Well, finally had the time to make some pizza last night. Used the Joy of Cooking dough recipe as written, but with a little more sugar. I think I got the right mix of water temperature and sugar content for the yeast, because it really rose well.
Cooked one at 500 degrees for 13 minutes and got a firm, golde-brown crust. The other stayed in for about 16 minutes for a crisper crust. All in all, a success.
Ran out of pizza cheese and had to use some taco cheese. I suspect that the woman I live with used the pizza cheese earlier in the week on some non-pizza related project.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Diet Efficiency
I have been thinking lately about the efficiency of eating meat. I remember a rule of thumb from grade school science class that says at each step along the food chain only about 10% of the energy is passed along. So from the sun, to a food crop, to livestock to me is 100% x 0.1 x 0.1 x 0.1 = .1% efficient, on average. Not that great. And that's if I'm eating something that only eats plants. If I'm eating a secondary consumer of some kind, like a shark or an eagle, that's even worse. And if I eat a human cannibal, that adds at least two more steps in the chain dropping the efficiency down to about .001%.
Having read a recent Time article about biofuels, I have been thinking about what we use our arable land for. The headline of the article is a little alarmist, and erroneously suggests that biofuel proponents are somehow tricking people into hurting the environment, but the body of the article presents a pretty grim picture of the unintended consequences of using land inefficiently. I get most of my calories from fruits, vegetables and grains, but I probably have meat 5 or 6 days out of 7 for at least one meal. I like eating meat, but is it really worth the efficiency loss in the system? I don't know if I'm ready to cut meat completely out of my diet, but I can definitely stand to eat less of it.
I'll have to do some more research into how animal products (eggs, honey, milk, etc.) fit into the whole thing. I wonder if getting eggs out of a chicken for its whole lifetime, and then eating the chicken is more or less efficient than raising the chicken to a younger age and just eating it (fewer years of feeding, and fewer years of egg production). It would also need to be compared against just using the energy that made the chicken feed to make human feed instead. hmmm....
Having read a recent Time article about biofuels, I have been thinking about what we use our arable land for. The headline of the article is a little alarmist, and erroneously suggests that biofuel proponents are somehow tricking people into hurting the environment, but the body of the article presents a pretty grim picture of the unintended consequences of using land inefficiently. I get most of my calories from fruits, vegetables and grains, but I probably have meat 5 or 6 days out of 7 for at least one meal. I like eating meat, but is it really worth the efficiency loss in the system? I don't know if I'm ready to cut meat completely out of my diet, but I can definitely stand to eat less of it.
Three hundred trout are needed to support one man for a year. The trout, in turn, must consume 90,000 frogs, that must consume 27 million grasshoppers that live off of 1,000 tons of grass.-- G. Tyler Miller, Jr., American Chemist (1971)
Grow food in dirt? Save time, eat dirt! --Goblin Farmer
I'll have to do some more research into how animal products (eggs, honey, milk, etc.) fit into the whole thing. I wonder if getting eggs out of a chicken for its whole lifetime, and then eating the chicken is more or less efficient than raising the chicken to a younger age and just eating it (fewer years of feeding, and fewer years of egg production). It would also need to be compared against just using the energy that made the chicken feed to make human feed instead. hmmm....
First time in a long time
I had time this weekend to make some pizza. I'm definitely ready to enjoy some home-cooked pies again, after about 8 weeks of not having the time to cook.
Tonight's Recipe:
1 cup white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 packet yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
I cooked this at 500 degrees for about 12 minutes, and this produced a crisp crust without quite burning the cheese. The dough was workable, but the whole wheat flour makes it very brittle. Next time I'll go back to 2 cups white, 1 cup wheat.
Tonight's Recipe:
1 cup white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 packet yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
I cooked this at 500 degrees for about 12 minutes, and this produced a crisp crust without quite burning the cheese. The dough was workable, but the whole wheat flour makes it very brittle. Next time I'll go back to 2 cups white, 1 cup wheat.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Ran out of whole wheat flour
Last night's pizza was made with 3 cups of white flour and 1 1/4 cups of water. The other ingredients were the same. It took about 5 minutes more cooking time than usual to get the desired crispness of dough, and the dough was very sticky after rising.
Monday, January 14, 2008
It seems to have worked
The recipe from last week worked very well. The dough was very workable, though a little wet, and it turned out to be fairly crisp. Next time, I will increase the cook time on the lower rack to 11 minutes.
I think I will also reduce the amount of water to 1 cup. The dough was a little wet and sticky, and I ended up adding more flour that I wanted.
I also ran out of pizza cheese and had to use mexican cheese on one pie. It worked really well, with some green peppers on there. Tasty.
I think I will also reduce the amount of water to 1 cup. The dough was a little wet and sticky, and I ended up adding more flour that I wanted.
I also ran out of pizza cheese and had to use mexican cheese on one pie. It worked really well, with some green peppers on there. Tasty.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Inaugural Post
So, this blog is really just a convenient way for me to record my pizza (and other cooking) thoughts and ideas. It's not really intended to be read, but if you're interested feel free.
My first pizza story is one of a slight setback. I was making pizza dough last night, after a long period of inactivity in the kitchen. I had previously made dough with a mix of white and whole wheat flour, but last night I forgot to add the white flour. I was also talking to someone when I was measuring out the flour, and lost track of how much I put in. I suspect I used too much, and subsequently had to add water and oil to make the dough workable. Also, the whole wheat is not as workable as the white flour.
Another unrelated note is that I can never get the crust as crispy as I want it. For next week, I am going to make the following modifications to my procedure:
Recipe:
2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 packet yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups grated cheese per pie
preheat oven to 425 F
one rack low, one rack high in the oven
cook for 10 minutes on low rack, then 5 on high rack
This will produce less dough, that should be more workable. Also, the temperature is slightly higher than I normally use. We'll find out in a week if that helps.
My first pizza story is one of a slight setback. I was making pizza dough last night, after a long period of inactivity in the kitchen. I had previously made dough with a mix of white and whole wheat flour, but last night I forgot to add the white flour. I was also talking to someone when I was measuring out the flour, and lost track of how much I put in. I suspect I used too much, and subsequently had to add water and oil to make the dough workable. Also, the whole wheat is not as workable as the white flour.
Another unrelated note is that I can never get the crust as crispy as I want it. For next week, I am going to make the following modifications to my procedure:
Recipe:
2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 packet yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups grated cheese per pie
preheat oven to 425 F
one rack low, one rack high in the oven
cook for 10 minutes on low rack, then 5 on high rack
This will produce less dough, that should be more workable. Also, the temperature is slightly higher than I normally use. We'll find out in a week if that helps.
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