bad pizza :3

like it's not just a plain crop — all the text is on screen — and it's not an open matte, this thing was shot in anamorphic ultrawide lol. it is in HD, it's not deinterlaced from standard definition

first pizza in a new batch of ingredients, went really good :3

this time i've got some bread flour rather than all-purpose flour, i kept with a 60% hydration though to see how it'd be. it was firmer, but definitely not an issue, and i'd keep there again i think.

i mixed the salt and flour, then added the water, then i microwaved it and mixed it into a scrappy ball. it had a core temperature of 113°F. after a few minutes, i added the yeast, and kneaded it just enough to get the dough smooth and satiny — it had a final temperature of 91°F.

the high temperature and amount of yeast was definitely intended for getting a nicely fermented dough. as a no-sauce heathen it really helps make a good flavor profile to be as fermented as possible without collapsing

i decided to take two minutes off of my long-ass cook time lol, and it seems worth it. this was still up to my personal preference of a well browned cheese and a reasonably stiff final crust, while not being too burned and crunchy on the outer edge. there was good oven rise, giving about a quarter inch thick crumb with a good spread of airiness, and a crust that's crispy but not crackery.

i was slightly heavy on the onion powder, but not enough to be a problem lol. all in all, quite flavorable, with a reasonably tough and chewy texture on the base, and a good mature flavor that reminds me of a pizzeria i quite like :3

i've realized that what my doughs have been needing is more heat in their initial mixing phase lol. that's why my solid sourdough's been stiff and my doughs have been coming out pretty plain lol

my solid sourdough is experiencing actual volume increase (picture from two days ago since i'm still working out warming techniques) and my pizza dough is smelling alcoholic once again!

the reason this happened with the sourdough was that i switched from fresh tap water to dechlorinated tap water, i underestimated the temperature needs and am now incorporating the microwave to warm the water and flour before adding the starter and mixing, and (starting on the next feeding) pre-warming the fresh container that it rises in.

i'll very likely be adding a chunk of time before i start making use of the sourdough in breads, waiting till i can see for sure that it has a stable culture that rises day after day lol. it has at the very least been smelling great :3

the sourdough activity today exceeded the amount of available dough and we've achieved our first large die-off — it was not so risen and the inside was quite sticky like an over-yeasted dough lol

valuable learning time! this goes together with my previous bread-making knowledge. i now understand that the ratio of starter to new dough is like the amount of yeast lol. so very clearly a "cut the starter in half and replace it" is going to over-ferment and not be particularly stable lol.

the new feeding ratio shall be 1 part starter to 3 parts new dough, or 33.3g starter to 100g fresh dough:

it also makes our container more appropriately sized :3

it has risen! it is noticeably smelly. i believe this means we're on our way to making a stable culture. this is the third feeding, so far on about a 24 hour schedule. it's about 200 grams, with slightly over 50% hydration.

meanwhile a spam filter consisting of just the keyword "Debra" would have stopped 83 messages, giving a spam detection rate of 49%. that would be 16 times more effective, it would cut the incoming spam over this period literally in half, and it would use no networking, data collection, or large language models. it's simple logic: who the fuck is debra???

in more practical terms, if we blocked anything with a link we'd be at 99%. if we scooped up new conversations with non-contacts into the spam folder and check it on our own time we'd reach 100% guaranteed no interruptions. but one can't actually do that without the nightmare of making or maintaining their own bespoke messenger app because SMS permissions get handed out to exactly one app.

anyways, my phone literally rang for spam as i was finishing making this lmao

pan pizza today! it's a bit thick lol

mixing this up did not quite to as intended — 2 cups of flour is what i wanted, but after spreading out and oiling the dough into its container, i found it actually pretty uneven,. but the oil stopped it from re-shaping and i quickly found myself with an exceptionally oiled sprawling mass lmao

i was able to save it by mixing up a second dough ball of flour and water and then kneading the two together! it's a surprisingly good way to alter the ingredient make-up of an already formed dough.

anyways, i probably should've then split the resulting dough ball into two and set one aside. i trucked on instead though lol

ingredients here are a bit more of an estimate and a shoulder shrug :)

the outer crust is moderately fried and is quite good! the inner crumb is relatively plain, more yeast would've been good here. the toppings from bottom to top are provolone, mozarella, pepperoni, parmesan, black pepper (my usual no-sauce blasphemy).

1. breadrolls but i wasn't used to making bread with milk and didn't warm it up enough lol. no rise after 16 hours in fridge, then very light rise for the amount of dough with 6 hours out of fridge. still pretty tasty but definitely prior breadrolls were better lol.

2. a calzone! worthwhile experiment but ultimately not to my tastes. i apparently only like cheese that's burnt. also: wayyy too sweet for a savory meal lol too much added sugar (2 tablespoons sugar vs. 2 cups flour). tried it out because the tails on the dough ball opened up some and were leaving a very thin spot.

3. not understanding baker's percentages previously to now lol. i understood the concept of ratio but overlooked that it was units of *weight* rather than volume lmao.

4. not taking enough pictures and captioning them! it helps so much to actually have a fully described baking diary, but i've definitely been skipping out owing just to the difficulty of unlocking my phone lol. (if only i could set a default camera app...)

anyways, the next planned mistake is whether or not i can pull off my first sourdough, since i'm working with dough daily anyways lol. trying a stiff one — fingers crossed!

BREADROLLS!

yesterday i knew i made a mistake the second that i moved the rolls out of the box. they needed to rise directly in their baking pan in order to retain their fluffiness and not just become miniature pizza bases lol

so today, i rose them directly in bakeware, and it worked out very well! my sole mistake was that the chili powder topping wasn't a fit (though it can be good on rolls being re-heated in an oven, it clearly burned here lol).

the crumb is very large and soft, while the outer crust is lightly browned and moderately fried. they reached peak rise before going in the oven and didn't fluff up any further, but overall the proofing and fermentation was really good.

this was my first time using glass bakeware as well, and it was quite well suited here! i'm just glad i didn't shatter it. the bake was nice and even throughout.

my first breadroll experiment :7

i still have a backlog of jiffy pizza mix (do not recommend) so i've given my very first shot at breadrolls, the result of which is flat mini crusts owing to them losing shape when moved lmao

they are still quite edible. the crumb is fluffy and soft while the crust is tough as in a good pizza dough.

long ferment in the fridge continues to be the best, they have a decently mature flavor i would expect from a similar amount of flour and a teaspoon of yeast

pizza diary may 11th 2026

today's pizza dough was fluffy and bubbly, owing mainly to a second kneading that was definitely a mistake, but overall really good for my preferences — crispy outside, soft inside with good air pockets, and a good mature long-ferment taste.

i started in the mixing bowl with warm water, to which i added and swirled the salt and sugar, then yeast, then flour, mix it, then oil. i then intensely kneaded the dough for half an hour.

when i knead this dough, i find i don't require extra flour. after a minute or two in the hand, it reaches a play-dough consistency, then it's ready to knead against my bowl or its lidq

i then balled it, oiled it, left it uncovered in the fridge for 2 hours, then refrigerated it for two hours.

when i pulled it out of the fridge, i did an experiment — i re-kneaded the dough to let it re-rise. it was tough, cold, and the dough wouldn't nicely press back together. the rise helped it form back up, but it still had some noticeable folds, and the dough formed some big bubbles as a result. it wasn't a problem in the end, but if i do something like this again, it'll just be more akin to stretching dough out before the final rise.

pizza diary, may 9th

today's crust was really good, has a good mix of crispiness, rise, and fermentation for my tastes

the two things i want to adjust are how i spread and stretch the dough (stretch the edges first then the center) in order to get it more regularly distributed, and i need to stop adding olive oil as a topping as the grease in the center is reaching pizza hut levels

pizza diary may 7th

the keyword today is fluffy! overall fairly plain but sweet with a crispy outside, good air bubbles inside. seems like it would've happily accepted another 4 minutes at least in the oven to brown up extra well, but this was really good :3

kneaded nice and well. i enjoyed doing the double knead, i sorta just took a whack at it on a whim lol.

would love to give it another shot with a fridge fermentation, see if i can get some more of those complex flavors back in. might take a few whacks to come up with the right amount of yeast for a 24 hour crust

this just in, a large, unidentified flying rat has taken over 1/5th of a spiral arm of the milky way in order to build infested restaurants

OH GOD u can't add water after even partial kneading lol, that invents bread and water soup