International Pizza Expo 2014 Tribute from Pizza Therapy

Check out the most amazing pizza show in the World! Pizza Expo is more about pizza relationships, sharing pizza stories and making friends! It is one of the most incredible adventures I have ever experienced.
Without a doubt this was a life changing experience for me. I met some the most extra-ordinary pizza fanatics, I ever met. I learned more about pizza and the pizza business.
From the Pizza Expo website:

Pizza's Renaissance man, Tony Gemignani, will pass along some of his extensive knowledge during two presentations—the Pizzeria Concept Showcase and the Making Pizzas With Tony Gemignani workshops. His principal location, Tony's Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco, was recently written up as the best pizzeria in the U.S. by USA Today.

Part of the appeal is the extensive pizza menu featuring seven different ovens offering perfect temperatures for styles of pies ranging from New Haven to New York, Roman, Detroit, St. Louis and others. He also runs the International School of Pizza and has won numerous pizza-making and dough-spinning competitions.

Here is our tribute to Pizza Expo:

 

 Discover more about the Pizza Expo at this website.

What is Gluten?

Tim Huff of General Mills Flour explains the role of gluten in creating pizza dough. Tim states that wheat flour has two proteins glutenin and gladden which when mixed with water give pizza its unique properties. Gluten helps the dough become elastic and also helps it to bounce back.

General Mills Hotel and Restaurant Bleached Enriched Malted All Purpose Flour, 10 Pound -- 4 per case.

Pizza Spinning Around Pizza Mediation

I knew someone who used to love to go to Laundromats.
She found the noise of the machines very soothing and reassuring. I never understood why, but I certainly respect her point of view. The same can be said about the following video.
Witness three pizzas spinning around and around... Some contend this is a way to reach pizza enlightenment...
Others claim they have been brought closer to the light...
and have experienced a true calming of their mind and body.

Experience this for yourself and let me know what you think:

Onward, upward!

In the meantime, check this out on Amazon...

Video Review of The Mighty Pizza Oven

Make pizza on your gas grill with the Mighty Pizza Oven. This device created some of the best pizza I ever made.

The notion behind the MPO is that you cook your pizza from the bottom and the top at the same time. The MPO uses 3 ways to cook pizza. the pizza cooks with uses convection, to cook pizza. That is the super hot air around the pizza cooks it.

 It uses reflection, as the tops stone cooks your pizza from the top. Finally the Mighty Pizza Oven. uses conduction. Your pizza is cooked on the bottom from the heat of the bottom stone. This is a great method to created a well cooked crust. Simply outstanding!

Here's what how the pizza turned out last time I made pizza:

 

You can make the best pizza you ever made, here: Mighty Pizza Oven will let you bake pro-quality pizzas in 2-5 minutes on your backyard grill!

The Mighty Pizza Oven Interview

"..I kept on thinking of ways to build my ideal pizza oven – an oven that would be easy to operate, maintain and transport, and one that would simulate the heating and cooking characteristics of a brick oven..."
Bert Touma, Creator of The Mighty Pizza Oven

The Mighty Pizza Oven
   

Albert: Here is an interview with Bert Touma the inventor of the  Mighty Pizza Oven.
Bert was very open and honest as he reveals the secrets of his creation.
How did you get into making pizza?

Bert: I grew up in Lebanon eating flat pita. Back then, I didn’t know that pita was a distant relative of one of the most popular foods in the world. Also we had Manaeesh, a popular Lebanese food consisting of dough topped with thyme, cheese, or ground meat. Manaeesh is quite similar to a pizza and can be eaten sliced or folded, so it was little wonder that, when I immigrated to the US back in 1982, pizza became my favorite food. Eventually, making pizza would become my passion — a hobby I enjoyed as often as I could.

Albert: How did you come up with the idea?

Bert: My friends and family always enjoyed the pizzas I made from scratch, but it took lots of time preparing and baking. Over the years, I tried to cut down on preparation time by using better tools and techniques.

One thing I couldn’t improve is my oven heat. I knew the importance of baking pizzas at a very high temperature (much higher than my home oven could manage) in order to cook the dough and ingredients quickly without drying them out.

In search of higher baking temperatures, I found that wood-fired ovens are the best kind of oven for baking pizza because they bake in three ways simultaneously: by means of conductive heat, reflected heat and convective heat transfer. But a wood-fired oven wasn’t for me. I just wanted something practical that I could turn on and off easily – something movable, affordable, and that didn’t occupy too much of my back yard. I found a few oven designs that I liked from overseas suppliers, but they weren’t cost effective once I included price of shipping.

Still, I kept on thinking of ways to build my ideal pizza oven – an oven that would be easy to operate, maintain and transport, and one that would simulate the heating and cooking characteristics of a brick oven: conductive heat, reflected heat and convective heat.

December 2011, an idea popped into my head as I was ordering a burger at a cafeteria. I watched the chef cover the meat patty with a basting cover and started thinking of building a pizza oven that combined the features of a basting cover and those of brick oven.

Albert: Did you build a few different prototypes? How did you decide on the final design?

Bert: To implement my basting cover idea, the first thing I needed was a heat source, and using my gas grill for the purpose was a no brainer. Plus it would give my underutilized grill a new purpose in life. The grill produces lots of heat, the main ingredient for a perfect pizza.

I used to use a ceramic stone when baking pizzas in my home oven. Pizza stones store heat and pass it on to the pizza, replicating the conductive properties of a brick oven. However, I couldn’t use my ceramic pizza stone directly on my grill because ceramic cannot tolerate sudden extreme changes in temperature and cracks when it comes in contact with fire.  So I used an aluminum pizza pan as a separator, to protect the stone.

I replicated the heat that is reflected off the walls and top of a brick oven by using a round, deep cake pan as a cover. The problem was that it did not reflect enough heat, so I fixed this by adding another pizza stone above the pizza being cooked, to store and reflect more heat from on top.

My first prototype worked well, but there was still room for improvement, especially as regards the type of pizza stones I was using. The top stone wasn’t getting hot enough because it didn’t get any direct heat and I actually broke few stones by accidentally getting them exposed to direct flames.

Luckily at that time, Cordierite pizza stones became popular, affordable and easy to find in multiple sizes. Cordierite is a material that is even more durable than ceramic and that can withstand direct contact with the grill’s flames. Just what I needed! This allowed me to increase the upper stone size to store and refract more heat, and I could now place the bottom cordierite pizza stone right on the flames, using the grill’s heat more efficiently. My oven design became simpler and more effective.

Still, I wasn’t completely happy with the results; I needed even more heat, so I replaced the round cake pan with a square one and used a square top stone to capture and store as much heat as possible for baking top side of the pizza pie.

This was definitely an improvement, and yet there was one last thing missing: convective heat. Brick ovens have a vent and chimney system that draws hot moist air from outside and passes it over the pizzas, cooking them faster while preventing the topping ingredients from drying out. To reproduce this, I cut an opening in the pan to act as a chimney.

And oh boy, what a difference it made! Everything finally came together.

I was extremely happy to find that my homemade Mighty Pizza Oven prototype allowed me to bake better pizzas faster. It really took my pizza experience and skills to a whole new level. My pizzas now tasted so much better, even though I was still using a food processor recipe book and a rough measuring technique.

Now that I had all the right tools, baking delicious pies became as simple as preparing any other homemade meal! Why did you decide to invent the MPO?

Bert: I soon realized my prototype oven could really be useful to other pizza enthusiasts like me, who wanted to cook top quality pizza without spending huge amounts of money on a pizza oven. I was also excited at the thought of doing something I really enjoyed, and which could hopefully become a steady source of income to replace my engineering income that has not been steady in the last few years.

Albert: Have you invented anything else?

Bert: I have not invented anything else, but I have many ideas that I hope one day to develop.

Albert: What is your favorite pizza?

Bert: I do not have a favorite, I have enjoyed eating while experimenting baking different type of pizza with MPO like NY pizza, deep dish and Neapolitan.

Albert: Can you share a favorite recipe with us?

Bert: Here is a link to my favorite dough recipe on my website http://www.mightypizzaoven.com/simple-pizza-dough-recipe-instruction/

Albert: Do you have any pizza tips for the home pizza maker?

Bert: Keep open minded to others ideas, tips and techniques to improve your pizza making skills, here is a link to few tips and techniques I started on my website. I am always looking for something new to try out myself!

Here are some tips: Mighty Pizza Oven Tips and Techniques

Albert: I understand you can cook more than pizza with the MPO. Do you cook these items directly on the pizza stone?

Bert: The MPO can also be used to cook much more than pizza. For example, you can grill vegetables or meat using a griddle instead of the Mighty Pizza Oven’s bottom stone or just use grill grates with no stone. This is an exciting new angle that I am starting to explore, with great results so far.

Basting cover is used to concentrate the heat to bake food under it faster. Think of MPO as a basting cover on steroid, your food is being cooked from all sides at the same time especially top and bottom., so for example when grill steak under MPO, your steak top is being cooked due to MPO top stone extremely high temperature (over 600 deg f). So when you flip your steak you will not lose as much juices as you normally do.

Albert: I understand you tried to fund raise the launch of the MPO. How did that go?

Bert: As anyone who has ever launched a project on Kickstarter can tell you, the hardest part is getting enough exposure and traffic to your project in the few weeks the campaign lasts. While I got several pledges for the Mighty PizzaOven in the first few days, I unfortunately did not manage to build up enough momentum early on to take the Kickstarter campaign all the way to its funding goal.

This is just a minor hurdle and I am currently looking at other ways to market and sell the Mighty Pizza Oven.

Albert: How were you able to get listed on Amazon?

Bert: It wasn’t difficult, I was time consuming due to Amazon requirements. I have the mighty pizza oven pizza peel sold and shipped by Amazon. I am hoping to do the same with MPO, which is currently listed on Amazon but shipment is fulfilled by myself.

Albert: What is the future for the MPO?

Bert: I am working on designing an optional gas burner base for the Mighty Pizza Oven. This will take the Mighty Pizza Oven experience to whole new level, giving you complete and accurate control over the baking temperature. Best of all, it will make the Mighty Pizza Oven setup 100% portable, so you can easily take it with you on camping trips and to tailgate parties.

I will also be able to test many more new recipes than I otherwise could, compile a Mighty Pizza Oven cookbook and work harder than ever to make your Mighty Pizza Oven experience the very best it could possibly be.

Also I am working on developing an optional charcoal/wood burner base, and an optional adapter for indoor gas stoves and additional accessories for the Mighty Pizza Oven.

Albert: Will you be doing any demos of the MPO at trade shows?

Bert: I would love to one day, I have not been able to sue to my full time job and family.

Albert: Is there anything else you would like to add, Bert???

Bert: I continue to work harder than ever to make Mighty Pizza Oven experience the very best it could possibly be.

Thank you Albert for testing MPO and for your interview.

I took the Mighty Pizza Oven for a Test Drive, here is my MPO Review

Mighty Pizza Oven uses three types of heat to cook pizza: conduction. reflection and convection. Conduction is the actual heat by having the pizza in direct contact with the pizza. Reflection is the heat of the top stone mirroring back the heat, to cook the pizza. Convection is the heat from the inside circulating all over the pizza.
I found the secret to cooking great pizza on a gas grill: The Mighty Pizza Oven.  The notion is to sandwich the heat source, and thereby cooking your pizza from the top and the bottom.

Mighty Pizza Oven will let you bake pro-quality pizzas in 2-5 minutes on your backyard grill!

Check out my review of the Mighty Pizza Oven, at Pizza Therapy.

Pizza Hydration Secrets Revealed from Tim Huff

Tim Huff knows his pizza flour. As a Master Baker and Educator for General Mills, he teaches a Pizza Crust Boot Camp. This is put on for free for all of the professional pizza makers. He shows pizza makers how to get the best out of their flour.

I had an opportunity to talk dough with Tim and he revealed the biggest pizza dough hydration secret I had ever heard.

He explains many pizza makers make the a huge mistake in trying to mix water, dry ingredients and oil at the same time. If you do use oil in your dough recipe, make sure you mix the dry ingredients and water first.  allow the dough enough time to hydrate for about a minute or so. Then add your oil to the pizza dough.

Oil and water do not mix. The oil will compete with the water to hydrate the dough and you will get a very inconsistent dough. The secret is  to allow the water to hydrate the dough before you put in the oil.

Here is a video that explains everything:



Honestly when I make my dough, I do not use oil. however this is just a great tip and bit of advice for everyone who makes pizza.

Super Peel Interview: Part 2

We are honored to present the second part of our exclusive interview with Gary Casper, creator of the Super Peel...

Gary Casper had a pizza problem. A BIG Pizza Problem.

He was given a pizza stone, but he didn't know how to use it. He was able to make pizza alright, but getting the pizza on and off the stone proved to be a problem.

Gary had been given a pizza baking stone similar to this one: Old Stone Oven 4467 14-Inch by 16-Inch Baking Stone

Here is Part 2:

Albert: You sell the  on amazon. How did you get Amazon to sell the Super Peel for you?
 

 That is an interesting question.  Several years back, Amazon opened up its site to products other than used books and CDs.  This was a game changer for
me and others with their own products to sell - Amazon exposure, WOW!! Initially, we packed and shipped everything in house, but have gradually
migrated most of this over to Fulfillment by Amazon.  Product is shipped to Amazon's warehouses and they take it from there right through customer
service.  Using Fulfillment by Amazon carries with it the free Amazon Prime shipping offer.  Of course, someone actually does have to pay for the
shipping until UPS and the Post Office offers to deliver for free.  There are more fees for this service, but you get actual shipping prices that are
ridiculously low compared to what one could get themselves.  So it averages out, and so far Amazon has been good for the product.

Albert: Is the Super Peel used by commercial bakers? Or is just used by home bakers?
 

 Gary: From the very beginning there was some interest from commercial bakers and pizza shops, but it really has been a home use type of product. We continue
to sell some to restaurants, pizzerias and bakeries, but these are generally small and/or specialized.  Last year I spent a large chunk of time designing
and building a large prototype that would work with a particular commercial oven brand.  It was an interesting project, but it did not end up going
anywhere.  On a related note, Eric Kastel from the CIA tells his bread baking students to get a Super Peel as part of their home baking arsenal
when they leave.  It is the best tool to simulate the oven loaders that they have been using in class.  In the end, the Super Peel is and has mostly been
a tool for home users.

Albert: How did you come up with the design for a long handled Super Peel?
 

 Gary: The design for the long handled Super Peel has been in the works for some time. Over the past several years, I have sent out maybe a dozen of various
prototypes to customers who wanted a longer handle, mostly for their WFOs. Early users have been very happy with it.  Having one for my own use has
converted me, even for indoor oven use.  There is just something very cool about having the extra reach.  So, the design has been sort of shape
shifting, but has been getting more refined.

Albert: We understand you will be working with the Fire With In as well as Forno Bravo.  How did that come about?

Gary: Hooking up with The Fire Within group was a bit of serendipity.  Jim, who works with them and also operates one of their WFO "pizza wagons", just
happened to receive a Super Peel from Florida from his Mom's estate.  He had never seen one before, but was struggling a bit with loading pies into his
WFO.   He tried it out and was totally hooked.  Turns out that he lives in my home town, just 20 miles from where I am located.  We got together and I
set him up with a few more of the standard Super Peels.  I actually had a chance to see his WFO pizza wagon in operation a few weeks back at local
farmers market.  It is a winner for sure!  I was there only 2 hours and I bet he made and sold 200 pies.  People could not walk past without stopping,
gawking, shooting video, etc., and even buying a pie or two!

The connection with The Fire Within has only been through Jim so far, and I am not entirely sure where it is going.  We will have about a dozen
preproduction units in a few weeks and, hopefully we will be able to equip their cart packages with both standard and long handled Super Peels.
Pairing the Super Peel with the traveling WFO does make a lot sense, as many people starting one of these operations have never made a pizza before.  The
Super Peel makes prep and loading of their pies so much easier.  And, as I mentioned earlier, using less bench flour can really improve the results.

Albert: Do you have any advice for someone that wants to create a new product?

Gary: I would strongly recommend that they start with a concept that fits their knowledge base and is relatively simple, ideally being a product that they
could actually make and sell themselves in order to test market and develop some sales data.  Even if they wish to license the idea to another company,
sales data speaks way more loudly than just optimistic words like "everyone will want one of these".  And, a good licensing deal with a good company can
be hard to get.  Even with luck finding a willing and able licensee, they need to keep performance requirements and minimum royalties in any contract.

What seemed like a good deal can sour easily for any of many reasons, and they will want the rights to their invention to come back to them in any
case of non-performance by the licensee.   As was the case with the Super Peel, they might then still be able to bootstrap a business of their own
around it.  I never did make many Super Peels personally - maybe 25 or so. I am sure they will be worth millions down the road, so if you have one hang
on to it!!  The best way to get going is to get some sales data to prove the need and pricing, and then work with contractors to make the widget or at
least the parts.

The most important thing, above all, is to persevere!  Once they have some "real data" to absolutely know that their idea has good potential, they need
to go at it like a shark on a seal, and drive through all of the many setbacks that will inevitably come along.  At the same time, they need to
pay real attention to any show stoppers that might crop up and be ready to
let it all go if that time comes.\

Albert: What has been the hardest thing for you in developing the Super Peel?

Gary: Development was never a hard problem, though redesigning to reach a product that would be of high quality and could be sold at an acceptable price was
challenging.  I always continue to look at other products, new materials and manufacturing technology to see if there are improvements that can be made.
Even looking back through old stuff can be helpful.  

Case in point, we will be launching a new version - the Super Peel Pro, in October this year. It is
available in limited quantities on Amazon right now, but I just contracted for the first real production run.  It will be made of the same resin/fiber composite board that goes by the name "Richite", sold under the Epicurean brand.  In many ways it is a better material for the product than wood, but
it was way too pricey when I first looked at it over 10 years ago. Manufacturing costs have shifted enough that it has now reached relative
parity with wood.  We will keep the wooden peels, but I expect that many will prefer the composite for its low maintenance.
 

Albert: Part of your marketing strategy has always been to give back to
the community. (And yes I think you've gotten Pizza Therapy involved  more than  once..)

How does that fit in with your mission statement of your company? Has giving back to the community helped your business?

Gary: Giving back and paying it forward are two things that I strongly believe in. I can't say that charitable giving has helped the business directly, at
least not to my knowledge, but it is something that I am committed to.

 I strongly believe that all of our kids need every chance that they can get to succeed in life.  I donate to local children's charities and have for years given talks to grade school kids on inventing and being an inventor.  I love to see how amazing their problem solving is at an early age, and want them all to know that this is something that they also can do.  People usually refer to thinking inside of or outside of the box. Young children tend to think without  consideration of any box at all.  And, who knows where the next great product idea or company will come from?

Albert: What else is new with the Super Peel?

Gary: As usual Albert, I have probably ranted on a bit long already, and have covered a lot of this question already.  I can only add that I do have many
product ideas in various stages of development.  Some are just simple existing products that make sense to brand and sell under our company name.
Others are totally new products.  And then, there is the next generation Super Peel - the final frontier!, which is always in the works.  This last one must remain a secret for now, but stay tuned!!

EXO Super Peel Gift Set - Our Best Hard Maple Peel With Extra Transfer Cloth and Printed Storage Bag

EXO Super Peel Pro - Intrductory Offer, Comes with FREE! Composite Pizza Slicer

How to Make Homemade Pasta from Scratch

Making homemade pasta is easy, fun and very rewarding. Sure it takes a little time and effort, but the result is worth it. you to can make a great pasta with these easy follow directions. I've also included a how to video.

Enjoy!

Ingredients for the Easy Pasta Dough Recipe

•  2 3/4 Cups of flour (I recommend King Arthur Flour Flour White Bread, 5-pounds (Pack of 4). Bread flour is better for Pasta. All purpose will work) 
• 1 teaspoon of salt 
• 1 Tablespoon of olive oil (Optional) 
• 1 teaspoon of salt 3 eggs at room temperature

 Directions

1.  In a bowl combine the flour and salt. Mix well with a fork until salt is well mixed.
2.  Mound flour on the counter. In separate bowl whisk 3 eggs. 
3. Add 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil (Optional) In the middle of the mound of flour make a hole or moat.
4. Pour in egg mixture and mix with flour until all egg mixture has been absorbed by the flour
5.  Knead for 8-10 minutes until dough is barely sticky to touch. This is a very tough dough to work with with, but keep kneading.
6.  If dough mixture is to dry, add a bit of water. If to wet add a bit of flour.
7.  After completely kneaded, form dough into a ball. Cover and allow to rest 20-30 minutes.
8.  Cut ball into quarters. Pinch end and run through pasta machine at least 4-5 times on each setting.
9. When desired thickness is reached, use specialized pasta cutter to form pasta.

 


You can find more information about pasta at Pizza Therapy
Visit: More Pasta Tips at Pasta Therapy

The Super Peel: An Interview With Gary Casper

Gary Casper had a pizza problem.

 A BIG Pizza Problem. He was given a pizza stone, but he didn't know how to use it. He was able to make pizza alright, but getting the pizza on and off the stone proved to be a major issue.

 Gary had been given a pizza baking stone similar to this one: Old Stone Oven 4467 14-Inch by 16-Inch  Baking Stone





 Then he had a brilliant idea... Gary and I have been an Internet friends for a number of years. I've always been amazed at his unique way of moving pizza on and off a pizza stone. In the following interview, Gary explains the Secret of The Super Peel: (EXO Limited Edition Super Peel in Solid Cherry! 100% Made in USA)

  Albert: The Super Peel is a new take on an old tool. A peel is used to transfer a pizza on and off a pizza stone (or wood fired oven). Gary how did you come up with the idea of the Super Peel? How does it work?
Gary: This truly was a Father-Daughter project from the getgo. Jen (my youngest) had given me a pizza stone when she was about 9. We tried sliding pizzas from a cardboard sheet and off of a flat baking sheet. Neither worked too well initially. I am sure now that the whole shaking-sliding thing was probably not beyond my abilities with a bit more practice.

 But, impatience and stubbornness and a need to fix things was already kicking in. Generally, we just set off try and incorporate a floured pastry cloth into "something" that pizza wouldn't stick to and that would magically put our pizzas onto our baking stone.

  Albert: How did you first create it? Did you go through a couple of design ideas?

  Gary: Ha, I wish I had pictures of some of the variations. I do still have one early version that was sort of a cloth held between two wooden rods and third rod to move a loop of the fabric. Another one incorporated parts from a car window shade. Fun yes, but getting more complicated all the way. The basic design that is used in the Super Peel today, came as sort of a "bolt out of the blue", a flash of thought that came after having set the whole project aside for a while. It was so simple and elegant!




  Albert: What gave you idea that the Super Peel would be popular with pizza makers and home chefs?

  Gary: A lot of research: books, magazines, internet, etc. all led to the confirmation that we were not the only ones with this dough transfer problem. We were clearly focused on pizza initially. Regarding possible patenting, what is important is that which has already been done or described before - referred to as "prior art".

 During my research, I came across a bread baking cook book by Carol Field - "The Italian Baker". In one part of the book she is describing how she observed bakers loading their oven in the "Old Country". She described them using a sling of fabric to place loaves in the oven and then just whipping it out to leave the loaves behind. She then goes on to lament the fact that there is unfortunately no such device for use in the home kitchen. That helped to further enforce the notion that maybe we really were onto something and that it might find uses beyond pizza making.

   Albert: Does the Super Peel have any other uses in baking other than pizza? Gary: Yes, bread bakers, both amateurs and professionals have found it useful and have endorsed it. The Super Peel has been used in classes at the CIA and has even been mentioned in some bread baking books over the years. It can also be useful for pie and pastry making, as it can be slipped beneath and dough sheet even if it is partially stuck to the rolling surface.

 Generally, it can help with any dough moving task and will reduce the amount of handling and reduce the amount of extra flouring needed. As you know, too much of either of these can adversely affect the quality of your finished baked goods. Most recently, the wood fired oven gang has been giving us more attention. The use of too much bench flour can leave deposits on the bottom of your pizza, where it burns in the high heat of the WFO. The result can be an unpleasant bitterness which can really detract from the pie.

  Albert: How did you first start to Market the Super Peel?? What was your most successful promotion? I actually started by attempting to license the concept. There was good interest and a couple of near misses, which actually bolstered my confidence in the product idea. The major obstacle to licensing was the fact that it was just too new of an idea. One might think that a revolutionary game changer would be a good thing, but such a product often requires so much education up and down the line so as to be a real negative, regardless of how cool and functional the product is.

 If customers cannot easily understand a new product, they are not likely to buy it, especially if it purports (like the Super Peel) to do magic. I pitched the product to The Baker's Catalogue, and they were interested in trying it. Eventually, it appeared on the cover of the Catalogue in Nov. of 2003 and they sold about 1000 units. It was such a good fit with the Catalogue that we had to do it, even though we didn't make any money on the whole deal. But, the exposure in The Baker's Catalogue would later lead to product testing at Cook's Illustrated.

 Gaining a Cook's Illustrated endorsement has undoubtedly played a role in the success of the product.
 
End of Part 1 of Super Peel: Interview

Ford's Lobsters, Noank Connecticut, Lobsters

I love Noank. This is one of the sweetest seaside villages in the entire state. Located right down the street from Mystic, Connecticut.

A very wonderful part of the state. I've been going to Ford's for a number of years. We used to go to get lobsters there. You were able to purchase fresh lobsters that had just come off the boat.

 And they didn't get any fresher than Ford's. The Lobster Shack at Ford's is quite famous for being in a scene of Mystic Pizza. Now the scene with Ford's was quick and if you blinked you missed it.

We now for's is serving lunch and dinner. The food was incredible. We had shrimp, and lobster bisque. We ordered crab cakes and salmon. There was even a Lobster Alfredo sauce, served over a bed of pasta.

The ultimate was the lobster bomb, made with an entire pound of fresh lobster. You can see for yourself, right here:

 

 

You can see the dishes served in the following video, I created.

 

 

Ford's Lobster's
15 Riverview Ave
Noank, CT 06340
(860) 536-2842


This was one of the most memorable lunches I ever had...I can't wait to go back.


You have your own lobsters, delivered to your home: click
; Live New England Lobster, 4-6 lb avg , 10 lb case, approximately 2 Lobsters

Apizza Adventure

Pizza Expert Mark Esposito shares the following:

"What do you do on a hot dog day Sunday? Well if you are hanging with Albert, Charly, Kamalei Grande of pizzatherapy .com it means let’s eat pizza. On this day the plan was to hit the one and only Pepe’s Apizza in New Haven, Connecticut.

So into the comfortable air conditioned Jeep we go. As we are cruising down I-95 Charly says,:

“Why don’t we make this an adventure.” I said, whadaya mean? She says, “Let’s hit Zuppardi’s in West Haven.”

 I had seen pictures of Zuppardi’s Apizza that Al had taken last week while on another pizza adventure. I didn’t have to think twice about it and said “Sure I’m up for that.”, as was everyone else. So off we went hungrily rolling down the highway on our Pizza Adventure.

Down the highway and onto the neighborhood streets of West Haven and with the miracle of GPS turn by turn navigating we make it to Zuppardi’s. This place is a wonderful family owned and run place. Bridgette the lovely expecting daughter of Laura the owner was folding pizza boxes and was happy to answer all my questions about the origins of Zuppardi’s.

 

Zuppardi's Sausage



We ordered a Sausage Apizza. They make the sausage right there fresh every Tuesday. Let me tell you this sausage pie is out of sight delicious. The whole pie was wonderfully understated and all the ingredients from the crispy thing crust, the sweet and simple tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese to the incredibly tasty sweet Italian sausage blended together as Kamalei tasted like “a little bit of heaven.”

 In my opinion, hands down this was the best Sausage Apizza I have ever eaten.  

So now I pipe in “how about we hit Modern Apizza on the way over to Pepe’s.” No problem with this crew. Next stop Modern Apizza. The place had changed décor since I was last there a few years ago. I liked the comfortable booth with a view of the pizza oven, a brick oil fired oven. We were waited on by Adam a 17 year veteran at Apizza.

 

We ordered an eggplant pie. Now eggplant is a very mild vegetable and sometimes gets lost in the other pizza ingredients but not here at Modern Apizza.

 

Eggplant pizza at Modern Apizza

 

 It was lightly breaded and delicately seasoned and the delightful eggplant taste stayed true with every bite. Charly had never had an eggplant apizza and she had a great first time eggplant pizza adventure.

 

Now it is off to Wooster Street and Pepe’s Apizza. I must admit I was full at this point but we ordered bacon and a pepperoni pie to go for later.

Italian Pastry at Libby's

 

 We did have room for desert so we headed just a little way further down Wooster to Libby’s Italian Pastry Bakery for an Italian ice and Sfogliatelle. Great way to end our Apizza adventure! Nothing better than good friends, good food and good times, thanks Grandes."

For more Connecticut Pizza Discover the Best Pizza in Connecticut, Here.

Shaping dough: The Slap Technique

Here is an interesting way to shape your pizza dough. Take the dough and slap it! Spank that dough until it listens.
Give it a good whack!
Then form it into the perfect pizza shape.
Perfect pizza every time....

Please let me know what you think!




pizza on the planet,
albert

Pizza Therapy will teach you to make pizza!

Pizza Cuz Review

Here is my totally biased review of Pizza Cuz , a show featured on the cooking channel. Pizza Cuz is a show on the Cooking channel featuring Cousins Francis Garcia and Sal Basile.

Sal and Francis from Pizza Cuz

Sal and Francis grew up on Staten Island during the time when this remote borough of New York was very much the outskirts of the city. And during the course of the show you are given flashback and insights into how things were for the Cousins as they grew up. These two cousins come from a pizza family, they’ve been in the business for a while.

They also opened Artichoke Basille’s in Manhattan in 2008. The basic story focuses on the two cousins traveling around the country try out different kinds of pizza. In the course of the show, you get to meet some extremely extra ordinary pizzaioli.




 


If you want to learn to make pizza, check out the Pizza Therapy Pizza Book.

If you will be making pizza make sure you look for Pizza Supplies for your next pizza!

Antimo Caputo Reveals the Secret of Caputo Flour

Ask any pizza master the type of flour they use and you will generally get the same answer: we only use Caputo flour.

.Some of the best pizza in the world is made with Caputo flour.

And with good reason. The flour is unique and original. The makers of Caputo flour. have perfected the method for making incredible flour.

I was lucky enough to engage Antimo Caputo, a member of the Caputo family. He carries the torch of excellence which has allowed the family to create a flour which is honored and revered as the best flour to make authentic Italian pizza.

For the International Pizza Expo, Antimo sponsored an entire crew of Italian pizzaioli (pizza masters). In addiditon they brought over hundreds of pounds of specialty flour for the Expo.

Antimo explained it is the passion of making the flour that is the secret.

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Most artisan pizzerias use a high gluten pizza flour to make pizza. The brand of choice for many professionals is Caputo. Caputo is imported flour, milled in Italy.

You can get a 55 pound bag, here: Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour, 55 Pound

Adam Kuban Visits with Don Antonio Starita and Roberto Carporuscio

If you love pizza, you have to love Adam Kuban. Well maybe not love him, but at least admire his passion for New York Pizza.

Kuban has done it done it again in this amazing pizza story featuring some of the more amazing New York pizzaioli.

This is an incredible video story by Adam Kuban.

 He gets into the heart of the matter of pizza in his conversation with Don Antonio Starita. He pulls back the onion layers to discover the true heart of pizza. You will find many different types of pizza including a deep fried pizza.

 The dough is placed in a fryer and then finished off in a wood fired oven. Simply incredible! Travel with Slice founder Adam Kuban as he checks out the gloriously fried Montanara pizza and other edibles from Don Antonio, NYC's newest Neapolitan pizzeria by Roberto Caporuscio (Keste) and Antonio Starita (Naples' Pizzeria )



As usual Kuban delivers an amazing tale with memorable tastes...

Thank you my pizza friend!

PIzza Art from Domenico Crolla

Domenico is a Master Pizzaiolo as well as a master artist. He creates incredible food in his kitchen, Bella Naopli in Glasgow. But he also creates amazing art!

To look at them the obvious solution would be to use Adobe Photoshop & Premiere Elements 11. But no! I asked him how he created these images and he explained they well all done free hand. Totally free hand.

Form his website:

This charismatic Scots-born Italian is the man behind Bella Napoli.
But there is far much more to this man than an award-winning restaurant.
He oozes so much personality, and such a passion for Italian cuisine, that it is hard to believe no talent scouts have snapped him up to host his own TV show, yet

But to Glasgow, and indeed Scotland, Domenico is very much the Celebrity Chef - and we should be proud that we have beaten Italy in having him call our country his home.

You can more about the amzing life of Domenico, Here at his personal website: Domenico Crolla.

International Pizza Expo 2013, Day 2

The International Pizza Expo, held in Las Vegas every year, is the ultimate gathering of all things pizza related, at one time in one place. You will find, pizza ovens, pizza flours, pizza tools, pizza condiments, pizza services, both hardware and software. Included in the mix you will meet the Service Reps for all of these pizza support businesses.

There is pizza competition. and pizza discussion. The competition is on-going. This year it was divided up into several different categories. The biggest competition, the pizza tossing was held on Wednesday evening. This is a wonderful high-light to the Pizza Expo.

The wonderful thing abut this gathering are all of the interesting pizza personalities you will meet. There are pizza masters of all types. I was fortunate to have been able to discuss pizza with a wide range of pizza professionals. While the everyday pizza fanatic would certainly enjoy the Pizza Expo, the whole point of the show is for pizza pros to schmooze with each other making connections and contacts.

If the course of the 3 days I was able to discuss pizza with many of the presenters and pizza support people. I tried to not get in the way and attempted to blend in as much as possible. I wanted to feature their mission and support their pizza passion. One of the more interesting booths was the Caputo Flour Booth. They showcased: Antimo Caputo "00" Flour.  

 In all of the pizza promotions and discussions I was involved in, I only got in trouble just once... But that's for another post and another time. Here are some highlights of The Las Vegas Pizza Expo, Day 2.

Pizza Making at International Pizza Expo

This video was shot at the Caputo flour booth. Mr. Starita and Mr. Adolpho are making pizza. These are pizza masters. Master of their craft. Watch and learn the inside techniques as these pizzaiolo work on their masterpieces! They are deliberate in their actions. They want the pizza that comes out of the oven to have character. They put their heart into each pizza they create.

Making pizza can take a gentle yet firm touch. the master pizzaioli, came from Italy to work on making amazing hand-crafted pizza for the International Pizza Expo. These pizza master were sponsored by Caputo Flour Discover: Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour, 55 Pound Here is the video shot at the Pizza Expo. Watch, listen and learn....





For more pizza flour adventures go to Pizza Therapy Caputo flour page.
Check out, Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour, 55 Pound

If you do not want to buy a 50 lb. bag of flour, how about: Antimo Caputo "00" Flour 10 Pack 2.2lb Bags


 For more info about Pizza Expo: Legends of Pizza Blog, Click Me

World Pizza Champion Kazuya Akaogi Pizza Expo 2013

Kazuya Akaogi is the new World Pizza Champion. Kazuya starts the competition as a spoof. He is wearing a costume. He pulls off his costume and then starts his show. Watch and learn how a true pizza champion performs. When Kazuya started to compete at the world Pizza Championships, he had to pay his own way from Japan. He came by himself and tried his hardest. His tenactiy has paid off in a big way. He now has sponsors that help to pay his way to the competition. He has stayed the course and this year it paid off. He won the Pizza Championship.

He has a certain amount of flash. He has mastered the art of the pizza toss.

Discover all of the mazing sights and sceneces of the World Pizza Expo. Incredible show all about pizza! Pizza video on you tube

If you are looking for the best flour for pizza masters,Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour, 55 Pound

Pizza on and In Film

Pizza has been immortalized on the silver screen a number of times.

There are the obvious pizza refernces to say

Mystic Pizza and of course our personal favorite, Pizza! The Movie. Here is a rather extensive trip down the memory lane of pizza.

The following was compiled by FoundItem "A feast for the eyes, we humbly present this hot, cheesy supercut of movie nostalgia. Panning and slicing across multiple eras and genres of film, we've peppered our mouthwatering edit with pizza's meatiest and and most memorable turns on the big screen. Bon appetit!"




You can find a complete list of the movies, at BuzzFeed.
Our thanks to Jay from, Pizza on Earth, and his latest project Boy's Lunch.

How to Shuck A Cherry Stone clam

Most clam experts will tell you to open a clam from the front of the shell. They will explain that this is the best method to open a Cherry Stone. You will push the blade into the front of the clam and open the clam by exerting force and cutting the muscle of the clam. You are about to discover an new method of how to open a clam.

Watch this video to discover a unique mehtod of openeing a clam: Here are the clam knives we reommend If you are going to open a clam, you need the right tools: Here are the clam knives we reommend