Reddit reviews Tablecraft (916M) 16 oz Oil & Vinegar Cruet

Now, I'm no pizza expert, but I have made dozens at home. So, your pizza has far too much sauce on it, which I think is a common beginner's mistake because I still make it from time to time. Also, you rolled the edges of the pizza a bit too much and too sharply. The technique to shoot for is taking your dough (which you should knead by hand for ~10 minutes, which builds the gluten connections and makes it really stretchy which translates to more flavor and chewy crust) and laying it on top of your fists and stretching it into the shape you want from the ever growing center area of the pizza. This will give you a natural bit of excess dough around the outside of the pizza, and you can then pat the dough down in front of it and you have your natural crust without rolling. It will look like this:

I then put the dough alone into the oven @ 450F for 9-12 minutes depending on how thick it is, then I pull out the primed "blank" and put sauce and cheese on it and put it back in for another 10-12. My pizza is always cooked through this way. I've found it to be the best way to make pizza without using a pre-heated pizza stone and screaming hot oven.

Don't be afraid to go pretty light with the sauce, you would be surprised how little you actually need. IMO this looks like just the right amount of sauce.

Now, when it comes to the mozzarella, I personally shred my whole-milk block mozarella because it browns better that way and I can get it a light golden color. I think the mozz has more flavor that way. However, many people would look at your mozz and say it's perfect. The mozz and basil placement are the best parts of your pizza IMO.

On the whole this is a really good first attempt. You should have seen mine HAHA it was, er, twice as thick, raw in the center and the dough tasted awful. I actually use Emeril's dough recipe with honey instead of white sugar. I also use 1/2 cup less flour than he recommends but the same amount of everything else (except water). My friends have told me my dough is some of the best they've ever had.

That's a really good first attempt. The key is to keep practicing, and find out what you like and after like 15-20 iterations you'll have it down pat. The whole point to me is to make it how I like it. Exactly how I like it.

edit: For the 10 minute knead, do it immediately after your pizza dough has risen, as soon as you pull it out of your bowl that has a damp paper towel or kitchen towel over it. Before grabbing it, sprinkle a little flour on your hands and rub them like you're washing your hands, then sprinkle a little all over your ball of dough, then pull it out rotate it in your hands and sprinkle flour all over it (rotate your dough), then place your hands over the ball of dough like a sorcerer holding a ball of energy, and push inward from your shoulders, then rotate the dough and push inward again. If you're watching TV the time passes quickly. I like kneading the dough by hand because it puts me in touch with something kind of primitive and old school, like how Italian mom's did it back in 1900 or something. There is no substitute for lots of kneading. On the whole, the more kneading the better. Most pizza places have professional-quality dough mixers and they'll have that knead their dough for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. Their dough must be so freaking stretchy, I'm jealous. If you have a Kitchen-aid you can use a dough-hook attachment to do something similar.

Also, use bread-flour only. All-purpose flour tastes like shit IMO. Bread flour has more protein in it which results in chewier crust and better flavor, IMO.

Also, one of my secrets is actually to put a little bit of marjoram in the dough. Not too much, but it adds noticeable flavor. I also use a little more olive oil than is called for. Use extra-virgin, and if you can afford it, buy some good olive oil, like this. The difference between it and glass-bottle stored supermarket EVOO is immense (olive oil should always be stored in a light-proof medium because light breaks down the quality of it). Buy a big jug like that (which is actually the same price as the supermarket stuff) and fill up a bottle like this with it, and store that bottle in your cabinet away from light.

edit again: It seems like mozzarella might be a passion of yours. You can make your own using this kit. It's actually really easy to make mozzarella. That kit worked great for me. You can seriously make your own mozzarella in under an hour. All you'll need that you don't have in that kit are a set of thick rubber gloves like this for kneading the hot mozz to your desired thickness (more kneading = less water in the mozz).

Good luck on your pizza journey! Oh, I also sprinkle a small amount of cornmeal on the pan I use to keep the pizza from sticking, and I believe the cornmeal adds a small amount of flavor to the finished dough. Not too much corn-meal though.

Buy a couple of these and just refill. I love them for my cooking oils

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0001MSDOC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Here's what I've been using the past year. Very cheap and works well - haven't had any problems with leaks or the like, and it holds plenty so it doesn't need to be refilled terribly often.

Buy something like this and use a funnel to fill it from the large bottle.

Not sure if this is cute, but it is what I got.

If you're looking for suggestions, I can't really help. We use the little plastic squeeze bottles for olive juice, pickle juice, and fruit purees. The big plastic guys with the colored screw on pour tops for cran, orange, pineapple, and sour. Wine bottles (with the labels taken off) for lemon, lime, and simple.

Maybe something like people use for oil in their kitchen would work for you.
http://www.amazon.com/Tablecraft-Olive-Oil-Dispenser-Oz/dp/B0001MSDOC

Am I doing this right?

Okay but for serious, this.


I would really love this oil dispenser because I suck at dispensing olive oil.

I use glass oil & vinegar bottles. They look nice, come in a variety of sizes, are narrow so you can store a lot of them on your station at once, and they fit a standard speed pour.

Like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Tablecraft-Olive-Oil-Dispenser-Oz/dp/B0001MSDOC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413247889&sr=8-1&keywords=oil+bottle

But I would just go to a restaurant supply store, they're cheaper.

Something similar to what I have.

Pour.

Spray

Link to this fantastical, fabulous, festive and functional four-sided flask of sorts that was formed to be filled with fatty fluids such as oil. If you would favor this finicky female's focused but fixed and firm attempt to fawn you into forfeiting the entries of her foes and fetching her this furnishment for free, she would feel frolicsome and felicitous. :D