Backyard Pizza in the Buffalo News
I’ve been sort of obsessed with pizza for many years, and Neapolitan is my thing. I love it, I seek it out, and I’ve finally gotten around to try and do my best impression of it in my backyard. It’s not quite there yet, because the dough and the fire always tend to vary in consistency and quality. But part of the fun is trying stuff out and seeing what works and what doesn’t.
Andrew Galarneau, food editor for the Buffalo News, and photographer Bob Kirkham came over to try some of my pies and he did a great piece on my efforts to make great pizza in my backyard. You can check it out here.
I use a 22.5″ Weber kettle grill, with the KettlePizza attachment (with the optional tombstone pizza stone), and the Kenji Alt-Lopez Baking Steel hack, found here. One chimney of charcoal and a quarter of a log to get the fire nice and hot, and you’ll be ready to bake in about an hour.
Here are some of my winners:
Of course you would have one of those!!! But Buffalo pizza is still better!!! 🙂
And what, pray tell, IS Buffalo pizza?
The best pizza is the pizza in front of you. Seek not correct pizza. Seek pizza zen.
Seek pizza excellence. Do not eat the shit pizza, for then you encourage the shit pizza.
Ah, but the path to excellent pizza is manyfold, and the way is beset on all sides by those who would claim that theirs is the one true pizza. Listen not to such charlatans, for they would have you believe in one true color of a flower or one true song of a calling bird!
There are many good pizzas, and there are many horrible pizzas. This is a subjective analysis, but one that is important to maintain.
That last sentence sounds like something Jim Lahey would say. Hence the tie-in to pizza from the Maritimes. (Halifax in particular.)
This follows an old adage I once heard: “Pizza is like making whoopee. When it’s good, it’s great. When it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” I’ve heard of some pizzas from the Maritimes that have disproven the adage.
Keep us posted on the crust project Allen.
I like a crust that has that home made from scratch fresh baked bread yeasty aroma and that I have not found in Buffalo.
If your ever out to Medina, N.Y. try the pizza at Avanti Gourmet Pizza. Batavia also has a great place with that kind of crust although I disremember the name of the place.
Also feel free to invite me over to sample your wares Allen.
The best pizza in WNY is as follows (in no particular order): Romeo & Juliet’s, Rocco’s/Siena/800 Maple (Rocco’s is the best of the 3), Trattoria Aroma, La Hacienda (Niagara Falls only), Zetti’s on a good day, and Gino & Joe’s is also good for a slice.
All places I have not tried yet. Thanks for the tip.
SpeakUpWNY reports that horse meat was used in the making of this pizza! For shame!
“On his backyard patio, he stretched dough that had been fermenting for three days over the back of his hands.”
That dangling modifier resulted in the most wonderful image. How does one take care of personal hygiene with pizza dough fermenting over the back of one’s hands?
Depends…
This is a beautiful thing you have created!
You need a Youtube channel where you post tutorials on how to make this stuff.