Native Chicagoan here. Not <i>totally</i> a snob, but getting there.<p>I didn't usually encounter really crispy crust growing up, but I'm not saying it's wrong. He does a lot of things here I've never tried, but now I'm going to.<p>I had an Ooni, and after 5 or 6 meh attempts, I sold it. I also exited the r/ooni subreddit. I'm also out of love with the Neapolitan style baked at 700F+. Come at me.<p>I think a pizza steel preheated in a kitchen oven at 500F gives you a perfectly good pizza, and the fact that you can slide out the oven rack and use gravity to launch the pizza off the peel makes it a total win.<p><pre><code> (On r/ooni, they advise turning the heat down or off when you actually launch. I'm going to try blowtorching my pizza steel to 700F, just to simulate this process. Stay tuned.)
</code></pre>
On the intersection with computers: the early Apple people used to go for lunch at Cicero's Pizza. It's still around and Steve Wozniak still goes there.
Ditch the giardiniera and put the sausage under the cheese instead of on top, and add a splash of red wine to the sauce and you'd have something more in common in the local pizza spots. Also can't forget the corn meal to keep the crust from sticking to the pan, which is just a part of the experience when you eat it.<p>Personally the crust looks wrong. It's not a saltine, it's slightly thicker than that. There are pizza places that do that style, but try ordering the pizza from local Italian places and pizza spots that aren't "famous" (or for lack of a better way of saying it - trying too hard). That ultra crispy style is not the norm.
It upsets me this is called "Chicago" when clearly it came from further east - these "working class pizza taverns" being common across Indiana, Ohio, and PA as well. There are plenty of examples of these types of "no I started thin crust and square cut" pizza tavern places everywhere.<p>And even worse is that I am no historian and I'm probably wrong. But my direct experience contradicts a lot of the Chicago-washing of this article. For example Donato's in Columbus obviously made this style popular across the country far more than Chicago, and they weren't inspired by Vito & Nick's or something.<p>I bet someone right now is writing an article about how the pizza sandwich served at crappy pizza/bar places in the midwest was invented in Chicago too - even though it was probably independently invented in many locations.
If you want to explore food science, it's hard to go wrong with the OG author, Harold McGee:<p>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_McGee" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_McGee</a><p>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Food_and_Cooking" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Food_and_Cooking</a><p>The fortieth anniversary of his <i>On Food</i> is coming up in 2024.
Reminds me of Flammkuchen: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flammekueche" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flammekueche</a>
Anyone who hasn't actually lived in the Great Lakes area might be confused by the title. As the article states:<p>"I'm talking thinner-than-a-saltine thin, with a shatteringly crisp crackle and just enough structure to hold its own weight against a heavily seasoned sauce and a caramelized layer of mozzarella. It’s probably topped with hand-torn nubs of sausage, maybe a sprinkle of hot giardiniera. Forget the puffy, handlebarlike crust of a New York pie: Thin crust has sauce and cheese all the way to the edge — an edge that comes out extra crisp with a frizzle of nearly blackened cheese overhanging it."<p>It's a great side to beer, and a real treat I like to point out to visitors.
How does Chicago thin-crust pizza compare to restaraunt-made pizza found in Italy and (to certain extent) elsewhere in Europe?<p>The photos in the article look just like normal pizza to me (maybe the topping looks a bit drier than usual).<p>EDIT: I don't see mozzarella on the photos. Not having it is not uncommon, for instance in France, but it's a must in an Italian restaraunt except for pizzas that don't have mozzarella by design e.g. marinara.
I love cooking but often it can be a project. When I’m too lazy or don’t want to cook (like during a Bears game) I don’t mind a frozen pizza. HomeRun Inn makes a very good thin crust. When cooked in a toaster over air fryer it gets very crispy. Topped with giardineria and cut into squares it’s a great snack.<p><a href="https://share.icloud.com/photos/05ePk6RokvS1kX_UkNxvP5m6A" rel="nofollow">https://share.icloud.com/photos/05ePk6RokvS1kX_UkNxvP5m6A</a>
Why this recipe doesn’t mention 00 Flour. You can’t just make a pizza dough with normal flour, I feel like many people will be disappointed without this minor detail.
The Pizza Show: From Deep Dish to Thin Crust<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0xDAUXPc8c&list=PLnPDn1Lb79JG7zKvGrmBMKDp4hZO8PfYU&index=3">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0xDAUXPc8c&list=PLnPDn1Lb79...</a>
As an Aussie I find the American pizza scene so interesting - so many regional variations, I’d never heard of this thin style crust pizza until I saw Kenji posting on his Insta about it a while back. Looking forward to making it sometime.
As a midwest native, I've got to say that this is my favorite kind of pizza. And honestly, there's not really any rules as to how exactly it's made or what goes on it. Get the crust thin and crisp, and put on it whatever toppings make you happy. The key is that it's meant to be delicious, not fit a standard mold.
anyone ever made a Kenji pizza?<p>I've made a handful...from when he originally repurposed the Jim Lahey recipe and then after when he abandoned that, I genuinely don't understand his popularity, somehow he has everyone convinced he is worth listening to.