Made two more pizzas last night and they actually looked like "real" pizzas and not "mutants", lol. I used lots of cornmeal so it didn't stick to the pizza peel. The amount of time needed to make the pizza is also getting shorter and this can become another quick and cheap meal option.
The photo above was my second pizza and it is already kind of dried up. The flour and cornmeal are still making it a little messy to clean up. Overall, I am still happy at the way things turned out again. It is definitely an improvement from my version 1.0 pizza and the kids are really having fun making fun of my cooking. Having some fun with the kids, that is what really matters.
I did my Pizza Version 1.1 for dinner tonight- two 12" pizzas. "Not bad," my wife said. I learned my lesson last week and used a lot more flour and cornmeal. With the cornmeal, the pizza didn't stick to the peel this time and it worked out much better.
The pizza dough was from Trader Joe's and I even baked some bread sticks with a garlic/spice dough. Overall, I am very happy the way things turned out today.
Oh, I still couldn't figure out how to use the fancy digital timer on the Dacor oven. Okay, plans for version 1.2 for next week:
adding some herbs and garlic to the pizza sauce.
I read somewhere you are suppose to poke the dough with a fork to get rid of bubbles. My second pizza tonight had a very large bubble. It was the size of a baseball!
My latest quest in life is to learn how to make a pizza from scratch. As with any tasks in life you must have the right tools and Amazon.com definitely has got my vote for the place to purchase all the required gadgets to make a pizza from scratch. Here is my list:
pizza stone or pizza pan is a must. I purchased a cast iron pizza pan.
a pizza peel to transfer the pizza
a pizza wheel cutter
a silicon mat to roll out the dough.
Well, I kind of cheated for my Pizza 1.0 version. I purchased a ready made pizza dough from WinCo Foods. After reading about 20 variations on dough recipes on the Internet, I think I may have to stick with ready made dough.
Once I have the pizza dough, pizza sauce, and some cheese, I thought to myself how hard can it be? Just put the pizza in the oven and a few minutes later, it is ready to eat. Actually, it was a lot harder than I thought. My version 1.0 pizza bombed. While trying to place the pizza on my new cast iron pizza pan, the dough stuck to the peel and didn't want to slide off. I tried desperately to keep the circular shape as I tucked and pushed on the pizza. The pizza kind of flopped upside down on the pan preheated to 425 degrees.
The end result was still edible, well, kind of, just a small portion of it. My kids ate 2 small pieces and the rest I had to trash. I was just too embarrassed for anyone else to see it. It was one ugly looking pizza. It was all twisted and looked liked a mutated tumor.
Version 1.1 of the pizza is coming this week, and I am planning some adjustment:
I got to get some cornmeal. I read that is the thing to use to prevent the pizza from sticking to the peel.
I am going to cook 2 small pizzas instead of one large one. In case I mess up the first small one, I still can try to make another.
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