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Cast Iron Pizza

Discussion in 'Cooking' started by Juice, Oct 13, 2017.

  1. Juice

    Juice
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    Personally, I think pizza in a cast iron skillet beats a pizza stone any day. The crust is crunchier and it fries in the pan just a bit, which is something you never get on a stone.

    Dough

    You can either make the dough or buy a decent store-made pizza dough. I really enjoy the Bobby Flay recipe:

    -3.5 cups of bread flour
    -1 envelop of instant dry yeast
    -1 tsp of sugar
    -2 tsp kosher salt
    -1.25 - 1.5 cups of warm water (110-120 F)

    For pizza dough, use a mixer with a dough hook if you have one. Otherwise, sack up and do it by hand. Kneed it for 10 minutes, throw it in an oiled bowl and let it rise for 1-2 hours. And I mean 10 minutes, you need to work it out. Dont be a pussy.

    Sauce

    Again, there are many good store-bought pizza sauces out there. And the effort to make your own is more than its worth considering you are covering it with cheese and toppings. I would not substitute it with marinara sauce as its not quite the same. Pizza sauce usually has more olive oil, garlic and oregano in it to make it stand out. If you are going to make your own, use plum tomatoes. Any will do, there isnt much need to stick with San Marzano or anything like you would for a pasta sauce and pizza sauce is mostly uncooked.

    Toppings

    Its pizza toppings. Do you really need your hand held here? Personally, if I use pepperoni I like to use Boars Head or something a little better than your grocery store deli stick. Otherwise, you can get it freshly sliced from a butcher or charcuterie shop. My personal favorite is a combo of pepperoni and ghost pepper salami that I get near where I live.

    For cheese, always use low-moisture mozzarella. It will melt better.

    Cookin'

    You know that dough you just made? Cut off about about 1/2 to 1/3, wrap it up and freeze it for another day. Its more than youll need for even a regular size cast iron. Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and generously coat the inside of the pan all over.

    Now that the dough is ready, roll it out into pizza shape on a flat surface and fit it into the bottom of the oiled pan. It does not need to come up over the sides unless you are trying that Chicago bullshit. Sprinkle some garlic, salt and oregano on it. No heat up a stove top burner to medium and throw the pan on there to start cooking a bit. The dough will start to fry and sizzle in the pan. Once it starts to change color and starts getting hard to the touch, take it off. Heat the oven to the highest possible setting that isnt broil or clean. 500-550 F is good. Having the oven as hot as it can go is key.

    Spread your sauce, cheese and toppings. Throw it in the oven and set the timer for about 10 minutes. Check on it. The cheese should start to brown about now. If not, give it another 2-3 minutes. Cook until it looks like this:

    IMG_3505.JPG

    Finishing Move

    Hey stud, you really wanna please the crowd? Have a finishing move. Mine is to sprinkle red pepper flakes while its in the pan and the drizzle it with honey. The honey will immediately emulsify to the crust and pizza and give it a nice bit of sweetness. Then a sprinkling of parm cheese tops it off.

    The picture above is me fucking up and using too much dough. Ideally, the cheese and toppings should come right to the edge. Either way, it should slide right out of the pan easily.

    Enjoy.
     
  2. bewildered

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    I have made cast-iron pizzas in the past and they all turned out really good. The crust is really the perfect texture and you can finish it in the oven if it Cooks unevenly.

    The only thing I want to add here as a tip or a slight change, would be that usually when I proof my yeast, I don't do it with white sugar. I often times proof my yeast for pizza dough with either molasses or honey. It gives it a lot better flavor. Just something to try out!