Slow Rise Pizza

Pizza sales throughout COVID were high, because of the beloved comfort it gives us while eating at home.  Due to many more people ordering our pizza, we started hearing from guests that our pizza dough was – simply put – boring.  So, we went on a journey to make a better pizza.

First, we started with the consultant. We wanted to find a professional that could adjust the wheel and not change it completely.  Going from our style of Gaetano’s pizza to a deep dish pan style pizza would have received lots of complaints from our original pizza fans.  We spoke with many pizza experts and decided to partner with Noel Brohener.  Noel has helped many pizza establishments including Bestia and Fresh Brothers.  After many pizza experiments at home and at the restaurant, we came to a pizza we love.  Here are the slight adjustments we’ve made to make our pizza amazing!

Oven: Everything starts and ends with the oven.  It determines the flour that should be used and the style of pizza that should be served.  We scrapped our old oven and invested in a Bakers Pride deck oven.  This oven gives the pizza an airy crust but still maintains texture and a crisp bottom. 

Flour: Prior to Noel, we always used Caputo – a high quality imported Italian flour.  However, we learned that the Caputo we were using is much better for Italian brick ovens.  For our oven, we needed to switch to a flour that had higher gluten, and we settled on many pizza chef’s favorite, King Arthur’s flour. 

Temperature: When making dough, one of the most important aspects is the temperature.  It will make or break your dough.  Noel taught us techniques to control the temperature so that the final dough temperature is at a perfect 72 degrees. 

Rolling: Prior to our pizza epiphany, we were just rolling and putting on a tray for service.  We now use a technique that creates more air bubbles for the dough.

Fermentation: Dough needs to rest for at least 24 hours.  We now make the dough and let it refrigerate for 24 hours.  We then shape into balls and let it refrigerate for another 24 hours.  This will give it that sourdough taste.

Toppings: Our toppings have always been of the highest quality.  Nothing has changed here.  However, we have learned that there is a better way to slice the vegetables and layer our pizzas. 

When was the last time you had one of our pizzas?  We’d love to hear your thoughts on our new pizzas.  Email us at [email protected].