Fry sauce for the crust, and where to go from here
Okay so here's the thing. Your pizza's out of the oven, it cooled off the stone without incident because you didn't rinse it under cold water like some people I know, and now it's sitting there cut into slices. This is the last lesson, so I want to do two things. First, a genuinely dumb tip that I stand behind. Second, where you go once this class is over and I'm not around to bug you about preheat times.
Fry sauce. I said what I said.
My brother Blake dared me to try it years ago and I did it mostly to shut him up, and now I will not apologize for it. Ketchup and mayo, roughly two to one, maybe a splash of pickle juice if you're feeling ambitious. Mix it in a little bowl. Dip your crust in it.
I won't defend this on a forum somewhere. If you posted "fry sauce on pizza crust" in some pizza purist group you'd get roasted and honestly they'd have a point about tradition. But in person, in my kitchen, with a crust that's got a good char on it and a crumb you're proud of? It's good. Try it once before you decide it's not for you. Worst case you wasted two tablespoons of condiments.
Where to go from here
You've got the whole process now. Dough that sits in the fridge for a day instead of getting rushed. A shape that doesn't have to be round, because round was never the goal, edible was the goal. Sauce that's thinner than you want it to be. Cheese that doesn't bury everything under it. Three toppings and no more. An oven you preheat way longer than feels reasonable. A launch that doesn't turn into a disaster on the stone. And now you know not to run that stone under cold water, which, ask me how I know.
Here's my actual opinion on what to do next: don't add complexity yet. I know the temptation is going to be to go find a fancier flour, or start making your own mozzarella, or get into sourdough starters and pizza math with percentages. Resist that for a month. Just make the same pizza six more times. Dough, cold ferment, thin sauce, light cheese, three toppings, hot oven. Get it boring. Boring means you've got it down. Then go be fancy if you want.
The other thing I'd tell you, and this one's less about pizza and more about people: if you make a good pizza for somebody, and they ask you for the recipe, don't expect much to come of it.
I brought a pizza to a ward thing a while back, and somebody asked me straight up for the recipe. I was thrilled. I typed the whole thing up that night, dough hydration, ferment time, the works, felt like I'd been asked to consult. Never heard back. Not a text, not a "hey I tried it," nothing. I still think about that more than I should for something so small. It wasn't rude of them, people get busy, but it recalibrated something in me. I stopped making pizza to impress people and started making it because I like the process. That's a better reason anyway. It's the only reason that survives someone not texting you back.
So make pizza for yourself and the people actually in your kitchen. If somebody asks for the recipe and follows through, great, that's a bonus. If they don't, you still got a good pizza out of it, which was the whole point.
A few practical things before you're on your own
- Keep a notebook, even a bad one, even just notes in your phone. Write down what flour you used, how long you cold-fermented, what your oven's actual preheat time was. You will not remember which batch was the good one otherwise. I didn't write anything down for the first year and I regret it.
- If your dough ever smells like beer, that's overproofed, not "extra flavorful." Toss it or use it for something forgiving, like a really thick focaccia-style bake where the texture doesn't have to be perfect. Don't try to stretch it thin, it'll fight you.
- Watch your oven in hot weather especially if you're not running AC hard. Dry air and heat here move fermentation faster than you'd think, even inside. What took a day in March might take twelve hours in July.
- Pizza stones and steels are not indestructible. Temperature shock is the enemy. Let it cool on its own.
That's the class. You've got Idaho-shaped pizzas and a hole here and there and that's fine, that was always fine. Round was never on the syllabus.
Before next time
There isn't a next time, not for this class anyway. So just make one more pizza this week, on your own, no notes in front of you, and see what you remember without me saying it.