Perfect Pizza

No one ever does anything alone and I did not unlock the secret to perfect pizza.  Jeff Varasano did.  Bronx, NY born, Jeff Varasano is the owner of a pizzeria in Atlanta who wrote the 22,000 word definitive guide that reads like scripture.  Every word is filled with passion.  Full disclosure, the three pillars to the perfect pizza are germane to the Neapolitan style, not the American style that we espouse at Bozzelli's.  

There is also a Youtube video (https://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm) where Jeff not only walks you through his recipe but gets introspective.  Jeff stops in the middle of the recipe to reflect on how he got to the pinnacle of pizzamaking.  You get the sense that the journey was wandered with pain and suffering.  The pathos glues you to the screen and fills you with anticipation to find out if it was all worth it–does Jeff’s recipe unlock the secret to perfect pizza.   

Naturally, a 22,000 word recipe is not going to be an easy read.   Ratios and fermentation are discussed.  Jeff is meticulous about Glad containers.  There is the preface too that is explicit that the recipe is not the “easy home” version. Jeff is adamant that this is the diagram for the revolution and the recipe is going to produce pizza like the top brick oven pizzerias in New York.  

For brevity, however, the recipe can be narrowed down to three pillars.  First, there is technique.  Your kneading technique will heavily influence your end product.  Never press the dough but rather pull (Jeff says spread).  Do not apply too much pressure because you will sap the dough of life.  Remember, it is a living thing especially when it comes to the second pillar.  

Using a sourdough starter is the second pillar.  Sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water that hosts a stable blend of beneficial bacteria and wild yeasts. This mixture is continually maintained with regular feedings.  In other words, the starter is a living organism as long as you feed it fresh flour and water.  There are sourdough starters for sale on the internet that are over 150 years old, some created by Italian bakers.  Generally, pizza recipes call for grocery store yeast but Jeff explains that’s why your pizza crust is flavorless and unremarkable.  Baker’s yeast in the grocery has no flavor because it is derived from a commercial strain.    

The third pillar is temperature.  To make the perfect pizza, you need high heat, minimum 800 degrees.  I remember calling oven tech’s to modify my old Baker’s Pride deck oven so that it would get hotter than the highest setting on the adjustable dial which was 550 degrees.  There was this hack on the Internet that called for turning the dial pass 550 degrees with an allen wrench, thinking that the temperature would rise but that does not happen because the thermostat probe shuts the oven off when it reaches the max setting.  Older versions of Baker’s pride ovens allow for such a hack but mine did not.  There are guys who insulate their thermostat probes to trick their oven but I have not tried this hack since we switched to conveyor ovens.  

However, Jeff endorses such hacks and in your own kitchen too.  Jeff discovered that when you set your kitchen oven on self-cleaning mode that it reaches as hot as 1300 degrees.  Easy hack Jeff thought:  break the locking mechanism and leave the door open and you will get at least 800 degrees or more from the same oven in your kitchen that you use to make tuna casserole.  Danger. DO. NOT. DO. THIS. TO. BE. CLEAR. 

DO. NOT. MODIFY. YOUR. KITCHEN. OVEN.  Danger. 

If you do find an oven that bakes at a minimum of 800 degrees, remember to follow Jeff’s kneading technique and use a sourdough starter and you will produce the perfect pizza.  Just do not bake longer than one minute and forty seconds because the window between producing a deliciously charred pizza and a burnt shoe is measured in seconds.   Happy baking.