The Home Made Pizza Thread

[thatjonguy]

OK.

I've been there done that. I'm not an "expert" but I can give you some tips.

#1) check out the www.pizzamaking.com website. They have a forum, but also a section called PIZZA TOOLS. Go there. use the Lehman's Dough Calculator. That's a GREAT base recipe for dough. You'll need a digital scale. You probably have one for homebrewing. You will need one that can do small quantities in grams accurately. You do not necessarily need an electric mixer to make the dough.

Make the dough, separate into dough balls, put into lightly oiled round tupperware/storage containers and refrigerate overnight. Remove from fridge 1 hour before you plan to cook. To remove the dough, remove the lid and turn the container upside down to release the dough by gravity.

#2) You will need a Pizza Piel - the spatula used to transfer and remove the pizza from your hot oven/"stone-steel". Use a dusting of flour or cornmeal or Semolina flour to "lube" the pizza piel so the pizza will slide into oven. Worst thing that can happen is dough too moist that sticks to peel and will not release. If you buy a wooden piel that will be fine. I now use a perforated metal piel. A perforated piel will let you build your pie on a granite countertop and then load onto the piel after is fully dressed. Using a solid piel, you usually need to build & dress on the piel. If doing this, it is important to work quickly to get your pizza topped and off the piel and into oven as soon as possible to avoid sticking. You can give it a shake just before you transfer to be sure its still loose and slides easily. If a part is sticky, you can toss some flour under the edge or lift it and blow beneath to try and lift up.

#3) Try and get a big sack of All-Trumps flour. I bought a 50# sack for about $20. store it in two homer buckets. Otherwise try King Arthur's Bread Flour.

#4) For sauce I use Cento brand whole peeled tomatoes. Add 1T sugar, 1tsp salt to a large (?28 oz) can and hit with stick blender until texture is just right, doesn't take much. I also sometimes use up to 1T of Penzey's Spices Pizza Seasoning in the sauce.

#5) For cheese, sky is the limit, but the low fat types tend to do poorly. Feta and other hard cheeses with very low moisture do better in smaller portions sprinkled on top or mixed with a base cheese. I haven't settled on a favorite yet. I prefer brick cheese and shred myself.

#6) I like to "open the skin" by hand. I have no idea what the term means but you see it used a lot talking about shaping the dough balls into
That should get you started.

Good Luck

Wow! Thanks!

 

[ChugachBrewing]

I am an expert and can give you the following advice for the easiest way to start this process:
1. Use an immature sourdough starter for best results. You can order it or make your own. That's a different topic for now. [Feed a mature starter 100g ww flour, 100g white flour, 200g H20] let sit overnight.
2. The next AM, mix 700g H20 with 200g of the proofed starter. mix in 1000g flour [King Arthur - Sir Lancelot High Gluten] until it is all combined.
3. Let sit for 30 min.
4. Mix 20g salt and 50g warm H20, then add to the flour mixture.
5. Let sit for 30 min, fold, repeat for 3-4 hours until dough has doubled in size. Optional, but highly recommended.
6. Leave dough to sit in fridge overnight. Again, optional but highly recommended for optimal flavor.
7. Next day, pull out dough before making pie, shape into rounds of 600g each. Rest 30 min. Put stone in oven, preheat highest oven will go.
8. Shape dough with hands until round. Do not add more flour, corn meal can work if and when the dough sticks.
9. This comes down to personal preference. For a nice looking pizza, put it on a greased screen, top, and bake for 4-5 min, then using large pizza spatula, remove and let sit directly on stone for another 4-5 min. My oven hits 600 or so and thats about how long it takes for optimal char and structure. You can choose to shloop it onto the stone yourself, but for beginners this leads more to messed up pies.

 

[Evets]

I am an expert and can give you the following advice for the easiest way to start this process:
1. Use an immature sourdough starter for best results. You can order it or make your own. That's a different topic for now. [Feed a mature starter 100g ww flour, 100g white flour, 200g H20] let sit overnight.
2. The next AM, mix 700g H20 with 200g of the proofed starter. mix in 1000g flour [King Arthur - Sir Lancelot High Gluten] until it is all combined.
3. Let sit for 30 min.
4. Mix 20g salt and 50g warm H20, then add to the flour mixture.
5. Let sit for 30 min, fold, repeat for 3-4 hours until dough has doubled in size. Optional, but highly recommended.
6. Leave dough to sit in fridge overnight. Again, optional but highly recommended for optimal flavor.
7. Next day, pull out dough before making pie, shape into rounds of 600g each. Rest 30 min. Put stone in oven, preheat highest oven will go.
8. Shape dough with hands until round. Do not add more flour, corn meal can work if and when the dough sticks.
9. This comes down to personal preference. For a nice looking pizza, put it on a greased screen, top, and bake for 4-5 min, then using large pizza spatula, remove and let sit directly on stone for another 4-5 min. My oven hits 600 or so and thats about how long it takes for optimal char and structure. You can choose to shloop it onto the stone yourself, but for beginners this leads more to messed up pies.

With all due respect to your expertise, you probably scared off the OP with your 1st step.
Why would you suggest a newb should use a starter and then not tell him how to make one ?I consider using a starter advanced pizzamaking and not necessary for a newb making his first pizza.
Anyway, it's only pizza dough, not rocket science. this will get you started and serve you well.
Go to walmart or target and get the stone/peel combo pack. If you then decide to keep making pizza, hunt down a "good" stone at a restaurant supply shop or online.
pre-heat the stone in the oven at the highest temp for about a half hour. The tricky part is launching the pie but it's a skill you need to learn. A little practice goes a long way.
Ok, the dough.
any decent bread flour will do to get started king Arthur is good.
For 1 14" pizza put 240 g of flour in a bowl. add to that 1g of instant dry yeast(IDY) and mix it in a little with a fork. In another bowl put 144g of cool water and add 4g of salt and 1tsp of oil. whisk these together til the salt is dissolved. Slowly add the water to the flour while stirring with a fork. Make sure to scrape all the flour off the bowl and incorporate into a ball. Let rest 10-15 minutes, then hand knead just until smooth. Spray a little Pam in a tupperware bowl, cover and fridge about 24 hrs. You can fridge up to at least a week if you want but keep in mind the longer you keep it the less yeast you need. adjust accordingly. Let the dough warm up about an hour before baking.
Good Luck! Post pics of your results!

 

[ChugachBrewing]

You can order a starter, or make your own. It requires a few minutes every day for a couple weeks, but then you have a starter you can keep for a lifetime. It produces MUCH better pies than any made with instant yeast.
Respectfully, I completely disagree with "it's only pizza dough." That philosophy will not lead you to a phenomenal pizza. Being mostly dough, it is the most critical part of the whole mission. I promise it is worth the effort.

If you, thatjonguy, (or anyone else) is interested, I would be more than happy to share some of my starter via mail. It's just like getting brewer's yeast



How to make your own starter and leaven. From Chad Robertson:

Starter and Leaven

625 grams white bread flour
625 grams whole wheat bread flour

Slightly warm water
Mix the flours to make 1250 grams of 50/50 flour blend. Use this blend to feed your culture and develop your starter. To make your starter, in a medium bowl, place 300 grams of slightly warm (80 to 85° F, 26 to 29° C) water. Add 315 grams of flour blend (reserve the remaining flour blend), and mix with your hand or a wooden spoon to combine until the mixture is free of any dry bits. Cover the mixture with a clean, dry kitchen towel or cheesecloth and let stand at warm room temperature until bubbles start to form around the sides and on the surface, about 2 days.

It’s important to maintain a warm temperature. Let stand another day to allow fermentation to progress a bit. More bubbles should form. This is your starter. It will smell acidic and slightly funky. At this stage it’s time to train your starter into a leaven by feeding it fresh flour and water at regular intervals.

Feed the starter: Transfer 75 grams of the starter to a clean bowl and discard the remainder of the starter. To the 75 grams of starter, add 150 grams of the 50/50 flour blend and 150 grams warm (80 to 85°F, 26 to 29°C) water. Mix to combine; it should have the consistency of pancake batter. Repeat this feeding process once every 24 hours at the same time of day, always transferring 75 grams of the starter to a clean bowl and discarding the remainder, then adding the flour and water and re-covering the bowl with a clean, dry kitchen towel after each feeding and letting the mixture stand at warm room temperature. The batter should start to rise and fall consistently throughout the day after a few days of feedings.

As the starter develops, the smell will change from ripe and sour to sweet and pleasantly fermented, like yogurt. Once this sweet lactic character is established and the fermentation (the regular rise and fall of the batter) is predictable, a few days to one week, it’s time to make the leaven from this mature starter.

Leaven is the portion of prefermented flour and water that will go into your final dough and raise the whole mass during the bulk (first) and final rises. Two days before you want to make bread, feed the matured starter twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening (the process described above) to increase fermentation activity. When you are ready to make the dough, discard all but 1 tablespoon of the matured starter. To the remaining 1 tablespoon, add 200 grams of the 50/50 flour blend and 200 grams warm (80 to 85°F, 26 to 29°C) water. This is your leaven. Cover and let rest at moderate room temperature for 4 to 6 hours.

To test the leaven’s readiness, drop a spoonful into a bowl of room temperature water. If it sinks, it is not ready and needs more time to ripen. When it floats on the surface or close to it, it’s ready to use to make the dough. To maintain the leaven for regular use, continue feeding daily as described above. To save leaven for long periods without use, add enough flour to make a dry paste and keep covered in the refrigerator. When you want to use it again, keep at warm room temperature for at least 2 days and do three to four feedings to refresh and reduce the acid load that builds up while it is stored in the refrigerator.

 

[Evets]

Thanks for posting procedure for making and using a starter.
Is that from the "TartineBread" book?
Let me just say that it was not my intention to cheapen the art of making fantastic artisan pizza, but to offer a simple easy to use formula that will allow anyone just starting out to make a great dough. The rocket science remark was simply meant to instill confidence by saying it's not that hard to make great dough.
I liken it to getting someone with no experience started in brewing. I tell him to get some basic equipment and an extract kit rather than an all-grain triple decoction dopplebock formula.

 

[HoppyDaze]

Thanks for posting procedure for making and using a starter.
Is that from the "TartineBread" book?
Let me just say that it was not my intention to cheapen the art of making fantastic artisan pizza, but to offer a simple easy to use formula that will allow anyone just starting out to make a great dough. The rocket science remark was simply meant to instill confidence by saying it's not that hard to make great dough.
I liken it to getting someone with no experience started in brewing. I tell him to get some basic equipment and an extract kit rather than an all-grain triple decoction dopplebock formula.

^^ I trust this guy. Just look at his avatar.

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Yes, its from Tartine. Great book.

I'm not trying to make things too difficult... or argue, or anything like that. The pizza dough Tartine makes will beat anything I've ever had in a restaurant, and I'm just trying to share the joy.

I do tend to throw new brewers right into all-grain though... oh well. Life's too short to eat bad food and drink bad beer. Funny thing... my friend got interested in brewing, and I got him set up with a 3 tier system all grain for his first batch. haha!

 

[boydster]

Mmmm, pizza. Hot sopressata, some homemade sauce from roma tomatoes and pesto, and a few cheeses.

Edit: What is up with pics not posting from my mobile? I will upload a pic from my PC later.

 

[Evets]

Yes, its from Tartine. Great book.

I'm not trying to make things too difficult... or argue, or anything like that. The pizza dough Tartine makes will beat anything I've ever had in a restaurant, and I'm just trying to share the joy.

I do tend to throw new brewers right into all-grain though... oh well. Life's too short to eat bad food and drink bad beer. Funny thing... my friend got interested in brewing, and I got him set up with a 3 tier system all grain for his first batch. haha!

Hey whatever works right? It's all good!

 

[ChefRex]

Ok guys, I want to get in on this awesomeness, but I have no idea where to start.

Looking to use my oven with a cast iron pizza pan (flat).

Could you point me to a recipe that will make SWMBO happy?

If you want a sourdough starter Pm me and it on it's way!

 

[bottlebomber]

Smoked aged Gouda, anchovies, prosciutto, black olives

Hedgehog mushroom with truffle pecorino

Potato and leek with Monterey Jack



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[gratus fermentatio]

That is 3 new levels of awesomeness!
Regards, GF.

 

[bulldogwinters]

Couldn't snap a pic before my roommates dug into it.

3 mushroom wild mushroom pizza (won the pizza cook off for charity at work with this bad boy)
garlic white sauce
spicy Italian sausage
Caramelized onion
Crimini, shiitake, and bell shrooms

Other was just olive oil and garlic base with a tomato, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella and a balsamic glaze.

 

[HoppyDaze]

Gave this dough a little more attention in an attempt to do a thin crust. Edges are a wee a bit crisp for my liking but very good flavor. Realizing that patience with dough and homemade sauce are the vital to the separation with store bought/restaurant pies. Of course adding awesome shrooms and cheeses enhance it even more.

Classic pepperoni with Monterey Jack and mozzarella

 

[Temptd2]

We're having a fave tonight - lox pizza. You pull the dough VERY thin, then blind-bake the crust (mine is homemade with sprouted/dehydrated/ground wheat and spent grains). You want it cracker-crispy. Let cool while you assemble the rest of the ingredients - lox-style salmon, slivered red onion, Serrano pepper rings sliced paper-thin, capers fried til crispy in olive oil, chopped avocado, and if I remember, salad shrimp. Spread the cooled crust with softened cream cheese which has been mixed with dill, then layer the lox on top of that, and arrange the other ingredients over the lox. Cut into wedges with pizza cutter.

If I can remember to take a picture before we dig in, I'll post it later!

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Dinner time! Perfect with a double ipa.
Lots of structure, passes the sag test, amazing crust.

 

[Temptd2]

OK, I actually remembered the pictures!

In order of appearance - crust blind-baked to a cracker-like consistency; crust spread with Greek yogurt cheese mixed with some dill weed and sprinkled with capers fried crisp in olive oil; topped with Norwegian salmon slices (from Costco) and thinly-sliced Serrano peppers; then topped with slivered red onion, avocado, and shrimp (I didn't have salad shrimp so used some cooked peeled tail-off shrimp, cut into 5ths); 2 slices on a dinner plate. The crust was a 16" diameter. We ate the whole thing! I washed mine down with a cream ale and KotC had a jalapeno pepper beer with his.

 

[elkshadow]

I'll join the party! Got a Kitchenaid mixer for the holidays and have used it twice a week doing all kinds of different stuff but my favorite so far has been pizza. This one has home made sauce, store bought canadian bacon and store bought cheese. There will come a day when the all the elements of the pie will be home made. The photo is an HDR too.

 

[HoppyDaze]

OK, I actually remembered the pictures!

In order of appearance - crust blind-baked to a cracker-like consistency; crust spread with Greek yogurt cheese mixed with some dill weed and sprinkled with capers fried crisp in olive oil; topped with Norwegian salmon slices (from Costco) and thinly-sliced Serrano peppers; then topped with slivered red onion, avocado, and shrimp (I didn't have salad shrimp so used some cooked peeled tail-off shrimp, cut into 5ths); 2 slices on a dinner plate. The crust was a 16" diameter. We ate the whole thing! I washed mine down with a cream ale and KotC had a jalapeno pepper beer with his.

Excellent. Top that miracle with Dungeness crab instead of shrimp and you'll have the perfect pie (at least for my tastes). Thanks for sharing!

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Forgot to throw this in last week.

Everything but the pepperoni and Parmesan was made from scratch. hotter oven and it would have been perfect. Just got a pizza peel so things will go a little different now and hopefully can push the crisp factor.

 

[bigjohnmilford]

Gave this dough a little more attention in an attempt to do a thin crust. Edges are a wee a bit crisp for my liking but very good flavor. Realizing that patience with dough and homemade sauce are the vital to the separation with store bought/restaurant pies. Of course adding awesome shrooms and cheeses enhance it even more.

Classic pepperoni with Monterey Jack and mozzarella
View attachment 185518View attachment 185519

Looks awesome to me.


Look above for the smart thing I said.

 

[bigjohnmilford]

I'll join the party! Got a Kitchenaid mixer for the holidays and have used it twice a week doing all kinds of different stuff but my favorite so far has been pizza. This one has home made sauce, store bought canadian bacon and store bought cheese. There will come a day when the all the elements of the pie will be home made. The photo is an HDR too.

Beautiful


Look above for the smart thing I said.

 

[MrNic]

20% wheat flour. Pepperoni, mushroom, green peppers baked at 450* on a stone. It was delicious.

 

[cheezydemon3]

My BEST calzone crust yet. Beat the crap out of the dough.

 

[HoppyDaze]

I was just going to bring up the calzone discussion. Please tell me what I need to know

Last night

 

[cheezydemon3]

For calzone.....
I hand kneed basic pizza dough, roll it into a football shape, place the football on oiled foil, top with whatever meats, veggies, and cheeses...(I like olives, sausage, diced fresh tomatoes, caramelized onions, mozzerella)
Fold the ends in, fold one side, then the other over, brush with eggwash all over. Halfway through baking, (350 25 minutes) sprinkle crushed garlic and parmesan on top.

 

[finsfan]

Made a few pies today for lunch. First one was pepperoni, second one was bacon and red onion which was a lot better. Thank you bread machine. Not kneading is fantastic

 

[bob1852]

Thank you bread machine. Not kneading is fantastic

Don't need a bread maching to make fantastic no-knead pizza.

 

[elkshadow]

The best dough I've made came out of a food processor and I have a Kitchenaid mixer. I make America's Test Kitchen dough in the food processor and put it in the fridge for a day or two. On pie day, I take it out and let it sit/rise for 2 hours then make the pizza. I don't even shape it into a ball. I just turn it out on the counter and flatten it out. I might throw it up a couple times just to look cool but generally I just flatten it into a circle and top it. No kneading involved whatsoever.

 

[finsfan]

Don't need a bread maching to make fantastic no-knead pizza.

Well it was kneaded, but not by me which is the important part

 

[cheezydemon3]

Interesting!

Where I stated above that I "Beat the crap out of the dough", what I meant was: I cleaned off my coffee table, floured it, and kneaded the dough casually for 1/2 hour or so (a decent work-out in the deal) while I watched some tv.

I was glad of the exercise, and it wasn't a chore the way standing over my cutting board in the kitchen and kneading was.

 

[elkshadow]

I made some dough today using Newcastle instead of water. I'll post results tomorrow night.

 

[elkshadow]

I can report that using Newcastle in place of water in the recipe I use makes a better crust than just plain water. OMG it was delicious.

4 cups bread flour (King Arthur)
1 envelope yeast
1.5 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. olive oil
1.5 cups of 110 degree generic dark beer like Newcastle

Combine dry ingredients in bowl of standing mixer. With dough hook attached turn mixer on second lowest speed and add the oil then the water. Knead for 30-40 seconds until a rough ball forms. Let rest 2 minutes. Knead for another 30-40 seconds on same speed. Turn out onto floured surface, form into ball, let rise for 1 to 2 hours then put it in the fridge overnight up to 3 nights. Take it out of the fridge an hour or so before use and let rise again before using.

You can make this in a food processor or by hand of course too. It makes a great crust. I'm at 5280 here in Denver so you may need to adjust your liquid or flour at different elevations.

 

[Chuginator]

Did I have to stress about making pizza the other night? Heck no! There was no knead!

 

[cheezydemon3]

I have gotten a few PMs asking what I do. I copied this from my last reply, in case anyone was interested.

How did you make the dough? Im just curious cause i have tried to make pizza with this one dough recipe and it comes out ok but i want to try something else.

Hey brother!

I am very "from the hip" so my answer may not be what you are looking for.

I start my dough on the stove top on "warm".

I have maybe an inch of hot water in a POT, not a bowl, a metal pot, on the eye, on warm.

I add our old friend yeast, a little sugar, and give that 5 minutes to get happy.

I add SOME flour to this. You get a feel for how much is enough, but you can't screw it up. More flour if needed, more water if needed, whatever.

Mix that well, but not too much. I turn off the heat, cover the dough ball in olive oil, lid the pot, STILL ON THE EYE, heat off.

The warm pot and residual heat make the yeast take off.

30 minutes later, I punch it down.

30 minutes later, I salt the dough ball, flour my coffee table, and knead it for 20 minutes.

That is it!

 

[ChefRex]

Did I have to stress about making pizza the other night? Heck no! There was no knead!

View attachment 187344

View attachment 187345

Did you know kneading dough is a great stress reliver

 

[bob1852]

Did you know kneading dough is a great stress reliver

So is drinking beer and watching the dough do it's own thing.

 

[bob1852]

No knead from the other night...

 

[bob1852]

 

[ChefRex]

So is drinking beer and watching the dough do it's own thing.

I've noticed thought the years my Kitchen aid never seems stressed.