The Joy of Pizza: Everything You Need to Know

I really wanted to LOVE this book and preordered it. It’s very complex and with my busy schedule I can’t take Dan’s dive into pizza world. Was hoping he was going to give how-to’s based on experience. Instead it’s a diatribe of his journey which would be wonderful IF I had more time. He is accomplished and obviously amazing. His ‘basic’ dough recipe takes 3 days which I just don’t have time to do. The book should be called “Dan’s Joy of Pizza”. I don’t have time to measure the temperature and humidity of my kitchen, flour, bowls, etc. to make dough. I admire him but the book is not for a working person trying to make good pizza. It’s for an artist seeking to perfect their skill.

It’s my belief few on this planet could appropriately follow the directions or suggestions outlined in the pages of this book. Possibly might be helpful to professional business owner who went to culinary school and was thinking about making pizza.

Making pizza is a passion to me. Spent over 30+ years working to improve it. It’s like making beer- takes time to make tiny adjustments here yo make a product you like.Could have saved a lot of time had I’d been able to find a book that actually explains in detail.Fermentation is the key to a great crust- but it just doesn’t happen- takes time & effort.If you’re not into the science of cooking, then this book isn’t for you unless you’re serious & looking to learn something.Pizza is a regional. Chicago has their style; Detroit has their own. My preference is NYC/Brooklyn style. That being said, I’m looking forward to incorporate the techniques in the book.

This is a great guide to pizza if you’ve never made it before. It is highly detailed. The author provides the average home chef with all of the knowledge to make a great pizza. With that said, he doesn’t give you the recipes behind the great pies they serve at Razza - which was the entire reason I purchased the book.I’ve been making pizza for years, so I know the fundamentals. What I was interested to see was the breakdown of what they do at Razza. What are they doing and sourcing there that I could learn from? I understand that dough is living and cannot be perfectly replicated elsewhere (moisture, bacteria, etc are location specific). With that said, I wanted to know what type of flour they use, the grind, maybe even a mill recommendation. I wanted to know what brand tomatoes they use.It’s a solid book, but not what I was looking for or expecting. I wish it was a bit more like “Pizza Camp” by Joe Beddia. He doesn’t give away all his secrets, but he provides more tips/insight into what he uses in his restaurant.

Pizza making can be an easy thing if you want basic mediocre pizza. You can just pick up some raw dough from your local pizza spot or buy a Pillsbury premade dough, add some sauce and cheese and bake it off. You technically have pizza. Is it great pizza? Maybe its great to your 5 year old so that's fine. You made them dinner and they are happy. Great job.But if you really want to learn to make great pizza and understand how all the parts connect with each other, then you need to buy a book like this. He will explain what makes great cheese and great sauce. He will explain why dough making has different steps and its not just "toss in a bowl and mix and punch down every 30 mins". No. He will explain what makes great sauce and the characteristics to look for in ingredients. But with that said, if you are looking for a book to make all types of different styles of pizza and different doughs for each type of style, etc, this is not the book for you. He goes over the styles he makes in his restaurant (naturally leavened pies, round and square) and thats it. He wont talk about NY style, he wont talk about detroit style. That NOT what his place makes and thats fine.I think if you have read 10+ pizza books in your time, you may learn one or two new things from this book. For me, I bought it b/c i was hyped up over a new pizza book from a really popular pizza spot in NJ. Did I learn a whole lot? No. I make pizzas at least 1x a week for the past couple of years and I learned alot just through trial and error. Learning from reading other books and learning from internet resources (reddit, pizzamaking.com, etc).If you just want to make a pizza for date night, just google and be done with it. You dont need to buy any pizza book to just figure it out. I see some of these other reviews commenting on "its too complicated" or "i dont want to wait 3 days for my pizza dough, i want it tonight". Maybe cooking is too hard for you and you should just order delivery. This book does talk about the science of dough, fermentation, but it is all written in plain English and he explains it all in detail. If reading comprehension is too hard for you, just get delivery.

love the nerdiness of the book and attention to detail. less a cookbook and more a textbook on creating your own style of pizza. just what i was hoping for as i'm working on re-envisioning my pizzeria.if you buy, take a careful look at the construction. on my copy there isn't any glue on the binding and the cover is coming off. also a couple big ink splotches. but that's not a ding on the book, just give it a onceover incase mine isn't an isolated defect.

Fantastic unexpected pizza recipes!!! So fantastic!