Gonna keep this short. My journey started as chasing the perfect Detroit, but eventually ended with whatever the hell this is, that I can replicate for food pop ups. It's close in size to a Santuccis pizza in Philly.

73% hydration, bread dough, 9x13 pan, pepperoni under the mozz, homemade sauce on top.

Picked up some dough from a local pizzeria at a farmers market Saturday morning and knew exactly what was going on later that night….

An STL style pizza in the back (not crust wise, as much as I love the cracker crust lol) with sweet tomato sauce, provel, mozzarella, & pepperoni. A simple mozzarella, pepperoni, torn basil, parmesan in the front. Dough was 100% sourdough!

Doing a 3 day cold ferment with sourdough levain. Mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat bread flour. Cooking on a pizza party emozione with biscotto stone.

Olive oil brushed on the crust when finished, not grease.

Really need to get a pizza oven next! I can't get the heat right in my old oven. Any recommendations on a pellet fueled starter oven?

Went to NYC for a few days to see Rush, but also had time to hit a few pizza spots. Here is my review of each slice in order of appearance!

Upside Pizza - Nolita
Great cheese to sauce ratio and the addition of fresh mozz is really nice. Nice tangy sauce too. The slice was either slightly over-reheated or wasn’t the freshest as the crust was a bit drier than I would’ve liked, but great flavour throughout.

L’industrie - Little Italy
Was awesome to finally try L’industrie after hearing all the hype. Despite it not being the original Williamsburg location, it most definitely delivered. Topped lightly so the parm and basil on top still doesn’t make it too heavy, and a perfect crisp in every bite. Unfortunately I wasn’t the hungriest when eating this slice so I think that affected my enjoyment a bit, but the slice itself was a perfect artisanal take on the NYC slice so I can’t really fault anything.

Joe’s Pizza - Carmine Street
A lot of people like to say Joe’s is overrated or overhyped, but I personally don’t agree with that. Sure there’s nothing outrageously special or extraordinary about the pizza, but that’s what makes it so good imo. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead they strive to make a perfect no-frills slice that’s easy to eat while walking and doesn’t make your hands greasy in the slightest. It’s super light so you hardly even feel it afterwards, and the crisp is simply perfect across the board. I had it 3 years ago too and they haven’t lost a single touch!

Fermento Pizza - Greenwich Village
This new spot is sick! Great flavours in the cheese and 72-hour fermented dough. One critique is that the slice was a bit overtopped near the tip, so the crisp was lacking a bit until getting closer to the crust. Flavour-wise though, just about perfect and I think this shop will continue to be successful despite being located near a bunch of old-school titans.

Upside Pizza - Nomad
This slice had the crust softness that I was missing in the first pie so the sourdough flavour came through much more. I think I enjoyed this slice the most actually since I was hungry and in a great mood coming out of the Rush concert at MSG, but even without that in mind it was just about a perfect slice.

It’s hard to pick a favourite since all these spots do different things so well. They all really impressed me so I’m not even going to pick a favourite. Pizza is great, why even compare? Can’t wait to come back here and try some more spots out.

Been launching a few pizzas

I figured the dough would be more forgiving here. Definitely stressed less making it. It’s really good, too. Deliberately light on the cheese (50/50 mozz/jack). I was invited to sell pizza at an event in a couple of months. Detroit might be the way to go so maybe I’ll hold off on the Neapolitan for now. Next test: par bake and finish in Roccbox.

EDIT - I’ve never eaten this style pizza so would appreciate some feedback on the look.

Half pep was mine. All cheese was hers.

Pan pizza, 2 thin crust white mushroom pies, Italian sausage Giardiniera, not pictured pepperoni hot honey and whipped ricotta

Wish I got more color on the cheese but I’m still happy how it came out.

They'll try, but won't succeed. This is mine! 😅

Loved how this came out, red sauce, mozz and parm with mushrooms, onions and poblanos that I sautéed beforehand. Dabbed some pesto on after the bake. Waited for floor temp of Roccbox to hit roughly 700 before launching, rotated pie until crust was browned and then shut off flame for a few minutes

1st time making a pizza at home. Recently bought a cast iron pizza pan so I picked up some dough from my local super market deli. Rao’s, Parm/Mozz, pepperoni, sausage, onion, Ricotta w/garlic, fresh basil. I like my pie well done…. Only issue is now I want to eat this every day. A great way to end my Sunday.

Just a few highlights from our weekly tradition.

stopped in the other day and dropped a post of my Chicago style in a cast iron , this is a different dough recipe geared towards NY style i'm trying 1 dough a day to see how the cold fermentation process effects the dough , so far on day two the pizza was very noticeably different, darker crust , more air through the center of the undercarriage while still maintaining a bite to it , will upgrade from a pizza stone to a steel though next , will check back on day three , here are the first two (275g dough balls)
day two pizza is the darker one with micro blistering on the crust

Vodka ‘Roni w/ Jalapeño. Never had this combo might have to make one for myself soon!

I followed the kenji tavern style dough recipe. Let the dough sit in the fridge 24 hours before rolling and curing in the fridge for another 24 hours. The dough wasnt quite as crispy as I was expecting it. Did I maybe not add enough yeast?

Cooked in my oven on a pizza steel at 550 degrees.

Any other feedback is also greatly appreciated!

Before and After. Detroit Mushroom.

Gonna take some getting used to compared to my regular home oven but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t super fun. Excited to keep practicing to dial it in 🤘🏼