Hestons Quest for the perfect pizza

Heston Blumenthal's quest for perfect pizza starts off with getting the dough consitency right. First of 3 videos.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Heston
• Blumenthal
• Pizza
• Dough
• making

[shinsingh]

"He found that standard ovens don't get hot enough to make perfect pizzas. Italians use fired ovens at 500+ degrees C, to cook the pizzas very quickly and develop maximum flavour. He suggests using the grill on full to boost the oven temp from above. He also heats a large frying pan on the stove at top heat for 10 minutes, which he then puts under the grill and slides the pizza onto. This gives the base the heat that it needs to cook super quick."

[shinsingh]

Hey Pizza Lovers!

I while back someone posted something about the oven temps Heston uses.

I've been a bit slack about responding but someone went to the trouble to try to answer the query...it was gunnaknow..I've pasted his response above.

[iamhere1234566]

I've been baking woodfired pizza everyday for ten years and this guy has some idea about the basic fundamentals (excluding the yeast/sugar slip up) but has virtually no experience of making great pizza. He has spent a day researching pizza from Naples and then tried to do it without the experience, technique & true understanding of a great pizzaiolo. In other words he's buggered it up! He may have 3 Michelin stars...but that's only because he doesn't have pizza on the menu in his restaurant..

[shinsingh]

@iamhere1234566 Hey, Thanks for your response. I'd be very interested in hearing your method of creating a great pizza! The problem I had with trying to bake traditional pizza in a home oven was that 'OO' flour didn't cook so well in a home oven...Heston's method is a kind of a compromise.

Looking forward to your reading your tips.

[shinsingh]

yo...i agree with you to a point...i think the point of the video is to attempt to try to bake a pizza in a home oven...which is impossible to mimick a woodfired oven...thus making a traditional pizza impossible too...but with the resources we have at home he has attempted to make do...and he has made a fair stab at it

[emouch1]

have you tried this recipe? I am using it for 2 years now, and I have even blown Italians minds off with my pizza dough.

[puppyshunter]

I think critics need to understand that the concept behind this show was being able to make stuff at home. So the recipe has been adapted to suit conventional home ovens.

The pizza base is NOT a sour dough. And the small amount of salt doesn't kill the yeast. The rested dough expands to twice its size i.e. the yeast is still active.

I have found this technique – particularly the hot pan/grill combo – to be very effective.

[kolosmistrz]

first of all u cant put dry yeast just like that in the mixer and aspecialy not together with salt:) it kills the yest! and the sour dough should be edlist 14 days old! imbarecing mister heston wery shallow performance

[kolosmistrz]

im probably the best pizza chef in london just check out my videos, this guy dont know what he is doing he has small information about it probably from some lazy itallian emigrants that come to this country because they are finished in itally

the same goes to Gordon Ramzey the pizzas he served in hells kitchen on tv are imbaresing and pefetic - again some lazy emigrant tot him the wrong easy lazy way to do it backed it up with itllian roots and there we go we have a square burned bread

[uchiacon]

"The natural sugars in the dough are gonna feed off the yeast"

yes

[Cyworldabcd]

this guy is like a genius on cocaine! so busy. its as if hes so hungry but you know hes not cuz u dont see  his mouth water like yours

[HIvanH91]

the amount of prep and waiting time in his recipes...

[afhakers]

I am wondering why he puts the yeast in after the dough beens formed. Why should that work better than mixing it with the flour?

[afhakers]

Heston is the best! I love the way he works.

[dusted04]

awesome chef , but to much stuffing round for a pizza dough i think

[0000dougy]

I just love how half you guys know better then Hesten. Honestly who cares if he said something the wrong way around! The guy is a genius. I'd love to see any of you cook better pizza then him. Send me a link when your done :)