SWMBO asked me to make pizza

Zip locks will work fine. I have a bunch of tupperware, so that's what I use. I've never frozen dough myself, but I have a friend that has done it with reasonable success. I think it's all about time. The longer you freeze the yeast, the less viable they become. I wouldn't freeze more dough than you would use in maybe a month. Experiment!, and let me know how your new dough comes out.

man, i was all stoked to make some tonight but my bread flour tub was basically empty... i'm gonna get some bread flour tomorrow and have a go at it.

The proper flour makes all the difference. Hi protein-Hi gluten is the best. General Mills "AllTrumps" is very good but it's bleached and bromated, which some folks don't like. King Arthur "Sir Lancelot" is a great flour and is not B&B. If you have a restaurant supply store nearby you should be able to find something suitable. If not, a good "bread" flour is not bad.

hey, the pizza turned out great. thanks for the info. the only thing I had trouble with was getting the dough stretched out enough (just took some time) and had some massive bubbling around the crust area. not sure if it was overkneaded, underformed or what. i guess practice will help. in any case, it tasted flippin awesome.

i'm getting better at forming the dough, but i ALWAYS get a damn rip in the dough. is this because i'm not using the high protein flour like you suggested? or am i not kneading it long enough? i use the kitchenaid to knead with if that makes any difference.

android said:

i'm getting better at forming the dough, but i ALWAYS get a damn rip in the dough. is this because i'm not using the high protein flour like you suggested? or am i not kneading it long enough? i use the kitchenaid to knead with if that makes any difference.

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I used to have the same issue. Now, I don't.

I use the Lehmann calculator from pizzamaking forum for my dough recipe with about a 62% hydration, using King Arthur bread flour. I do one thing differently, though-- I mix the stuff together, then let it rest for about 20 minutes before kneading. This allows the flour to hydrate. Then I knead using the KA mixer for about 15 minutes. I also use a refrigerator rise, so I make the dough at least one day in advance.

The consistency I get now is amazing. I can stretch (window pane) the dough in no time; I use to throw it in the air to be all cool and such (well, to impress SWMBO), but this stuff stretches so well that I can't even do that.

Hope that helps...

totally forgot to check back here. thanks for the info jpc, i'll try out that method (and i just discovered that lehmann calculator too) with resting and then kneading. do you use oil in your dough? i saw on that calculator that they don't recommend extra virgin, which surprised me. if you do use oil, which kind do you go for? thanks again.

android said:

totally forgot to check back here. thanks for the info jpc, i'll try out that method (and i just discovered that lehmann calculator too) with resting and then kneading. do you use oil in your dough? i saw on that calculator that they don't recommend extra virgin, which surprised me. if you do use oil, which kind do you go for? thanks again.

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I use oil, but can't recall whether I use EV or regular olive oil. I use very little (maybe 1%), and I think it does more to help the yeast or whatever than to "flavor" the dough.

BTW, to give credit where credit is due, the hydration rest is a step I learned by reading Jeff Varasano's pizza page. It's a bit hard to read due to the way it's done, but there's a lot of good info in there.

Good luck...

android said:

hey, the pizza turned out great. thanks for the info. the only thing I had trouble with was getting the dough stretched out enough (just took some time) and had some massive bubbling around the crust area. not sure if it was overkneaded, underformed or what. i guess practice will help. in any case, it tasted flippin awesome.

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Need to dock the pie after you've rolled it out. Just use a fork and poke a bunch of pressure relief holes in it before you bake.

Here is something you all DON'T want to do.

I made a pie with whole wheat flour. Bad idea. The crust comes out tasting like molasses. bad.

how much whole wheat did you use? SWMBO and I made one last night with a 50/50 mix and it was pretty damn good. thanks for the docking tip also, crust came out perfect.

android said:

how much whole wheat did you use? SWMBO and I made one last night with a 50/50 mix and it was pretty damn good. thanks for the docking tip also, crust came out perfect.

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100%. I made 2 pies and both suffered from an odd taste from the crust.

passedpawn said:

100%. I made 2 pies and both suffered from an odd taste from the crust.

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Go 50/50 if you aren't a huge whole wheat fan. You can also add some vital wheat glutens if your dough comes out "flat" when using whole wheat/grains. I always have to add some vital wheat gluten to my "richer" batches of spent grain bread.

passedpawn said:

Need to dock the pie after you've rolled it out. Just use a fork and poke a bunch of pressure relief holes in it before you bake.

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Dock it? I'd never do that, but I try for a NY-style pizza (which, I believe, should not be docked).

jpc said:

Dock it? I'd never do that, but I try for a NY-style pizza (which, I believe, should not be docked).

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I make an extremely thin crust that I precook for a few minutes before I add ingredients. If it is not docked, it will bubble.

passedpawn said:

I make an extremely thin crust that I precook for a few minutes before I add ingredients. If it is not docked, it will bubble.

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Do you use a rolling pin? I always hand stretch... maybe that's the difference.

jpc said:

Do you use a rolling pin? I always hand stretch... maybe that's the difference.

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Maybe. Yes, I use a huge heavy-duty rolling pin. But I use very little water in my crust... I don't think you could hand-toss it. This is meant to be a crackery crust.

This is great. I really got into pizzamaking after reading this: http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

And this: http://www.fornobravo.com/pompeii_oven/pompeii_oven.html

I've grilled pizzas several times, but it's tricky to handle and not burn. I really dig the firebrick mod on the old grill! I guess the trick is that super steady, super hot heat that only a high thermal mass of refractory brick can provide.

what percentage of yeast (instant in my case) do you guys use on the recipe? i used something like .32 % last night when i made up some new dough and it hasn't risen one iota overnight, which is odd, usually they're bubbling up pretty good by morning. i love that dough calculator though.

How do you make your crust?

My wife and kid love the pizza I make, but the crust is always either soggy or burned.

Got a recipe to share?

n/m, found something decent on the pizzamaking.com site.

passedpawn said:

Maybe. Yes, I use a huge heavy-duty rolling pin. But I use very little water in my crust... I don't think you could hand-toss it. This is meant to be a crackery crust.

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Ah, OK...

I use about a 62% hydration for my NY-style crust... Here's the weights (ok, techincally masses) for the ingredients:

Flour (100%): 775.76 g
Water (62%): 480.97 g
ADY (0.5%): 3.88 g
Salt (1.5%): 11.64 g
Oil (1%): 7.76 g
Total (165%): 1280 g
Single Ball: 320 g

I do a quick mix, a 20 minute rest (to allow the flour to hydrate), followed by a 15 minute knead with the KitchenAid. After an overnight rise in the 'fridge, I have a dough that hand-stretches very easily-- so much so that I can't spin it in the air (which is only good for impressing SWMBO once, unless you drop it on the cat, in which case she goes ballistic. Ask me how I know ).

what speed do you mix on with your kitchenaid? i utilized your suggestions last weekend and made by far the best pizzas i've done. next step is using my sourdough culture (as suggested by jeff varasano's site), find some proper tomatoes, and find a way to get my oven hotter. thanks everyone for all the help, it's grand making good pizza.

android said:

what speed do you mix on with your kitchenaid? i utilized your suggestions last weekend and made by far the best pizzas i've done. next step is using my sourdough culture (as suggested by jeff varasano's site), find some proper tomatoes, and find a way to get my oven hotter. thanks everyone for all the help, it's grand making good pizza.

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IIRC, I read somewhere that the proper speed to knead dough with a KitchenAid mixer is the first "click"; I think that's "2" on the scale, but I have a bugger of a time trying to figure out how to read that damn scale.

Either that, or I dreamed it, but in any case, the idea behind kneading is to develop gluten; the "standard" way is to knead by hand. In other words, there is no need to beat the living snot out of the dough. The low setting plus the action of the dough hook for 15 minutes or so should be more than sufficient.

Symbiote said:

My wife and kid love the pizza I make, but the crust is always either soggy or burned.

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I worked in a pizza place for a few years and the crusts would come out soggy a lot of the time when the pizza had a LOT of vegetables (particularly mushrooms)... So, I would say if you were going heavy on the vegetables then cut back just a bit because they will let off a lot of water as they cook.

Just a guess!