Watery Chicago Pizza?

On 12 Apr 2004 19:22:54 -0700, [email hidden] (Alex

R.) said:

I have just tried for the 3rd time the oft-quoted
Chicago Pizza Recipe found here and elsewhere and still
am having trouble. Each time i make it, i use the
regular "low moisture" mozzarella (have tried block,
sliced and shredded) well-drained crushed/diced tomatoes
and equally well-drained toppings (so far no veggies,
only sausage and pepperoni) Every time it comes out
though i have a puddle of water forming under the crust
and the crust is soggy.

I know this moisture must come from the massive amount of
cheese required by a proper Chicago pizza but how do I
get rid of it? Is there a good way of dehydrating the
cheese partially? could I put it out on a baking sheet in
the open air for a day? wrap it in paper towel and put it
in the fridge? Something to reduce the moisture contained
inside.

The resulting pizza is not only soggy but the cheese
becomes stringy instead of a creamy and melted as it
is in a professional pizza. I look forward to all of
your help!

Please email me a reply as i do not get on here often
enough!

[email hidden]

Have you tried baking it on tiles or a pizza stone? What
temperature is your oven?

<posted and sent>

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

"sf" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 12 Apr 2004 19:22:54 -0700, [email hidden] (Alex

R.) said:

I have just tried for the 3rd time the oft-quoted
Chicago Pizza Recipe found here and elsewhere and still
am having trouble. Each time i make it, i use the
regular "low moisture" mozzarella (have tried block,
sliced and shredded) well-drained crushed/diced
tomatoes and equally well-drained toppings (so far no
veggies, only sausage and pepperoni) Every time it
comes out though i have a puddle of water forming under
the crust and the crust is soggy.

I know this moisture must come from the massive amount
of cheese required by a proper Chicago pizza but how do
I get rid of it? Is there a good way of dehydrating the
cheese partially? could I put it out on a baking sheet
in the open air for a day? wrap it in paper towel and
put it in the fridge? Something to reduce the moisture
contained inside.

The resulting pizza is not only soggy but the cheese
becomes stringy instead of a creamy and melted as it is
in a professional pizza. I look forward to all of your
help!

Please email me a reply as i do not get on here often
enough!

[email hidden]

Have you tried baking it on tiles or a pizza stone? What
temperature is your oven?

<posted and sent>

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

I was thinking that perhaps the OP wasn't using a high
quality cheese...

kili

kilikini said:

I was thinking that perhaps the OP wasn't using a high
quality cheese...

It would have to be pretty bad to do that! What would happen
to fresh mozzerella if moisture was an issue? I don't worry
about "quality", use the store brand a lot... and have never
even remotely had an issue like that.

<S>

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

sf said:

On 12 Apr 2004 19:22:54 -0700, [email hidden] (Alex

R.) said:

I have just tried for the 3rd time the oft-quoted
Chicago Pizza Recipe found here and elsewhere and still
am having trouble. Each time i make it, i use the
regular "low moisture" mozzarella (have tried block,
sliced and shredded) well-drained crushed/diced tomatoes
and equally well-drained toppings (so far no veggies,
only sausage and pepperoni) Every time it comes out
though i have a puddle of water forming under the crust
and the crust is soggy.

I know this moisture must come from the massive amount
of cheese required by a proper Chicago pizza but how do
I get rid of it? Is there a good way of dehydrating the
cheese partially? could I put it out on a baking sheet
in the open air for a day? wrap it in paper towel and
put it in the fridge? Something to reduce the moisture
contained inside.

The resulting pizza is not only soggy but the cheese
becomes stringy instead of a creamy and melted as it
is in a professional pizza. I look forward to all of
your help!

Please email me a reply as i do not get on here often
enough!

[email hidden]

Have you tried baking it on tiles or a pizza stone? What
temperature is your oven?

Chicago style pizza can't really be baked on a traditional
pizza stone. The signature Chicago-style pizza is a deep
dish pan pizza.

-sw

Alex R. said:

I have just tried for the 3rd time the oft-quoted Chicago
Pizza Recipe found here and elsewhere and still am having
trouble. Each time i make it, i use the regular "low
moisture" mozzarella (have tried block, sliced and
shredded) well-drained crushed/diced tomatoes and equally
well-drained toppings (so far no veggies, only sausage and
pepperoni) Every time it comes out though i have a puddle
of water forming under the crust and the crust is soggy.

since i've still got peter reinhart's "american pie" out
from the library, i can tell you what he that he bakes the
dough in the pan for 3-4 minutes before, letting cool for 5
minutes, adding mozzarella cheese as the first layer, then
crushed tomato sauce, etc. etc. etc.

i haven't seen that before, though most people seem to use a
cheese-first layering for deep dish. i think that is
supposed to help seal the crust.

fwiw ... great book:

amazon.comamazon.comOpen ↗
/1580084222/103-9757542-2087063

(funny, my library copy has a pizza on the cover with eggs
as a topping. it looks like they were broken onto the
pizza and cooked in place. but the book never mentions
eggs as a topping. i see that the book at amazon has a
different cover.)

Steve Wertz said:

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 03:18:37 GMT, sf
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Have you tried baking it on tiles or a pizza stone? What
temperature is your oven?

Chicago style pizza can't really be baked on a traditional
pizza stone. The signature Chicago-style pizza is a deep
dish pan pizza.

a lot of people do pan-on-stone to try to get a heat-rush to
the crust.

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:13:03 -0700, Socks <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Steve Wertz said:

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 03:18:37 GMT, sf
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Have you tried baking it on tiles or a pizza stone? What
temperature is your oven?

Chicago style pizza can't really be baked on a
traditional pizza stone. The signature Chicago-style
pizza is a deep dish pan pizza.

a lot of people do pan-on-stone to try to get a heat-rush
to the crust.

Did think about that possibility. That would seem to work
since the stone retains heat better than air.

-sw

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Alex R.) said:

I have just tried for the 3rd time the oft-quoted Chicago
Pizza Recipe found here and elsewhere and still am having
trouble. Each time i make it, i use the regular "low
moisture" mozzarella (have tried block, sliced and
shredded) well-drained crushed/diced tomatoes and equally
well-drained toppings (so far no veggies, only sausage and
pepperoni) Every time it comes out though i have a puddle
of water forming under the crust and the crust is soggy.

Haven't seen the recipe myself, but how much tomato are you
using? You should only use about 1-1/2 ounces.

Are you using a pizza stone or unglazed tiles? A good stone
will absorb moisture.

--
to respond, change "spamless.invalid" with "optonline.net"
please mail OT responses only

All Chicago deep dish pizza's are fairly wet when they
come out of the oven. Having eaten many of them in
Chicago, one always has to wait after it comes out of the
oven for sometimes 10-20 minutes for it to dry out before
they will serve it.

Pies are always done in a deep dish pan.

Cheese is always put on first, then the toppings.

They are baked in a fairly hot oven, over 400 degrees and
most likly much higher in the commercial ovens.

I've also had them delivered and if the delivery person is
not cautious, I've had to send them back because all the
ingredients were globbed to one end. They are packed out of
the oven and should dry on the trip to the customer IF they
are kept flat. IF not, then the ingredients will run from
the wettness.

So, I don't know that you are doing anything wrong except to
wait about 20 minutes with the pizza in the pan and use the
cheese first. This may solve your problem.

Mine also come out wet and it crisps up and dries out after
about 20 minutes. Use a natural softer mozarella cheese.
Some are harder that others. I've also mixed in some good
swiss like Ementhaler (sp) etc to give the cheese a more
rich taste. Low moisture will not melt correctly.

A softer natural one will have a more oily form and will be
stringy. Chicago pizzas are not like a regular pizza in the
way the cheese presents itself. It is usually slippery,
gooey, and would look like a taffy pull if you tried to just
pull a piece of it into two pieces instead of cutting it.

Hope this is of some help.

J
--------------------------------------------------------
"Alex R." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have just tried for the 3rd time the oft-quoted Chicago
Pizza Recipe found here and elsewhere and still am having
trouble. Each time i make it, i use the regular "low
moisture" mozzarella (have tried block, sliced and
shredded) well-drained crushed/diced tomatoes and equally
well-drained toppings (so far no veggies, only sausage and
pepperoni) Every time it comes out though i have a puddle
of water forming under the crust and the crust is soggy.

I know this moisture must come from the massive amount
of cheese required by a proper Chicago pizza but how do
I get rid of it? Is there a good way of dehydrating the
cheese partially? could I put it out on a baking sheet
in the open air for a day? wrap it in paper towel and
put it in the fridge? Something to reduce the moisture
contained inside.

The resulting pizza is not only soggy but the cheese
becomes stringy instead of a creamy and melted as it is in
a professional pizza. I look forward to all of your help!

Please email me a reply as i do not get on here
often enough!

[email hidden]

Alex R. said:

I have just tried for the 3rd time the oft-quoted Chicago
Pizza Recipe found here and elsewhere and still am having
trouble. Each time i make it, i use the regular "low
moisture" mozzarella (have tried block, sliced and
shredded) well-drained crushed/diced tomatoes and equally
well-drained toppings (so far no veggies, only sausage and
pepperoni) Every time it comes out though i have a puddle
of water forming under the crust and the crust is soggy.

I see a few things that could cause problems.

- too much sauce (this is usually what craters my pizzas
when they crater)
- uncooked meats
- cheese. Try a 50/50 split of whole milk mozarella and
provolone.

Quoted message said:

The resulting pizza is not only soggy but the cheese
becomes stringy instead of a creamy and melted as it is in
a professional pizza. I look forward to all of your help!

Try the mozarella/provolone mix. That's what the pros do. By
and large.

--
-Brian James Macke [email hidden] "In order to get
that which you wish for, you must first get that which
builds it." -- Unknown

Steve Wertz said:

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 03:18:37 GMT, sf

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The resulting pizza is not only soggy but the cheese
becomes stringy instead of a creamy and melted as it
is in a professional pizza. I look forward to all of
your help!

Please email me a reply as i do not get on here often
enough!

[email hidden]

Have you tried baking it on tiles or a pizza stone? What
temperature is your oven?

Chicago style pizza can't really be baked on a
traditional pizza stone. The signature Chicago-style
pizza is a deep dish pan pizza.

Ooops, you're absolutely right! I made a standard reply
about "regular" pizza. My bad.

I've only made a deep dish pizza once and it was a long ime
ago. Mine didn't turn out like that - so I still wonder if
the actual cooking temperature was a factor.

I made mine many years ago after watching someone with the
stature of (if it wasn't) James Beard make one on TV. The
only thing I remember which was unusual - is that he (and I)
used a caste iron skillet. The crust came out just fine as
did the filling. I don't remember if the skillet was
preheated or not.

Although it was technically successful, I didn't continue
making it at home. There are items I'd rather order out and
that's one.

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

sf said:

Steve Wertz said:

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 03:18:37 GMT, sf

Quoted message said:

>
> The resulting pizza is not only soggy but the cheese
> becomes stringy instead of a creamy and melted as it
> is in a professional pizza. I look forward to all of
> your help!
>
> Please email me a reply as i do not get on here
> often enough!

Nah. I try not to give out my e-mail address to
strangers...too much span, you know.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>
> [email hidden]

HAH! especially not to a hotmail account! Nothing personal.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Have you tried baking it on tiles or a pizza stone?
What temperature is your oven?

Chicago style pizza can't really be baked on a
traditional pizza stone. The signature Chicago-style
pizza is a deep dish pan pizza.

Ooops, you're absolutely right! I made a standard reply
about "regular" pizza. My bad.

I've only made a deep dish pizza once and it was a long
ime ago. Mine didn't turn out like that - so I still
wonder if the actual cooking temperature was a factor.

I made mine many years ago after watching someone with the
stature of (if it wasn't) James Beard make one on TV. The
only thing I remember which was unusual - is that he (and
I) used a caste iron skillet. The crust came out just fine
as did the filling. I don't remember if the skillet was
preheated or not.

Someone here in rfc-land has posted about making deep dish
pizzas, with a link to pictures too, in a cast iron
skillet (Gar?) and I tried it with mixed results. I have
since bought a deep-dish pizza stone, but haven't tried it
*yet* but since I'm getting much better results with
pizzas in my Kamado, I see a deep dish (lightly smoked)
pizza in the future.

BOB

" BOB" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Someone here in rfc-land has posted about making deep dish
pizzas, with a link to pictures too, in a cast iron
skillet (Gar?) and I tried it with mixed results. I have
since bought a deep-dish pizza stone, but haven't tried it
*yet* but since I'm getting much better results with
pizzas in my Kamado, I see a deep dish (lightly smoked)
pizza in the future.

BOB

That sheet metal deep dish pizza pan with the large holes in
the bottom works wrll on crispening the crust (well at least
on my generic bbq).

I say sheet metal cause I'm not sure what it's made of.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on
nothing but food and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

Thanks to all who responded i have various new things to try
out and see if it helps. I think a combination of a
provolone and mozz. as well as letting it sit to re-absorb
some moisture will do the trick.

Stones don't really apply here as it is cooked in a deep
dish pan, but maybe i will try it and see if the heated
stone tranfers heat more effectively through the aluminum.

I appreciate the help and will be sure to report my
findings!

Alex

[email hidden] (Alex R.) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I have just tried for the 3rd time the oft-quoted Chicago
Pizza Recipe found here and elsewhere and still am having
trouble. Each time i make it, i use the regular "low
moisture" mozzarella (have tried block, sliced and
shredded) well-drained crushed/diced tomatoes and equally
well-drained toppings (so far no veggies, only sausage and
pepperoni) Every time it comes out though i have a puddle
of water forming under the crust and the crust is soggy.

I know this moisture must come from the massive amount
of cheese required by a proper Chicago pizza but how do
I get rid of it? Is there a good way of dehydrating the
cheese partially? could I put it out on a baking sheet
in the open air for a day? wrap it in paper towel and
put it in the fridge? Something to reduce the moisture
contained inside.

The resulting pizza is not only soggy but the cheese
becomes stringy instead of a creamy and melted as it is in
a professional pizza. I look forward to all of your help!

Please email me a reply as i do not get on here
often enough!

[email hidden]