to all-purpose flour to make 'bread flour'. This is to save money. Bread flour on its own has a high enough protein content, but is more expensive.
Bro. Bravo. You've embodied, for me, what no other pizza chef on TH-cam has been able to. And it's what I've been doing at home for fun off and on since I was a kid. New sub. Love your perfect balance of wit and 🤓iness. Excited for the conclusion of the pizza series!
I clicked because I was curious as to how this was possible because I love making pizza at home. I didn’t know oven settings could be changed then suddenly you recalibrated your oven and I realized I have the exact same one. Was meant to be! Cheers, great vid
I worked in a local pizza restaurant for 4 years long ago. I was in charge of the dough and stretching lol. I love the amount of effort you put into learning how to stretch the dough properly with all the videos because I struggled with the same thing haha! We used Semolina flour in our restaurant and I'm impressed you went with semola flour. I was never a fan of finer flours. Semolina allowed me to be a little bit more rougher with the dough because the large gritty nature of it would slide off of everything and I could "feel" when the dough was done being stretched. Also "Bleached" in flour doesn't mean it was actually in contact with bleach to appear whiter. It means that the actual wheat kernel was separated from its different parts and the "bleached" flour is the endosperm which is lacking in most of the nutritional value but makes a more consistent product that is easy to use especially for dough. For example, wheat bread maintains all the parts of the kernel while white bread is only the "bleached" part.
I always use a mixture of regular semolina and semolina remacinata (which is a fine-ground semolina flour, but won't burn like regular wheat flour or cornmeal). I well-remember using that damp dish towel when first learning to throw a skin. It takes time to learn but (as I'm sure you already know), proper finger-docking is far more important to a well-made pie. I wish folks focused on that, but they always want to learn how to spin first. I always say "You can't walk until you first learn to crawl."
Tony Gemignani recommends 2 steels in his book The Pizza Bible. One on bottom rack and one 2nd from top. His book says to start on top rack take it out about halfway through bake, turn it 180 degrees and put on the bottom to finish. He says this manages the cheese melt and the crust browning cordination (he also recommends diastatic malt in home oven to help the browning). I definitely noticed the bottom is hotter and cook time has to be closely watched.
I really appreciate this series and what you're doing. As someone who basically only turns on the heating element, browns the bottom of the pizza, and then cooks it in the oven, this is a lot more impressive
I use the screen first for 2 min (no semolina needed to stink up my house when it burns) then remove it and finish the cook after. Perfect every time! I just can't get my dough even enough for stretching . Work in process. Thanks for the great videos!
What I do is I keep my steel at the bottom (at 550) and when nice and crisp turn on the broil on high, move my pizza to the top of the oven directly below the flame, l let the top of the crust crisp with the flame! The type of oven you have seems like you can turn the broil on high for the flame. Although that is more recommended for Neapolitan. It could burn the cheese on a NY style, but definitely test it out! I’ve gotten great results!
You don't have to buy specialty flours or massive amounts. You can buy just powdered gluten. It's typically called vital wheat gluten and you can mix it right into bread or APF to make high gluten flour. If you can't find it in grocery stores, check vegan or vegetarian whole foods type places since gluten it used in making seitan, a vegan meat substitute.
I’ve tried adding gluten. My problem is that I end up with a dough that is not relaxed enough and I end up with a thick crust. I can never get my dough thin enough.
@@jeffreybeigie5244 did you age it in the fridge? After quickly mixing, I hydrate for 20 minutes, mix the full amount (8 minutes at speed 2 or 3 w/KitchenAid) then rest 20 minutes. Then I portion, shape and place into oiled covered bowls. The next day the dough will be ready and should be used within 3 days. I've never had issue with dough snapping back since using this method. I think I saw it on AMERICA'S Test Kitchen but the recipe is my own for making 3 330 gram dough balls at 65% hydration.
A cheap and easy trick to get a better bottom crust on the pizza without a pizza stone for those that don’t want to buy one: - put some oven parchment paper on the oven tray - add some olive oil and spread it around with a paper towel - put pizza on top and press it down a bit I do this every time and get a crusty bottom even with storebought doughs or pizzas
I have a pizza stone, and tried store bought and pre-made. Why is my crust always rock hard or evenly soft? I put oil on the bottom and crust. Crust was rock hard. Base was okay, not burnt, but harder al dente. I suck at cooking and need some pro tips. What's up?😢
I don't understand why no one tries low density Fire bricks (designed for ovens, fireplaces, etc) available at Home Depot, Lowes and most other hardware type stores. These are 1 1/4" thick and retain heat long enough to completely cook a pie. Granted, you need 6 or more (at $4 ea.) bricks to cover a 16"x16" minimum area on your bottom rack and it will take 1 1/2hrs (literally) to bring the bricks up to 525Deg. but you'd have the perfect home pizza oven... Sometimes the simplest and cheapest solutions are the best... I hope you'll consider giving this a try.
I don’t see any other replies here yet, but the reason why this particular trick doesn’t quite work is not because they don’t retain heat and keep heat in an area, but they don’t transfer heat. You could likely see some marginal improvements in browning over a traditional aluminum pan, but you wouldn’t see the same benefits that you would see with a higher density stone like granite. These stones will cool down lots when a pizza is placed in them to cook which almost defeats the purpose.
I ended up with two baking steels as well. I’ve found by putting both in the oven you can create a “tighter oven” which has helped for better crust color.
My journey is so similar to yours! Started about a year and a half ago with a shitty stone and zero knowledge. The best piece of info in this vid is the temp calibration for most ovens. Mine had the feature! Next bake should be the best ever. Thanks, dude!
FYI you can go to your local pizza shops and ask if they have any screens theyd be willing to let go. Some pizza shope have some heavily used ones which are heavily seasoned and better overall that theyll gladly give you for free. Pizza screens are cheap and common in all parts of the US so u technically dont need to buy one if u call around
When you’re forming the pizza dough, you use your pinkie more than any other part of your hand. When you start stretching it, you pull your two hands outward ONLY applying pressure with your pinkie and ring fingers, rotating with each stretch. Do this until you’re half an inch over your expected size because the dough will shrink a bit, especially when saucing if you’re not careful.
You did a great job on this video. Real perserverance. I'm ditching my pizza stone and ordered a 16x16 steel. Most places by me use screens and so do I.
I realize I'm late to the party on this one but for those of you like me who don't feel like dropping money on a pizza steel quite yet: I've had a lot of success with using the flat side of my cast iron griddle (the kind you would normally use on the stovetop for pancakes or whatever). I let the pizza dough ferment in a rectangular container so it's easy to stretch into the right size and shape, and as a result last night I had easily the best crust on my pizza that I'd ever achieved at home (even better than the pizza stone on my grill). Additionally it was great to use for a pan style pizza I made in a cake pan placed directly on the "steel" and really helped to transfer the heat into it very nicely. 10/10 would recommend, and maybe one day I'll jump on the pizza steel
Charlie, loving the series! Wanted to mention that shooting straight onto a preheated flat aluminum cookie sheet placed right above the bottom oven heating element will give you a very very crispy crust. Would recommend for dabblers who don't want to invest in a stone or steel. The aluminum actually transfers heat even faster to the dough but with the caveat that it can't hold as much heat as steel or stone. However, the thinness of a cookie sheet works well because it is able to heat back up quickly from the closeness to the oven heating elements.
I’m really enjoying this series on NY pie. Like you, I love New York pizza. You’re a smart guy and very driven to get it right, which I like. I hope at the end, when you get it all mastered, you’ll show us how it’s done.
I find it amusing that having never seen your channel before, through experimentation we arrived at similar results. I also set my pizza stone on the rack one up from the very bottom. I also use a 14 inch pizza screen to prevent direct contact. The one thing I do different is I have a second pizza stone on the rack directly above the pizza so that I get more radiant and even heating.
Cool video. I cook mine on a steel at 550* for two minutes and then place under the broiler for two minutes. Of course this requires a double oven but it stops the bottom from getting too charred and cooks the crust nicely. So glad to see you let the dough proof for 3 days. That made a big difference for me.
I have made a lot of pizzas in an electric oven now with a pizza steel. I find I get the best results by using regular bake at max temp and putting the crust with only the sauce and olive oil in for about half the cook time (parbaking). Then I pull the pizza out and add toppings. This allows the crust to cook and look more like a real pizza oven without having the cheese squeeze all its grease out. In addition...to really simplify this I do all my baking on parchment paper (yes this darkens but will hold together). Parbaking plus parchment paper makes making multiple pizzas really easy and they come out perfect. I also put my steel at the top and that helps avoid burning the bottom.
3:58 LOL! 😂 "I'm a firm believer that you don't need specialized equipment that only has one specific use in your kitchen." (Jump cut to) "Now this is my pizza peel, which is a piece of specialized equipment that only has one specific use in my kitchen."
Charles approaches food like a scientist and a good Pizza is a science. Charles, once your startup is esablished, please, please come to Paris. Pizza here is dire xxxx
Dude.. saving us so much time with these tests haha. I was about to buy a stone and put it close to the top of the oven haha. Good thing I keep watching your videos in full. Appreciate the time spent!
To get a great top, you just gotta do 2 steps in cooking. First, pizza steel on the lowest rack and highest temp until bottom is done, then turn on broiler and move the pizza to very highest rack and use broiler to finish.
I know you're going for the authentic NY slice at the moment, but a couple of things to try if you ever feel like it - A - try putting a traditional baking stone on a rack above where the pizza is cooking, I've found it helps give the top of the pie a better bake B - if you feel like mucking with your dough even more, try replacing the sugar with honey, the oil with melted butter, and increasing the ratio of whole wheat flour. I've found that letting the flour hydrate (giving the dough a 10-30 minute rest just after it's come together, before kneading) helps a lot when using whole wheat.
Slowing down the rise of the heat in it's self makes for a better cooked pizza top, hmmm and it does make sense that a pizza stone or a pizza peel would do even better. The bigger the better.
Cool series. In November 2023, I started making pizza in my home oven. I'm going for Chicago thin crust style, not NY. As someone who used to order out for pizza at least once a week, I haven't ordered a pizza since. Well, when the warm weather arrived,the wife said "you're not going to be firing up the oven in the summer, are you?". Sounded like a green light for ordering a pizza oven. I now have a Gozney Roccbox, and a Gozney Arc XL. I'd recommend either one. Thd problem is, getting that thin and crispy crust doesn't work so well in these ovens, so now I'n tinkering with Neopolitan style. Oh, and when I started in the home oven, I used a steel, but I also put parchment paper between crust and steel. I noticed if I don't use parchment, it gets a bit too crispy. Cheers from Chicagoland.
❤ this is an interesting recipe. Thank you for sharing! I never knew that New York style pizza tasted so good until I had a slice from a restaurant in Time Square. It’s a thin but not crusty and the cheese just melted in my mouth. Thank you for the recipe. I will make sure to try it.❤
Interesting to see you go through the learning experiences. Personally, I like a crispy crust on the bottom of the pizza, but I do not like it burnt. You gave me an idea to move the bricks I have in my oven lower. :)
One trick to minimize the oil slick cheese separation is to freeze your cheese after you’ve shredded it. The cold cheese takes longer to melt, allowing the crust a head start on baking before the cheese hits the temp required to force separation.
My best result using pizza steel is placing the pizza steel in the upper half of the oven, but instead of heating the oven using convential bake heating, use the broil or the top grill instead. The grill will heat the pizza steel to ensure it being hot to give a nice bottom crust and the direct heat from the topp grill to give a perfect top finish and crust.
Great stuff. A tip of you start buying bulk flour, buy an air tight dog food container - like the iris which has wheels. Helps that flour last much longer.
The top heating element is for broiling. This does not turn on when you are baking. So the temp is always hottest at the bottom. Great Series! I'm going to give your crust a try.
I really appreciate this series. I've been on a pizza journey in the home oven for some time as well. My goal is thin & crispy, but still with some air in it. Instead of contrast, I'd like a more even greyish brown color to the bottom. As it happens, so far I got the best results with the pizza steel at about 2/3rds up high in the oven, so second to top rack. I did have to put the cheese on a little later to prevent grease spilling out. I'm thinking about moving the steel down 1 rack, so that there's more browning. Then I can throw it on the top rack to finish and slide in a new one on the steel.
For some reason my sourdough bread is easy for me. Making pizza dough and mastering it is a challenge . With mistakes along the way. Thank you for your dedication ❤
You can get a good base without a pizza stone. What i do is i preheat a frying pan with a lid and throw the pizza in there for a few minutes, that cooks the bottom and start on the top, once i start to get a crush going i take the pan and throw it in the oven, which i preheat to as high as it will go and leave it in for a another few minutes. Pizza's i've made doing this have turned out great and avoids having to get a pizza stone
These videos have been great. Certainly appreciate the analytical manner in which each building block was approached. Any chance of a final video where you "bring it all together"? I feel like there are critical tidbits but they are scattered among 2-3 other posts.
I've been binge watching your pizza videos. Amazing story telling and experimentation. Thanks for all the work you put into this, I know first-hand what that takes! I'd love to learn how you approach cooking multiple pizzas with one peel/oven/steel. Typically, I cook 2 pizzas every Friday, and the reheating of the steel/not being able to build the next pizza on the peel is a massive bottleneck. This is a problem when I have multiple people over as we ravenously look at the first cooked pizza while we wait for the next to cook, or I'm busy cooking the next one while we eat the first. Would love to hear your thoughts on this, or your general order of operations for cooking multiple pizzas efficiently at home, but maybe the answer is just buying another steel?
Thank you, I appreciate that! I'm not sure which steel you're using but I've actually found that with the baking steel pro, I don't need to wait for it to reheat between pizzas. It's thick enough that it retains enough heat, even after baking a pizza. So I can start building the next pizza as soon as I launch the first one. Alternatively, you could bake as many pizzas in advance as you like, and then just reheat them by the slice before serving (I talked about reheating in the final recipe video: th-cam.com/video/vKppwbiqNK4/w-d-xo.html). You only need to reheat each slice for 60-90 seconds, and of course you can reheat several at once, so it's a pretty efficient way to serve multiple people quickly! So that would be my preferred option, since reheating makes for a better slice anyways.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Thanks Charlie! For some reason, I never considered reheating them - this is gold. I'm using the NerdChef 14X16. I can't tell you how helpful your channel has been for my pizza game.
This is such a good video wow. I have been making pizza for over 3 years at home now and have come to a lot of the same conclusions. One thing I'd add for the home pizza cook is if you want your cheese less obliterated try parbaking for 2 minutes or so and then adding the cheese and toppings. It will allow you to get a darker crust without separating your cheese. Great job. I may finally make the jump to high gluten
Your videos are super informed. As a fellow pizza enthusiast I’m very impressed! Will you upload at the end of your research a summary of the perfect way to make NY style pizza at home?
Praise the TH-cam algorithm. I’ve been looking for a video like this after moving to the Midwest. Thank you for creating this and keep it coming! If you can try making Lucali style that would be great! Also have you consider trying the recipes with a Breville Pizzalo? You won’t get the size of NY pizza, but you get the heat. One small suggestion, please include the percentage if you want to use vital wheat gluten with bread flour. I’ve been making bagels with vital wheat gluten and bread flour and it has done wonders.
Loving this series, and I’m looking forward to trying some of the dough recipes you came up with. But I still don’t think you’re getting the best bake. The steel gives off heat so quick, that I think you’ll always end up with more charring than caramelization. You say in a later video you’ll stick with 500°, and I think that’s the right choice. I get good results from using two pizza stones in the same oven. I start the pie on a stone placed on an upper rack, and halfway through I finish it on a stone on a rack below. This lets the dough finish cooking without overcooking the cheese and toppings.
Thank you for this video. I've been thinking about getting a baking steel, and which one to get too. Now I'm for sure getting the Pro👌🏼 Looking forward to making za at home.
I can’t find if i commented this already, but try freezing the cheese for half and hour, preheating the steel on the bottom but then switching to second from the top and then using the broiler. Gives you everything
Yes! I absolutely have achieved the best results with the steel. Before getting one I was using an old cast iron skillet which limited the size. And I put it at the very bottom of the oven. Not on the bottom rack, but the actual bottom floor of the oven. (At 500 degrees)
Charlie, I am such a big fan. You seriously have some of the most throughly done and well-researched videos on TH-cam. Would you be willing to take a crack at NY style bagels? I’m a Jersey boy who just moved out to Colorado and I’ve tried so many different recipes from well-known TH-camrs and none have come close. I feel like your my last hope for a bagel that reminds me of home 😂
NY pizza places throw a little corn meal on the stones just as they slide the pizza into the oven - probably so that it slides nice and doesn’t stick - but it also gives it that distinctive taste and smell that we love.
Excellent content. Please keep it up. Most people don't understand my passion for constantly trying different things to make a perfect pie at home. You however do get it. Looking forward to your next vids. Also, I know you are into the steel, and to be honest I have not tried cooking on a steel and am curious about it. However, I do have a commercial grade baking stone from FibraMent that I have made countless baked goods and pizzas on. I can get extremely good spotting on the bottom of the crust. Also I have found 2nd rack from the top in my home gas oven, baked around 495 degrees with a second stage 1 minute hi broil to finish will give that perfect carmelization of the sugars in the crust you are after. My oven will go much hotter, but heat is not the answer here. Patience is. I have a different 1000 oven that will spit out pizzas fast...but New York pies do best at around a 8 minute bake time right around 500 degrees.
Ran a pizza shop and had made pizza before that. Not stretching the middle or the crust is the key but also not compressing the crust when stretching the inner edge. Knocking off flour is less important as it essentially happens organically. Just dont over flour the dough ball and your good 👍
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Let Me Help You👇🏼
✉ Start Making Restaurant-Quality Pizza in Just 3 Minutes a Week
charlieandersoncooking.ck.page/7a77956bb5
🍕 Discover The Dough Handling Secrets To Make Perfect Pizza EVERY Time
charlie-s-site-1fe4.thinkific.com/courses/pizzadoughmastery
When you buy a slice from a NY pizza shop, they'll typically re-heat the slice for you. The re-heating makes the pizza bottom super crispy. If you're looking for that NY style crispiness, you'll need to let it cool, then re-heat. You can just do it in a pan for convenience.
I’ve been experimenting with a few different reheat methods as well but I hadn’t thought of the pan one. I’ll have to give that a try!
This sounds like an analogue for double fry for french fries?
This is 💯 true
@@CharlieAndersonCooking what I’ve been doing is taking the pizza out after normal cook time, allowing it to cool slightly, slicing, then throwing the individual slices back on the steel for a minute or two. Would love for you to give it a try and hear your thoughts!
@@CharlieAndersonCooking I reheat on a cast iron skillet. But I just love it extra crispy lol
This pizza journey has become my favorite video series.
You basically capture what we (pizza lovers) have all been trying to achieve at home.
I agree
As someone who's gotten pretty good at pan pizzas (Sicilian, Grandma, etc) but has aspired to making NYC pizza and has been too chicken to start, this series has to be one of my favorite things ever. I've enjoyed every second of it and it's really gotten me fired up to just go for it. First pie goes in the oven this weekend, thanks Charlie.
I'm glad to hear it!
Ha . " nyc" pizza
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Those unnecesary ingredients in Trump flour are vitamins.....
How did it go
@@Detriment44 It went incredibly well the first time, total disaster the second time (tried to stretch my dough out too thin and had a blowout during the bake lol), and then has been smooth sailing since then as I'm much more careful while stretching to avoid thin spots. I recently challenged myself to bake at least once a week to get practice and I'm already seeing great results in my confidence in stretching and forming the dough. I haven't had a failed launch yet, which feels great.
This guy never ceases to up the pizza game. I keep doing things he suggests and it just gets better and better.
Hey man. Love yours videos. I’m hooked. But most importantly, I actually learned something INCREDIBLE from this one: proper dough shaping. Thank you so much. Your research, your confidence, your teaching style and your hard work are all paying off. Ur gonna change a lot of peoples lives as you continue to grow.
Yeah, The dough shaping is definitely more important than I initially thought haha. But thank you, I’m glad you found it helpful!
Best pizza videos on TH-cam. The strategy, detail and delivery are great. These videos keep getting better. The subtle, deadpan humor adds to the entertainment and enjoyment to keep the viewer engaged while the content is educational.
I cant believe a man is this dedicate into studying for finding the best recipe for NYC pizza
While ignoring my comments where he can easily find Joe's Pizza recipe
@@AnteMicko Where?
@@AnteMickowatch his first video on New York pizza. He already saw the pizzamaking forum thread with the exact recipe. He said he wasn’t trying to make a Joe’s clone, but something like Joes, Scarrs, etc.
You can't take this ginger voodoo nonsense seriously.
@@vnxdragon what ginger voodoo
I literally busted out laughing when you dropped that flour bag on the table! Pizza is looking great!
Me too 😂
Dedication Level Infinity!
Yep, me too
Same. Good comedic timing, great editing
Yep. I came down to the comments to say the same thing haha. We should've expected it after the pizza peel moment but nope, he really got me with that!
Man, I've been making Adam's pies ever since the pandemic started. I was pretty content with the results too and figured there was no more learning to be done on my part. Boy was I wrong. Your videos have helped improve upon his recipe. Can't thank ya enough!
This series has been super informative, loving it
I’m glad to hear it!
yeah, started to watch him when this series started, love his way to explain thing easy to understand, and have realistic goal instead of telling you to buy expensive ingredients and fancy equipment
I started making one pizza a week at home less than a year ago. It's amazing how many of these videos reach the same or similar sources, ingredients, ideas, and conclusions. Keep up the great work. Can't wait to hear about sauce!
bravo👍
I know one thing. If this dude ever opens a pizza shop. I will absolutely travel to eat there. At that point he has perfected the art. 🍻
100%
If you want more browning of your crust try adding malt extracts, it's used in the beer making process and will make the fermentation process produce more and different types of sugars. There are several different types, like diastatic and non-diastatic, syrups or powders, and they will yield a different type of result.
Love the way you present information. It's very easy to follow. Also love your mission in cooking the perfect NY pizza from home. It's clear you have put a lot of time and dedication into this and it clearly shows.
You can also add a couple of TBSP of vital wheat gluten to AP flour. I do that whenever I make bread of pizza.
Another alternative to a high glutton flour is to buy a bread flour and then add a small amount of Vital Wheat Glutton flour (which is pure glutton) to the bread flour. You only have to add a small amount of Vital Wheat Glutton. I buy my Glutton flour on Amazon but I'd imagine a good health food store should stock it. Enjoying your series.
Yes I have done that with bread baking. Makes a big difference. I wondered if it could be done for pizza dough too. Maybe Charlie Anderson will test it and let us know. I got the tip from Sunrise Flour where I buy Heritage flour.
@@me1747 I don't see why it wouldn't work. I was born and raised in NYC and lived there 39 years so my tastes in pizza tend to favor New York style. It works for me, however, what you like and consider NY pizza may differ from mine.
Learn English.
This is exactly what I came to post/inquire as well.
You add the vital wheat gluten to all-purpose flour to make 'bread flour'. This is to save money. Bread flour on its own has a high enough protein content, but is more expensive.
Bro. Bravo. You've embodied, for me, what no other pizza chef on TH-cam has been able to. And it's what I've been doing at home for fun off and on since I was a kid. New sub. Love your perfect balance of wit and 🤓iness. Excited for the conclusion of the pizza series!
Im a huge pizza fan myself and I have to say this is one of the best pizza-cooking videos I've seen in a long time!
great, did a great job🍕
4:00 I laughed, thx.
EDIT: 7:25 Lmaoooo, dude I just subbed, I had no idea you'd be this entertaining. Glad I gave this channel a chance
I clicked because I was curious as to how this was possible because I love making pizza at home. I didn’t know oven settings could be changed then suddenly you recalibrated your oven and I realized I have the exact same one. Was meant to be! Cheers, great vid
I worked in a local pizza restaurant for 4 years long ago. I was in charge of the dough and stretching lol. I love the amount of effort you put into learning how to stretch the dough properly with all the videos because I struggled with the same thing haha! We used Semolina flour in our restaurant and I'm impressed you went with semola flour. I was never a fan of finer flours. Semolina allowed me to be a little bit more rougher with the dough because the large gritty nature of it would slide off of everything and I could "feel" when the dough was done being stretched.
Also "Bleached" in flour doesn't mean it was actually in contact with bleach to appear whiter. It means that the actual wheat kernel was separated from its different parts and the "bleached" flour is the endosperm which is lacking in most of the nutritional value but makes a more consistent product that is easy to use especially for dough. For example, wheat bread maintains all the parts of the kernel while white bread is only the "bleached" part.
I always use a mixture of regular semolina and semolina remacinata (which is a fine-ground semolina flour, but won't burn like regular wheat flour or cornmeal). I well-remember using that damp dish towel when first learning to throw a skin. It takes time to learn but (as I'm sure you already know), proper finger-docking is far more important to a well-made pie. I wish folks focused on that, but they always want to learn how to spin first. I always say "You can't walk until you first learn to crawl."
Hey man, stumbled on this video randomly and your on a great path. Don’t change a thing and I’ll see you back here in about a year with 500k subs
Tony Gemignani recommends 2 steels in his book The Pizza Bible. One on bottom rack and one 2nd from top. His book says to start on top rack take it out about halfway through bake, turn it 180 degrees and put on the bottom to finish. He says this manages the cheese melt and the crust browning cordination (he also recommends diastatic malt in home oven to help the browning). I definitely noticed the bottom is hotter and cook time has to be closely watched.
These aren't just EXCELLENT, They are very well made and edited. The best of its kind, must see for pizza enthusiasts.
I really appreciate this series and what you're doing. As someone who basically only turns on the heating element, browns the bottom of the pizza, and then cooks it in the oven, this is a lot more impressive
I use the screen first for 2 min (no semolina needed to stink up my house when it burns) then remove it and finish the cook after. Perfect every time! I just can't get my dough even enough for stretching . Work in process. Thanks for the great videos!
What I do is I keep my steel at the bottom (at 550) and when nice and crisp turn on the broil on high, move my pizza to the top of the oven directly below the flame, l let the top of the crust crisp with the flame! The type of oven you have seems like you can turn the broil on high for the flame. Although that is more recommended for Neapolitan. It could burn the cheese on a NY style, but definitely test it out! I’ve gotten great results!
You don't have to buy specialty flours or massive amounts. You can buy just powdered gluten. It's typically called vital wheat gluten and you can mix it right into bread or APF to make high gluten flour.
If you can't find it in grocery stores, check vegan or vegetarian whole foods type places since gluten it used in making seitan, a vegan meat substitute.
This has me wondering what the highest possible level of gluten it's practical to make bread with.
@@InnuendoXP 100% gluten bread
I've used that and it gives good results.
I’ve tried adding gluten. My problem is that I end up with a dough that is not relaxed enough and I end up with a thick crust. I can never get my dough thin enough.
@@jeffreybeigie5244 did you age it in the fridge? After quickly mixing, I hydrate for 20 minutes, mix the full amount (8 minutes at speed 2 or 3 w/KitchenAid) then rest 20 minutes. Then I portion, shape and place into oiled covered bowls. The next day the dough will be ready and should be used within 3 days. I've never had issue with dough snapping back since using this method. I think I saw it on AMERICA'S Test Kitchen but the recipe is my own for making 3 330 gram dough balls at 65% hydration.
A cheap and easy trick to get a better bottom crust on the pizza without a pizza stone for those that don’t want to buy one:
- put some oven parchment paper on the oven tray
- add some olive oil and spread it around with a paper towel
- put pizza on top and press it down a bit
I do this every time and get a crusty bottom even with storebought doughs or pizzas
Like a foccia
I have a pizza stone, and tried store bought and pre-made. Why is my crust always rock hard or evenly soft? I put oil on the bottom and crust. Crust was rock hard. Base was okay, not burnt, but harder al dente. I suck at cooking and need some pro tips. What's up?😢
I don't understand why no one tries low density Fire bricks (designed for ovens, fireplaces, etc) available at Home Depot, Lowes and most other hardware type stores. These are 1 1/4" thick and retain heat long enough to completely cook a pie. Granted, you need 6 or more (at $4 ea.) bricks to cover a 16"x16" minimum area on your bottom rack and it will take 1 1/2hrs (literally) to bring the bricks up to 525Deg. but you'd have the perfect home pizza oven... Sometimes the simplest and cheapest solutions are the best... I hope you'll consider giving this a try.
I don’t see any other replies here yet, but the reason why this particular trick doesn’t quite work is not because they don’t retain heat and keep heat in an area, but they don’t transfer heat. You could likely see some marginal improvements in browning over a traditional aluminum pan, but you wouldn’t see the same benefits that you would see with a higher density stone like granite. These stones will cool down lots when a pizza is placed in them to cook which almost defeats the purpose.
Great idea
I ended up with two baking steels as well. I’ve found by putting both in the oven you can create a “tighter oven” which has helped for better crust color.
I really appreciate your sense of humor as well as your knowledge and skill. Thanks Charlie! Dave J
Subbed base of the solid NY style pizza playlist and ease of navigating and finding the next one/playlist. Thanks!
That oven calibration tip is great, was able to crank mine up an extra 35F.
This is the best instructional series I have ever seen on youtube. Taking notes and getting ready for my first try.
Love the dedication, humour and effort that went into this! Great job
My journey is so similar to yours! Started about a year and a half ago with a shitty stone and zero knowledge. The best piece of info in this vid is the temp calibration for most ovens. Mine had the feature! Next bake should be the best ever. Thanks, dude!
FYI you can go to your local pizza shops and ask if they have any screens theyd be willing to let go. Some pizza shope have some heavily used ones which are heavily seasoned and better overall that theyll gladly give you for free. Pizza screens are cheap and common in all parts of the US so u technically dont need to buy one if u call around
When you’re forming the pizza dough, you use your pinkie more than any other part of your hand. When you start stretching it, you pull your two hands outward ONLY applying pressure with your pinkie and ring fingers, rotating with each stretch. Do this until you’re half an inch over your expected size because the dough will shrink a bit, especially when saucing if you’re not careful.
You did a great job on this video. Real perserverance. I'm ditching my pizza stone and ordered a 16x16 steel. Most places by me use screens and so do I.
I realize I'm late to the party on this one but for those of you like me who don't feel like dropping money on a pizza steel quite yet: I've had a lot of success with using the flat side of my cast iron griddle (the kind you would normally use on the stovetop for pancakes or whatever). I let the pizza dough ferment in a rectangular container so it's easy to stretch into the right size and shape, and as a result last night I had easily the best crust on my pizza that I'd ever achieved at home (even better than the pizza stone on my grill). Additionally it was great to use for a pan style pizza I made in a cake pan placed directly on the "steel" and really helped to transfer the heat into it very nicely. 10/10 would recommend, and maybe one day I'll jump on the pizza steel
One of the best food series on YT!
Super Peel! I bought one over 10 years ago and it's one thing I highly recommend. Way easier than regular pizza peel.
Charlie, loving the series! Wanted to mention that shooting straight onto a preheated flat aluminum cookie sheet placed right above the bottom oven heating element will give you a very very crispy crust. Would recommend for dabblers who don't want to invest in a stone or steel. The aluminum actually transfers heat even faster to the dough but with the caveat that it can't hold as much heat as steel or stone. However, the thinness of a cookie sheet works well because it is able to heat back up quickly from the closeness to the oven heating elements.
I’m really enjoying this series on NY pie. Like you, I love New York pizza. You’re a smart guy and very driven to get it right, which I like. I hope at the end, when you get it all mastered, you’ll show us how it’s done.
I find it amusing that having never seen your channel before, through experimentation we arrived at similar results. I also set my pizza stone on the rack one up from the very bottom. I also use a 14 inch pizza screen to prevent direct contact. The one thing I do different is I have a second pizza stone on the rack directly above the pizza so that I get more radiant and even heating.
Cool video. I cook mine on a steel at 550* for two minutes and then place under the broiler for two minutes. Of course this requires a double oven but it stops the bottom from getting too charred and cooks the crust nicely. So glad to see you let the dough proof for 3 days. That made a big difference for me.
I have made a lot of pizzas in an electric oven now with a pizza steel. I find I get the best results by using regular bake at max temp and putting the crust with only the sauce and olive oil in for about half the cook time (parbaking). Then I pull the pizza out and add toppings. This allows the crust to cook and look more like a real pizza oven without having the cheese squeeze all its grease out. In addition...to really simplify this I do all my baking on parchment paper (yes this darkens but will hold together). Parbaking plus parchment paper makes making multiple pizzas really easy and they come out perfect.
I also put my steel at the top and that helps avoid burning the bottom.
3:58 LOL! 😂 "I'm a firm believer that you don't need specialized equipment that only has one specific use in your kitchen." (Jump cut to)
"Now this is my pizza peel, which is a piece of specialized equipment that only has one specific use in my kitchen."
Charles approaches food like a scientist and a good Pizza is a science. Charles, once your startup is esablished, please, please come to Paris. Pizza here is dire xxxx
Try spreading cornmill on the pan and you will get a crunchier bottom. That's supposedly what a lot of pizza places do.
Dude.. saving us so much time with these tests haha. I was about to buy a stone and put it close to the top of the oven haha. Good thing I keep watching your videos in full. Appreciate the time spent!
Said I was gonna stop subbing so many food channels, but this content is too good. Hope you you can make a living out this, this some good work.
To get a great top, you just gotta do 2 steps in cooking. First, pizza steel on the lowest rack and highest temp until bottom is done, then turn on broiler and move the pizza to very highest rack and use broiler to finish.
I appreciate you for doing this series. Can’t wait for the sauce episode!
Doing God’s work. This whole series has been incredible so far. Keep it up.
Def earned a sub. This is more effort in pizza making than I've ever seen. Can people be pizza masters?
I know you're going for the authentic NY slice at the moment, but a couple of things to try if you ever feel like it -
A - try putting a traditional baking stone on a rack above where the pizza is cooking, I've found it helps give the top of the pie a better bake
B - if you feel like mucking with your dough even more, try replacing the sugar with honey, the oil with melted butter, and increasing the ratio of whole wheat flour. I've found that letting the flour hydrate (giving the dough a 10-30 minute rest just after it's come together, before kneading) helps a lot when using whole wheat.
Slowing down the rise of the heat in it's self makes for a better cooked pizza top, hmmm and it does make sense that a pizza stone or a pizza peel would do even better. The bigger the better.
So much research done so that we don't have to go through that ourselves! Thanks for all your good work, Charlie!
"Hey look they have something new called the Baking Steel Pro" lol Now I'm sold!
Just so you know... I've seen a TON of other duders doin pizza stuffs on here... but yer awesome. That said... continue with yer awesomeness 👊
Cool series. In November 2023, I started making pizza in my home oven. I'm going for Chicago thin crust style, not NY. As someone who used to order out for pizza at least once a week, I haven't ordered a pizza since. Well, when the warm weather arrived,the wife said "you're not going to be firing up the oven in the summer, are you?". Sounded like a green light for ordering a pizza oven. I now have a Gozney Roccbox, and a Gozney Arc XL. I'd recommend either one. Thd problem is, getting that thin and crispy crust doesn't work so well in these ovens, so now I'n tinkering with Neopolitan style. Oh, and when I started in the home oven, I used a steel, but I also put parchment paper between crust and steel. I noticed if I don't use parchment, it gets a bit too crispy. Cheers from Chicagoland.
This channel is going to hit it big
❤ this is an interesting recipe. Thank you for sharing! I never knew that New York style pizza tasted so good until I had a slice from a restaurant in Time Square. It’s a thin but not crusty and the cheese just melted in my mouth. Thank you for the recipe. I will make sure to try it.❤
Interesting to see you go through the learning experiences. Personally, I like a crispy crust on the bottom of the pizza, but I do not like it burnt. You gave me an idea to move the bricks I have in my oven lower. :)
TH-cam just recommended me this video. I love the production value and your approach, keep up the good work!
One trick to minimize the oil slick cheese separation is to freeze your cheese after you’ve shredded it. The cold cheese takes longer to melt, allowing the crust a head start on baking before the cheese hits the temp required to force separation.
I’ve been following for a few weeks now and you’re definitely the fastest growing TH-cam channel out rn I’m definitely a fan keep going
My best result using pizza steel is placing the pizza steel in the upper half of the oven, but instead of heating the oven using convential bake heating, use the broil or the top grill instead. The grill will heat the pizza steel to ensure it being hot to give a nice bottom crust and the direct heat from the topp grill to give a perfect top finish and crust.
Great stuff. A tip of you start buying bulk flour, buy an air tight dog food container - like the iris which has wheels. Helps that flour last much longer.
Best pizza content on TH-cam! Keep it up! I would love to see you tackle a Lucali style home pizza and dough at home!
The top heating element is for broiling. This does not turn on when you are baking. So the temp is always hottest at the bottom. Great Series! I'm going to give your crust a try.
Heat rises was probably his thinking, but I’d have to agree with you that it’ll still be hotter closer to the heat source.
I really appreciate this series. I've been on a pizza journey in the home oven for some time as well. My goal is thin & crispy, but still with some air in it. Instead of contrast, I'd like a more even greyish brown color to the bottom. As it happens, so far I got the best results with the pizza steel at about 2/3rds up high in the oven, so second to top rack. I did have to put the cheese on a little later to prevent grease spilling out. I'm thinking about moving the steel down 1 rack, so that there's more browning. Then I can throw it on the top rack to finish and slide in a new one on the steel.
For some reason my sourdough bread is easy for me. Making pizza dough and mastering it is a challenge . With mistakes along the way. Thank you for your dedication ❤
You can get a good base without a pizza stone. What i do is i preheat a frying pan with a lid and throw the pizza in there for a few minutes, that cooks the bottom and start on the top, once i start to get a crush going i take the pan and throw it in the oven, which i preheat to as high as it will go and leave it in for a another few minutes.
Pizza's i've made doing this have turned out great and avoids having to get a pizza stone
These videos have been great. Certainly appreciate the analytical manner in which each building block was approached. Any chance of a final video where you "bring it all together"? I feel like there are critical tidbits but they are scattered among 2-3 other posts.
Hats off to your research and experimental approach.. It was really really different from lots of copy pasted recipie videos !!! Superawesome
Very invested in this series can’t wait for you to make the perfect pizza definitely will have to try and replicate it
I've been binge watching your pizza videos. Amazing story telling and experimentation. Thanks for all the work you put into this, I know first-hand what that takes! I'd love to learn how you approach cooking multiple pizzas with one peel/oven/steel. Typically, I cook 2 pizzas every Friday, and the reheating of the steel/not being able to build the next pizza on the peel is a massive bottleneck. This is a problem when I have multiple people over as we ravenously look at the first cooked pizza while we wait for the next to cook, or I'm busy cooking the next one while we eat the first. Would love to hear your thoughts on this, or your general order of operations for cooking multiple pizzas efficiently at home, but maybe the answer is just buying another steel?
Thank you, I appreciate that! I'm not sure which steel you're using but I've actually found that with the baking steel pro, I don't need to wait for it to reheat between pizzas. It's thick enough that it retains enough heat, even after baking a pizza. So I can start building the next pizza as soon as I launch the first one.
Alternatively, you could bake as many pizzas in advance as you like, and then just reheat them by the slice before serving (I talked about reheating in the final recipe video: th-cam.com/video/vKppwbiqNK4/w-d-xo.html). You only need to reheat each slice for 60-90 seconds, and of course you can reheat several at once, so it's a pretty efficient way to serve multiple people quickly! So that would be my preferred option, since reheating makes for a better slice anyways.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Thanks Charlie! For some reason, I never considered reheating them - this is gold. I'm using the NerdChef 14X16. I can't tell you how helpful your channel has been for my pizza game.
This is such a good video wow. I have been making pizza for over 3 years at home now and have come to a lot of the same conclusions. One thing I'd add for the home pizza cook is if you want your cheese less obliterated try parbaking for 2 minutes or so and then adding the cheese and toppings. It will allow you to get a darker crust without separating your cheese. Great job. I may finally make the jump to high gluten
Your videos are super informed. As a fellow pizza enthusiast I’m very impressed! Will you upload at the end of your research a summary of the perfect way to make NY style pizza at home?
Yes there will definitely be a full recipe video at the end!
Throwing the 50lb bag of flour on the counter……. BOSS !!! 😂😂 I’m enjoying this series! Thank you…
You are a very determined guy, good for you and for us! Amazing!
videos just keep getting better man!
Praise the TH-cam algorithm. I’ve been looking for a video like this after moving to the Midwest. Thank you for creating this and keep it coming!
If you can try making Lucali style that would be great!
Also have you consider trying the recipes with a Breville Pizzalo? You won’t get the size of NY pizza, but you get the heat.
One small suggestion, please include the percentage if you want to use vital wheat gluten with bread flour.
I’ve been making bagels with vital wheat gluten and bread flour and it has done wonders.
Loving this series, and I’m looking forward to trying some of the dough recipes you came up with. But I still don’t think you’re getting the best bake. The steel gives off heat so quick, that I think you’ll always end up with more charring than caramelization. You say in a later video you’ll stick with 500°, and I think that’s the right choice.
I get good results from using two pizza stones in the same oven. I start the pie on a stone placed on an upper rack, and halfway through I finish it on a stone on a rack below. This lets the dough finish cooking without overcooking the cheese and toppings.
Thank you for this video. I've been thinking about getting a baking steel, and which one to get too. Now I'm for sure getting the Pro👌🏼 Looking forward to making za at home.
Charlie this video is going to crush it! Seriously you covered so much in just one video and really show the passion you have. Subscribed!!
Wow, great info. Learned a handful of useful things here. Appreciate your diligence.
Great job!!! I'm a long time active home pizza maker and even I didn't know about the oven calibration trick.
Next series: “The Grandma Slice” aka “The Square”.
Do. It. Charlie. 🙌 🤞🏾
If you don't have a pizza steel you can use an upside down cast iron pan to make little pizzas; it works great.
I can’t find if i commented this already, but try freezing the cheese for half and hour, preheating the steel on the bottom but then switching to second from the top and then using the broiler. Gives you everything
I followed you based on your "sarcasmic" antics!! Love it!!
Yes! I absolutely have achieved the best results with the steel. Before getting one I was using an old cast iron skillet which limited the size. And I put it at the very bottom of the oven. Not on the bottom rack, but the actual bottom floor of the oven. (At 500 degrees)
And to cheat on the sauce, I use “Don Pepinos” pizza sauce right out of the can.
Charlie, I am such a big fan. You seriously have some of the most throughly done and well-researched videos on TH-cam. Would you be willing to take a crack at NY style bagels? I’m a Jersey boy who just moved out to Colorado and I’ve tried so many different recipes from well-known TH-camrs and none have come close. I feel like your my last hope for a bagel that reminds me of home 😂
Haha yeah that seems like a good idea for a future series!
I am afraid the elevation won't allow success. I've heard this from other NJ natives who moved away.
NY pizza places throw a little corn meal on the stones just as they slide the pizza into the oven - probably so that it slides nice and doesn’t stick - but it also gives it that distinctive taste and smell that we love.
Excellent content. Please keep it up. Most people don't understand my passion for constantly trying different things to make a perfect pie at home. You however do get it. Looking forward to your next vids.
Also, I know you are into the steel, and to be honest I have not tried cooking on a steel and am curious about it. However, I do have a commercial grade baking stone from FibraMent that I have made countless baked goods and pizzas on.
I can get extremely good spotting on the bottom of the crust. Also I have found 2nd rack from the top in my home gas oven, baked around 495 degrees with a second stage 1 minute hi broil to finish will give that perfect carmelization of the sugars in the crust you are after.
My oven will go much hotter, but heat is not the answer here. Patience is. I have a different 1000 oven that will spit out pizzas fast...but New York pies do best at around a 8 minute bake time right around 500 degrees.
Ran a pizza shop and had made pizza before that. Not stretching the middle or the crust is the key but also not compressing the crust when stretching the inner edge. Knocking off flour is less important as it essentially happens organically. Just dont over flour the dough ball and your good 👍