You need to use a 00 flour. I buy Caputo brand from Italy in the red bag. This is perfect for a high temperature wood fire oven. You can go to my blood g at mookielovesbread.wordpress.com and search pizza and you will find a great recipe to try.
I too use the Caputo 00 red bag - found this recently: Caputo 00 "pizzaria" in a blue bag. Supposedly formulated for higher temps (like our WFO). Have you seen it? Tried it? I can't seem to find anyone who has used it but I'm anxious to give it a go. We have about 10 lbs of red bag left and will be ordering soon.
I'm not sure if the WW would really detract from the crispness at all, but I would experiment and bake a batch with out and another with to see if it makes much difference. I do like the extra flavor the WW will impart and the nutritional value as well.
For me, I get the crispiest crusts when I pull a pie out of the oven and set it on a cooling rack for say 20-30 seconds (works perfectly if I'm adding herbs or arugala) then put it back in for another 20 seconds or so.
is not the recipe as much as it is making it thin, don't load it up with too many or too much topping and baking it at a high temperature. Very thin at 750 F - 900 F makes any crust crisp if baked for 90 seconds to bit longer for 750 F.
When we started making pizza we made the mistake of overloading the pizza. We buy good quality parmesan cheese and it adds a ton of flavour without having to overload it. Having too much sauce, cheese and toppings makes it almost impossible to get a crispy crust.
When I load it up I always par bake the the unloaded crust in my home oven at 500 F for a minute or two to set it then I take it out and load it up, This is the only way I can get a crisp crust with a loaded top.
I would recommend using an AP flour that is unmalted and avoid adding whole wheat to the recipe. Because of the high heat of the oven you don't want much in the way of residual sugars (malt) when baking the pizza as that may lead to a much darker or burned crust. In your case, the combination of pastry flour and wheat is probably leading to a very extensible dough which doesn't stand up well when baked; you need something a little stronger (AP or high gluten flour.) Also, avoid adding any other ingredients that might soften the dough like oil or even sugar. Stick with flour, water, salt, and yeast.
The thinner you stretch the dough, the more likely you are to not end up with an open crumb. There are several variables that will affect the crumb including hydration, proofing, yeast amount, shaping, and oven temperature (I'm sure I'm missing a few.) I would also avoid using the caputo flour if you're going for a crispy crust, but that's just a personal preference.
I have to completely disagree with you regarding using Caputo flour. If you have a wood fire pizza oven that will get up to 800-900 degrees than using this flour is ideal. That is the flour they use in Italy where thin crust is King. If you can't get your temperature high enough over 700 degrees than 100% Caputo can be an issue.
A great place to seek answers about pizza is pizzamaking.com. It's a community very similar to TFL but dedicated to, um, pizza. Do a search there and you'll find all sorts of dough formulas to work on.
You need to use a 00 flour. I buy Caputo brand from Italy in the red bag. This is perfect for a high temperature wood fire oven. You can go to my blood g at mookielovesbread.wordpress.com and search pizza and you will find a great recipe to try.
I too use the Caputo 00 red bag - found this recently: Caputo 00 "pizzaria" in a blue bag. Supposedly formulated for higher temps (like our WFO). Have you seen it? Tried it? I can't seem to find anyone who has used it but I'm anxious to give it a go. We have about 10 lbs of red bag left and will be ordering soon.
thanks!
Do you have any comments about the use of the whole wheat?
I'm not sure if the WW would really detract from the crispness at all, but I would experiment and bake a batch with out and another with to see if it makes much difference. I do like the extra flavor the WW will impart and the nutritional value as well.
For me, I get the crispiest crusts when I pull a pie out of the oven and set it on a cooling rack for say 20-30 seconds (works perfectly if I'm adding herbs or arugala) then put it back in for another 20 seconds or so.
is not the recipe as much as it is making it thin, don't load it up with too many or too much topping and baking it at a high temperature. Very thin at 750 F - 900 F makes any crust crisp if baked for 90 seconds to bit longer for 750 F.
When we started making pizza we made the mistake of overloading the pizza. We buy good quality parmesan cheese and it adds a ton of flavour without having to overload it. Having too much sauce, cheese and toppings makes it almost impossible to get a crispy crust.
Gerhard
When I load it up I always par bake the the unloaded crust in my home oven at 500 F for a minute or two to set it then I take it out and load it up, This is the only way I can get a crisp crust with a loaded top.
I would recommend using an AP flour that is unmalted and avoid adding whole wheat to the recipe. Because of the high heat of the oven you don't want much in the way of residual sugars (malt) when baking the pizza as that may lead to a much darker or burned crust. In your case, the combination of pastry flour and wheat is probably leading to a very extensible dough which doesn't stand up well when baked; you need something a little stronger (AP or high gluten flour.) Also, avoid adding any other ingredients that might soften the dough like oil or even sugar. Stick with flour, water, salt, and yeast.
The thinner you stretch the dough, the more likely you are to not end up with an open crumb. There are several variables that will affect the crumb including hydration, proofing, yeast amount, shaping, and oven temperature (I'm sure I'm missing a few.) I would also avoid using the caputo flour if you're going for a crispy crust, but that's just a personal preference.
Beautiful oven, by the way.
Eric
I have to completely disagree with you regarding using Caputo flour. If you have a wood fire pizza oven that will get up to 800-900 degrees than using this flour is ideal. That is the flour they use in Italy where thin crust is King. If you can't get your temperature high enough over 700 degrees than 100% Caputo can be an issue.
A great place to seek answers about pizza is pizzamaking.com. It's a community very similar to TFL but dedicated to, um, pizza. Do a search there and you'll find all sorts of dough formulas to work on.
I agree with Jaywille. If you want a crust that has some crunch to it, try the pizzamaking forum board on cracker pizzas. http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?board=28.0