The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Pizza prep work tonight.

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

Pizza prep work tonight.

I got some prep work done tonight, first, three 18* pizza pie dough balls, two for the freezer and one for the refrigerator. The refrigerator dough ball has a date with pizza Friday, (48hr. cold ferment.) Additionally, I started a levain build for another batch of baguettes. Tomorrow, it's time for a fresh freezer batch of the pie kings pizza sauce. This #10 can of Stanislaus tomatoes, is the stuff better pizzerias all over the country use. In fact, Califonia based Stanislaus only sells to the trade no retail sized packaging available. I am trying out their ground tomatoes. The last batch I used Stanislaus whole plum tomatoes. This jumbo size #10 tin of tomato will make fifteen 8oz portions of pizza sauce. That's - A - Lot - Of - Pizza Sauce!

BreadLee's picture
BreadLee

I'm sorry to put you to shame roadside.  This is my mission brand flour tortilla with ragu pizza sauce and pepperoni. That's a 10 minute bake.

I splurged on sargento cheese there too. Lol. 

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

kung fu. faster than Lightning pie! Whoever said pizza/cooking has to be complicated and take days to prepare? This looks and I am quite sure tastes great! Nice one Mr. Lee!

BreadLee's picture
BreadLee

Lol..I got a kick out of that.  Too funny.  You still da pizza man!

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

Will, I see that Amazon sells Stanislaus at a great price.

 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=stanislaus+pizza+sauce&rh=p_72%3A2661621011&dc&crid=2RD74289DI821&qid=1561027252&rnid=2661617011&sprefix=Stanislaus%2Caps%2C458&ref=sr_nr_p_72_4

Are these tomatoes that good? And do they freeze without any loss of quality?

 Danny

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

Dan,

 My go too tomatoes were always cento certified san marzano tomatoes. I don't mind paying a premium for a quality product. Now with all the news reports of even the certified tomatoes being fake, I lost confidence. These are very nice California grown and packaged by a family company. I have never used their ready made sauces. (I am sure they are good) I am a from scratch kind of guy. So far I have used their whole tomatoes (Alta Cucina.) I will be testing out the ground from fresh tomatoes today. (7/11.) Check out this page on their website for all their products. By the way, that price seems high. I don't think I paid more than $7.00 for the 6+pound can of 7/11. But yes they are available from many sources, just not in home/retail size 28oz. cans. Edit to add: They freeze very well!

https://www.stanislaus.com/products/real-italian-products/from-scratch-products

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

As you can see these #10 cans, can be had for just slightly more than the imported 28oz. cans of San Marzano tomatoes.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/search/stanislaus.html

David R's picture
David R

San Marzano is a tightly-controlled name. It's possible (I'd rate it likely, it's probably been proven but I didn't bother checking) that there are or have been manufacturers who fake the designation in order to sell other tomatoes at a higher price.

But... Tomatoes are a highly variable crop, and tomato canning is not a simple matter of slopping them in and putting a lid on. A batch of excellent "any other tomatoes", canned just right, is better than a batch of slightly green or slightly bad San Marzanos that weren't canned very well. Before buying half a ton of ANY brand or designation of canned tomatoes, first buy just a can or two, to try them. You can't tell by tasting the label. ?

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

I am pleased as punch to report, the ground Stanaslus, tomatoes are a perfect match to the sweet basil and salty anchovies in my proprietary pizza sauce formula. I can without reservation give the 7/11 ground tomatoes the same high mark as I awarded to the Stanaslus Alt Cucina whole plum tomatoes. 5 Baguettes! The very highest Pie King rating!

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

What does 6-in-1 or 7/11 tomatoes mean? I see that mentioned a lot m PizzaMaking.com

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

I have no Idea what the significance of the numbers is. Stanislaus also has a product called 74-40 (tomato filets) 6in1 are ground tomatoes by a company called Escalon. I have heard them mentioned also. Never used them. I think they are available in 28oz. cans which is nice. My freezer batch of sauce is done. Came out very nice, The ground tomatoes make a thicker sauce than I got with the whole plum. I like that, plus less work, I don't have to crush/ground up the whole ones. I did a bit more prep for tomorrows pizza. Lightly caramelized shallots with thinly sliced garlic. Smile.

David R's picture
David R

6-in-1 is (according to what the manufacturer says) just advertising that the product is supposed to be good for multiple uses (I think six ways of using it were once literally listed on the label), and there's nothing special about the number 6 in that particular case.

I would add that a simple brand-name made almost entirely out of numerals is easy to remember and easy to write on an order, no matter what your first language is or how much flour is coating the pen you're trying to write with. ?

PS: I don't know anything about the origins of the Escalon company, but right now it's owned by Heinz.

albacore's picture
albacore

Pie King, how do your frozen balls work out? Do you find any difference spreading or eating? I've always been a bit afeared of going down that route, despite the convenience factor.

Lance

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

This will be my second go at it The first two worked pretty good. The first bake from frozen was maybe 6 days frozen, worked perfect. The second bake the dough was about 9 days frozen, I did not get a great oven spring. However it was still a nice pie. I am bad at documenting times and being very methodical (like Dan is) I want to get the timing down on this frozen dough. That being said, just with the sketchy data I have, I can't see the sourdough lasting more than 14 days in the freezer. Commercial yeast may or may not be a different story.

albacore's picture
albacore

I'm steering clear of sourdough pizza for the foreseeable future - ever since my vinegrated, disintegrating dough ball episode!

Lance

Nickisafoodie's picture
Nickisafoodie

I have been using the 7/11 tomatoes by Stanislaus for four years now for all of my needs.   I used to use San Marzano for all my needs but found these to be superior.  I am an avid pizza maker and our family cooks all of our foods from scratch.

·         The tomatoes are crushed and unlike most brands there is no a real lot of liquid that separates, which is a big plus for pizza

·         They are grown in CA.   Pure tomatoes, nothing added.   I find the taste to have a slight natural sweetness, very subtle and for me, a positive nuance.  I used to use LaValle and other Italian brands, these are superior in my opinion.

·         They are available at Restaurant Depot and only in the large #10 can (6.9lbs each).  No smaller sizes and no other stores that I am aware of.  Can’t beat the price.  I buy a case of 6 cans at a time for about $25!!! – which equals 41.25 lbs!   Individual cans are less than $6 give or take. 

·         That said, I just googled them and Amazon individual cans for $15 vs $5.50 RD, and has a case for $99 vs. $24!!  Join RD or find a friend and you won’t be sorry. 

·         No flaming from San Marzano purists.  I know the DOC requirements.  I choose to use these instead, first and foremost due to flavor and thick crushed without excessive liquid which needs straining.  My doughs use a natural 100 year old culture with two day minimum time in refrigerator for optima flavor development.  My pizzas are very good; my style is NY and Detroit of late. 

·         In the end, do what makes you happy.

David R's picture
David R

Thanks Nick

A note on posting: You're right that it's smart to type your posts elsewhere and paste them in here when you're done, but Word does a poor job of that because it includes a lot of "garbage" when you cut or copy. Try using Notepad if you're on Windows, or use some other software of your choice.

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

I had that same thing happen to one of my posts. I was sure it was caused when I turned off rich text. However I just tried to replicate the glitch and could not. (I deleted the test post)

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

Thanks for posting. Are you new to TFL forum? Couple of things, first we will be having a community bake starting in a few days, the bake is going to feature thin crust style pizza. I hope you will consider joining in. These bakes are always fun and a great learning experience.

 I have used Stanislaus twice now for my pizza sauce. I too love it! I make my simple uncooked sauce, then freeze it in single pie quantity's. I wish they came in smaller cans for my everyday cooking. Any tips on using these 6+ pound cans?

 I am pretty sure the sweetness is a characteristic  of our domestic California tomatoes in general. I happen to love it! Some however prefer the more acetic San Marzano. Personal choice. Switching gears to fresh tomatoes, Last year around this time I became very unhappy with store brought fresh tomatoes, I found them all to be tasteless. I then found Campari tomatoes. These come from Mexico, and are sold in clam-shell packaging. Very nice tomatoes.

 Post up some photos of your pies we would love to see them. Nice to meet you.

Kind regards,

Will, AKA

The Roadside Pie KIng

David R's picture
David R

Fresh tomatoes are best - except when they're not. ?

Tomatoes are a finicky crop no matter where they're grown, and the consistent quality of the best canned tomatoes makes them IMO usually the right choice for pizza - unless you grow your own tomatoes!

Nickisafoodie's picture
Nickisafoodie

Yes was trying to use word first and the rich text caused an issue.  I am a long time member and never had the posting problem before - avoid Word.

We do two things with the tomatoes.  I have a food preserver so make  2 or 3 portion bags for pizza and yes, freeze them.  they do not suffer given there is no air and I use them over a few months.  I also do smaller packages of a cup or half cup for when you simply want to add tomato as part of soups or other meals.  We also use a few cans to make about 9 quarts of cooked marinara.  We can these in mason jars.  Very easy to come home, grab one and heat it up while pasta is cooking.  Yes it takes a bit of work, but better than any on the shelf product, all of which have corn syrup added, which would make Nona roll over in her grave!

The pizza is cooked on a stone, the perforated tray is where I transfer to after removing.  However, before I started using stones (and now baking steel), those type of trays worked pretty good!

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

I also started with and have perforated pans. I now cook my 18" pies on pizza screens in my blazing hot oven on a 16" round steel. I find I don't even have to bother taking the pie off the screen 1/2 way though. They bake up just fine. I'll post some photos of my pizza Friday creation after dinner.

Best,

 Will.