His pizzas look better than any homemade pizza (NY style) I have ever seen by far.
I got ok at making pizza, but not on this guy's level.
He said it, and it's true; it's about the crust.
I have almost completely given up on good bread though. I once heard that the book Julia Child's really valued--La Bonne--didn't have a chapter on making bread. The author said something like the best bread is bought from a good bakery. (It's basically sourdough bread I gave up on.)
I've decided good bread at home is too much damn work. I've done the sourdough thing, I've done Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast, I've done baguettes the slow & hard, correct way. I've put a lot of time into it. Results far too mixed, and never amazing. I still make bread but I don't bother with fancy shit anymore. Just mix up a simple ratio dough in the standing mixer, rest it, and bake. I use lame dry-instant yeast—I've discovered, after much trying, that I hate basically everything about keeping sourdough starters. The space they take up in the fridge, the mess, the way they look, having to "feed" them, the waste (don't listen to hip eco-conscious mommy bloggers, you can't use excess starter to make pancakes—I'm still haunted by that one). The care require in prepping it to even maybe get a half-decent rise. Nope, never again.
> I hate basically everything about keeping sourdough starters. The space they take up in the fridge, the mess, the way they look, having to "feed" them, the waste
After a few months you don't need to feed it anymore. I just put 50 grams in the fridge and forget about it until I run out of bread or decide to bake a loaf for friends. 50 grams makes enough levain for two loaves; I just take 10 grams out of the levain and mix it with 20 grams water and 20 grams flour, let it rise for a day, put it back in the fridge and then forget about it again... Rinse and repeat, no waste.
And I can't eat store bought bread anymore, even the artisan stuff. Which kind of figures, I spend about 30 minutes of actual work on 2 loaves and there's no way a professional operation would spend that much time on theirs.
I got ok at making pizza, but not on this guy's level.
He said it, and it's true; it's about the crust.
I have almost completely given up on good bread though. I once heard that the book Julia Child's really valued--La Bonne--didn't have a chapter on making bread. The author said something like the best bread is bought from a good bakery. (It's basically sourdough bread I gave up on.)