Nice video, I enjoyed the comparisons! It makes me realize I need to talk to serious eats about updating that old recipe because in various serious eats articles since then we’ve written extensively about using the broiler, steel vs. stone, longer fermentation etc. When I make pizza in my home of in these days, I typically make a semi no-knead style dough, that I ferment for a few days in the fridge before dividing and proofing, then I’ll bake it on a baking steel that has been preheated in a 550° oven, with the broiler kicked on just before the pizza go insane so that it takes only a few minutes to bake. In any case, I think you did a really nice comparison and you were very fair about everything!
I was legit looking for a response to the Sam the cooking guy burn, but was pleasantly surprised to see Kenji at the top. Kenji I love you and your responses to comments definitely legitimize you skill legacy. People love personable people and you are it!
SO pleased with the result! Adam Ragusea has some of the best recipes on RUclips. Clear, achievable, science-based, and delicious. We bought a steel at his suggestion, and we never looked back. When you said you bought a new stone at the beginning of the video I was like "NO YOU GOOF, YA GOTTA GET A STEEL!" 😂 Enjoy it: it's also great for calzone, flatbread, and reheating leftover pizza so that it becomes crispy instead of floppy.
@@vanessssaa It really doesn’t matter. It just needs to be steel and thick. Your best bet would be to get a steel sheet that’s the same size as an entire rack in your oven, and as thick and heavy as your oven can safely hold. The key is to get as much mass as possible. Don’t buy anything sold as an oven steel - those are just overpriced gimmicks. Save your money and just get it directly from a steel supplier, the kind that sells material to machine shops and engineering firms. The specific grade of steel doesn’t particularly matter. Your oven won’t get so hot that it’ll seriously affect its structural properties, and the steel won’t face any serious stresses, so just get the cheapest steel available, probably a hot rolled mild steel. All you need to do is give it a thorough deburring around the edges with a file, a good thorough scrubbing, and a little bit of seasoning.
The nice thing about Adam Ragusea recipes is that out of all the channels out there, his are the most accessible. He's like the polar opposite of Josh Weissman. The things he makes are going to be crude and easy, whereas Josh make beautiful food that I'd imagine most people won't even bother attempting due to its complexity.
At this point, Joshua has pretty much realized that almost none of his viewers have any interest in cooking for themselves and prefer to watch him flex. On the occasion that he does try to make a recipe for "normal" people (like his "But Cheaper" series) his comments fill up with whiners who don't know how to shop or manage their own lives complaining how they don't have a functional kitchen so his budget doesn't work.
@@Default78334 Even on his but cheaper series, his recipes just aren't as accessible as Ragusea's. Just look at his newest rice bowl recipe. The thing looks beautiful and delicious, but there's like 30 steps and it would probably take the average person around 2-3 hours to do all of that. There's nothing wrong with that type of content, it is still fun to watch and I'm sure at least some people would try that, but compare that recipe to pretty much anything from Ragusea. Many of Ragusea's videos have recipes with like 4-5 steps and can easily be done in 0.5-1 hour. Also he didn't even put the recipe in the description, so if you're following along you'd have to repeatedly watch a little and pause to get the right measurements for everything (or buy his cookbook, which is fine for him but doesn't change the fact that Ragusea's videos are more accessible). The reality is both channels have different audiences and that is fine, but rarely would I go to a Joshua Weissman video if I actually wanted to cook something.
Wasn't his recipe technically the least accessible here, since it required a pizza steel? There is an Austrian RUclips cook, kein Stress kochen, who managed to get a similar effect by prebaking the dough in a skillet on the stove and then finishing it under the broiler (what Brits call the grill). I tried it and it works to get something quite similar to Italian pizza. There are so many accessible recipes on this site, especially if you look at smaller creators.
@@Electromanx3 Ragusea has other videos that use that technique specifically, but the point of this recipe was to make the best possible NY style pizza, not a pan pizza. NY style pizza is designed to be made with special equipment, it's why you need all these work arounds to get something close at home. Also having a pizza steel isn't really more likely than having a pizza stone. I was talking more in general about his content, but even with the specialty equipment needed here, his recipe is really easy. Anyone can make it in like 20 minutes of work.
Your smile when you first bite into Adams pizza tells it all already! He really put in a lot of effort into perfecting his pizza. The steel is so much better for home ovens. At the temperatures a traditional pizza oven operates, a steel bottom would burn the pizza. But it's perfect for the low home oven temperatures.
I live like an hour away from NYC and I really don't get why people like their pizza so much lol maybe I have to try Joe's to see if there's merit to it
It's one of those simple dishes that can be universally loved. The most popular foods are quite simple, such as hamburgers or mac and cheese. It's at least worth it for a one and done experience. Adam's recipe is more for the people who live quite far away but still want a similar experience. IMO making his recipe is worth it every once and a while and always puts a smile on my face.@@dxzts6614
Pizza Steel is the way to go. 100%. They hold and conduct the heat way better, and they wont split on you the way a stone can. You can also just keep it on the bottom rack of your oven for anything you bake, it will help regulate and even out out the internal temperature of your oven for more consistent results.
IMO the best thing you can do is have a pizza steel below the pizza and a pizza steel/stone above it. It blasts the pizza from both sides with heat and likewise it helps regulate the temperature in the oven even further.
@@TheNunakun I don't prefer my toppings to be charred, honestly. Maybe a broiler is better for the average person. I like my meats crisped and my cheese melty but mostly white with a few light brown spots. I prefer the crust to not be too browned or bubbled.
Yep, my brother got me a pizza steel for my birthday a couple of years ago, and it lives in the oven. I’ve found that everything I bake is more consistent because of how it regulates the heat.
not super surprised by the results - mostly because Adam's recipe is the only one that was 'made for a home oven' - I've tried Vito's other dough recipes in a pizza oven and the results are great!
Vito is the king with getting you perfectly fermented an fragrant doughs! This was unfortunate for him, I feel there was some user error here an he may have not included enough info in his video to make sure you get a good char on the bottom. I only have a 550F electric oven and a stone an I get really good results with par baking just the sauce an then putting the cheese an toppings on in the last few minutes. Sometimes he leaves things out from one video, you pick up on other videos an experience making them. No way you can just cook the dough 7 minutes on the screen an get a good bottom like he gets. You see how Vito’s looked totally different an much better if you watch Vito’s video.
This video was unfair to Vito, IMO. Vito's New York style pizza video shows making one pizza with a screen, and the second with a stone. He just wanted to show it could be done without a stone.
I’m so excited Adam won. His channel may not have the fanciest recipes but I also recreate like three times more of his recipes than I do from any other channel because his makes excellent food that is accessible and doable for a home cook. Doesn’t use crazy ingredients you have to have special ordered lol his deboned turkey changed how I will cook thanksgiving forever. And he is the reason o got a pizza steel and will never go back. Even just frozen pizza tastes better on a steel. Awesome video. I love watching you try out recipes for us so I know which to bother trying myself :) plus u make it fun
@@ileaverealitybehind Yeah, I love Josh but god damn son, that dude goes fucking extra on his stuff, he's almost the complete opposite of Adam, like I'm sorry my guy, but I am not getting half this stuff you just said.
Adam Ragusea is by far my favorite cooking RUclips channel, as someone who has to cook for the family all the time, he makes excellent recipes are accessible by most people in most areas, and they don't break the bank typically. Now I'm not downplaying Joshua Weissman or any of those guys, they are excellent chefs, but I think Adam's videos are the most accessible by most people.
To be fair, Vito usually says that if you will cook it in a home oven that can't go to high temperatures, to cook the dough with the sauce first for a few min and then add the cheese and throw it in the oven again.
Makes sense, Adam Ragusea is phenomenal. He gives reasons why you should do it one way over the other, gives evidence on what is the best to do and just overall gives information along with the actual recipe. It makes you assured that obviously he knows what's best and that you're going to make the best possible version of that dish. I love his cooking and informational videos, both great, honestly his cooking videos already have some information in it already. The way he puts in the work to get the evidence is unreal
I love Adam's videos. He very much feels like Good Eats did when I was a kid. I've followed several of his recipes (including his pizza ones) and they all come out fantastic. My mom even tried his pan pizza recipe and said it was a smashing success with my dad and younger brother. Pizza steels are the way to go!
As a native New Yorker myself living elsewhere, I never thought there'd be a way to have that kind of delicious pizza at home. I haven't watched basically any of Adam Ragusea's stuff... But I'm going to have to if it affords me the chance to have NY style pizza at home any time I want.
@@godminnette2 Adam talked about stone vs steel he told that there the steel was a bit better than the stone for the first pizza iirc but the key difference was for making consecutive pizzas. The stone doesn't retain the heat and the second pizza isn't as good as the first one unless you wait a while to preheat it.
You don't need a RUclips guide to make pizza. It's fucking bread, cheese, and tomato sauce. It doesn't exactly take a degree in rocket science to make. You just watched a video of someone making 4 of them back to back with next to effort.
@@pockit5107 next to no effort*, and if it were "jUsT bReAd, ChEeSe, AnD tOmAtO sAuCe", then it wouldn't be the amazing food item that is made pretty much internationally with many many variations
I've tried many RUclips recipes, but Ragusea is the only one that consistently provides phenomenal recipes. All of you should make his pot roast. Don't skip steps.
I knew Adam would win from the start. That dough recipe was soooo good that even though I made the pizza on the stove, it was amazing. Adam really doesn’t make claims and he said the closest instead of the best which proves more that his words has validity.
17:30 best part is Adam didn't title it that way. It's just called making new York style pizza at home. It became known as the best purely because people tried it and it worked.
Also what I love about Adam Ragusea is he admits in MANY videos that how you cook your food depends upon your circumstances. What ingredients do you have available, what kitchenware is at your disposal, how many people are you serving, etc. And he has said many times that whatever way you like it should work for you and you should adjust recipes until they fit your definition of perfect, he wants to provide a baseline and not be defacto (For example David noted he needed to add more flour than what was written. Adam had gone on record saying he starts with minimal flour and adds more until it feels right as it's easier to dry a wet dough than rehydrate a dry dough, and local conditions can affect the feeling too). I also really like how he has made several pizza videos, either reitterating on past creations, giving alternatives to people that don't have access to certain ingredients or items (Like low moisture mozzarella or a pizza stone/steel for example) and I can sincerely appreciate that. Especially in a day and age where one too many food RUclipsrs, even if they don't really say it, more often than they only show one way to truly make their recipe and don't acknowledge that other ways are fine. Adam Ragusea is my favorite food RUclipsr because he is one of the few to recognize that cooking is not prescriptive, and that many things may need to altered or changed from more traditional recipes to suit the home kitchen and home grocery store.
@@TheOnlyBongo since I don't know you. I read your comment with Adam's voice. I totally agree with you. I've lately been on a pizza kick. I cooked my pizza on the underbelly of my 14" cast iron skillet while resting on parchment paper. I think I'm going to make small tweaks to this process. Maybe cook until the pizza firms up then place it directly onto the skillet. I think the parchment paper is keeping it from being great.
Had Lucali's right before the Pandemic. Best Pizza and calzone I've ever eaten. It was heavenly. Highly recommend, worth the wait. Get in line early if you plan to dine in.
"But it's the crust that's the magic" *words to live by* I know NY Style gets all the hype but Detroit style is honestly the most underrated of pizza styles. I know people wouldn't think of Detroit as a pizza city AND a hot dog city, but it is in every way. I went to Detroit in 2019, had both a coney dog and a pizza there and loved both
I respect your opinion but Detroit style just doesn’t really do it for me. It’s way too greasy and doesn’t have enough crust for me. It’s just so much richer than any other type of pizza I’ve had before. I will admit, though, that’s it’s very underrated. Didn’t even know it was a thing before my family moved to Michigan a couple years ago.
Detroit is a hot dog city? Either way, detroit style is one of the best regional styles for sure. That crispy, squishy crust coated in crunchy cheese bits is amazing.
My bias is to Buffalo style pizza. Also, coming from Oswego, NY, we had something called a "coney" that if I recall correctly is nothing like what you call a "coney" except that both are styles of hot dog. (And apparently what is called a "coney" there is called a "white hot" in Rochester, just 75 miles away.)
There is this Italian American cooking channel called Sip and Feast, that specializes in NY style italian food, and his homemade pizza looks amazing. It also uses a pizza steel like Adam's
Hey David, your hairdresser I don't think got your hair light enough before putting the blue in. The leftover coppery tone is what makes green when you dye it blue. I'm gluten free because of GI issues but I I have to say I love the super thin crust but crunchy pizzas the best!
Any GF crust recipes you’d recommend? I’ve known I have celiac for about a year and a half and while I’ve found a few frozen pizzas I can deal with I’m really craving that restaurant style crisp and so I’ve been trying to make it myself
"You can hear that crunch in Iowa" made me wheeze. I just moved from NJ to Iowa. And I miss being able to hop on the PATH to get good NY Style Pizza. Midwest pizza ain't the same. But trying some homemade ones might soothe my need for good pizza.
Clearly you haven't had one of two pizzas: Happy Joe's taco pizzas or Any thing from Casey's. Definitely not new york style, but so good in their own right.
Insert joke about Iowa and corn here. Fun fact! In some parts of the world, "American pizza" is made by taking a regular cheese pizza and pouring a can of cream corn on top. I heard this story from a traveler who was presented this proudly by the chef, who stood by with baited breath to hear how his creation must remind her of good old America. THAT must have been an awkward conversation.
@@JETZcorp 🍕🌽🤢🤮😅 FWIW, in the SF Bay Area, we have Vicolo Pizza, which makes cornmeal CRUST pizzas thst anyone can make in their home oven. Those are pretty good. But what you described sounds absolutely revolting, and I can’t possibly imagine that that chef has ever followed the sacred rule of “taste, taste, taste,” that all good chefs must follow… either that or the entire world thinks Americans are not only morons but are also palate-less heathens who enjoy eating that slop slurry from the bleak future in the Matrix.
@@JETZcorp Oh man, you unlocked a hidden memory I had of finding "American Pizza" in the freezer section of a store in the Czech Republic that had corn on it! I was so confused by it. I find that less weird than my cousin's favorite pizza there being a tuna pizza though. I guess if it was normal corn it wouldn't be too different from Korean cheese corn? It's weird that it's known as American pizza when there are other countries that seem to love corn more than us! XD
@@Msrayrayjustducky I've been told to try Casey's, especially due to being from the land of Wawa and very used to gas station/convenience store food being revered. I might just have to try that. I don't think there's a Happy Joe's anywhere near me. Thanks for the suggestions!
I'm not too surprised Ragusea won. Even though he's not a professional cook, the man tries to learn the "why" and "how" behind different cooking methods like it's the cure for cancer, all the way down to the molecular level. Once you know how that stuff works you can get the precise result you're looking for.
Kind of feel like you should have used the steel over the stone for all of them, but I guess if Adam is the only one who specifically mentioned it then I guess it's fair. Still, steel is always gonna beat out the stone
Adam and mark have such radical different approaches to sauce because of the ingredients they use. Adam doesn't cook the sauce because he is relying only on the tomatoes for flavor, meanwhile mark uses onions and garlic stir fried to give the sauce a little more of a punch, so the acid of the tomatoes would clash with that, mellowing the sauce by cooking it allows the garlic and onion to incorporate flavors better
At home, adam’s pizza is definitely the best. However, I think the Lucali one benefits immensely from the super quick cook times of those 800 degree wood fire ovens. It gets you that super crunchy crust but doesn’t dry out like it would with the longer cook times in a home oben
I really really recommend a pizza steel over a pizza stone. Sometimes I even hear that up stovetop over high high heat drop the pie on it and then into the oven for it to rise properly. It’s also easier to manage the release stovetop than in the oven
We use pizza screens in our house and never have the bottoms that colorless. But we cook it longer at a slightly lower temperature since we don't own a pizza oven. Guess it's probably not NY style by that point, though.
It's generally often recommended to cook NY style pizzas hot and fast. Because they're so thin the internal temperature is achieved quicker and it lets you brown your cheese more easily before the fat splits very much. Wood-fire pizza ovens can reach upwards of 700 degrees Fahrenheit. It's also why everyone is recommending pizza steels over stones for home ovens because it transfers heat much more quickly. If pizza ovens used steels at that temperature it would very likely burn.
I use Vito's recipe for neapolitan style pizza for a while now and it's so good that almost every reastaurant pizzeria around sucks compared to his pizza. Btw it's Iacoppelli with an i as far as I know. The pizza steel is also key for a good crust and should be essential for any hobby pizzamaker without a small pizza oven.
I’ve been making Adam’s pizza for the last 1.5 years now. Every one my friends who has tried it loves it. It replaced my need for frozen pizzas, and going out for pizza. It’s just perfect.
For your next VS showdown, I would love for you to try chicken noodle soup recipes. I am also a home cook, and I have been making that soup with homemade chicken stock every month now. It's my #1 favorite soup of all time. Before winter ends, how about trying out chicken noodle soup recipes by Tasty, Sam The Cooking Guy, Joshua Weissman, and Binging With Babish and find out which one wins?
@@kaldo_kaldo For the chicken stock, I basically do what Joshua Weissman does: Break a whole chicken apart, take the bones and roast them. I freeze the two chicken breasts to use for another day and save the leg and thigh meat for the actual soup. Then in a large pot, I add the roasted bones and whatever vegetables/herbs/aromatics I want. Then I let the stock cook and simmer with water on a stove for 4 hours minimum. For the actual soup, I use a large cast iron pot and add whatever vegetables and herbs I like along with the stock. I cook the leg and thigh meat as well as a few more chicken thighs in the soup and then shred and add them back. Of course I add the noodles and season to taste before adding additional spices. Then I serve and enjoy. 😋 By the way, You Suck At Cooking just posted a new chicken noodle soup video of his own. It looks good.
I'm pretty sure Kenji's recipe uses bread flour instead of all purpose flour. Bread flour has more protein / gluten which gives the airiness that ny style pizza must have (along with the crispiness at the bottom).
I think you are right. I feel like all of the final products looked a lot more flat than when I make pizza. Also I am skeptical of rolling out the dough because you get out so many of the air bubbles.
Also. I’ve made a lot of pizza at home and for me a higher moisture content in my dough yields a lot more bubbles so I can see in the last recipe why the dough would be so loose.
He did not replicate Kenji's pizza properly because that video he used for the recipe was less about the recipe and more about comparing the Ooni and Roccbox pizza ovens. He was in no way going to get the same results from a home oven, even with a stone, to those portable gas ovens that get to 950 degrees.
Hijacking this comment to point out that the recipe Kenji shows in his NY style pizza video on RUclips (which is the recipe David used for this video) is a different recipe than the one he posted to the Serious Eats website. That particular version of the dough method has provided me with consistently awesome results in a home oven. It may be worth David revisiting at some point even 😄🍕
@@kaldo_kaldo I mean, listen, Kenji is a beast, but he's like, he knows about all food. Pizza is Iacono's entire deal. But it might have just been a situation where they were both designing for brick ovens, and Adam's was optimized for a convection oven.
As other people have pointed out, I think it’s because Adam’s was made specifically for home ovens, from the ground up. I’m not sure about the others, but they seem more like modified recipes for pizza cooked in a really hot oven, if you cooked the other 3 recipes in the big ovens I think they’d all come out pretty similar (not sure about the less sticky doughs, they wouldn’t crisp up properly)
He didn't use Kenji's serious eats recipe though, he used a quicker version Kenji posted on a RUclips video. His serious eats version has an overnight rise and bread flour
I think that this video encapsulates why I enjoy Adam's content so much, his videos teach you the same way a dad would. I mean he is one so it makes sense, but all of his videos he reminds you all the time to not follow his recipes to the letter since there are just so many other variables that affect cooking and to just try things "until you like it". My cooking has improved immensely after I started cooking around that principle.
David, I use a convection oven, 550, with a black non stick pizza pan from Tramontina. Charred spots and 7 minutes of cooking, the black absorbs more heat, and I don't preheat the oven more than to the target temp. I build the pie directly on the pan.
If you haven't, you should let Adam's dough recipe do the full 7 days in the fridge. It's a night and day difference from 1 day to 7, comes out almost like a sourdough crust. Super good.
Welcome back! Nice video to start off 2022! I don't know many people who don't love pizza so I was really happy to see this. I really love it when creators get brand deals with companies that sell products that they use all the time. That way you get to work with them to promote them but also use the products in your videos not because you have to, but because it's a type of product that you would use for many recipes you would make on here regardless.
I knew adam would win, I have impressed so many family members mimicking his pizza recipes and I am forever grateful to him for helping me have good pizza in Kansas.
I've been a follower/fan of two of the "foodtubers" who's pizza recipes you tried (Kenji and Ragusea) for years, Adam's video from years ago when he was working at some radio station in Boston was the thing that set me down the path that lead to eventually building my own wood-fired oven, etc. From that perspective, and with the caveat that I tend to prefer pizza that's a bit more of a middle-ground between NY style and Neapolitan (thinner than NY style and cooked longer than Neapolitan/thicker than Neapolitan and cooked faster than NY style), here are 3 suggestions: 1) If your oven has a convection setting, use that to pre-heat the stone, that should do it in more like 30-45 minutes at 550f. 2) Put the stone/steel on a rack that's as high as it will go/as close to the broiler as possible and - shortly before you're going to put the pizza in (as in, when you start stretching the dough) - switch the oven over to the broiler - doing it early both makes sure the broiler has time to come on, and will blast the surface of the pizza stone with a bit of extra heat. 3) Then cook the pizza with the broiler still on. You'll have to watch it carefully, and probably turn it at least once, as the difference between perfectly cooked and overdone is about 15-20 seconds - but doing it that way, I've been able to finish pizzas in a decent home oven at near Neapolitan times (2-3 minutes). Also, I've found that it works best if you can make sure the broiler element is actually on when you're cooking the pizza. On my oven at least, that can be a bit tricky, because it has a shut-off if the oven gets too hot, so I usually end up wedging a (dampened) kitchen towel in the door of the oven to keep it open and cool it down just enough to get the broiler to stay on.
One of the tricks I've learned with homemade pizza is putting my stone really high up in the oven and putting on the broiler for about 15min before putting the pizza pin. Really gets the stone super hot and helps get those nice char spots (leoparding) under the crust. You can turn it back to it's highest setting and off the broiler when the pizza goes in.
The last guy is 100% completely right about not cooking the sauce and the reasoning for it. Nobody in italy would ever cook a sauce for pizza, nobody who knows what they're doing ever has nobody ever will
*Proceeds to purchase pizza steel.* Also, I've found that high hydration pizza doughs are awesome for that nice char and bubbles if you're going for that.
Having a pizza steel is the difference. As someone who's worked in multiple NY pizzeria's and then had to move out of state and couldn't find anything comparible, I had to resort to trying to make my own based on what I learned over the years. A good pizza steel and an oven that will get up to at least 500F is pretty key. Best ingredients I've found that get the closest to NY pizza.. Tomato Sauce: Stanislaus Tomatoes, either "FULL RED" or "Alta Cucina" lines, thats your base. Cheese: Low moisture Polly-O OR Grande brand you can find it. The grande cheese and stanislaus products may be a bit hard to find outside of restaurant supply vendors. In almost all of the NY pizza places I've worked in and been in the kitchens of, they were using stanislaus tomatoes and grande brand mozz. Plenty of dough recipes out there, all of them pretty much work, the preparation/fermentation and the cooking is far more important generally speaking.
about the cheese, i think the Adam Ragusea guy tested the polly-o stuff and it wasn't as low in moisture as other brands, or at least when you buy it for the home rather than for commercial use.
@@uiru_idnp I don't make a ton of pizza at home, it's usually a special occasion thing if I really can't be bothered ordering out.. so with that said, I have a place I go through to buy Grande brand mozzarella retail. It's on the pricey end to be fair, and it's very difficult to find as far as retail goes, it's sold commercially to pizzerias, almost exclusively. But you can find some specialty shops that sell it retail online or in person at least in my neck of the woods. IF you don't mind paying the premium for the quality and reputation, it's definitely worth trying once if you're trying to make the best pizza at home. If I don't have any, then I'll typically go polly-o because I like the taste of polly-o but it's more greasy in comparison, so if I'm using that I tend to put less cheese on the pie than I normally would. So I agree, there are cheeses that have less moisture content. Polly O is just another super common cheese in use in NY pizzerias, so you get accustomed to that flavor if you live here. But without a doubt, the Grande stuff is the superior product. It tastes better, it's not as greasy, it melts and browns better, and it doesn't dry out like some other stuff does. If you're using that cheese and stanislaus tomatoes for your sauce, if the goal is authentic ny pizza, it's gonna be pretty much fool proof. So many places in NY/NYC and the overall tri-state area are using these products, including all 3 of the pizzeria's I worked at for the better part of 10 years.
having made adam's pizza before, i can concur that it is actually insane how good the crust is, although the sauce can be a little bland; he uses a particular brand of canned tomatoes for their strong flavor, so otherwise you should probably add some tomato paste if you're gonna keep it uncooked.
Glad to have you back from your break, David! I'm really happy that on your first video back, the winner is Adam Ragusea's pizza recipe. I made that at my own home and his recipe really works. Also, thanks for the Brightland recommendation David, their olive oil is pretty good.
Go Adam! Also, one great chef if you aren't familiar is Brian Lagerstrom. His pizza videos are great, but beyond that, his recipes work for at home cooks as well. It helps that he has been a chef in the past, so good references. I mention him since his Chicago thin style crust is fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
Recently, Vito visited Joe’s Pizza in Los Angeles, who’s owner demonstrated his dough and sauce making. I followed the recipe, and using a steel in my oven, the results have been quite like Adam’s. I only wish that I had access to the fresh yeast, and better mozzarella that Joe’s uses, although Galbani and Trader Joe’s whole milk, low moisture cheeses work well. I switched from Cento San whole peeled tomatoes to Sclafani crushed, (Jersey fresh) and the sauce is brighter.
Great timing! I just made homemade pizza yesterday! I haven’t invested in a pizza steel because I’ve been having great success with heating my pizza pan in the oven at 550 and then sliding my pizza onto it and cooking it for 10 minutes. Also, I love using cooked pizza sauce! I’ve made spicy spaghetti and meatballs and then made pizza the next day with the left over sauce and crumbled pieces of meatball, SUPER good lol
You need to turn the broiler on high for like 5 mins before putting the pizza in on the stone, definitely could have got better color on the bottom which is what caused Vito’s to fail. the steels definitely give better undercarriage tho.
yeah with the screen, it’s a weird cook. it needs to be at the bottom to get that blast of heat an needs the time to cook. Looks like he might have had convection on too, which will cook the top an edges faster than the bottom can. Definitely wish he did all of them on the steels tho, it gives the best char for home oven…but I only have a stone an it works okay, just need to par cook the dough an sauce, blasting the broil on high before first putting it in, then again when you take it out half way to add the cheese an put it back in. I also move it around to get all the hot spots lol. definitely a lot of little tricks you pick up, unfortunately it’s not just a bake an wait for cheese to melt process if you want good char on the bottom.
My pizza steel is one of my favourite kitchen tools. Totally worth the investment. Preheat that bad boy at 550 (or higher, if your oven does that) for about an hour and you're on your way to pizzeria-style pizza in about 5-7 minutes.
My only issue with Adam’s pizza is that it’s an 88% hydration dough, which is nowhere near a NY-Style dough, which is usually 55-65% hydration. Other than that, it’s a pretty good pizza. I would suggest Charlie Anderson’s NY-Style pizza, he has a whole series and it’s really good.
All the finicky dough handling and recipes after recipe, technique after technique, that all just turn out OK at best is why I switched to cast iron pizza out of pure frustration. Cast iron pizza is delicious in its own way, has a great crisp crust, and comes out great at home. There's a little bit of fine tuning to make sure you don't burn the crust on the bottom, but the results are stellar.
yeah, when, my family makes pizza sauce, we use tomato paste, it has a much stronger flavor. which, works well, if you have juices, from the toppings, when the pizza is cooking.
The screens work best after seasoning, thats what gives a papa John's or dominos pizza its char and crispness, we would cover them in the flour and bake several times empty to start it, they also don't get cleaned unless dropped but they're never scrubbed, a fresh screen would be like a fresh sheet pan or cast iron skillet
Hey David. You're outro song is literally the best. It goes along with your videos because of "Dave's kitchen" and honestly it was my Spotify "most repeated song" last year. Whoever made that is fireeeee🔥🔥🔥
You should cook the dough and sauce first (I do around 3 minutes), and then add the cheese and toppings (another 3 or so minutes). This will stop the toppings from squeezing their grease while allowing the crust to cook in the limited temperature provided by a home oven.
I've been using parchment paper instead of cornmeal and it's been great for preparing the pizza and getting into the hot oven, then take the paper off about halfway through to let it finish on the stone.
My tip for getting good browning at home is to enrich the dough with some form of sugar that replaces a small amount of the flower. Just an extra tablespoon can dramatically improve oven spring and browning.
Regarding cooking the sauce or not: I started experimenting with home oven pizza and wasn't happy with the taste for a while until I realized it's the sauce! I cooked it for quite a while with all sorts of stuff but when I made a uncooked one with just some salt, oil and basil it changed everything. My pizzas are more like Neapolitan style but still, uncooked simple sauce for pizza! Don't cook it, no onions, no garlic, especially no pepper!
Agreed! Recently I actually made 2 diavola pizzas which were basically the same except one had cooked sauce with added garlic and sugar, while the other was just uncooked, drained tinned plum tomatoes mixed with a little passata, salt and olive oil...and the raw sauce after making the pizzas was much better...the bits of the plum tomato mixed with the other ingredients really give an amazing tomatoey taste....where as the cooked sauce seems to morph into the other ingredients more and seemed much less noticeable...and it didn't look as colourful ; )
If you don’t have a pizza steel you can also use a large cast iron pan. I’ve got a 12” pan I make my pizzas in. Works great. I throw it under the broiler for the final minute or two and even get leopard spotting on the cheese and top crust. Also, use really cold mozzarella. Like borderline frozen. And don’t grate it. I slice it into fairly thick discs. It melts slower that way - giving the crust more time to cook properly - without the grease splitting.
I don't like mozzarella chunks/slices, never liked that style of pizza. I par-cook my crust which does two things. One the pizza doesn't need to be in the oven as long, and two, you get to reheat the steel/iron/stone again and dump more heat into the crust.
@@kaldo_kaldo The mozzarella completely melts. You don’t end up with chunks. It turns out the same as shredded mozzarella. It just helps prevent the grease from splitting. You can try pre-baking the crust before topping it, but simply putting the mozzarella on in larger, colder pieces pretty much works the same, and without having to fuss with a hot pizza.
I don't use a pizza steel/ stone - but I do pre-cook the dough for about 5 minutes with a *light* drizzle of sauce, before putting on the rest of the sauce and cheese. I've had very good results and you'd be surprised at how much it helps.
Honestly, the one with a screen with a longer baking time and less oregano, would have been a lot closer to Adam Ragusea's. For those who won't buy a pizza stone, just get one or two thick baking trays, and use that instead (stacked, if you have two), but the trays must be very hot when you place them.
@@MrJcalvino Just spray water mid-cooking or refrigerate/freeze the cheese before applying it (so it takes more time to get at the burning temperature).
Great video, but kind of weird you used the steel for Ragusea and not Kenji too. Kenji is one of the first food writers (if not the) to have written about the baking steel both altogether and for pizza. He wrote about it YEARS before Ragusea put out his recipe. Baking Steel even uses Kenji’s name/quote to help sell their product. Weird choice.
@@kaldo_kaldo, in that case, why not do the same with One of Ragusea’s older videos. Fact is the recipe used doesn’t represent Kenji’s style and hasn’t for some time
This holiday season was filled with Adam Ragusea recipes, and I got my husband a pizza steel for Christmas! Just in time for him to give up pizza, I'm a terrible wife.
I wish you didn’t gloss over the terrible measurements in Adam’s video because it’s really hard to follow his instructions unless you’re decently experienced with dough making already. I also felt like I had to basically double the flour and it was kinda stressful. But after watching your success I’m definitely going to try it again.
if youre using weight, its because adam scoops the flour right out of the bag so 1 cup is actually closer to 150-160g not 120g so the 5 cups in this recipe would be 750-800g not 600g
@@rayfx thanks, I’ve become such a flour by weight snob because of Joshua I feel lost anytime someone says ounces. I’ll give it a try with your suggested starting point, it’s appreciated.
the reason adam raguseas dough was so sticky was because in the video it shows him scooping the cup into the flour bag which packs too much flour. And he probably just googled how many grams equals a cup of flour. so it is two different amounts
This right here is the single most helpful video you’ve ever made! I’ve been agonizing over wether to get a pizza steel or stone for a few months, but the look on your face when you bit into the last slice made my decision for me. Thank you!
![Ice On My Teeth - ATEEZ エイティーズ 에이티즈 [Music Bank] | KBS WORLD TV 241115](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/c-n92OgbbwA/mqdefault.jpg)
Let me know what Brightland products you would like to try!
Holy shit! You're still alive?? It's been 5 weeks since your last upload...We missed you so much! hope that you start uploading a bit more often!
@@ellavarnes2392 he takes breaks every january let him be lol
awake olive oil
He's back!
What is that glass bowl you used for VIto's recipe? any link/info would be amazing thanks!
Nice video, I enjoyed the comparisons!
It makes me realize I need to talk to serious eats about updating that old recipe because in various serious eats articles since then we’ve written extensively about using the broiler, steel vs. stone, longer fermentation etc.
When I make pizza in my home of in these days, I typically make a semi no-knead style dough, that I ferment for a few days in the fridge before dividing and proofing, then I’ll bake it on a baking steel that has been preheated in a 550° oven, with the broiler kicked on just before the pizza go insane so that it takes only a few minutes to bake.
In any case, I think you did a really nice comparison and you were very fair about everything!
Class response Kenji, love your videos, cheers!
We just need to get you and Adam Ragusea to do a side-by-side test. Maybe at my house? I could be the judge as well...
Class act. Kenji will always be our master in the kitchen.
I was legit looking for a response to the Sam the cooking guy burn, but was pleasantly surprised to see Kenji at the top. Kenji I love you and your responses to comments definitely legitimize you skill legacy. People love personable people and you are it!
Maybe a new video idea kenji? Hint hint nudge nudge?
SO pleased with the result! Adam Ragusea has some of the best recipes on RUclips. Clear, achievable, science-based, and delicious. We bought a steel at his suggestion, and we never looked back. When you said you bought a new stone at the beginning of the video I was like "NO YOU GOOF, YA GOTTA GET A STEEL!" 😂 Enjoy it: it's also great for calzone, flatbread, and reheating leftover pizza so that it becomes crispy instead of floppy.
What pizza steel did you get?
Adam is awesome!
You just spoiled the video for me :(
Personally I reheat pizza in a stainless steel pan on high heat. Works just fine. Still get a pizza steel If you have the money 👌
@@vanessssaa It really doesn’t matter. It just needs to be steel and thick.
Your best bet would be to get a steel sheet that’s the same size as an entire rack in your oven, and as thick and heavy as your oven can safely hold. The key is to get as much mass as possible.
Don’t buy anything sold as an oven steel - those are just overpriced gimmicks. Save your money and just get it directly from a steel supplier, the kind that sells material to machine shops and engineering firms.
The specific grade of steel doesn’t particularly matter. Your oven won’t get so hot that it’ll seriously affect its structural properties, and the steel won’t face any serious stresses, so just get the cheapest steel available, probably a hot rolled mild steel.
All you need to do is give it a thorough deburring around the edges with a file, a good thorough scrubbing, and a little bit of seasoning.
The nice thing about Adam Ragusea recipes is that out of all the channels out there, his are the most accessible. He's like the polar opposite of Josh Weissman. The things he makes are going to be crude and easy, whereas Josh make beautiful food that I'd imagine most people won't even bother attempting due to its complexity.
Yeah. Adam develops recipes for home kitchens.
At this point, Joshua has pretty much realized that almost none of his viewers have any interest in cooking for themselves and prefer to watch him flex. On the occasion that he does try to make a recipe for "normal" people (like his "But Cheaper" series) his comments fill up with whiners who don't know how to shop or manage their own lives complaining how they don't have a functional kitchen so his budget doesn't work.
@@Default78334 Even on his but cheaper series, his recipes just aren't as accessible as Ragusea's. Just look at his newest rice bowl recipe. The thing looks beautiful and delicious, but there's like 30 steps and it would probably take the average person around 2-3 hours to do all of that. There's nothing wrong with that type of content, it is still fun to watch and I'm sure at least some people would try that, but compare that recipe to pretty much anything from Ragusea. Many of Ragusea's videos have recipes with like 4-5 steps and can easily be done in 0.5-1 hour. Also he didn't even put the recipe in the description, so if you're following along you'd have to repeatedly watch a little and pause to get the right measurements for everything (or buy his cookbook, which is fine for him but doesn't change the fact that Ragusea's videos are more accessible). The reality is both channels have different audiences and that is fine, but rarely would I go to a Joshua Weissman video if I actually wanted to cook something.
Wasn't his recipe technically the least accessible here, since it required a pizza steel? There is an Austrian RUclips cook, kein Stress kochen, who managed to get a similar effect by prebaking the dough in a skillet on the stove and then finishing it under the broiler (what Brits call the grill). I tried it and it works to get something quite similar to Italian pizza. There are so many accessible recipes on this site, especially if you look at smaller creators.
@@Electromanx3 Ragusea has other videos that use that technique specifically, but the point of this recipe was to make the best possible NY style pizza, not a pan pizza. NY style pizza is designed to be made with special equipment, it's why you need all these work arounds to get something close at home. Also having a pizza steel isn't really more likely than having a pizza stone. I was talking more in general about his content, but even with the specialty equipment needed here, his recipe is really easy. Anyone can make it in like 20 minutes of work.
Your smile when you first bite into Adams pizza tells it all already! He really put in a lot of effort into perfecting his pizza. The steel is so much better for home ovens. At the temperatures a traditional pizza oven operates, a steel bottom would burn the pizza. But it's perfect for the low home oven temperatures.
Crap video. Dude must have a crap oven if he can't get crispy pizza. Second pizza he showed looked undercooked.
I live like an hour away from NYC and I really don't get why people like their pizza so much lol maybe I have to try Joe's to see if there's merit to it
It's one of those simple dishes that can be universally loved. The most popular foods are quite simple, such as hamburgers or mac and cheese. It's at least worth it for a one and done experience. Adam's recipe is more for the people who live quite far away but still want a similar experience. IMO making his recipe is worth it every once and a while and always puts a smile on my face.@@dxzts6614
Pizza Steel is the way to go. 100%. They hold and conduct the heat way better, and they wont split on you the way a stone can. You can also just keep it on the bottom rack of your oven for anything you bake, it will help regulate and even out out the internal temperature of your oven for more consistent results.
IMO the best thing you can do is have a pizza steel below the pizza and a pizza steel/stone above it. It blasts the pizza from both sides with heat and likewise it helps regulate the temperature in the oven even further.
@@kaldo_kaldo do you have any experience with a steel on top? I feel like radiant heat from a broiler is much better suited.
@@TheNunakun I don't prefer my toppings to be charred, honestly. Maybe a broiler is better for the average person. I like my meats crisped and my cheese melty but mostly white with a few light brown spots. I prefer the crust to not be too browned or bubbled.
Yep, my brother got me a pizza steel for my birthday a couple of years ago, and it lives in the oven. I’ve found that everything I bake is more consistent because of how it regulates the heat.
not super surprised by the results - mostly because Adam's recipe is the only one that was 'made for a home oven' - I've tried Vito's other dough recipes in a pizza oven and the results are great!
Vito is the king with getting you perfectly fermented an fragrant doughs! This was unfortunate for him, I feel there was some user error here an he may have not included enough info in his video to make sure you get a good char on the bottom. I only have a 550F electric oven and a stone an I get really good results with par baking just the sauce an then putting the cheese an toppings on in the last few minutes. Sometimes he leaves things out from one video, you pick up on other videos an experience making them. No way you can just cook the dough 7 minutes on the screen an get a good bottom like he gets. You see how Vito’s looked totally different an much better if you watch Vito’s video.
This video was unfair to Vito, IMO.
Vito's New York style pizza video shows making one pizza with a screen, and the second with a stone. He just wanted to show it could be done without a stone.
I’m so excited Adam won. His channel may not have the fanciest recipes but I also recreate like three times more of his recipes than I do from any other channel because his makes excellent food that is accessible and doable for a home cook. Doesn’t use crazy ingredients you have to have special ordered lol his deboned turkey changed how I will cook thanksgiving forever. And he is the reason o got a pizza steel and will never go back. Even just frozen pizza tastes better on a steel. Awesome video. I love watching you try out recipes for us so I know which to bother trying myself :) plus u make it fun
I made his Shepard's Pie just tonight. Got just enough for another dinner, so tomorrow is sorted,
"Crazy ingredients you have to have special ordered"
*COUGH* Joshua Weissman *COUGH*
@@ileaverealitybehind hahaha…. Ahem… Um… you’re not wrong lol 😆
@@ileaverealitybehind Yeah, I love Josh but god damn son, that dude goes fucking extra on his stuff, he's almost the complete opposite of Adam, like I'm sorry my guy, but I am not getting half this stuff you just said.
Adam Ragusea is by far my favorite cooking RUclips channel, as someone who has to cook for the family all the time, he makes excellent recipes are accessible by most people in most areas, and they don't break the bank typically. Now I'm not downplaying Joshua Weissman or any of those guys, they are excellent chefs, but I think Adam's videos are the most accessible by most people.
To be fair, Vito usually says that if you will cook it in a home oven that can't go to high temperatures, to cook the dough with the sauce first for a few min and then add the cheese and throw it in the oven again.
Makes sense, Adam Ragusea is phenomenal. He gives reasons why you should do it one way over the other, gives evidence on what is the best to do and just overall gives information along with the actual recipe. It makes you assured that obviously he knows what's best and that you're going to make the best possible version of that dish. I love his cooking and informational videos, both great, honestly his cooking videos already have some information in it already. The way he puts in the work to get the evidence is unreal
I love Adam's videos. He very much feels like Good Eats did when I was a kid. I've followed several of his recipes (including his pizza ones) and they all come out fantastic. My mom even tried his pan pizza recipe and said it was a smashing success with my dad and younger brother. Pizza steels are the way to go!
I'm sure he'd be happy to read that comment as he said GE was one of his inspirations in a Q+A
I love how Adam’s philosophy is a minimalist home cook style with barely and measurements, and he still gets results like this
As a native New Yorker myself living elsewhere, I never thought there'd be a way to have that kind of delicious pizza at home. I haven't watched basically any of Adam Ragusea's stuff... But I'm going to have to if it affords me the chance to have NY style pizza at home any time I want.
Former New Yorker here, I got very similar results with making from his recipe with a stone instead of a steel. It was fantastic.
@@godminnette2 Adam talked about stone vs steel he told that there the steel was a bit better than the stone for the first pizza iirc but the key difference was for making consecutive pizzas.
The stone doesn't retain the heat and the second pizza isn't as good as the first one unless you wait a while to preheat it.
You don't need a RUclips guide to make pizza. It's fucking bread, cheese, and tomato sauce. It doesn't exactly take a degree in rocket science to make. You just watched a video of someone making 4 of them back to back with next to effort.
@@pockit5107 ???? why are you so angry.
@@pockit5107 next to no effort*, and if it were "jUsT bReAd, ChEeSe, AnD tOmAtO sAuCe", then it wouldn't be the amazing food item that is made pretty much internationally with many many variations
I've tried many RUclips recipes, but Ragusea is the only one that consistently provides phenomenal recipes. All of you should make his pot roast. Don't skip steps.
I knew Adam would win from the start. That dough recipe was soooo good that even though I made the pizza on the stove, it was amazing. Adam really doesn’t make claims and he said the closest instead of the best which proves more that his words has validity.
17:30 best part is Adam didn't title it that way. It's just called making new York style pizza at home. It became known as the best purely because people tried it and it worked.
Also what I love about Adam Ragusea is he admits in MANY videos that how you cook your food depends upon your circumstances. What ingredients do you have available, what kitchenware is at your disposal, how many people are you serving, etc. And he has said many times that whatever way you like it should work for you and you should adjust recipes until they fit your definition of perfect, he wants to provide a baseline and not be defacto (For example David noted he needed to add more flour than what was written. Adam had gone on record saying he starts with minimal flour and adds more until it feels right as it's easier to dry a wet dough than rehydrate a dry dough, and local conditions can affect the feeling too).
I also really like how he has made several pizza videos, either reitterating on past creations, giving alternatives to people that don't have access to certain ingredients or items (Like low moisture mozzarella or a pizza stone/steel for example) and I can sincerely appreciate that. Especially in a day and age where one too many food RUclipsrs, even if they don't really say it, more often than they only show one way to truly make their recipe and don't acknowledge that other ways are fine. Adam Ragusea is my favorite food RUclipsr because he is one of the few to recognize that cooking is not prescriptive, and that many things may need to altered or changed from more traditional recipes to suit the home kitchen and home grocery store.
Yeah a lot of these youtubers upload privilege pizza tutorials. Most folks ain't got the time or money for that shit
@@TheOnlyBongo since I don't know you. I read your comment with Adam's voice. I totally agree with you. I've lately been on a pizza kick. I cooked my pizza on the underbelly of my 14" cast iron skillet while resting on parchment paper. I think I'm going to make small tweaks to this process. Maybe cook until the pizza firms up then place it directly onto the skillet. I think the parchment paper is keeping it from being great.
Had Lucali's right before the Pandemic. Best Pizza and calzone I've ever eaten. It was heavenly. Highly recommend, worth the wait. Get in line early if you plan to dine in.
Oooh I remember you last Blue phase, and then the three months of awkward yellowish/orange phase. Lets gooo!!!
Me too! Reminds me of quarantine lmao
"But it's the crust that's the magic" *words to live by*
I know NY Style gets all the hype but Detroit style is honestly the most underrated of pizza styles. I know people wouldn't think of Detroit as a pizza city AND a hot dog city, but it is in every way. I went to Detroit in 2019, had both a coney dog and a pizza there and loved both
I respect your opinion but Detroit style just doesn’t really do it for me. It’s way too greasy and doesn’t have enough crust for me. It’s just so much richer than any other type of pizza I’ve had before. I will admit, though, that’s it’s very underrated. Didn’t even know it was a thing before my family moved to Michigan a couple years ago.
Detroit coney don’t got shit on a Flint coney and I’ll stand by this
Detroit is a hot dog city? Either way, detroit style is one of the best regional styles for sure. That crispy, squishy crust coated in crunchy cheese bits is amazing.
@Queenshore true though NYC and Chicago style are vastly more popular and heard of worldwide compared to Detroit
My bias is to Buffalo style pizza.
Also, coming from Oswego, NY, we had something called a "coney" that if I recall correctly is nothing like what you call a "coney" except that both are styles of hot dog. (And apparently what is called a "coney" there is called a "white hot" in Rochester, just 75 miles away.)
Adam Ragusea is an absolute boss. I've been trusting his recipe since it came out and it amazes everyone who tries it.
David: “You can hear that crunch in Iowa”
*Me sitting in Iowa* “Yes, yes you can”
As an Iowan, I can confirm that I did hear that crunch at the beginning of the video.
There is this Italian American cooking channel called Sip and Feast, that specializes in NY style italian food, and his homemade pizza looks amazing. It also uses a pizza steel like Adam's
Adam’s pizza recipe was the the last pizza recipe I ever needed to try. Perfection🥺🙏
Hey David, your hairdresser I don't think got your hair light enough before putting the blue in. The leftover coppery tone is what makes green when you dye it blue. I'm gluten free because of GI issues but I I have to say I love the super thin crust but crunchy pizzas the best!
Any GF crust recipes you’d recommend? I’ve known I have celiac for about a year and a half and while I’ve found a few frozen pizzas I can deal with I’m really craving that restaurant style crisp and so I’ve been trying to make it myself
@@whatthefox1818 brian lagerstrom has one
I've made adam's recipe 2.0 like 2-3 times now and can confirm its the BEST results Ive gotten for homemade pizza!
"You can hear that crunch in Iowa" made me wheeze. I just moved from NJ to Iowa. And I miss being able to hop on the PATH to get good NY Style Pizza. Midwest pizza ain't the same. But trying some homemade ones might soothe my need for good pizza.
Clearly you haven't had one of two pizzas: Happy Joe's taco pizzas or Any thing from Casey's. Definitely not new york style, but so good in their own right.
Insert joke about Iowa and corn here.
Fun fact! In some parts of the world, "American pizza" is made by taking a regular cheese pizza and pouring a can of cream corn on top. I heard this story from a traveler who was presented this proudly by the chef, who stood by with baited breath to hear how his creation must remind her of good old America. THAT must have been an awkward conversation.
@@JETZcorp 🍕🌽🤢🤮😅
FWIW, in the SF Bay Area, we have Vicolo Pizza, which makes cornmeal CRUST pizzas thst anyone can make in their home oven. Those are pretty good. But what you described sounds absolutely revolting, and I can’t possibly imagine that that chef has ever followed the sacred rule of “taste, taste, taste,” that all good chefs must follow… either that or the entire world thinks Americans are not only morons but are also palate-less heathens who enjoy eating that slop slurry from the bleak future in the Matrix.
@@JETZcorp Oh man, you unlocked a hidden memory I had of finding "American Pizza" in the freezer section of a store in the Czech Republic that had corn on it! I was so confused by it. I find that less weird than my cousin's favorite pizza there being a tuna pizza though. I guess if it was normal corn it wouldn't be too different from Korean cheese corn? It's weird that it's known as American pizza when there are other countries that seem to love corn more than us! XD
@@Msrayrayjustducky I've been told to try Casey's, especially due to being from the land of Wawa and very used to gas station/convenience store food being revered. I might just have to try that. I don't think there's a Happy Joe's anywhere near me. Thanks for the suggestions!
I'm not too surprised Ragusea won. Even though he's not a professional cook, the man tries to learn the "why" and "how" behind different cooking methods like it's the cure for cancer, all the way down to the molecular level. Once you know how that stuff works you can get the precise result you're looking for.
Kind of feel like you should have used the steel over the stone for all of them, but I guess if Adam is the only one who specifically mentioned it then I guess it's fair. Still, steel is always gonna beat out the stone
The smile on your face after taking a bite of that last slice, told the whole story!
I totally agree with adam, when not cooking the sauce it kind of gives an acidic flavour that I enjoy alot
Adam and mark have such radical different approaches to sauce because of the ingredients they use. Adam doesn't cook the sauce because he is relying only on the tomatoes for flavor, meanwhile mark uses onions and garlic stir fried to give the sauce a little more of a punch, so the acid of the tomatoes would clash with that, mellowing the sauce by cooking it allows the garlic and onion to incorporate flavors better
At home, adam’s pizza is definitely the best.
However, I think the Lucali one benefits immensely from the super quick cook times of those 800 degree wood fire ovens. It gets you that super crunchy crust but doesn’t dry out like it would with the longer cook times in a home oben
I really really recommend a pizza steel over a pizza stone. Sometimes I even hear that up stovetop over high high heat drop the pie on it and then into the oven for it to rise properly. It’s also easier to manage the release stovetop than in the oven
We use pizza screens in our house and never have the bottoms that colorless. But we cook it longer at a slightly lower temperature since we don't own a pizza oven. Guess it's probably not NY style by that point, though.
I watch Vito’s channel and he mostly use oven safe bricks to bake his pizzas.
It's generally often recommended to cook NY style pizzas hot and fast. Because they're so thin the internal temperature is achieved quicker and it lets you brown your cheese more easily before the fat splits very much. Wood-fire pizza ovens can reach upwards of 700 degrees Fahrenheit. It's also why everyone is recommending pizza steels over stones for home ovens because it transfers heat much more quickly. If pizza ovens used steels at that temperature it would very likely burn.
A slow cooking NY style is like a pool of oil
I use Vito's recipe for neapolitan style pizza for a while now and it's so good that almost every reastaurant pizzeria around sucks compared to his pizza. Btw it's Iacoppelli with an i as far as I know.
The pizza steel is also key for a good crust and should be essential for any hobby pizzamaker without a small pizza oven.
I’ve been making Adam’s pizza for the last 1.5 years now. Every one my friends who has tried it loves it. It replaced my need for frozen pizzas, and going out for pizza. It’s just perfect.
For your next VS showdown, I would love for you to try chicken noodle soup recipes. I am also a home cook, and I have been making that soup with homemade chicken stock every month now. It's my #1 favorite soup of all time.
Before winter ends, how about trying out chicken noodle soup recipes by Tasty, Sam The Cooking Guy, Joshua Weissman, and Binging With Babish and find out which one wins?
How do you make your soup?
@@kaldo_kaldo For the chicken stock, I basically do what Joshua Weissman does: Break a whole chicken apart, take the bones and roast them. I freeze the two chicken breasts to use for another day and save the leg and thigh meat for the actual soup. Then in a large pot, I add the roasted bones and whatever vegetables/herbs/aromatics I want. Then I let the stock cook and simmer with water on a stove for 4 hours minimum.
For the actual soup, I use a large cast iron pot and add whatever vegetables and herbs I like along with the stock. I cook the leg and thigh meat as well as a few more chicken thighs in the soup and then shred and add them back. Of course I add the noodles and season to taste before adding additional spices. Then I serve and enjoy. 😋
By the way, You Suck At Cooking just posted a new chicken noodle soup video of his own. It looks good.
I'm pretty sure Kenji's recipe uses bread flour instead of all purpose flour. Bread flour has more protein / gluten which gives the airiness that ny style pizza must have (along with the crispiness at the bottom).
I think you are right. I feel like all of the final products looked a lot more flat than when I make pizza. Also I am skeptical of rolling out the dough because you get out so many of the air bubbles.
Also. I’ve made a lot of pizza at home and for me a higher moisture content in my dough yields a lot more bubbles so I can see in the last recipe why the dough would be so loose.
It does, and a overnight rise. He used a different version Kenji had on a RUclips video
He did not replicate Kenji's pizza properly because that video he used for the recipe was less about the recipe and more about comparing the Ooni and Roccbox pizza ovens. He was in no way going to get the same results from a home oven, even with a stone, to those portable gas ovens that get to 950 degrees.
I knew Adam would win, he's the underdog of these creators
Surprised Adam won lol, but he has obsessed over it as far as I know.
Still...he beat Kenji and _Mark Iacono_ of all People. That's just...wow.
I think it's a lot more impressive he beat Kenji than that he beat Mark.
Hijacking this comment to point out that the recipe Kenji shows in his NY style pizza video on RUclips (which is the recipe David used for this video) is a different recipe than the one he posted to the Serious Eats website. That particular version of the dough method has provided me with consistently awesome results in a home oven. It may be worth David revisiting at some point even 😄🍕
@@kaldo_kaldo I mean, listen, Kenji is a beast, but he's like, he knows about all food. Pizza is Iacono's entire deal. But it might have just been a situation where they were both designing for brick ovens, and Adam's was optimized for a convection oven.
As other people have pointed out, I think it’s because Adam’s was made specifically for home ovens, from the ground up. I’m not sure about the others, but they seem more like modified recipes for pizza cooked in a really hot oven, if you cooked the other 3 recipes in the big ovens I think they’d all come out pretty similar (not sure about the less sticky doughs, they wouldn’t crisp up properly)
He didn't use Kenji's serious eats recipe though, he used a quicker version Kenji posted on a RUclips video. His serious eats version has an overnight rise and bread flour
I think that this video encapsulates why I enjoy Adam's content so much, his videos teach you the same way a dad would. I mean he is one so it makes sense, but all of his videos he reminds you all the time to not follow his recipes to the letter since there are just so many other variables that affect cooking and to just try things "until you like it". My cooking has improved immensely after I started cooking around that principle.
David, I use a convection oven, 550, with a black non stick pizza pan from Tramontina. Charred spots and 7 minutes of cooking, the black absorbs more heat, and I don't preheat the oven more than to the target temp. I build the pie directly on the pan.
So excited you’re back! 💙
If you haven't, you should let Adam's dough recipe do the full 7 days in the fridge. It's a night and day difference from 1 day to 7, comes out almost like a sourdough crust. Super good.
It really does!!
I did the full 7 days once, and it’s a little crazy how far it goes. About 4-5 days is the sweet spot for me.
I'm from NYC and currently living out of state for grad school and I miss the pizza so much. Nothing compares.
Me, a New Yorker, gasping when you showed how Adam’s pie looks when it came out of the oven.
Welcome back! Nice video to start off 2022! I don't know many people who don't love pizza so I was really happy to see this. I really love it when creators get brand deals with companies that sell products that they use all the time. That way you get to work with them to promote them but also use the products in your videos not because you have to, but because it's a type of product that you would use for many recipes you would make on here regardless.
i gotta do adam's pizza again. daaamn i miss NYC style
I knew adam would win, I have impressed so many family members mimicking his pizza recipes and I am forever grateful to him for helping me have good pizza in Kansas.
I've been a follower/fan of two of the "foodtubers" who's pizza recipes you tried (Kenji and Ragusea) for years, Adam's video from years ago when he was working at some radio station in Boston was the thing that set me down the path that lead to eventually building my own wood-fired oven, etc. From that perspective, and with the caveat that I tend to prefer pizza that's a bit more of a middle-ground between NY style and Neapolitan (thinner than NY style and cooked longer than Neapolitan/thicker than Neapolitan and cooked faster than NY style), here are 3 suggestions:
1) If your oven has a convection setting, use that to pre-heat the stone, that should do it in more like 30-45 minutes at 550f.
2) Put the stone/steel on a rack that's as high as it will go/as close to the broiler as possible and - shortly before you're going to put the pizza in (as in, when you start stretching the dough) - switch the oven over to the broiler - doing it early both makes sure the broiler has time to come on, and will blast the surface of the pizza stone with a bit of extra heat.
3) Then cook the pizza with the broiler still on. You'll have to watch it carefully, and probably turn it at least once, as the difference between perfectly cooked and overdone is about 15-20 seconds - but doing it that way, I've been able to finish pizzas in a decent home oven at near Neapolitan times (2-3 minutes).
Also, I've found that it works best if you can make sure the broiler element is actually on when you're cooking the pizza. On my oven at least, that can be a bit tricky, because it has a shut-off if the oven gets too hot, so I usually end up wedging a (dampened) kitchen towel in the door of the oven to keep it open and cool it down just enough to get the broiler to stay on.
One of the tricks I've learned with homemade pizza is putting my stone really high up in the oven and putting on the broiler for about 15min before putting the pizza pin. Really gets the stone super hot and helps get those nice char spots (leoparding) under the crust. You can turn it back to it's highest setting and off the broiler when the pizza goes in.
The shit Adam does just works and he encourages his viewers to just learn techniques and your own thing
I tried Adam’s recipe a while back and was very satisfied. Now it’s my go to pizza recipe. I’m glad you like it too!
Ragusea is actually good at making pizza but does some other things and education as well. Vito has a lot of versions. This was a great test!
The last guy is 100% completely right about not cooking the sauce and the reasoning for it. Nobody in italy would ever cook a sauce for pizza, nobody who knows what they're doing ever has nobody ever will
*Proceeds to purchase pizza steel.* Also, I've found that high hydration pizza doughs are awesome for that nice char and bubbles if you're going for that.
Having a pizza steel is the difference. As someone who's worked in multiple NY pizzeria's and then had to move out of state and couldn't find anything comparible, I had to resort to trying to make my own based on what I learned over the years.
A good pizza steel and an oven that will get up to at least 500F is pretty key.
Best ingredients I've found that get the closest to NY pizza..
Tomato Sauce: Stanislaus Tomatoes, either "FULL RED" or "Alta Cucina" lines, thats your base.
Cheese: Low moisture Polly-O OR Grande brand you can find it. The grande cheese and stanislaus products may be a bit hard to find outside of restaurant supply vendors. In almost all of the NY pizza places I've worked in and been in the kitchens of, they were using stanislaus tomatoes and grande brand mozz.
Plenty of dough recipes out there, all of them pretty much work, the preparation/fermentation and the cooking is far more important generally speaking.
about the cheese, i think the Adam Ragusea guy tested the polly-o stuff and it wasn't as low in moisture as other brands, or at least when you buy it for the home rather than for commercial use.
@@uiru_idnp I don't make a ton of pizza at home, it's usually a special occasion thing if I really can't be bothered ordering out.. so with that said, I have a place I go through to buy Grande brand mozzarella retail. It's on the pricey end to be fair, and it's very difficult to find as far as retail goes, it's sold commercially to pizzerias, almost exclusively. But you can find some specialty shops that sell it retail online or in person at least in my neck of the woods.
IF you don't mind paying the premium for the quality and reputation, it's definitely worth trying once if you're trying to make the best pizza at home. If I don't have any, then I'll typically go polly-o because I like the taste of polly-o but it's more greasy in comparison, so if I'm using that I tend to put less cheese on the pie than I normally would. So I agree, there are cheeses that have less moisture content. Polly O is just another super common cheese in use in NY pizzerias, so you get accustomed to that flavor if you live here.
But without a doubt, the Grande stuff is the superior product. It tastes better, it's not as greasy, it melts and browns better, and it doesn't dry out like some other stuff does. If you're using that cheese and stanislaus tomatoes for your sauce, if the goal is authentic ny pizza, it's gonna be pretty much fool proof. So many places in NY/NYC and the overall tri-state area are using these products, including all 3 of the pizzeria's I worked at for the better part of 10 years.
having made adam's pizza before, i can concur that it is actually insane how good the crust is, although the sauce can be a little bland; he uses a particular brand of canned tomatoes for their strong flavor, so otherwise you should probably add some tomato paste if you're gonna keep it uncooked.
Glad to have you back from your break, David! I'm really happy that on your first video back, the winner is Adam Ragusea's pizza recipe. I made that at my own home and his recipe really works.
Also, thanks for the Brightland recommendation David, their olive oil is pretty good.
Go Adam! Also, one great chef if you aren't familiar is Brian Lagerstrom. His pizza videos are great, but beyond that, his recipes work for at home cooks as well. It helps that he has been a chef in the past, so good references. I mention him since his Chicago thin style crust is fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
Recently, Vito visited Joe’s Pizza in Los Angeles, who’s owner demonstrated his dough and sauce making. I followed the recipe, and using a steel in my oven, the results have been quite like Adam’s. I only wish that I had access to the fresh yeast, and better mozzarella that Joe’s uses, although Galbani and Trader Joe’s whole milk, low moisture cheeses work well. I switched from Cento San whole peeled tomatoes to Sclafani crushed, (Jersey fresh) and the sauce is brighter.
I have some Ragusea dough in the fridge that I made yesterday, I didn't have to add much flour, certainly not double.
Adam Ragusea is a master of his craft, I make his pizza whenever I am craving homemade pizza and it always hits every time.
Now I really wanna try Adams recipe
Do it
It’s so worth it man.
Great timing! I just made homemade pizza yesterday! I haven’t invested in a pizza steel because I’ve been having great success with heating my pizza pan in the oven at 550 and then sliding my pizza onto it and cooking it for 10 minutes.
Also, I love using cooked pizza sauce! I’ve made spicy spaghetti and meatballs and then made pizza the next day with the left over sauce and crumbled pieces of meatball, SUPER good lol
You need to turn the broiler on high for like 5 mins before putting the pizza in on the stone, definitely could have got better color on the bottom which is what caused Vito’s to fail. the steels definitely give better undercarriage tho.
Vito usually uses oven safe bricks.
yeah with the screen, it’s a weird cook. it needs to be at the bottom to get that blast of heat an needs the time to cook. Looks like he might have had convection on too, which will cook the top an edges faster than the bottom can. Definitely wish he did all of them on the steels tho, it gives the best char for home oven…but I only have a stone an it works okay, just need to par cook the dough an sauce, blasting the broil on high before first putting it in, then again when you take it out half way to add the cheese an put it back in. I also move it around to get all the hot spots lol. definitely a lot of little tricks you pick up, unfortunately it’s not just a bake an wait for cheese to melt process if you want good char on the bottom.
My pizza steel is one of my favourite kitchen tools. Totally worth the investment. Preheat that bad boy at 550 (or higher, if your oven does that) for about an hour and you're on your way to pizzeria-style pizza in about 5-7 minutes.
Maybe re-do Vito iacopelli recipe again, best pizza recipes you can follow
My only issue with Adam’s pizza is that it’s an 88% hydration dough, which is nowhere near a NY-Style dough, which is usually 55-65% hydration. Other than that, it’s a pretty good pizza. I would suggest Charlie Anderson’s NY-Style pizza, he has a whole series and it’s really good.
All the finicky dough handling and recipes after recipe, technique after technique, that all just turn out OK at best is why I switched to cast iron pizza out of pure frustration. Cast iron pizza is delicious in its own way, has a great crisp crust, and comes out great at home. There's a little bit of fine tuning to make sure you don't burn the crust on the bottom, but the results are stellar.
Cast Iron all the way....
yeah, when, my family makes pizza sauce, we use tomato paste, it has a much stronger flavor. which, works well, if you have juices, from the toppings, when the pizza is cooking.
I hope more of Adam's recipies will be recreated in this channel
Like the ice cream for example, wanna see it compared to store bought ngl
The screens work best after seasoning, thats what gives a papa John's or dominos pizza its char and crispness, we would cover them in the flour and bake several times empty to start it, they also don't get cleaned unless dropped but they're never scrubbed, a fresh screen would be like a fresh sheet pan or cast iron skillet
Was rooting for Kenji, my favorite recipe guy. But pleasantly surprised by the darkhorse winner Ragusea (I'm subscribed to him too).
Kenji recommends a baking steel as well, just not in the linked video - where he uses a specialized pizza oven entirely...
Hey David. You're outro song is literally the best. It goes along with your videos because of "Dave's kitchen" and honestly it was my Spotify "most repeated song" last year. Whoever made that is fireeeee🔥🔥🔥
You should cook the dough and sauce first (I do around 3 minutes), and then add the cheese and toppings (another 3 or so minutes). This will stop the toppings from squeezing their grease while allowing the crust to cook in the limited temperature provided by a home oven.
You should also put a stone on the rack above the pizza. But he was following the recipes as provided and they didn't do those things.
I've been using parchment paper instead of cornmeal and it's been great for preparing the pizza and getting into the hot oven, then take the paper off about halfway through to let it finish on the stone.
Welcome back bestie! My Fridays just weren't the same without your smiling face despite the grueling recipes!
My tip for getting good browning at home is to enrich the dough with some form of sugar that replaces a small amount of the flower. Just an extra tablespoon can dramatically improve oven spring and browning.
Regarding cooking the sauce or not:
I started experimenting with home oven pizza and wasn't happy with the taste for a while until I realized it's the sauce! I cooked it for quite a while with all sorts of stuff but when I made a uncooked one with just some salt, oil and basil it changed everything. My pizzas are more like Neapolitan style but still, uncooked simple sauce for pizza! Don't cook it, no onions, no garlic, especially no pepper!
Agreed! Recently I actually made 2 diavola pizzas which were basically the same except one had cooked sauce with added garlic and sugar, while the other was just uncooked, drained tinned plum tomatoes mixed with a little passata, salt and olive oil...and the raw sauce after making the pizzas was much better...the bits of the plum tomato mixed with the other ingredients really give an amazing tomatoey taste....where as the cooked sauce seems to morph into the other ingredients more and seemed much less noticeable...and it didn't look as colourful ; )
If you don’t have a pizza steel you can also use a large cast iron pan. I’ve got a 12” pan I make my pizzas in. Works great. I throw it under the broiler for the final minute or two and even get leopard spotting on the cheese and top crust.
Also, use really cold mozzarella. Like borderline frozen. And don’t grate it. I slice it into fairly thick discs. It melts slower that way - giving the crust more time to cook properly - without the grease splitting.
I don't like mozzarella chunks/slices, never liked that style of pizza. I par-cook my crust which does two things. One the pizza doesn't need to be in the oven as long, and two, you get to reheat the steel/iron/stone again and dump more heat into the crust.
@@kaldo_kaldo The mozzarella completely melts. You don’t end up with chunks. It turns out the same as shredded mozzarella. It just helps prevent the grease from splitting. You can try pre-baking the crust before topping it, but simply putting the mozzarella on in larger, colder pieces pretty much works the same, and without having to fuss with a hot pizza.
I was astounded that Adam won!
Long live the empire!
I don't use a pizza steel/ stone - but I do pre-cook the dough for about 5 minutes with a *light* drizzle of sauce, before putting on the rest of the sauce and cheese. I've had very good results and you'd be surprised at how much it helps.
Honestly, the one with a screen with a longer baking time and less oregano, would have been a lot closer to Adam Ragusea's. For those who won't buy a pizza stone, just get one or two thick baking trays, and use that instead (stacked, if you have two), but the trays must be very hot when you place them.
If he baked it longer the top surely will burn. The cheese was fairly brown already
@@MrJcalvino Just spray water mid-cooking or refrigerate/freeze the cheese before applying it (so it takes more time to get at the burning temperature).
Adam Ragusa and Weissmans recipes are my go to
Great video, but kind of weird you used the steel for Ragusea and not Kenji too.
Kenji is one of the first food writers (if not the) to have written about the baking steel both altogether and for pizza. He wrote about it YEARS before Ragusea put out his recipe. Baking Steel even uses Kenji’s name/quote to help sell their product. Weird choice.
in the recipe David used that was on Serious Eats, Kenji used a stone
@@kaldo_kaldo, in that case, why not do the same with One of Ragusea’s older videos. Fact is the recipe used doesn’t represent Kenji’s style and hasn’t for some time
@@zenco1611 Well the answer is pretty clear; it's not a scientific study, it's a cooking video on youtube
As he cuts into Adam's: "It looks... okay." LOL that is like picture perfect!!!
You ate the raw version of Iacopelli's pizza (iacopelli, not lacopelli) LuL
Good to see you again. Welcome back! Thank you for a great video.
This holiday season was filled with Adam Ragusea recipes, and I got my husband a pizza steel for Christmas! Just in time for him to give up pizza, I'm a terrible wife.
The best hint I have for at home pizza, is bar bake the crust and sauce, then add cheese and toppings under the broiler, with a pizza steel
I wish you didn’t gloss over the terrible measurements in Adam’s video because it’s really hard to follow his instructions unless you’re decently experienced with dough making already. I also felt like I had to basically double the flour and it was kinda stressful. But after watching your success I’m definitely going to try it again.
if youre using weight, its because adam scoops the flour right out of the bag so 1 cup is actually closer to 150-160g not 120g so the 5 cups in this recipe would be 750-800g not 600g
@@rayfx thanks, I’ve become such a flour by weight snob because of Joshua I feel lost anytime someone says ounces. I’ll give it a try with your suggested starting point, it’s appreciated.
@@JonathanSundy flour by weight is much better imo, but the recipe creator needs to also be using weight because cup measurements vary so much
the reason adam raguseas dough was so sticky was because in the video it shows him scooping the cup into the flour bag which packs too much flour. And he probably just googled how many grams equals a cup of flour. so it is two different amounts
Now redo this video, but all on the pizza steel.
I forgot how much better my Fridays are with your videos. So glad you're back!
Mark Iacono from Lucali's on David Seymour?
The David Seymour-Really Dough?/Thrillist crossover we didn't deserve
This right here is the single most helpful video you’ve ever made! I’ve been agonizing over wether to get a pizza steel or stone for a few months, but the look on your face when you bit into the last slice made my decision for me. Thank you!
You've probably figured this out already, but these comparison videos are your thing and are going to make you more successful.