Influencer Interview: Richard Payne of Dough and Behold

Richard Payne of Dough and Behold had been making pizzas for a year or two before he heard about LloydPans during the pandemic. He had just started @dough_and_behold, and through conversations with the pizzaiolo community, he found that LloydPans was a brand that received high recommendations. Payne spoke to us about the pizza and dough making process with LloydPans, geeking out on the industry and how he’s built a pop-up and collaboration business from across the pond. 

LloydPans: Dough and Behold has quite a following in a short amount of time.
Payne: It’s a dream. By day I work as an editor in visual effects. It can be quite stressful, so I came home at night and started kneading dough. It was so relaxing. My daughter had a school Christmas fair, and they asked me if I fancied making pizzas. After tossing around so many names I came up with Dough and Behold. We made 50 pizzas that day. My daughter worked with me that day stretching the dough and it was just father and daughter, and everyone said the pizzas were amazing, so it was a real confidence boost. I got into pizza making that way. The pop-ups followed after that with small events, then I became an ambassador for Ooni ovens and we used LloydPans to demo. During lockdown I made a lot of friends over the pond. 

LloydPans: There’s a lot of inspiration within the global pizza community. 
Payne: I watched Miriam Weiskind of the Za Report. She made pizzas during the pandemic for people in her block in New York. Anyone who was needy or needed a pickup, she made them a pizza. It was a lovely thing. She did DSP pizzas and Sicilian pizzas and she had LloydPans, saying they are amazing; they are the best. After every chat I would Google LloydPans — they were the pan of choice in the U.S. and everyone raved about them. There was a place in the UK that actually sold them, so I got one from there. I also became friends with The Kitchen Whisperer, and a group of us got together and formed a group called the Pizzaiolo Tribe. We meet up once a month via Zoom and geek out about pizza, dough and bread. I was the only British person in the group, so I was hearing about all these American brands. Someone from LloydPans sent a pan over; it was Sicilian 16x16, and it didn’t even fit in my oven at the time. In the UK things are a bit smaller. I had to go to a neighbors to use it. 

LloydPans: What styles did you try out?
Payne: I was in a focaccia phase at the time, so I mostly use my LloydPans for focaccia or DSP bases. I love the 16x16 pan. I’ve tried so many pans over here, and it would always stick. With LloydPans, the dough went in the pan so well and it felt really easy. It was so durable and I knew it was going to last. I knew it was a pan for life, as long as you care for it. I lovingly wash it in warm, soapy water and dry it straight away. I did a pop-up last week for a British pepperoni manufacturer, and we were making DSPs to try samples. Everything we made that day just came in and out. We also did another collaboration where LloydPans sent me an Appetizer Pan and I always use that to grill meat, sausages. 

LloydPans: You have a focaccia in the oven right now. (For a visual, check out @LloydPans on Instagram.)
Payne: Welcome to my tiny kitchen. Focaccia is in and almost ready. I have a baking steel so whenever I make a focaccia I put my steel in the oven and I put my LloydPans on the steel. They are great for transferring heat, and it keeps the heat nice and even. I’ve got about a kilo and a half of flour in there. It’s a simple focaccia tonight. I put sea salt on the top — Scottish sea salt. It's lovely stuff — mozzarella, some arugula. It takes about an hour and 30 minutes to bake, 220 degrees. Sadly, it’s not a commercial oven, but it is so good for home bakes. 

LloydPans: What are some of the current pizza trends in the UK?
Payne: I’m a Neoplitan lover; I love that style of pizza. I feel like London is becoming slightly over-saturated with it. The trend people are loving is New Haven style of pizza, and there's a lot of British variations of that. You have New Haven, New York, Detroit, it just doesn’t sound as cool — Hampshire-style — I think London-style pizza is becoming a thing, similar to New Haven-style. Darker crust, longer bakes, high hydration, just like massive. People have gone from making 12-inch pizzas to 18- to 20-inch pizzas. We’re matching the American size style. 

LloydPans: Sounds like the next stop may be Pizza Expo!
Payne: I think part of the joy of baking is finding your own way. I listen to advice, but I like to do it for myself. It is quite incredible —  I tell my kids be careful who you talk to on the internet, but then I’m constantly meeting pizza people on Instagram. We message all the time. If I come to America, which I hope I will someday, there’s a lot of people I could visit and I know it would be OK.