The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on October 23, 2009, 01:31:50 PM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x70161
Oh my.
The syringe primitive:
Syrinx (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-23-09 06:56 AM
Original message
I finally got a pizza crust to be decent; now about the cheese...
How do you get the mozzarella to be delightfully chewy and stringy?
I'm not sure if I express that right. But I like it when the cheese stretches across the room when you bite it.
Does it have to be the "fresh" kind of mozzarella? Or merely not "part skim?"
The regular stuff I buy at the mega-mart seems kind of flat. Is this based on ingredient selection, or more on something I'm doing wrong in the preparation?
The Leon primitive:
trotsky (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-23-09 08:36 AM
Response to Original message
1. I think it's the anti-caking agent they put in most store-bought shredded cheese.
I don't think you need to go all the way to that fresh mozzarella sold in water, but I do think you may have better luck if you buy some "solid" stuff and shred it yourself.
The hypochondrial primitive:
mopinko (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-23-09 08:45 AM
Response to Original message
2. quattro fromaggio
not the secret you were looking for, exactly, which i think is to buy a block of good mozzarella and shred it yourself. but my favorite pizza is a very authentic italian from my favorite brick oven place that is quattro. they use mozz., fontina, Parmesan & provolone. mmmmmmm.
http://www.unionevanston.com/index.html
The imperious primitive:
The empressof all (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-23-09 11:45 AM
Response to Original message
3. Use a mozzarella made with whole milk
The fattier the cheese the more it will pull and "string". For commercial brands...Polly O isn't bad. You'll need to shred it yourself but that's easy...I think the commercial type of cheese is more of what you are looking for. The fresher cheese sold in water has a far lower salt content and is softer with a different bite. It won't give you that same kind of taste that you'd get in a Pizzeria type of pie.
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Mozzarella in water is fresh or buffalo mozzarella.
Different consistency than mozzarella used on pizza.
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The secret to perfect pizza is to dial the Pizza Hut number and order a large pan pizza. It entirely escapes me why anyone would even consider making their own, because there's no way it could be nearly as good. I guess they have to use their "pizza stone".
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The secret to perfect pizza is to dial the Pizza Hut number and order a large pan pizza. It entirely escapes me why anyone would even consider making their own, because there's no way it could be nearly as good. I guess they have to use their "pizza stone".
Domino's is better here.
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Domino's is better here.
When we had a franchise in the area (three miles away), Papa John's was the best.
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Domino's is better here.
Ick. Domino's is nice on the second day, but I'm not waiting 12 hours for decent pizza. Papa John's is okay, but I usually stick with Pizza Hut's hand-tossed (sometimes pan pizza). Not much else around here if you're picky about pizza, other than Roma's.
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Ick. Domino's is nice on the second day, but I'm not waiting 12 hours for decent pizza. Papa John's is okay, but I usually stick with Pizza Hut's hand-tossed (sometimes pan pizza). Not much else around here if you're picky about pizza, other than Roma's.
There's a credit card commercial that's been playing a bit lately--AmEx, maybe--which shows a pizza chef (anyone who displays this ability has to be called a "chef," IMO) tossing an unbaked crust into the air and catching it--behind his back, even, multiple times. I don't care if it's just a commercial--doing what that guy does takes serious talent. If someone like that puts that much effort into the crust of the pizza, you know that he's going to put effort into the ingredients.
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:rofl:
I worked at a place that put an emphasis on "showmanship" in the kitchen. It was an open floor plan with the kitchen in the middle of the restaurant where everyone could watch what you were doing. The easiest way to learn to toss a pizza crust is with a kitchen towel. It's nice if you have the extra time and don't have eleventy billion pizzas to make. Ditto for the sautee and grill (lots of flaming pans and squirt bottles filled with melted butter). The bartenders were encouraged to light bottles of Bacardi 151 and juggle them.
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When we had a franchise in the area (three miles away), Papa John's was the best.
:exactly: Papa John's is by far the best of the chain pizza here.
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Mozzarella is cheese by definition only in my book...sharp or extra sharp chedder is the thing to have if making your own.
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Mozzarella is cheese by definition only in my book...sharp or extra sharp chedder is the thing to have if making your own.
New York State Extra Sharp cheddar is awesome. We'll have it, with pepperoni, at deer camp as a "snack" before dinner (usually venison) is ready. We'll also have it after dinner, while the poker game is rolling.
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To me, Papa John's pizza tastes like they add a cup of sugar to every pie. Way too sweet.
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I agree... the dough is too sweet. It does hold up better overnight than P-H does, and they have that tasty garlic butter sauce.
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To me, Papa John's pizza tastes like they add a cup of sugar to every pie. Way too sweet.
I've never noticed the sweetness before.
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I remember a grocery store selling frozen pizza's.
They were huge square pizza's and there were 2 of them, for like $5.
Haven't seen those in a while.
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The secret to perfect pizza is to dial the Pizza Hut number and order a large pan pizza. It entirely escapes me why anyone would even consider making their own, because there's no way it could be nearly as good. I guess they have to use their "pizza stone".
We make our own almost all the time now. It's more work of course, but much better tasting. The two keys are a very simple thin crust dough recipe and whole milk mozzarella. That's what the dummy needs, the whole milk stuff. Unfortunately, it only comes in the little blocks that require a minimum of work to shred or slice which is probably far too much work for a dummy.
We don't use a pizza stone though. We just use two cheap thin pizza pans, not unlike the thin crust pans they use at Pizza Hut. The pizza stones are a bit pretentious, which is perfect for a dummy; a yearn for style with no substance.
Part of the reason we make it is cost. We just cannot afford to eat out any more. It would be nice if we could order out when we want pizza, but at least we have the option of making them exactly like we want.