While pizza wars over who makes the best will always rage, one thing most pizza pundits agree on is that the way a pie is baked makes a big difference. Pizza masters from Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern attracted attention at the Cotton District Arts Festival in Starkville Saturday with something a bit out of the ordinary — pizzas prepared in a wood-fired oven. If the number of pie lovers lined up for them is a barometer, the taste was worth it.
Jesse Daughtry, 27, has cooked many a pizza in the almost three years he’s been with Dave’s, but the kitchen manager has never made a single one of them in a traditional oven. The oldest independent pizzeria in Starkville is known for pies stone-baked in an old-fashioned deck oven, with firm crusts basted in a buttery mixture of garlic and basil.
For past Cotton District festivals, the Dave’s crew baked pizzas in-house and transported them to the festival site, where they participate in the Taste of Starkville contest. That was before Dave’s invested in a portable wood-fired oven for occasions just such as this, as well as Bulldog Bash in the fall.
“It’s a creative way to serve pizza,” said Daughtry, a Starkville native who holds two degrees from Mississippi State. “It gives it a really distinct taste, and the oven looks really neat, too. People are curious.”
So, what’s the big deal about wood-fired or brick oven pizza compared to traditional ovens?
“The difference is between ethereal immortality and pedestrian bread seasoned with ignominy,” says former cooking instructor Scott Paglia on quora.com.
Overstating it? Maybe, but there is a contrast. To start with, wood-burning ovens achieve very high temperatures, meaning fast cook times.
“It’s hot!” said Daughtry, who uses a long pizza peel (or paddle) to handle the pies that can cook in two to three minutes or less in temperatures that can reach upwards of 1,000 degrees. Timing is everything. The wood-fired method sometimes requires trial and error training.
“We bust it out about a week early … especially new people need to get used to it,” said Daughtry. “You have to develop a feel for it, and it takes a bit of practice.”
Wood-fired cooking generally imparts a unique flavor almost impossible to get with a traditional home oven. Smoke from the wood infuses the crust with just a hint of live fire.
At home
Can you wood-fire at home? Yes. An Internet search yields a wide variety of oven models designed for every lifstyle, as well as plans to build your own outdoor ovens.
However you make homemade pizza, though, Daughtry offers a tip or two. One of them is to roll the dough thin. He uses all-purpose flour or corn meal (or a mix of both) to keep the roller from sticking. Another is to aerate the dough. During the baking process, air pockets can form, creating an unsightly, uneven pizza surface. A simple dough docker, a handheld roller with pins, pierces the dough to prevent air bubbles from forming.
“If you don’t have the little tool, create some tiny little air holes by just pinching some in the dough,” Daughtry recommended. “If you don’t roll it thin (and aerate), you might get something 4 inches high with a big bubble in it,” he said, only half-jokingly.
While few home cooks may be set up with wood-fired ovens, even using a baking stone can more or less mimic the effects of cooking pies in a masonry oven. The porous nature of the stone helps absorb moisture, resulting in a crispy crust.
There are plenty of ways to enjoy one of Italy’s tastiest culinary gifts. Maybe tonight’s the night.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.