Pro Chef Reacts.. Joshua Weissman's Authentic New York Style Pizza!

Let's see how Joshua Weissman makes his Real New York Style Pizza at home!

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[ChefJamesMakinson]

Pizzaiolos let me know what you think of the pizza!

[alanlujan]

Chef James Makinson. I have to be completely honest. You are my favorite reactor chef. Yes even more than Gordon Ramsay or any of the Master Chefs. The reason being is that you take the time to explain every step in the cooking processes about the food dishes you review. You don't cuss, or simply bash other chefs. No. You are very educative and informative and that is why i always keep coming back to watch your videos.

[eliyahusvocalcoaching]

Pizza chef here!
In regards to sugar in the dough, it's a helpful crutch when making pizza at home due to the lower baking temps. There are (in my opinion) better ways to get around it such as malt powder, honey, beer, molasses, etc. My personal preference would be malt powder. But as long as you keep your ferment time nice and long despite the sugar, there aren't any real serious downsides besides it being less healthy. I prefer not to use sugar either at home or at pizzerias.
If you have any questions about this or other parts, feel free to ask!

[yuothineyesasian]

The pizza place I worked was owned by a guy who was born and raised in Brooklyn and had worked in pizza places his entire life of 56 years at that point.

Our dough recipe was very similar to Josh's except fresh yeast, the sugar was replaced with brown sugar, the olive oil was incorporated at the last minute of mixing and we would knead the dough more and let it rise for at least 24 hours.

The sauce was also similar but we did not cook it beforehand, just let it sit refrigerated, again, for at least 24 hours.

We would also grate low and high moisture mozzarella for a 50/50 mix. One was for flavor and the other was for cheese pull, I forget which was which though.

[teklife]

i'm a chef and a new yorker and pizza happens to be my favorite food and i've eaten and made many hundreds of pizzas and one thing i can tell you about new york style pizza is, there is no ONE single recipe for new york style pizza. some pizzerias use sugar(in their dough or sauce), some don't, some use use olive oil in their dough or sauce, some don't, some use crushed chili peppers in the sauce, some don't. the variety of herbs are different, and the ratios etc. one pizza joint i knew many years ago also cooked the sauce with carrots in it, which was then removed, and it actually was a delicious sauce. the main thing about New York style is large slices because almost all pizzerias sell by the slice, and yes they should be folded at least for structural integrity, but also keeps it warmer for longer, and the crust is thin, and often, but not always crispy and toasted. the cheese is often a blend of provolone and mozzarella, mostly mozzarella, and it's usually part skim low moisture block mozzarella cheese sold by the local purveyors.

new york city is one of the oldest pizza cities in the world, as well as new haven connecticut, and because we had many immigrants here from Napoli, it was being made here at the same time as in Naples and long long before it was being made anywhere else in Italy, aside from around Naples. New York style pizza is an evolution of neapolitan pizza, and there was a gradual progression from 'new york neapolitan' (patsys is an example), where it looks more like neapolitan pizza, and uses fresh mozzarella, to the modern new york style, large pies, usually from 18-25 inches (45-64cm). since fresh basil was hard to get, as well as fresh mozz, the basil was often dropped and it was still a poor people's food, sold to factory workers, and cut into slices to fit their tight budgets. the sauce was also made more flavorful with the addition of aromatics and herbs and spices, and the use of canned tomatoes.

one thing i never see mentioned is that EVERY pizzeria in new york always have the following condiments to top any slice: powdered garlic, dried oregano, chili flakes, and black pepper; always! also common and almost always is some kind of generic grated 'parmesan' cheese, and salt.

[Raaandy]

I prefer to cook my pizza sauce, because I want more developed flavors. I'm also not big on adding sugar, but that depends on the tomatoes. Sometimes they're quite a bit more acidic and need that edge softened. The OONI is a great pizza oven for home cooks, too, by the way.

[jonathandaoust]

The pizza oven he uses is a Ooni Karu 16 and it's incredible. It's a multi fuel oven so you can cook with wood, charcoal or gas if you buy the propane burner. I've use this oven for 6 months now and it makes awesome pizza.

[dgschrei]

For Neapolitan Pizza, the go to guy is clearly Vito Iacopelli. He has an excellent video about how to achieve great pizza even with the low temperatures of a normal oven. I have been using this technique ever since I saw it and I now can't go to any of the pizza places in my town anymore because I'll always be disappointed that the pizza is worse than what Vito has taught me to achieve. 😁

Since you're in glorious 230V Europe if you're looking for a pizza oven there is an italian company called Effeuno that makes electric pizza ovens that go up to 500°C. So no need to mess around with wood/gas outside.

[sophiaisabelle]

It's great to see Chef James being consistent on this channel. May God bless him.

[mariaarcher]

Regarding sugar in dough- fresh yeast doesn't really need it, dried does (just a little) Depends on the amount of salt too... In the words of Uncle Roger - 'Use feeling' :)

[sKid]

Sugar (and fat) are added to NY pizza dough to act as dough conditioners, to help retain moisture and softness in the crumb, because this type of pizza cooks at a much lower temperature (~450F/232C) and for a lot longer than Neapolitan pizza (anywhere from 6 to 12 minutes) in "deck" ovens that are normally used to make bread. They aren't cooked in Neapolitan style pizza ovens with wood fires. A lean dough would be pretty dry and would "die" pretty quickly when cooked this way. Anyway, that is the only way to get a crisp bottom, which is what we Americans like. The sugar does also help brown the crust. It's not added to make the dough sweet.

[sweetsolitude]

I'm no chef, but I've made homemade pizza several times in my amateur kitchen and I very much prefer an uncooked sauce. In my opinion, when the sauce is cooked it usually tastes more like a lasagna to me. I may add sugar to the sauce depending on the acidity of the tomatoes. I also add sugar to my dough as it seems to have a more well balanced flavor and helps with browning.

[BigSnipp]

I never cook my sauce. I feel it's robust enough. But most importantly, after I mix in the seasonings, I put in the fridge overnight. This makes a world of difference.

[Fro]

Hi James, cool video! I'm a BCN guy nerd about pizzas, i've done hundreds at home, trying to master neapolitan style (which is a challenge at home, as you know). About the sugar thing, short answer, yes it is OK to add it. Long answer, yes when doing it at home, not in real wood oven: bcs one of the problems with home ovens is lack of temperature so to get a brown crust you need to overcook your pizza, but with sugar you can help to get a more brown crust with a shorter baking time (and i am not entering into the issue of how to succed with short baking time at home bcs it's a long story).

About cooking tomato, big NO if you are doing neapolitan. But, as always there's room for imagination and adaptation (being this a NYP). I'm a hardcore fan of classic neapolitan, so for me raw san marzano tomatoes, preferably crushed by hand, and maximum with a bit of extra virgin oil and salt (if not previously salted) and in the most extreme cases with a few basilic leaves.

Cheers and keep it on with pizza videos (also your own home version!)

[paulshepherd]

Vito Copelli is the only pizza channel you need on YouTube. I’ve learnt a lot from him. His NY style is far superior to this and he has some really useful advice for cooking in home ovens too

[cadencedisaster]

My brother actually has the pizza oven from this video (because of this video) and the pizza that comes out of it is absolutely amazing. Definitely worth the (expensive af) buy and he uses it pretty much every week

[subroy]

My favorite NY pizza is Di Fara in Brooklyn. The old guy there (DeMarco) is famous for pulling pizzas out of the oven with his *bare hands* lol. I haven't been to NY in a long time but Di Fara is still something I remember fondly.

[roveriia]

My thoughts 1 - No to how much cheese you want. Be reserved always keep in mind ratios, dough, sauce and cheese. Same with toppings too many too thick and won't heat properly . 2 - Yes to little sauce not because it gets hot but it is there for fresh flavor and moisture. 3 - Freshness, cooking your sauce removes the freshness of the tomatoes. Recommend using a fresh heirloom tomato even the expensive cans are not that good and need adjustments like salt and sugar. 4 - Flour is important - Bread flour puffs more and will not get you the thin crust great for squares though. Find what works for you I use a combo of 00 APF. A little sugar helps in browning. If you can taste sweetness in the dough you used too much. 5 - Use the broiler to finish the top and brown the crust at home. 6 - You need a flavorful cheese like Romano or parmesan. I mix together or you can put it down before the Mots. I also do not like a garlicy sauce as a standard base. When I want garlic I use roasted cloves as a topping. Maybe that's why they cook the sauce they think you need garlic when you do not. The freshness opportunity created by the quick cooking should be embraced and exploited. Freshness Freshness Freshness. Hope this helps

[FoamySlobbers]

flour, water, yeast- mix 6 minutes. rest 30 minutes add sugar and salt mix for 2-3 minutes. rest and shape. adding the sugar, and salt after the first rest makes the pizza less chewy. giving a better mouth feel.

[MMircea]

To quote my italian relative from Bologna: "You can top up with anything you want, if the dough is poorly executed your Pizza is ruined. Having a good dough can even cover up other mistakes within your Pizza"