If you've ever made French bread at home, you've made pizza dough. Traditional, DOC (Denominazione de Origine Controllata) designated pizza dough from Italy contains nothing but flour, salt, water, and yeast.
The dough at most neighborhood pizza joints contains a few more ingredients. Fats are added to make the dough more supple, and sugars are added to feed the yeast and give the bread a touch of sweetness.
I suggest that home bakers begin with a simple, versatile pizza dough recipe like the one below. Once you've got that under control you can experiment to find something more to your liking.
Realize that you are going to give your pizza a lot more TLC than the employees at most chain pizza places do. If teenagers working at Dominos for 6 bucks an hour can make a decent pizza, you shouldn't have any problem doing it yourself at home!
A Versatile Basic Pizza Dough
This is the Neo-Neapolitan Pizza Dough from Peter Reinhart's American Pie. It is a low-yeast, slow-rising dough with enough suppleness to make it easy to work with. I find it to be the most versatile dough recipe I've come across.
At the end of this article I will talk about how to modify it to better match your preference in pizza dough style. But, first things first:
Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or mix in an electric mixer. After you've combined all of the ingredients, set the dough aside to rest for 5 minutes. Stir again for 3 to 5 minutes, adding more water or flour if necessary. Generally speaking, you want the dough to be wetter and stickier than your typical bread dough. It should be dry enough that it holds together and pulls away from the side of the bowl when you mix it, but it doesn't need to be dry enough to knead by hand.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Place each one into an oiled freezer bag. I just squirt a couple of sprays of spray oil into the bag. You can also brush the outside of the dough with olive oil and then place it into the bag. All that matters is that you be able to get the dough out of the bag later.
If you aren't going to bake them that day, you can throw the bags into the freezer. They'll stay good in there for at least a month. The evening before you intend to bake them, move the frozen dough balls to the refrigerator to thaw.
If you intend to bake them later that day, place the bagged dough balls in the refrigerator. Remove them from the fridge and let them warm to room temperature an hour or two before you intend to bake them.
Remember that, as a baker, time is your friend: longer, slower rises at reduced temperature result in better tasting bread. But sometimes you don't have the luxury of time - that is OK; this dough will still work well if only given an hour or so to rise at room temperature. Allowing pizza dough to rise is more about giving the yeast time to bring flavors out of the wheat than it is about leavening. Most of the leavening occurs when you put the active dough into the hot oven, so you don't need to wait until the dough balls double in size.
Surely you can prepare the dough an hour before baking, can't you? That'll give you time to make the sauce, grate the cheese, and get the oven hot. Speaking of which, it is time to put together a sauce.
Getting Saucy
Once again, there are a million different pizza sauces. If you already have one you like, feel free to stick with it. Or consider doing something totally different, like using pesto or barbecue sauce instead of a tomato sauce.
I throw this recipe out because it takes under 3 minutes to make and is quite good. Once again, it is from Peter Reinhart's pizza book.
Stir everything together. If the tomatoes are too chunky, break them up with your fingers.
Fresh tomatoes or herbs can be substituted for canned tomatoes and dried herbs. The fresh tomatoes don't even need to be cooked first, since the time in the oven baking is enough to cook them.
Shaping
I am not experienced enough to do the whole "throw the pizza into the air" thing. My technique for shaping the dough is extremely simple. I pick up a ball of dough and gentle stretch it into a circle. Once I've got a circle four or five inches across, I hold it up by the edge and, while rotating it, let the weight of the rest of the dough pull it down to stretch it out.
When I start feeling resistance in the dough, I set it down on a lightly greased plate to rest for 5 or 10 minutes. Then I pick it up again and stretch it a little thinner before lying it down to add the toppings.
I like to stretch my dough quite thin, until it is almost transparent. If you like thicker pizza dough then, obviously, don't stretch it out so much.
You can use rolling pin to shape the dough. Doing so results in a more uniform dough with numerous small holes. I personally like the dough to be thinner in the center than the edge and to have a thicker, bready crown full of large irregular holes around the outside. This effect is difficult to achieve with rolling pin, but if that suits your taste then go for it.
Topping and Preparing for Baking
Before you put the toppings on the dough, you need to know on what surface you intend to bake the pizza. If you have a pizza stone, it should be put in the oven and getting hot (450 or 500 degrees) by now. If not, the back of a cookie sheet works fine.
If you are going to try transferring your pizza from one surface (like a peel or a cookie sheet) to another (like a hot pizza stone), I strongly recommend using parchment paper under the pizza. Particularly if you are going to add a lot of toppings to the pie: the extra weight pressing down tends to make the dough stick to the surface you dressed it on. You could also try to sprinkle corn meal or semolina flour on the surface hoping that will be enough to let you slide the dough without sticking - in my experience, though, it rarely is; I've had many pizzas end up looking like roadkill because they wouldn't to come off the peel smoothly. I've cut the number of swear words I use in the kitchen in half just by springing for a 5 dollar roll of baking parchment and placing a piece of it under the pizza. I just grab a corner of the paper and tug it into place when it is time to slide the pizza into the oven. Much, much simpler.
Whatever surface you decide to dress the pizza on, sprinkle it with corn meal or semolina flour and spread the dough over it. Add the sauce, the grated cheese (typically mozarella and parmesan, but there is no reason you can't improvise), and toppings.
Baking
As I mentioned earlier, most of the rise you get from pizza dough actually happens in the oven. Professional pizza ovens are much hotter than home ovens. At home you typically want to make pizza at the highest temperature that your oven can safely handle, like 450 or 500 degrees. Baking on a pizza stone will give your dough a little more pop when it gets in the oven but it is not necessary to make good pizza.
If not the lowest shelf, then the second to lowest is probably the best place to bake your pie. You want the pizza to be as close to the heat source as is possible without burning. But every oven is different, so adjust accordly.
Place the pizza in the hot oven, close the door, and let it bake for 5 minutes. Check it every minute or two until the cheese is melted and the dough looks baked. In my oven with the size pizzas I make, I bake them for 7 to 9 minutes.
Pull them out, slice them, and eat!
The Pizza Spectrum
As I mentioned, there are dozens of dough recipes for the endless different styles of pizza. The most traditional recipe includes nothing but flour, yeast, salt, and water. Adding a little bit of oil makes the dough more supple so that it can be stretched easier and is softer to the bite. Adding a touch of sugar gives the yeast something to snack on. And more yeast can be added to guarantee a rise even for heavily topped pies.
Some general recommendations, based on a couple of the more popular styles of crust:
Any of the other techniques you've learned for baking bread can be adapted for pizza: sourdough, the sponge method, including whole wheat flour, even grilling, which I will write about when the weather warms up. So use your imagination!
If other folks have dough recipes they've had good experience with, I'd love to have them share them below. Please specify what style dough it makes.
The dough at most neighborhood pizza joints contains a few more ingredients. Fats are added to make the dough more supple, and sugars are added to feed the yeast and give the bread a touch of sweetness.
I suggest that home bakers begin with a simple, versatile pizza dough recipe like the one below. Once you've got that under control you can experiment to find something more to your liking.
Realize that you are going to give your pizza a lot more TLC than the employees at most chain pizza places do. If teenagers working at Dominos for 6 bucks an hour can make a decent pizza, you shouldn't have any problem doing it yourself at home!
A Versatile Basic Pizza Dough
This is the Neo-Neapolitan Pizza Dough from Peter Reinhart's American Pie. It is a low-yeast, slow-rising dough with enough suppleness to make it easy to work with. I find it to be the most versatile dough recipe I've come across.
At the end of this article I will talk about how to modify it to better match your preference in pizza dough style. But, first things first:
The Dough:
Makes 4 10-inch pizzas
5 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
2 teaspoons salt (or 3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt)
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 3/4 to 2 cups room-temperature water
Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or mix in an electric mixer. After you've combined all of the ingredients, set the dough aside to rest for 5 minutes. Stir again for 3 to 5 minutes, adding more water or flour if necessary. Generally speaking, you want the dough to be wetter and stickier than your typical bread dough. It should be dry enough that it holds together and pulls away from the side of the bowl when you mix it, but it doesn't need to be dry enough to knead by hand.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Place each one into an oiled freezer bag. I just squirt a couple of sprays of spray oil into the bag. You can also brush the outside of the dough with olive oil and then place it into the bag. All that matters is that you be able to get the dough out of the bag later.
If you aren't going to bake them that day, you can throw the bags into the freezer. They'll stay good in there for at least a month. The evening before you intend to bake them, move the frozen dough balls to the refrigerator to thaw.
If you intend to bake them later that day, place the bagged dough balls in the refrigerator. Remove them from the fridge and let them warm to room temperature an hour or two before you intend to bake them.
Remember that, as a baker, time is your friend: longer, slower rises at reduced temperature result in better tasting bread. But sometimes you don't have the luxury of time - that is OK; this dough will still work well if only given an hour or so to rise at room temperature. Allowing pizza dough to rise is more about giving the yeast time to bring flavors out of the wheat than it is about leavening. Most of the leavening occurs when you put the active dough into the hot oven, so you don't need to wait until the dough balls double in size.
Surely you can prepare the dough an hour before baking, can't you? That'll give you time to make the sauce, grate the cheese, and get the oven hot. Speaking of which, it is time to put together a sauce.
Getting Saucy
Once again, there are a million different pizza sauces. If you already have one you like, feel free to stick with it. Or consider doing something totally different, like using pesto or barbecue sauce instead of a tomato sauce.
I throw this recipe out because it takes under 3 minutes to make and is quite good. Once again, it is from Peter Reinhart's pizza book.
The Sauce:
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon garlic powder or 4 or 5 cloves of crushed garlic
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar or lemon juice, or a combination of the two
salt and black pepper to taste
Stir everything together. If the tomatoes are too chunky, break them up with your fingers.
Fresh tomatoes or herbs can be substituted for canned tomatoes and dried herbs. The fresh tomatoes don't even need to be cooked first, since the time in the oven baking is enough to cook them.
Shaping
I am not experienced enough to do the whole "throw the pizza into the air" thing. My technique for shaping the dough is extremely simple. I pick up a ball of dough and gentle stretch it into a circle. Once I've got a circle four or five inches across, I hold it up by the edge and, while rotating it, let the weight of the rest of the dough pull it down to stretch it out.
When I start feeling resistance in the dough, I set it down on a lightly greased plate to rest for 5 or 10 minutes. Then I pick it up again and stretch it a little thinner before lying it down to add the toppings.
I like to stretch my dough quite thin, until it is almost transparent. If you like thicker pizza dough then, obviously, don't stretch it out so much.
You can use rolling pin to shape the dough. Doing so results in a more uniform dough with numerous small holes. I personally like the dough to be thinner in the center than the edge and to have a thicker, bready crown full of large irregular holes around the outside. This effect is difficult to achieve with rolling pin, but if that suits your taste then go for it.
Topping and Preparing for Baking
Before you put the toppings on the dough, you need to know on what surface you intend to bake the pizza. If you have a pizza stone, it should be put in the oven and getting hot (450 or 500 degrees) by now. If not, the back of a cookie sheet works fine.
If you are going to try transferring your pizza from one surface (like a peel or a cookie sheet) to another (like a hot pizza stone), I strongly recommend using parchment paper under the pizza. Particularly if you are going to add a lot of toppings to the pie: the extra weight pressing down tends to make the dough stick to the surface you dressed it on. You could also try to sprinkle corn meal or semolina flour on the surface hoping that will be enough to let you slide the dough without sticking - in my experience, though, it rarely is; I've had many pizzas end up looking like roadkill because they wouldn't to come off the peel smoothly. I've cut the number of swear words I use in the kitchen in half just by springing for a 5 dollar roll of baking parchment and placing a piece of it under the pizza. I just grab a corner of the paper and tug it into place when it is time to slide the pizza into the oven. Much, much simpler.
Whatever surface you decide to dress the pizza on, sprinkle it with corn meal or semolina flour and spread the dough over it. Add the sauce, the grated cheese (typically mozarella and parmesan, but there is no reason you can't improvise), and toppings.
Baking
As I mentioned earlier, most of the rise you get from pizza dough actually happens in the oven. Professional pizza ovens are much hotter than home ovens. At home you typically want to make pizza at the highest temperature that your oven can safely handle, like 450 or 500 degrees. Baking on a pizza stone will give your dough a little more pop when it gets in the oven but it is not necessary to make good pizza.
If not the lowest shelf, then the second to lowest is probably the best place to bake your pie. You want the pizza to be as close to the heat source as is possible without burning. But every oven is different, so adjust accordly.
Place the pizza in the hot oven, close the door, and let it bake for 5 minutes. Check it every minute or two until the cheese is melted and the dough looks baked. In my oven with the size pizzas I make, I bake them for 7 to 9 minutes.
Pull them out, slice them, and eat!
The Pizza Spectrum
As I mentioned, there are dozens of dough recipes for the endless different styles of pizza. The most traditional recipe includes nothing but flour, yeast, salt, and water. Adding a little bit of oil makes the dough more supple so that it can be stretched easier and is softer to the bite. Adding a touch of sugar gives the yeast something to snack on. And more yeast can be added to guarantee a rise even for heavily topped pies.
Some general recommendations, based on a couple of the more popular styles of crust:
- Thin and Crackery - Add less (or no) oil. Try using some high protein bread flour, like one out of five of the cups. Stretch the dough extremely thin. Bake it on a pizza stone or as close to the heat source as possible without burning it.
- Thick and Chewy - Substitute milk for half of the water. Add more oil or shortening to the dough. Increase the sugar and the yeast by half again. Don't roll the dough out so thin. Bake it up a shelf or two in the oven so that it can bake longer without burning.
Any of the other techniques you've learned for baking bread can be adapted for pizza: sourdough, the sponge method, including whole wheat flour, even grilling, which I will write about when the weather warms up. So use your imagination!
If other folks have dough recipes they've had good experience with, I'd love to have them share them below. Please specify what style dough it makes.
Comments
I do as above for making the pesto but I store about a cup's worth into a freezer-safe baggie/ziploc and then freeze it flat. Then when I need some I just break off the amount I want. Put it in a small cup near the oven and it'll thaw by the time you need it! Anet
I don't know why it took me so long to try this! I think this dough recipe is perfection:) Thank you so much for posting this.
I used 2 dough balls for pizza the first evening and let the remaining 2 sit in the refrigerator for 4 days. I've never had a pizza crust taste so flavorful with a chewy crispy texture. The leftover slice even held up well reheated the next day. Amazing!
This is such a great recipe! Best pizza I've ever made!! I'm making my second batch today!
Thank you : )
My 1st pizza using this pizza dough recipe.
It turned out to have a very good taste BUT I
plan to brown the curst a little longer on my next
one. I just could not wait as I was very hungry!
I also used 1 whole cup of sauce and will only use 3/4
of a cup next pizza.
My 2nd Pizza truned out a lot better then my 1st try!
Tasted GREAT!
Looks really good! Especially picture #1 Thanks for sharing helpful photos....
why does the page come up blank when I try to print? Why can't I save it?
I have some suggestions here:
http://gourmand2go.com/pizza_crust
that include things like oiling the crust before applying the sauce, pre-baking the crust (lightly), and putting juicy toppings like pineapple and tomatoes on top of the cheese. You can also squeeze excess juice out in advance, but usually the cheese protects the dough well enough.
What could be more disappointing than a soggy crust? :@\
Wow loved how this pizza dough recipe worked out and the tomato
sauce recipe was a very good addition! I did add a packet (from a pizza place)
of crushed red pepper flakes to this recipe for added zip and a tablespoon of
tomato paste to thicken it slightly. I didn't add the red wine vinegar/lemon juice.
What a great pizza making experience here at home!!! Looking forward to making
this again in the very near future....
Sandy2 wrote:
You can also wash and dry fresh basil, then pop it into a blender and add olive oil to make a paste. Pour this into ice cube trays and freeze, then transfer to freezer ziplock bags. Pull a couple cubes out in advance and let melt, then use this in the dough recipe or in the sauce or to brush onto the crust after the prebake and before adding toppings. It's similar to your method but you don't have the dark ugly appearance, and the finely textured paste can easily be incorporated into things (including the dough recipe itself for pizza or other breads if you wish).
Your pizza is very nice.
I'm not from Naples, but if we like to reach a real "Pizza Napoletana", maybe we all have to look at this for a while...
http://www.politicheagricole.it/NR/rdonlyres/ecjwzbo2rohvckvm6kiya27fqiu2pmyhde4qdei5aregrr4ukp5purvtt2ljqojo5j65rnwoolc76i/Pizza_Napoletana_-_…
This is my test for this pizza:
You'll find my recipe here (sorry, in italian):
http://www.cookaround.com/yabbse1/showthread.php?t=157433&p=2682786#post2682786
unfortunately, the only quick translator I use is google translator, to harry a little bit..
His englis is worst than mine, but is helpful..
hope you can translate, but if I can help you I'm here ... sometimes, ciaoo
linda
Hi Daisy,
I just said that I'm new in this forum and my english is so and so.
But if you tell me what I have to do to help you, I'll do it..
ciao .. Linda
My family enjoyed the pizza dough recipe last night!
http://unlikelybaker.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/pizza-night/
Thanks! I'm so encouraged to make more and better pizza!
Excellent primer Floyd, thanks!
These past weeks, I've been playing with pizza quite a bit, and decided to give this crust a test run.
It's a major hit! Best crust I've made to date, and that was two hours after mixing the dough!
My step son said it tasted exactly like a pizza parlor pizza, which was a complement.
I also made a neat discovery. I was out of parchment paper, which I usually place under the crust to make it easier getting it off the pizza stone.
So I used aluminum foil, which I misted with olive oil and dusted with cornmeal, so it would not stick. It did not stick, but then I noticed the crust had a wonderful crispness to the bottom, something I had wanted, but gave up on. It resembled Pizza Huts Pan Crust, one of my favorites.
I already have my preferences as to sauce cheese etc, but the crust is the thing I was not quite satisfied with.
I followed the directions exactly, and now next batch, I'm gonna try increasing the honey by 2 tablespoons, and maybe double the yeast to compensate. I've read that adding sugar slows down the yeast.
I am going for a slightly sweeter crust, like Papa Johns hand tossed crust.
But, if it does not work out, I'm very pleased with this tried and true recipe.
TFL pulls through again, thanks!
I notice all the NY Style Pizza joints where I live make garlic rolls out of their pizza dough.
They all are pretty similar except the difference in the garlic topping, which varies from one place to the other.
Does anyone here know how to transform your pizza dough into garlic rolls?
i am planning to try this recipe, maybe next time. i haven't made too many pizzas totally on my own, as my hubby made pizzas professionally so i jus rely on him usually lol. although he likes my dough more than his so i'd make a big batch. not too long ago we bought a used gas pizza cooker and im thinking since it gets so marvelously hot, pretty much any dough is going to turn out great. not sure, but this is my theory lol.
i will share my dough, which is really versatile and i have used it even for fatayir and lahme bi ajeen, which are like pastries with various fillings, you have the spinach fatayir which are like spinach triangles, and you have sfeeha which have a meat mixture filling. they are my next project actually, to try on the pizza oven
.
i'll jus quickly mention my dough that i always use:
mix:
2 cups flour
2 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1 spoon yeast
sprinkle of salt (i add extra)
leave alone for a bout ten mins. then add:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 cups flour
mix and knead till you have a smooth dough. you could leave it to rest for a little while if you like, but i just immediately separate into balls and leave them to rest a bit while i get on with everything else.
if anyone tries this please let me know how it turns out for you :)
Love, love, love this recipe. It is thin and crispy and perfect
Perfect Pizza Crust(from Cooks Illustrated)1 1/4 tsp instant or active dry yeast1 cup water, slightly warm or room temperature1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 oz) all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface1 cup (4 oz) cake flour1 1/2 tsp salt2 tsp sugar
Preheat the oven to 500F with your baking stone on the oven rack.Combine yeast and water and stir to dissolve.Combine flours, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to blend. With the motor running, stream in water/yeast mixture. Continue to process for 1-2 minutes, until dough becomes smooth and satiny. Add an extra tablespoon of flour if the dough becomes too sticky (see photos).Divide dough into two and shape each piece into a tight ball. Place on a lightly floured surface and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap or a clean dish towel. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.Working with one ball of dough at a time, place on a lightly floured surface. Flatten the dough into an 8-inch disk, then stretch the edges gently until the dough is about 12-inches in diameter, rotating the dough by quarter turns as you work. You can also gently stretch the dough by placing it on the backs of your hands, letting the weight of the dough stretch it out.Transfer the stretched dough onto a baking sheet that has been covered with cornmeal (you can use a pizza peel, if you have one). Spread it with a small amount of the sauce (see recipe below), toppings of your choice and slide it quickly into the oven.Bake pizza at 500F for 5-10 minutes, until well browned.Retrieve pizza with baking sheet or pizza peel.Serve immediately and repeat process with second piece of dough.Makes 2, 12-inch pizzas***I usually let it rise overnight in the fridge and then take it out abut an our before I want to bake it
Love all the ideas ; -) letting the dough sit for a few days made a nice improvement to the crust!
I find that using 000 Flour improves my crispy thin crusts a great deal. I was suprised to not see anyone else mention it.
Using cherry tomatoes , halved, works really nicely as well. They have a lower water content than larger tomatoes so they cook down fast and well, with out making the pizza soggy.
Basil in frozen cubes is great, but oregano can be treated the same way as well, so you have "fresh" year round.
I even keep the sauce frozen in cubes so I can just pull out a few cubes to defrost. When I make sauce I use what I need that night, and then freeze the rest and bag it, the same as the basil and oregano. I am going to try the freezing of the dough balls and see if I like the results. That way Iwould pretty much have 'Frozen Pizza', homemade. Add toppings and bake!
Will try it out one of these days but thanks for posting this!
What I do to get a super crisp thin crust even when feeding people who -sacrilege- want an absolutely overloaded pizza is the following:
- As you said, use about 25% high protein bread flour
- lightly oil the stretched dough (if you put on sun dried tomatoes, use the oil in which they're stored)
- Apply the base tomato sauce, then pre-bake in a maxed out oven for 4 minutes, this will give a nice rise and you'll end up with a half-baked crust that's no longer floppy.
- Put on the rest of the toppings, when using mushrooms or bell peppers, sautee them briefly first.
- Put the pizza on a wire rack in your oven so air can reach the underside of the dough and bake off for 6-7 minutes in a very hot oven, using air circulation.
The result will be a thin, super crisp crust that doesn't turn soggy even when using relatively wet toppings and after sitting on a plate for a couple of minutes.
Bon appétit!
Floyd - you're the best. Just finished the thread (took a while), and gained a whole lot of confidence. To the grill we go. Thanks to all for the exchange.
I'm a relative newcomer to the bread baking world. I tried back in the early 90s and baked a lot of tasty bricks with my brand new KA mixer. I tried again last year and actually made a few loaves with recipes from this site that were quite tasty. Then I fried my KA. I've been doing some no knead breads for awhile. Santa brought me a Bosch and I've been baking daily since.
The grocery store near me sells balls of fresh pizza dough in their bakery dept. I grew up in NY and seriously can not buy a decent pizza in South Central FL. I have to drive 20 miles to the next town and the pizza is meh. Last spring I bought Saltillo tiles and lined both racks in my over. I heat it to 525 and have been able to make some amazing pies with store bought dough. I tried making this dough a little while ago. I assembled all of the ingredients and got them all mixed. It seemed REALLY wet! I kept coming back to the screen to make sure I followed the recipe correctly. I added some more bread flour (about a cup) to the four cups of AP plus one bread that I used. Then it hit me. I thought I filled a pint container but it was a quart. I used three cups of water instead of two. It's very, very sticky.
Since I like a cracker crisp kind of crust, I'm hoping that if I flour my hands well, I'll be able to form a decent crust on a sheet of parchment paper. I've been using a flat cookie sheet for transferring to the hot tiles for some time now and it has worked great!
You almost got the sauce right. You have to cook it though. And let it stand. I am focused on the sauce. I have seen so many dud-sauces on the web, but yours is close.
As for dough, I prefer whole wheat French bread to dough.
A fine article! I use my french bread dough for my pizza, although when I worked for a Greek Family Restaurant years ago, they added oil and eggs to theirs. It took me years to figure out how wrong that was. One thing I do recommend for a flavorful crust is to use a good water. I have experimented with different mineral waters in mine and have settled on San Pellegrino when making pies that will not have sturdy toppings on them. Here's my recipe for 4 pies (Or loaves or bread boules for soup etc.)
680 g water - 10 g yeast - 25 g kosher salt - 910 g AP flour - dough whisk all together and let rise for 2 hours, lightly covered. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks (will develop a better flavor after 2 to 3 days and in easier to work with when cold).
Since we're on the topic: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/45076/smoked-salmon-pizza
I cook all my pizzas free form now. I start on parchment dusted with cornmeal / polenta, then slide the parchment out directly on stones after the first 10-12 minutes at 450 deg. F. I preheat the stones and oven to 500 degrees and drop down to 450 after inserting the pie. This gives my stones enough latent heat to make a nice golden brown crust under the pie.
Some shots of pie. Pie Pixels?
I might have missed references to the frying pan pizza making method - apologies if I have - which is definitely the second best to an authentic pizza or bread oven. My dough is pretty much the same as here except I think you get better flavour from slower, longer fermentation. So basically you start off the pizza on a smoking hot (cast iron if possible) pan or skillet, build it while the crust is cooking, then stick it for just less than a minute under red hot grill, like here, plus pic: http://www.cuisinefiend.com/recipe.aspx?p=85&name=frying+pan+pizza
I really love the colors in this photo! They look delicious!
The pizza looks super yum. Nothing better than home made pizza dough with gorgeous sauce, veggies, and herbs!
I enjoyed reading this thread! I just bought two pieces of steel to replace my baking stone as I am experimenting with getting a great crust in my oven. It was cheap for the steel too! Around $30 for a 14" x 16" piece of metal. I looked on Amazon and a comparative one would be almost $100 ( https://www.amazon.com/Dough-Joe%C2%AE-Baking-Sheet---Emperor-trade/dp/B00LBKWSGW/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468597750&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=pi… ). I thought others might be interested in doing this also. So if you want a baking steel, the fellow's name is Keith and he's located in Chambersburg, PA.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-8-375-A36-Steel-Plate-5-x-36-Custom-Cutting-Available-/191401901864?hash=item2c90713f28:g:1iAAAOSw1XdUWYBx
I am looking forward to the next pizza baking day!
I used this crust to make the tarte flambee from [i]Bread[/i]. It came out great!
Hello folks,
I'm new here. I have never baked pizza but bought a pizza maker. I want to feed my family by myself as now we spend all the time at home and can't go out. I ordered a Betty Crocker BC-2958CR model. You can read more about it here. My first pizza didn't turn out well. I followed the recipe of my mum.
Now I want to make my second attempt a successful one. Can I use the Neo-Neapolitan Pizza Dough recipe? Is it a good fit for a pizza maker?
Thank you in advance!
I had just decided to look for a pizza dough recipe when this thread popped up. I'm going to give Peter's version a try.
Thanks!
We are fortunate to have a Fontana Forni wood fired oven in the back yard. The stones are Saputo, and came from Italy with the oven. My dough is a favorite and comes from Ken Forkish’s book, The Elements of Pizza. All his doughs work in a home oven too. He recommends home ovens use a steel baking sheet as it gives better crust results than a stone. The dough has a 70% hydration, mixed by hand in a large bucket and folded a few times before the final rise, then shaping into balls for a 24 hour chill. In the wood oven, it gives us nice char and leopard spots on the bottom.. the pizza’s are incredible, no matter what you put on them, or how you cook them. The latest we are doing is a pizza that includes some sliced asparagus on the mandoline, bacon and burrata with a drizzle of lemon olive oil.
Used this recipe and it came out just amazing thanks.