u/Terrible_Gas86

A few years ago I did a 1-1 training course with a London based Pizza Chef.

Richard Regaldo is an extremely knowledgeable Italian pizza chef of over 20 years, who now as well as working as a pizza chef, teaches other chefs on professional pizza courses.

During the consultation I was shocked to learn a number of things, which I have summarised below.

The picture is of a Biga, 12” margherita that we cooked in a small Gosney oven.

https://www.italianpizzaschool.co.uk/courses-fees/

This is very in depth, but hopefully this is useful to someone.

Ooni ovens do not cook as well as commercial ovens, he recommends that you do not stretch the dough too much. window pane glass is no problem in big ovens, but you get a more even base cook slightly thicker.
Measuring the temperatures is really important, recipes that ask for ice, tepid or warm water (boiling + tap) do not provide the best conditions for your yeast to thrive.

Instead you should use 55C for your combined room, flour and water temperature. So yesterday our room temperature was 25 and so was our flour. So 55 - 25 - 25 = our water temperature was 5C. If the room temperature is too hot, then you can put your flour in the the fridge overnight to cool.

Measure your dough temperature after mixing. I need to investigate this one a little more as it is based on the room temperature, the type of dough and protein content of the flour. The higher the protein content, the longer you have to knead the dough. The longer you mix the more heat is generated, for this case we used a Biga starter, 13.2% Protein flour and the room temperature was 25C, so it took 5-6 mins to mix to the desired 22-24C.
Poolish is not Italian!!! It’s from Poland which would make sense based on the name. The Poolish is from the 1840’s and is better for Breads like the Focaccia rather than Italian Pizzas. The Biga was the Italian take on the Poolish and it is the main starter (if used) in Italian Pizza Restaurants.
Caputo is not the best flour, it is a great flour, and the flour you are most likely to find in UK restaurants, but it is so commercialised that it has lost quality over time. More shocking than that, 00 and 0 flours with their higher ash contents or burn rates are not necessarily the best? The flour he recommends is hard to find as it is less commercial is a ‘0’ flour, the focus is on quality and nutritional value and so it is a lot more expensive. It is a much better flour for long fermentations particularly with Biga or Sourdoughs which benefit from the extra flavour in the flour. The top / expensive restaurants in London use this flour, but most use Caputo to keep their margins. You have to be in the industry to know.

Flour = Petra Farnia Unica 5037

In the UK this can be purchased through a distributor called www.delitalia.co.uk, they are the sole UK importer and have a minimum order of £45.

Also available via the Ratton Pantry if you don’t want the cheese, this has no minimum order value.
https://www.rattonpantry.co.uk/products/petra-unica-5037-tipo-0-italian-pizza-flour-12-5kg

Neapolitan standards AVPN ruin innovation. Whilst he respects the Art, he does not believe that they make the best pizzas. The best and most popular pizza restaurants in London would not pass an inspection from AVPN, in fact they would say it’s all wrong and would criticise the quality of the pizza. The standards are in place to commercialise the Naples pizza and keep traditions, but when working in Naples pizza restaurants or any other commercial pizza kitchens they do not follow all of the rules required for AVPN standards. Lots of pizzas are called Neapolitan if they are thin and have a thick cornice (crust), but he would suggest that most people have never tried a true Neapolitan to the letter of the law.
The restaurant scene in London is changing to new modern contemporary fusion pizza styles. Customers are bored with the Neapolitan pizzas and Italian pizza masters have been working on other styles of pizzas and enhancing them. As an example New York, Chicago and Detroit pizzas combined with better quality ingredients and pizza science techniques to create something new.
Stretching techniques used by experienced chefs vary based on the feel of the dough. The dough we used was very soft and therefore it was stretched on the table. What doesn’t change is you should always pick up the dough from the container with a spatula to ensure the shape is maintained when transferred to the table.

His former student has been using a Japanese stretching technique that produces an uneven crust, this was creative choice that he was aiming for and the restaurant was voted the best in London. He would not have put out a pizza like this for fear of what the customer thought, but it is clear the changing market in London is ready for these contemporary styles.

Restaurant staff aim for 70-80% consistency, the customer cannot taste the pizza is symmetrical, it does not enhance the user experience. The beauty of pizza is in it’s imperfections, the only thing that is important is the customer experience, when topping pizzas it is important to balance flavours no topping should overpower the other, so restaurants calculate ingredients based on cost, flavour, intensity and the customer experience. Ingredients are weighted e.g. a 12 inch Neapolitan style pizza should have 80g of tomato, 85g of mozzarella, a good chef will judge this by eye.
Nothing is wrong with pizzas, people like different styles and whilst you know that your pizzas are really good, it will never please 100% of people, so don’t try. Two chefs with the same recipe can produce 2 very different products, both can be great but they can also be different.
In his experience flour works better to stretch Pizzas over in Electric ovens and semolina is better for Gas or Wood fired ovens. However he has taught restaurant chefs that use only flour and some that use only semolina, both are great and are mostly down to the skill of the chef during the stretching process shaking off the excess. He caveats this with never mention you use semolina to stretch over in a restaurant in Naples, because they won’t be impressed.
The first Pizza we made was a “Garlic” bread. To my surprise his Garlic bread did not contain garlic????

Apparently garlic bread is more of a UK thing, in Italy it is more traditional to have a starter with just oil and crystal salt for taste. This is called Schiacciata, it is a thinner version of Focaccia and you can have this with or without Mozzarella, he would usually add Rosemary for an extra dimension. He told me if you really want garlic, you should infuse the oil with the Garlic.

Fresh Yeast is always best, it’s less chemically and artificial, however he appreciates that most home chefs struggle for convenience with fresh yeast.
Most restaurants proof at room temperature for 24 hours in big buckets using yeast for convenience rather than messing about with a starter. In his opinion they are good but not as good as a chef can make at home.
Mixing times for doughs that take us 5-6 mins can take 50 mins to mix in commercial kitchens, because of the quantities being mixed. Every mixer mixes differently and the chefs need to be able to judge this in different environments.
When making dough, particularly sourdough, two chefs with exactly the same ingredients will produce different flavour doughs. This is down to the hands that make the dough hosting different bacteria’s that create different cultures within the dough.
Always use bottled water when making dough, the chlorine in tap water can effect the performance of the yeast. You can adjust the temperature of the water using ice cubes, stir the ice in the water until you reach the desired temperature.

On extra hot days keep the flour in the fridge overnight before mixing.

Salt kills yeast, but some yeast cultures actually develop more in Saline (salty water) conditions. Use between 3 & 4% salt by weight of flour, you must not exceed 4%. Dissolved the salt in warm water before adding the Ice to adjust the temperature. Make sure to reset the weight of your bowl before adding the ice, then you can remove the ice cubes and excess water to ensure until the weight is back to 0 to ensure your measures are correct.
The Biga starter should be left for a minimum of 16 hours, if you are not ready to use it then you can keep it for another 24 hours in the fridge before using it. Piercing small holes in the cling film can change the flavour profile of the dough. The holes can help to give your dough a fruity flavour, without holes it’s more nutty.
No matter how good the dough is, if you don’t use quality ingredients you have wasted your time. Mutti San Marzano Tomatoes is his preferred choice, the Mozzarella he uses is a hard frozen mozzarella that he cuts in rectangular Napoli cut shapes. It was really good. In the UK this can be purchased through a distributor called www.delitalia.co.uk.
For White Pizzas he prefers Smoked Mozzarella, this was really good.
His favourite topping to combine with a white pizza is a Sicilian Fennel Sausage. When he cooked it the meat was still pink, he said it’s better and that English people like their pork overcooked. So restaurants have to precook the pork sausage meat before topping, this removes a lot of the flavour.
Basil can go on before and afterwards, sometimes he does both.
You crush the San Marzano tomatoes by hand, no need to remove the ends and you should not drain the juice from the can. Some restaurants cook the tomato first to reduce (thicken) the sauce but it’s not required. He was just going to add some fresh basil to the sauce, but when he asked how I preferred the tomato he changed his mind and said he preferred the natural taste of the tomato as well. Just add a pinch of salt to taste.
If the Biga is made correctly you do not need sugar, honey or diastatic malt as the natural sugars in a high quality flour should be enough to feed the yeast. You do not need to add any further yeast when mixing the main dough.
The Biga starter is mixed with 80% of the water for about 5 mins until it starts to absorb the water and becomes softer, half of the flour can then be added and mixed until smooth and the Biga lumps are all gone. This step helps strengthen the gluten network, the rest of the flour can then be added and the remaining water. For high hydrations you don’t need to hold back the water, it is optional.
Don’t go too high with hydrations, high hydrations require a lot of skill to work with, but they are not required. Higher hydrations are usually used for breads, or by experienced pizza chefs who are specifically aiming for a certain result. High hydrations would not be used in most restaurants as they want to keep life easy. Final doughs for most people should be 60-65%.
If the bases are cooking too fast, you can use pizza screens, lift the pizza to the flame on the turning peel or rest the pizza on the turning peel to take it off the stone. The launching peel should only be used to launch not to turn or manoeuvre the Pizza.
Infrared thermometers aren’t the best, they show the surface temperature of the stone rather than the heat of the stone. This is ok for making one or two pizzas but not when making multiple pizzas. It is important for the heat to penetrate right through the stone. For 12 inch ovens the oven should be left for 30 mins on the highest heat and then a further 30 mins at a low heat to achieve the right cooking temperature. For 16 inch ovens 60 mins at the highest heat followed by 30 mins at a lower heat. This will ensure you have consistency throughout your cook.
When making Calzone, he would recommend tomato is placed on top after the cook, ingredients that are high in moisture like Fungi (Mushrooms) should be shielded from the dough, placed on top of other ingredients. This is to stop the moisture from making your dough soggy.
Apparently Nutella and Mascarpone make an amazing desert Calzone.
When working with clay ovens, you can use sacrificial pizzas to test the temperature of the stone. You only use tomato on the pizzas to avoid the wasting the cheese. This allows you to judge the cook of the dough, reduce the surface temperature and familiarise yourself with the oven. Always use the same spot to launch additional pizzas, if you have a bigger oven you can create multiple spots in this way. Start off nearer to the flame.
For Neapolitan style pizzas in an Ooni oven you should aim for 250g for a 12” pizza, 280g for a 14” pizza and 320g for a 16”. Do not stretch them too thin as the oven does not cook them as well.

Sourdough Preferment Experiment, Sourdough Biga vs Sourdough Liquid Starter

Sourdough Biga (45% hydration)

Sourdough Liquid Starter (100% hydration)

Method (Both)

Pizza Course Tips