How to Make the Greatest Pizza on Earth
By Jim Neidert
Copyright 2020 James R. Neidert
All rights reserved
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Edited by Sara T. Bredesen
Jim Neidert
Visit my website at https://www.homepizzaparlor.com/
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing: May 20, 2020
Jim and Sherry Neidert operated The Pizza Corner, 1971.
FOREWORD
I was introduced to pizza in 1958 when I was 14 years old. Pizza was just coming on the scene in the United States. Thats when Pizza Hut started, along with three of my other favorite-to-be pizza places. Pizza became an obsession. I ate it seven nights a week and tried to get into every commercial pizza kitchen I could in order to learn the art of making this fabulous food.
Although no one shares their secret formulas, it became my quest to make the worlds best pizza. I observed it allfrom fresh, to frozen to take n bakeand I asked all the questions I could. Out of all the pizzas I sampled, ten became my favorites.
When I was 17, the maker of my number-one favorite pizza of all time took me under his wing. That mentorship really gave me a great start in understanding the inside storythe preparationit took to come up with a really good finished product.
At the age of 24, I finally made my first pizza for my wife and me. My pizza passion grew until we opened a pizza parlor in 1971 in the small town where we lived. I had a full-time job as an insurance adjuster and was able to run the Pizza Corner just on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
The restaurant was packed every night we were open, but the building was sold, and the pizza business had to close. That didnt stop me from learning. I continued to get into more and more commercial pizza kitchens to see how different makers produced their pizzas. When tasting something I liked, I either duplicated it or made it even better.
Back at home, I bought commercial pizza equipment for my basement laboratory where I experimented to find the best methods, equipment and ingredients for the best pizza. My wife and I have entertained hundreds of pizza parties over the years, and the comments are pretty much the same: This is the best pizza I have ever had!
How can you tell when pizza is good? When you cant stop eating it. With this book, I invite you to dive into the art of making one of Americas favorite foods while enjoying the education.
Jim The Pizza Guy
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
THE GREATEST PIZZA ON EARTH STARTS HERE
T his book is not about the history of pizza, nor is it about all the different types of pizza in the world, nor does it have a lot of other information you dont need when it comes to making fabulous pizzas.
My missionand passionis simply to teach individuals what they need to know in order to make great conventional pizzas in their own kitchen ovens. This book is written for pizza lovers, for those who are looking for quality, for the families that love pizza but cant afford to eat out as often as they would like, for those who are tired of frozen pizzas , and for those who are concerned about whats in them.
Yes, I know, there are those who can afford to eat fresh pizza out anytime they want, but I have trained several multi-millionaires to make their own pizzas at home. They rarely go out for pizza anymore. Its not about the money. Its just plain better at home.
But if you are thinking about money, home-made pizza is a real value compared to the options. As a rule, the average pizza lover can eat a meal of fresh, delicious, nutritious homemade pizza for $1 per person. Thats what it costs if I make a 12-inch plain cheese pizza with 5 ounces of pretty good mozzarella from Costco, and it will feed both my wife and me. That same size pizza at a fresh pizzeria runs $10 to $14. Even if I pay retail for mozzarella from my favorite cheese factory, the 12-inch cheese pizza still comes to only $1.50.
Outside of a fast food burgerwhich is 1 to 1 ounces of bun and the same weight in meatwhere can you eat today for 50 cents or even $1? Making your own great pizza even costs much less than buying the frozen babysitter four-for-$10 pizzas!
A neat thing about making pizza is that anyone can do it, whether you fancy yourself a cook or not. Its a fact, there are a lot of men who are very comfortable in the kitchen, but there are also those whose only place in cooking is at the grill. Pizza will get those grill jockeys into the kitchen. Its just plain fun making pizza. Its not cooking as we know it.
If you are used to running the kitchen, be prepared to share the space. This is one food where the entire family will want to get involved. Even kids as young as four can sprinkle cheese. By the time they are a little older, they can do it all. There is no greater reward in the kitchen than watching a youngsters face as their pizza comes out of the oven. They cant wait until its on the table!
The reason this is not a large book is that there is only so much that needs to be said about the art of making pizzas. You will find the word simple used quite a bit in the book, because the ingredients, the equipment and the process are truly simple. Other books tend to complicate the matter.
My goal is to teach you how to make the greatest pizza on earth.
How do I dare make such a bold statement as that? Its easy. We all have different tastes, and as your instructor, Ill get you started on the right track. I will show you the dos and donts, the hows and whys, and give you information from my years of experience that most pizza makers dont know.
Once you start following my simple instructions and have a good feel for the art of making pizzas, you can experiment on your own, not only achieving the flavors you like, but also using the exact amounts of sauce, cheese and toppings that will wow your families and friends. Soon youll be enjoying your personal greatest pizza on earth.
After all, thats what its all about; having it the way you like it. As my friend Leonard would say, It dont get no better than that!
Chapter 1
WHERE WILL YOUR PIZZA COME FROM?
T here are five basic places you can get a pizza these days. There are pros and cons to each. Of course, my favorite is homemade, but lets take a look at all of them.
Fresh from pizzerias
These are the most expensive ($20 to $30 for an extra-large) and typically the best, as they should be. Still, they are a far cry from what they can be. When I was growing up and pizza was new and exciting, I had my own list of the ten top pizzerias in central Wisconsin. Sad to say, the owners have all died or sold out. My opinion is that, with the exception of one, the other nine arent worth wasting money on. Chains and speed delivery in those steamed pouches, along with coupons and precooked sausage, have all ruined the good name of pizzeria pizza.
In our travels coast to coast, I try pizza wherever we go. I can just look at a pizza and tell if I want a bite or not.
Frozen
Over the years, I have seen a lot of the frozen manufacturers come and go. Still, there are tons of them selling millions of pizzas every day. These pizzas are ready to be baked and can be found in the grocery store freezer section. They come with a wide variety of toppings and crusts. Price and convenience are the two players here. You can pay $6 to $12 for the premium line and four-for-$10 for the economy line.
