Best attempt at a Mack's Pizza

I went to Walmart and purchased two cans of Great Value Crushed Tomatoes, and two cans of Great Value Tomato Paste,  I also purchased the Cracker Barrel Vermont Sharp-White Cheddar.  I was only going to use one can of the crushed tomatoes and one can of the tomato paste for the pizza sauce, in addition to some other ingredients.  I am going to use Peter's formulation at Reply 307 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=9068.msg99472#msg99472 

KABF/VWG Blend* (100%): Water (55%): IDY (0.20%): Salt (2%): Olive Oil (5%): Sugar (1.5%): Total (163.7%):

367.32 g  |  12.96 oz | 0.81 lbs 202.03 g  |  7.13 oz | 0.45 lbs 0.73 g | 0.03 oz | 0 lbs | 0.24 tsp | 0.08 tbsp 7.35 g | 0.26 oz | 0.02 lbs | 1.32 tsp | 0.44 tbsp 18.37 g | 0.65 oz | 0.04 lbs | 4.08 tsp | 1.36 tbsp 5.51 g | 0.19 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.38 tsp | 0.46 tbsp 601.3 g | 21.21 oz | 1.33 lbs | TF = N/A

I took the Cracker Barrel Vermont Sharp-White cheddar over to market.  It is the same color as the cheddar I use at market.  I tasted the Vermont Sharp-White cheddar in comparison with the cheddar I use.  They both tasted the same, but the cheddar I use is a little softer when it is touched.  The Vermont Sharp-White cheddar was shredded in the Pelican head so it would be the same as the cheddar I normally use. 

This was the Mack's attempted dough using Peter's formulation and the pizza sauce from the Great Value Tomato products.  The olive oil was mixed in with the water because the olive oil was 5% of the total formulation.  The flat beater on the Kitchen Aid mixer was used first until the oil looked incorporated.  Then the spiral dough hook was used on speed one, and the dough was mixed for 10 minutes.  The final dough temperature was 82 degrees F.  I used regular room temperature water.  I had wanted to mix the dough yesterday, or this morning, but there were too many other things to do. 

The MAE method was used for the olive oil, oregano, Italian seasoning, crushed garlic and red pepper flakes.  To the two Great Value products, with the ingredients that were microwaved, (using the MAE method) more oregano, Italian seasonings, sugar, Kosher salt, and a little more red pepper flakes were added.  I added a little more sugar than I normally do because the sauce didn't taste as sweet as the one for market does.  Parmesan cheese was added last and then was stirred. 

 

Peter's Mack's clone dough worked perfectly to make a Mack's pizza.  Thanks Peter!  The two Walmart products also make a good Mack's clone sauce and the Cracker Barrel Vermont Sharp-White cheddar was a good choice for a Mack's clone pizza.  What more could I ask for today.    Now I am debating with myself if I want to use Peter' formulation with my flour for my regular boardwalk style doughs.

The dough ball sat out longer than I wanted but it worked out well.  A little water had to be added to the Walmart tomato products.

A regular customer of mine came by and is used to my regular boardwalk style pizzas.  He did purchase some slices of the regular boardwalk style pizzas.  He said he had been to Manco and Manco lately and his friend told him he had to try Manco and Manco's pizza because they were the best pizzas.  The regular customer told me there was nothing special about Manco and Manco's pizza.  I had thought I saw on videos at Manco and Manco that they only put the cheese down first and then the spiral of sauce, but then no second layer of cheese was added.  The customer told me they don't put down a second layer of cheese on their pies, and the sauce it too much in places, and not enough in other places.  I wonder when that changed.  I then got the customer to try a slice of the Mack's clone.  He said it was much better than Manco and Manco pizzas.

                                      

Two videos of me trying to toss and twirl Peter's dough formulation.  I sure can't toss and twirl the dough right, but the dough was very strong.  If someone knew how to toss and twirl they could have done a much better job that I did.  For the first video a customer came to purchase some pizza and then my granddaughter had to stop taking the video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq-FbyRjHhg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cPQOAfYlRQ

Norma

Tomato Pie Crust made with Central Milling Diastatic Malt..Recommended by Tony Gemignani

The second experiment of the boardwalk style dough with the Central Milling low moisture diastatic malt at 2% went well.   The rim crust was a lot airer and moister when adding the diastatic malt.  I only had one slice, and not until it cooled down, because it was the last boardwalk style pizza of the night.  I had ran out of boardwalk style dough balls because so many customers were purchasing whole pies around suppertime yesterday and into the evening.  I had 4 more customers that wanted whole pies but could not make them for my customers.  I can never predict how much dough to make at market.  Last week I had a lot of dough balls left (both boardwalk style and Detroit style).  My granddaughter had stopped at market after work and she ate one slice.  She also said the pizza crust was very good from using the malt and she preferred that slice over my regular boardwalk style slices.

The dough ball opened up very easily.  I did not have time to take photos of the poppy seed spacings were when the dough ball had warmed up.  The photos of the dough ball with the poppy seed spacings were taken right after it was removed from the prep fridge.  

A man and wife that are regular customers of mine I told the dough for the pizza was an experimental dough because I ran out of dough balls. They both wanted to try the pizza.  They both said they thought the pizza with the malt is better in the taste of the crust and they both liked how moist and airy the rim crust was.  As soon as the woman tasted a slice she ordered another slice.  The man also makes pizza and he asks me different times about making doughs and pizzas.  He also has a BS.  He also liked the pizza slice with the malt better.

I didn't want to fool around more than I had to in taking photos of the crumb when it was cut on the freshly baked pizza because I knew I would be selling the rest of the pizza.  I did take more photos of my slice after I was finished waiting on customers.  As can be seen in the photos the rim crust was very moist.  Most of the photos that are of the rim crust do show the true colors of the rim crust because they were taken closer.  The photo of the whole pizza in the oven also shows the true color of the rim crust.  The only thing I am not sure about is if the bottom crust is as crispy as my normal crust.  Until I had time to try my slice it was still good, but not as crispy as my regular boardwalk style slices.  I did not reheat my slice because I still had to finish the Sicilian pie.

Norma

9/8/2014 Frank Giaquinto came to visit my pizza stand again. What an expert pizza maker!! :)

Frank was at market for awhile this afternoon. Frank let me take five videos.

Frank made his own dough by hand mixing. I never saw dough act so beautifully when opening a dough ball and tossing the skin. The final pizzas were very good and the best NY style pizzas I have ever tasted. I asked Frank what kind of flour he used to make his dough. Frank uses AP flour right from the supermarket. The crusts were so tender that they melted right in my mouth. I was surprised at the weight of Frank's dough balls for a big pizza. The one photo is of one of Frank's dough balls on the regular scale at market. Frank gave me that dough ball to try tomorrow.

Frank made a baked Ziti pizza and a regular cheese pizza today. For the baked ziti pizza Frank used his wifes sauce, Ricotta cheese and Provolone cheese. For the cheese pizza Frank used my regular market sauce and the Sartori mozzarella with a little bit of cheddar blended. The taste of the baked ziti pizza and the regular cheese pizza were excellent. The photos of the rim crusts were really a little darker than they really looked (from the photos being taken with out a lot of lighting).

Frank also brought me two slices of a taco pizza he made at Mick's last evening.

All the time I fuss with doing experiments with dough and I sure don't know why I do that after tasting Franks pizzas today. Frank's crusts are a lot better than mine. Frank sure knows what he is doing when it comes to NY style pizzas.

I made Frank a Detroit style pizza today out of a 12.1 ounces dough ball that had been frozen and defrosted today. I was surprised that the Detroit style pizza with a higher dough ball weight turned out as good as it did. I did not have any Detroit style dough frozen that weighed 9.5 ounces. Frank said he really likes how fluffy the crumb is of the Detroit style pizzas.

I probably will only be able to upload a couple of the videos tonight. I still can not believe the little bit of flour that Frank uses to open a dough ball and to flour the peel. Frank opened a dough ball with oil today and one with just flour.

Norma