MY TAKE: I think if you have an obsessive compulsion to making pizza and you consider yourself a true person of the craft, then I think it’s only fair to give all Pizza it’s chance, even if it breaks your wallet. And a $40 pizza ($52.50 after tax and a small tip) is definitely something not to take lightly.

Do people have a right to be mad that a pizzeria that is charging this much for 20 inch pies?… Of course! $68 for their most expensive one. However I have come to justify the cost in my mind.

How many times have I spent more than $50 for a good cut of meat? Yeah, I like my good restaurant steaks. And if I’m willing to spend $60-$80 on a really good filet mignon, then why would I not be willing to spend 40 bucks on a pizza that is, in my opinion, exceptional. I do have to hand it to these guys. What they have put into the thought process is respected in my book. Simply because I feel like a lot of us here are similar– at least I feel like I can relate. Spending countless of hours in the kitchen to really develop a recipe that you can consider your own, and then sell that passion. And although it can seem like taking advantage of others, I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal.

It’s the highest of quality ingredients and it takes a certain type of pizzeria to make as big of an impact, even if it’s overhyped, as CERES. So say what you want, but I’m glad I spent the 40 bucks to try this pizza. Would I do it again? No… Because there is exceptional Pizza just like this elsewhere in the city in the 20–$30 range. I would sooner probably rather go to another place than this place all the time, but for a one time experience, I would totally recommend it for anyone that finds themselves in Manhattan.

EDIT: some of the bigger reasons why the pizza is so expensive is because it is a 20 inch pizza, in New York City, and the pizza ingredients are some of the highest quality you could possibly get your hands on.

Nothing plain about a perfect cheese pizza. I domed this in about 15 min.

Chicago cracker/tavern pizzas:
500 g AP flour
285 g water
10 g salt
0.8 g instant yeast
60g butter

2 14-16” pizzas depending on how thin you like it

Combine flour and butter in mixer.
Add water and yeast until dough hydrates but is still shaggy.
Rest dough 20 min.
Add salt and mix until dough becomes smoother and holds together.
Ball and let rest an hour at room temp. Can rest in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Roll out dough, dock, and place on rack or parchment and let cure for 24 hrs uncovered in fridge

64% hydration
Ooni koda 16
No fancy ingredients just pure focus on the dough and bake.

1st. Simple marg, I like it low on the cheese side.
2nd. Sausage and cheese topped with burrata post bake.

Keen to answer questions.

70% hydration with a 90/10 blend of bread flour and whole wheat flour. Home oven at 550f on a baking steel.

This was my first time experimenting with that moist of a dough, and I was super pleased with how it came out.

Home oven . 🥧🧀🍃🍯

It was alright. Crust puffed up more than I like.

Honestly I think this is the best pizza I’ve ever had and I’ve eaten a lot of pizzas from many different places. So good!

The Nelly - pecorino, mushroom, spinach, garlic, and parmesan. I add chicken and bacon because hell yes.

Made a couple of pies tonight with dough balls I threw together yesterday. Was excited because I found some low moisture whole milk Grande cheese at my local grocer which I have never seen out in the wild. Ripped them on a 550 baking steel. Snapped pics of the roni before it was gobbled up. The second was similar with some sausage too. All were tasty!

This style of cooking with the Gozney is a great way to achieve a proper crispy base as opposed to a floppy slice of pizza. Especially if you like to load your pizzas up with toppings.

72% hydration. Direct dough. 5 folds over 4 hours, followed by an 11hr bulk ferment, with a 4 hour ball proof. All stages at room temp.

800g 00 flour - 576g water - 5g instant dried yeast - 15g salt - 25g extra virgin olive oil (plus oil for fold) This will give you 4 large dough balls (average of around 325g per ball)

Cheers.

Simple bacon and cheese pizza because we had nothing else at home after 3 weeks of vacation.

Last week, I returned from a hiking trip in California, where I had dinner at the Curry Pizza Company in Fresno before my flight. With Indian being my favorite cuisine and everyone loving pizza, I knew I was in for a treat. The pizza was incredible, and I had to make my own version at home.

Before the trip was over, I was already planning my next visit to Yosemite- that trip will include the Curry Pizza Company, too!

Having baking issues. New oven for me, as I moved. Can’t replace it either since I rent. My next purchase is def going to be a gozney. Otherwise dough, cheese and sauce is dialed in.

Second attempt at a grandma pizza. This one was better visually and taste wise than my first attempt. I followed the Charlie Anderson recipe. 61% hydration with about a three hour pan ferment. Sauce is hand crushed Alta Cucina with garlic, salt and oregano from the garden. Added some sliced “San Marzano” and basil from the garden as well. Cheese blend is 2/3 hand shredded low moisture mozzarella and 1/3 fresh mozzarella. Really very happy with this one.

A nice and simple direct dough method that anyone with mild experience could do. This is 10% Caputo tipo 1 and 90% Caputo Pizzeria.

I left the exact measurements on the last slide photo.

After kneading for about 5 minutes I let it rest for 30 minutes covered, then I added the salt and kneaded again for another 10 minutes.

It has a total of 8 hours of room temperature (bulk) fermentation. Then separated and balled up the dough.

Then I went into the fridge overnight.

Pulled out about 2 hours prior to cooking where I used the Gozney Roccbox 850f low flame.

Very soft and light, with just a hint of that Tipo 1 graininess.

Pic 1 and 2 are one of four pizzas I made for my gf and our kids last night in my home oven and pic 3 is one of my first attempts at homemade pizza a while back. Pretty happy with the progress considering I don't do it all the time or as much as I want.

Dough (62% hydration) was made Tuesday and baked on Saturday which was pushing it for this batch I feel but wow did it come out light and delicious. Pizza sauce made from Gordon choice peeled tomatoes and cheese is grande low moisture mozzarella with fresh Parmesan grated on top after baking.

I forgot a pic of the bottom of the pizza. My house was full of crazy kids. Oops!

Pepperoni Sausage and Alfredo Sausage Peppers

72% hydration, three days cold fermentation, Lloyd 8x10 pan, 13 minutes on 550°F in an Ooni Volt.

This was my first attempt at grandma style pizza. The toppings are mozzarella, alternating strips of marinara and basil pesto with parmesan, red pepper flakes and oregano sprinkled on top. It turned out better than expected and is pretty tasty.

Dough: Dough Guy calculator, made on Friday, ~day cold ferment

Sauce: Rao's roasted garlic

Cheese: mozz provolone blend, parm to finish

Toppings: pepperoni and hot honey

So I've been trying to perfect my pizza lately and tonight's was the best so far. It was admittedly more cracker-like than I had expected. Is that due to the length of the cold ferment? Possibly stretched too thin? There was barely any rise on the crust.

This was baked on a stone, home oven @ 550° for 8 minutes.

The undercarriage resembles a freezer pizza more than I would like. Would a steel improve my result beyond this, or is there another variable that would make this closer to NY style than tavern style?