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Pizza Week 2025: Factory by Beer Tree
JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – News 34 Pizza Week continues with a stop at the Oakdale Commons.
Our Special Pizza Correspondent, Mike Tanzini, shows us how Factory by Beer Tree is brewing up the perfect pizza to partner with its craft beer.
Shake, Shimmy, Pivot, Turn. Are these dance moves? Not quite. These are the moves you need to master if you're going to be a successful pizza maker at Factory by Beer Tree Brew, an anchor tenant located at the ever-improving Oakdale Commons.
Known for its good vibes and wide selection of cold, crisp craft beer, Factory also offers both traditional and non-traditional pizza pies to keep people coming back.
Server and Bartender Jackie Ryder says their location is always booming with new customers.
'It's brought in a lot of people as well. The new Dave and Busters is bringing in a lot of people from out of town. They don't have a whole lot of craft beer, so we have the craft beer that brings people in,' said Ryder.
Those pizza patrons keep coming back once they've had a chance to try a Factory Pie – a recipe that prides itself on simplicity, quality, and flavor. The dough is a hybrid of a Neapolitan-style and a semolina dough.
'Both of those doughs are high in protein and gluten, which makes for an airier, softer, chewier, but crisp pizza crust on the outside as well,' said Pizza Maker Nick Aiken.
The dough is lightly coated in flour on both sides, and all of the air is pressed out of it which is critical for even cooking.
'You want to push out any air bubbles you might feel because you want to eliminate as many air sockets as you possibly can, so once it's going into the oven, it's an even cook,' said Aiken.
Nick also shows me the proper way to spread and expand the dough.
'This is my dominant hand so I want to move this.'
'It's repetition and muscle memory. You'll get a feel for it,' said Aiken.
This prevents holes from forming, a lesson that I could've used earlier this week! It's a good way to keep from tearing or ripping or creating too much pressure to make this side of the pizza a little thinner. This helps with the balance and even cooking along with the integrity of the dough. I hate to say it, but we learned that through experience this week.
Now, the moment of truth – can we transfer the dough onto the peel without ripping it?
'This is kind of like putting the baby to bed – nice and gentle – no tears.'
Now it's time to lay on the sauce – no fancy gimmicks or tricks – just simple, quality, fresh ingredients.
'What we like to say is that simplicity is king. We let the ingredients, the dough, and cheese itself do a lot of the talking. This is really simple. We have a tomato and a roasted garlic base, and we add herbs and spices just to bring it to life a little bit, but that's as much as I can tell you,' said Aiken.
Nick applies the sauce using a cross pattern, which is a first for News 34 Pizza Week!
'The cross method. I don't think I've ever seen that before.'
'That's something you just learn through the trade. Some people make a spiral, some make a cross, and that helps cover the surface area so all of the parts touch that sauce instead of starting at one end and trying to disperse it throughout the rest of the pizza. You end up running out of sauce at the end, and it helps provide an event coat,' said Aikan.
The toppings are applied underneath the cheese which creates a unique flavor combination that complements and melds all of the ingredients together for that perfect bite. And don't think that they're just tossing down toppings willy-nilly. Nick wants each customer to have a consistent experience, so you'd better count your pepperoni.
'I don't want a single pepperoni under 23 or 24,' said Aikan.
'I think we're at like 22 and a half. I'm just trying to get creative here. Here's a half and three-quarters, and we're around the magic number. You can't take that out of Jim's pay. Sorry, Jim – the pizza business is tough.'
We top the pies with a special trifecta of mozzarella, provolone, and cheddar cheeses, and we carefully place them into the 600-to-800-degree wood fire oven.
We shimmy, shimmy, shake it in, and then swing and pivot when it's taken out,' said Aiken. 'Ok, now pivot and turn. The pivot is key.'
Even with two left feet, I managed to land the pie safely on the dance floor.
Time to celebrate our masterpiece and take a bit with my new Factory friends.
'Here we go, one bite, everyone knows the rules.' Cheers!
You can watch Pizza Week episodes and vote in our favorite pizza poll here.
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