Meet Mikey Rodriguez - @obsauced

Meet Mikey Rodriguez from Ridgewood, Queens. Mikey is one of the most passionate pizza lovers on the planet. He’s worked at several great pizzerias across NYC but the most awe-inspiring pies have been those coming out of his home kitchen. He’s always experimenting with different flours, fermentation techniques, and bake methods. 

How often do you make pizza?
Almost every other day! 

How long have you been making pizza?
I got started using premade crusts 12 years ago but I’ve been making my own dough for about 8-9 years. 

How do you describe the style(s) of pizza you like to make?
I like to call it New York 2.0. It’s a higher temp bake than standard NY style, but lower than Neapolitan. Think Mama’s, L’industrie, and Philomenas (all in NYC).

What’s one piece of pizza making gear you can’t live without?
My scale that measures to the 0.01 gram. It lets me be super precise. 

What or who is your pizza inspiration?
Anthony Mangieri and Dan Richer are big ones. They have wonderful knowledge about pizza from history to fermentation. 

What advice do you have for a new pizza maker?
Use a malted flour to get the best results in a home oven. If using fresh mozzarella in your home oven, par bake your dough with sauce before you add it so you don’t  destroy the integrity of the cheese by overcooking it.

What has been your biggest learning from your 9 years of home pizza making?
Be as accurate as possible with your dough measurements and take a bunch of notes throughout the process. When you’re about to make your dough, record the outdoor temperature, humidity, dough formula, mix time, and final dough temperature. It’ll help to make you make better pizza if you can pinpoint the changes. I have 5 notebooks worth of notes!