It's National Pizza Month! (I'm all for that.) Are you a pizza lover?
Are you a pizza lover? Chicago style? NYC style? What's the best pizza you've ever had?
Crystal Collier is a cheese-loving blogger & author who pens out funnies, deep thoughts, and book giveaways. She's the author of the Maiden of Time series, a 2012 winner of PitchWars, and a 2016 IWSG writing contest winner. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.
The third book in her Maiden of Time series releases November 1, 2016. Find her and her books online.
When I was 15, I worked in a pizza parlor, and it has forever defined one thing: the world is incomplete without pizza. While living in NYC, I fell in love with their pizza pies--thin crust, just the right amount of sauce, wicked-awesome toppings, cheese... (Need I say more?) BUT pizza pie meets its true definition in Chicago.
That's two whole inches DEEP of cheese. (Aka, heaven.) Mmm...
Here's the problem: I'm a consumer, not a maker. (Giordanos is my local source of heaven.) So here's a snazy tutorial to walk you through how to make it at home! *gasp* (Except he used preshredded cheese. DON'T DO THAT. They put potato starch on that stuff to keep it from sticking, and it changes the consistency of the cheese.)
Now, the biggest difference between restaurant pizza and homemade is the oven. (I kid you not--remember I worked in a pizzeria.) Home ovens have a limit on the heat they can produce, for safety reasons. Commercial ovens have no such restrictions. (Think 900 degrees Fahrenheit and up!) They cook a traditional pizza in 3 to 5 minutes. See the problem?
Life hack! There is a way to modify your oven. *gasp* It deals with jimmy rigging the lock on your oven so that you can put it on "clean" and still use it to cook. (This can be dangerous.) Another option is to put your oven on broil for about 45 minutes before baking. We've done this. Pizzas cook in about 4 to 6 minutes and the crust is epic--but you have to use a high heat cooking stone because pans will warp.
Life hack! There is a way to modify your oven. *gasp* It deals with jimmy rigging the lock on your oven so that you can put it on "clean" and still use it to cook. (This can be dangerous.) Another option is to put your oven on broil for about 45 minutes before baking. We've done this. Pizzas cook in about 4 to 6 minutes and the crust is epic--but you have to use a high heat cooking stone because pans will warp.
Are you a pizza lover? Chicago style? NYC style? What's the best pizza you've ever had?
Crystal Collier is a cheese-loving blogger & author who pens out funnies, deep thoughts, and book giveaways. She's the author of the Maiden of Time series, a 2012 winner of PitchWars, and a 2016 IWSG writing contest winner. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.The third book in her Maiden of Time series releases November 1, 2016. Find her and her books online.
