Trying to figure out if what is in the fields where I live is wheat or barley and making 5 test hybrid Reinhart dough balls and taking pH of preferment part of Lehmann dough..6/17/2011

This post is to clarify about what I thought was wheat in the pictures in Reply 89  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13668.msg142766.html#msg142766
I first stopped at an Amish farm this afternoon and asked an Amish lady and her son what was growing in the fields near their house.  Neither of them knew.  I thought I was dumb, because I didn’t know, but for Amish not to know was a surprise to me.  The fields of what I thought was wheat weren’t near the Amish farm.  I then stopped at Hodecker’s farm (where they grow and sell celery).  The field across from their home, that I thought was wheat, was barley the lady said.  The lady told me the fields on the side of the road where their home is are winter wheat.  I asked the lady if I could buy some of the winter wheat to try, but she said all of it is sold to the combines. She said in a couple of weeks the combines will come and maybe I can get some wheat from the combine drivers.  She had a small box of wheat on her porch, that she said was for Vacation Bible School, but gave me one little piece.  I now know  that side of the road is where all the wheat is.  I still am confused about what is wheat and what is barley, because they look the same to me.

These pictures are the one piece of wheat, the wheat fields, and other fields of I don't know what.  I really can’t tell, unless a farmer tells me which is wheat and which is barley.

I also made 5 test hybrid Reinhart dough balls to try at market Tuesday.  John (fazzari) at pizzamaking.com was testing his hybrid Reinhart pizzas and they sure looked good to me.  I would like to be able to make this dough and pizzas for market, but only time will tell if that will be possible or not.

Also, if anyone is interested, some of the pictures are at the Amish farm I stopped to ask questions.  I love to see how the Amish put their wash to dry on a pulley system.  I think it really looks cool.  I hang all my wash out when the weather isn't too cold, but I sure don't have as much wash as Amish people do.

Norma

Wow, what a busy day!..I think I am tired..too much work to do and not enough making pizza 6/18/2011

Wow, it is supposed to be “summer time and the living is easy”.  It sure hasn’t been working that way for me..lol  I have so many things to paint, repair, and generally get finished outside, it seems never ending.  I planned on mowing and weed wacking my yard this morning and wouldn’t you know it, the mower wouldn’t start.  Well, get the tools out take the air cleaner off, take the spark plug out and also remove the carburetor cover.  Even tired spray to make the engine start in the carburetor. Well, none of those things worked, so it was up to my trusty hardware store to ask some questions.  I ended up with a new spark plug and put it in the mower, but that still didn’t work.  I guess my points on my mower are bad and I sure can’t fix them.  I paid a neighbor to then mow my yard and I weed wacked.  Then it was off to sanding and painting.  When I had some of that finished, I took my granddaughter to work, because her boyfriend was working and they only have one car.  Back to the sanding and painting more.  Pulling weeks and planting more tomato plants and generally doing more stuff in the yard.  Hopefully in the next week or two I will get everything outside done, except for mowing, weed wacking, and taking care of my garden, herbs, and tomatoes.  

Tomorrow I want to paint more and try to get my Weber Grill cleaned up.  I will see if I can accomplish all that, plus go get groceries and water.  No time for me to make pizza at home right now, but that will change when I get all the other stuff done.  I still didn’t do my spring cleaning or wash all my windows, but did start somewhat.  I enjoy working outside, but all this extra work can be tiring.  I do take a few breaks though.  Some of my tomato plants are getting so big, that they are almost as tall as I am.  Hopefully that means a lot of Les’s sauce for this summer and winter.

I had homemade vegetable soup for dinner tonight.  It was yummy!

Norma

Steve, my pizza making "buddy" found me a 22.5" Weber Grill, that we are going to try and convert into a Pizza Oven! :)

I have been looking on Craig’s list for awhile to find a Weber grill to try and turn into a pizza oven.  Every time I tried to contact someone, another  person had already bought the Weber grills.  Steve was going somewhere on Saturday and saw a Weber Grill at a garage sale.  He called me and asked me if I wanted it for 20.00.  I said yes, I did want the Weber Grill.

I have been trying to learn how Pizza Hacker’s grill is modified and Steve and I both thought it looked like a good way to modify the Weber Grill I now have.  We are both undecided though if this is the best approach to modify my Weber Grill.

I have researched maybe how this Weber Grill can be converted into a Pizza Oven.  I have also posted a thread on pizzamaking.com to see if any members have better ideas for my Weber Grill to be converted.  Members on pizzamaking.com have made so many mods before on ovens, grills, and their own WFO's.

Hopefully I will be able to convert the Weber Grill into something that will work for a Pizza Oven.  My "buddy" Steve said he would have me with the modifications.

Thanks Steve and the members at pizzamaking.com! :)

I am going to clean up the Weber Grill this weekend.  Maybe if the Weber Grill can be converted into a pizza oven, I might try to go to events like festivals or fairs.

Norma

John’s Hybrid Reinhart Dough Pizza, Made in the UBM (circa 1904) 6/14/2011

This is how John"s hybrid formula mixed in the UBM and fermented for 11 days looked, when made 6/14/2011.  The reball was done 1 day before the baked.  This pie turned out very good, but I made a mistake in flouring the dough ball before the bake.  We were busy yesterday, since it is now almost summer, I was in a hurry more than usual, because I had to keep baking other pies.  I only floured the top and the bottom of the dough ball with a little flour.  I should have put the dough ball in my flour container and floured it more, because I could see it was a little sticky coming out of the plastic container. This dough was very easy to open. I also took longer to apply the toppings since I had to wait on some customers.  Steve and I then applied the toppings, but by that time the dough was starting to stick on the peel.  When the pie was slide into the oven it stuck on one place.  That is why the pie isn’t perfectly round.

This pie had great oven spring, a moist rim, and a fantastic taste in the crust.  The dressings used for this pizza were, my regular sauce, spinach put under the cheeses, (my blend of mozzarellas, Montena/Toranto Fresh Mozzarella cheese, and a blend of cheese Steve gave me) and grape tomatoes.

Norma

Preferment Lehmann Dough Pizzas 6/14/2011

Even though I didn’t get a chance to take all the pH readings I wanted to, it seemed like the pizzas turned out well yesterday with letting the preferment ferment 15 minutes more.  They did brown well in my opinion.  I didn’t have time to get a lot of crumb shots because we were busy.

These are pictures of some of the pizzas baked 6/14/2011.

Norma