Topic: The Personal Triumph Thread

[Brandonazz]

Nobody who hasn't been forced to live in Florida is allowed to joke that dry heat is just as bad as humid heat.

[PatMan33]

If you had listened to God you would have realized he never intended for humans to live there. We had to go against His wishes and create air conditioning.

We will pay for our transgressions.

[Brandonazz]

I didn't choose Florida, I was dragged here by family like the pull of a whirlpool in a sewage treatment tank.

[Oviraptor]

I spent a week in August in an unairconditioned house in Florida; it's like trying to sleep in a sauna with your clothes on.

[Gauphastus]

Well, I kinda call it a bucket list item because it seemed so far away to me.
But I've finally hand-made a loaf of bread from scratch.


The hamburger rolls last time were a tiny bit on the sweeter side so I adjusted it a bit. Right down the middle now, just plain enough to not be too sweet or too salty or whatever. Nice and airy, toasts perfectly.

It was about 6 cups of flour, more used during kneading. I had a lot of dough so I saved the other half in thirds and made dough balls, one of which was rolled out to make


Not bad for someone who only learned how to do this stuff a week ago. :u
Not quite ready for really artsy complicated stuff but like usual I'll learn as I go. At some point I'd like to make a very pretty cake with white and pink frosting and unicorns and other dumb crap.

[PatMan33]

Oh I'm so happy you made your bread!

Tell me more about your pizza though, specifically the cheese and sauce.

[Gauphastus]

Cheese is just a bit of no-name mozzarella and cheddar blend, sauce is just some Ragu since I like the flavor. Added some oregano because I like that ****. Didn't want to sidetrack with making tomato sauce this morning though. Also dad says adding oregano to the dough during the kneading process makes for great pizza.
I'll try all that some other time though. I've made sauce before with garden tomatoes. It takes a few hours for good consistency and flavor.

Also I did a bit of investigating about various homemade stuff awhile ago. Watched a lot of videos. Learned about homemade butter, homemade ketchup, homemade bread, homemade sauces...
One project I sincerely doubt I will ever take on is making homemade cheese. The amount of space, resources, and effort required to make even a small amount of that stuff is absurd.
Like ketchup, just buy it at the store.

The pizza was good but it was slightly messy at the center. Too much oil and moisture pooled there. So the outer crust was nice and the more you went in the greasier it got. The cheap pepperoni is the likely culprit since the cheese usually bakes pretty dry in my other stuff. Suppose it could have been the cheddar a bit but I'm not sure.
Sauce could have done with some reduction too but in the end it didn't do too badly.

Perfecting pizza will take some effort though. Should be fun.

[eropS]

I hate being on my specific carb diet.

Those look great. Congrats on the success

[PatMan33]

The pepperoni are probably part of it; however, cheese will sweat quite a bit and also produce a ton of water if you aren't careful. I agree with your assessment about the cheddar causing some of the issues. Cheddar isn't the best choice for pizza cheese. You could also be pulling in some extra moisture from the Ragu. I think you're on the right track trying to reduce it a bit, or at least to cook some of the excess water out of it.

You like Parmesan cheese? If so, look for a 50/50 mozzarella and Parmesan mix, it's delicious! It's also what we used to use at the shop.

What temperature did you cook it at and what kind of oven did you use? You have a stone? And if you cooked it on the plate that is in the picture, tell me more about that plate.

Yeah man, pizza is one of those easy to start but hard to master kinds of foods. But it looks like your prior experience is serving you well because the pizza came out looking pretty nice! And having them look nice is as hard as getting the flavor right.

[Gauphastus]

Temp was 425 for about 15 mins. Good enough for a kinda thin medium size.
It's on a metal pizza pan there that we inherited from the pizzeria awhile back. Those things are great.
I'd like to try cooking on stoneware sometime.

And yeah, next time I do the pizza I think I'll try more or all mozzarella instead of the 50/50 blend I was doing there.

[PatMan33]

Metal pans are the best. Yeah get rid of that cheddar. And post the next one too!

[Gauphastus]

The original plan was two loaves, one in glass and the other in that new metal pan. But then I saw we had some Ragu stored away and figured I'd try my hand at pizza.

You guys have no idea how much I adore the idea of making pies and cakes and **** and giving them to friends.
Not everyone is in the mood for hamburgers. But come on, who gonna turn down fresh baked apple pie dude

I guess maybe my mom would since she's allergic to cinnamon. Maybe my dad would try it.
That's the other problem living in a house with your parents. There's nobody around to test this stuff with you. :0

[PatMan33]

Aw man, pie crusts are fun times.

I can relate to your sentiment though. Cooking for people is one of the best things as long as it's for fun and you're not working the line.

[Inkling]

I have a stone for pizzas and it's fantastic.  Good work on the baked goods, Gauph.

[Brandonazz]

I have a stone for pizzas and it's fantastic.  Good work on the baked goods, Gauph.

Truly the advent of stone is the great discovery of the 21st century.