The Home Made Pizza Thread

[mtnagel]

I normally roll out my pizza crust because I suck at shaping (mostly getting a consistent thickness) but I do feel like it negatively impacts the texture of the crust, so I tried just rolling a bit to get a rough circle, then shaped by hand and I have to say the texture is so much better. But I still didn't get a consistent thickness (too thin in the center and a little too thick around the edges). But I feel like the texture is almost where I want it - chewy, but too chewy and still soft.

 

[Jaybird]

I normally roll out my pizza crust because I suck at shaping (mostly getting a consistent thickness) but I do feel like it negatively impacts the texture of the crust, so I tried just rolling a bit to get a rough circle, then shaped by hand and I have to say the texture is so much better. But I still didn't get a consistent thickness (too thin in the center and a little too thick around the edges). But I feel like the texture is almost where I want it - chewy, but too chewy and still soft.

View attachment 743064
View attachment 743063

looks absolutely delish! How long are you resting your dough balls before shaping and tossing?

Cheers
Jay

 

[mtnagel]

looks absolutely delish! How long are you resting your dough balls before shaping and tossing?

Cheers
Jay

Thank you!! I made the dough yesterday, then put in the fridge overnight. I took it out of the fridge and shaped into a ball and covered with plastic wrap for about two hours before shaping and cooking. Would you recommend another process? I'm open to experimenting

 

[gromitdj]

It does look delicious. Rolling will definitely affect the tenderness of the crust, as you are pushing some to most of the air you developed out if it. Especially at the Cornicione. I would just continue to practice shaping it by hand. Handling it as little as possible.

 

[Jaybird]

Thank you!! I made the dough yesterday, then put in the fridge overnight. I took it out of the fridge and shaped into a ball and covered with plastic wrap for about two hours before shaping and cooking. Would you recommend another process? I'm open to experimenting

Nope. 2 hours I think is PERFECT! Can you "TOSS" the dough? Have you tried that? I love to go outside on the deck and TOSS the dough. I get flour all over me and the deck and I do think there is some magic in that. Also handling the dough very softly and as little as you can. Just my thoughts. At the end of the day if the dough doesn't taste or have the consistency of bread... You're winning!

Cheers
Jay

 

[mtnagel]

Nope. 2 hours I think is PERFECT! Can you "TOSS" the dough? Have you tried that? I love to go outside on the deck and TOSS the dough. I get flour all over me and the deck and I do think there is some magic in that. Also handling the dough very softly and as little as you can. Just my thoughts. At the end of the day if the dough doesn't taste or have the consistency of bread... You're winning!

Cheers
Jay

I have tried tossing the dough, but definitely haven't mastered it.

 

[Jaybird]

I have tried tossing the dough, but definitely haven't mastered it.

The real trick is making sure you pick it up off the floor before anyone sees you dropped it. Baaaahhhaaaaaaaaa

Cheers
Jay

 

[Wildie]

if you are going to make pizza BREAD then go for it, ha ha

 

[Reneauj62]

I normally roll out my pizza crust because I suck at shaping (mostly getting a consistent thickness) but I do feel like it negatively impacts the texture of the crust, so I tried just rolling a bit to get a rough circle, then shaped by hand and I have to say the texture is so much better. But I still didn't get a consistent thickness (too thin in the center and a little too thick around the edges). But I feel like the texture is almost where I want it - chewy, but too chewy and still soft.

View attachment 743064
View attachment 743063

A lot of trial and error but, this is my favorite dough...

Ingredients

Double Batch, Single Batch

1.5 tablespoon sugar (.75 Tbsp)
2 active dry yeast or 2 teaspoons (1 tsp)
4.5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing (2.25 Tbsp)
5.5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (2.75 cups)
1.0 tablespoon garlic salt (.5 tbsp)

1.5 tablespoon basil paste (.75 tbsp)

.75 teaspoon rosemary and garlic seasoning (.375 tsp)

.75 teaspoon Italian seasoning (.375)



Directions

1. Whisk 1 1/3 (2/3) cups warm water (105 degrees F) and the sugar in a bowl; sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the olive oil.
2. Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl, add garlic salt, rosemary and garlic season, and Italian seasoning. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Add basil paste.
3. Gradually stir with a wooden spoon to make a rough dough.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, dusting with more flour if necessary. Form into 2 balls. Brush 2 (1) large bowls with olive oil, add a ball of dough to each and turn to coat with the oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour, 30 minutes. Roll out and top as desired, or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to 1 month.

 

[davidabcd]

I usually make Detroit style squares but I was inspired by that video a page back or whatever about kicking it up to the next level. I even went so far as to watch the whole video and write a recipe up (this was before I found out you could click on the written recipe).
I'm using bread flour instead of 00. It might show what a bad idea it is to do that. Minimal waste of time and money if it goes badly.
I'm going to use my usual sauce and cheese blend (3/2 brick/jack) but also the soft mozzarella on some of them. I'll also be using pizza screens and a standard oven with a pizza stone versus a pizza oven. Like I said, I might find out how bad of an idea it all is.
Should have pictures by Saturday. Be warned: having cooked in a pizzeria for six years, I can still make something that is aesthetically pleasing without tasting good.
Still letting me edit so here's a poolish after almost 24 hours.

 

[davidabcd]

Using a poolish and the extra time involved in making this recipe was definitely worth it. I ordered 6# of 00 from a place called Nuts.com for the next run. Pizza's a before and after with ham and mushroom. Also, I think running the cheese through the grinder tastes better than just shredding.

 

[davidabcd]

Finished products.

 

[applescrap]

Still making pizzas of course, just not posting much. Made 6 for camping, pre froze.

 

[Jaybird]

I usually make Detroit style squares but I was inspired by that video a page back or whatever about kicking it up to the next level. I even went so far as to watch the whole video and write a recipe up (this was before I found out you could click on the written recipe).
I'm using bread flour instead of 00. It might show what a bad idea it is to do that. Minimal waste of time and money if it goes badly.
I'm going to use my usual sauce and cheese blend (3/2 brick/jack) but also the soft mozzarella on some of them. I'll also be using pizza screens and a standard oven with a pizza stone versus a pizza oven. Like I said, I might find out how bad of an idea it all is.
Should have pictures by Saturday. Be warned: having cooked in a pizzeria for six years, I can still make something that is aesthetically pleasing without tasting good.
Still letting me edit so here's a poolish after almost 24 hours.
View attachment 743399

That is awesome! I personally use local bread flour as well. 00 seems like a PITA to find and use and I love our local flour. Nice job on the Poolish! Its IMHO is a total GAME changer!
Cheers
Jay

 

[Jaybird]

Still making pizzas of course, just not posting much. Made 6 for camping, pre froze. View attachment 743833View attachment 743834

So are you making them, cooking them THEN freezing them? I have a cooked Pizza I made almost 60 days ago (doing a 60 day frozen test) I am about to "bake/heat in the oven.

Cheers
Jay

 

[davidabcd]

I have 6# of 00 on the way so I'll see what it's like. There are no local flour producers here; nothing but ordinary, not high quality stuff from Kroger or otherwise.

seems like a PITA

 

[Immocles]

Reuben pizza. My wife’s specialty.

 

[JRHDBrew]

Y’all inspired me. I had some biga left over from a bread I made so I did an overnight ferment. We are about to head out of town so I added red onion and halved kalamata olives.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Reuben pizza. My wife’s specialty.
View attachment 744070

That is one of our family's favorites!

Last year I did it with homemade corned beef, homemade kraut, and store crust. I need to up my crust game

 

[Oldskewl]

That reuben pizza looks and sounds amazing. I love sauerkraut on pizza

 

[applescrap]

So are you making them, cooking them THEN freezing them? I have a cooked Pizza I made almost 60 days ago (doing a 60 day frozen test) I am about to "bake/heat in the oven.

Cheers
Jay

Yep, we make them, cook them and freeze them. For camping I reheat on the campfire. Highly recommend. I dont freeze anything uncooked if I can help it. Pizza is definetly not making it 60 days round here. I dont want to ruin the test, but pretty much anything is better fresh and the less amount it is in the freezer. That pizza will have begun its journey from best little by little each day, amount depending on how it was frozen. But the convenience is totally worth it imo. For best frozen results, par freeze, then vacuum seal. You can preserve a high quality for a long time. I worry about it less, because, yes, my wife was right, we will eat it before it matters. Cheers!

 

[Staestc]

Yep, we make them, cook them and freeze them. For camping I reheat on the campfire. Highly recommend. I dont freeze anything uncooked if I can help it. Pizza is definetly not making it 60 days round here. I dont want to ruin the test, but pretty much anything is better fresh and the less amount it is in the freezer. That pizza will have begun its journey from best little by little each day, amount depending on how it was frozen. But the convenience is totally worth it imo. For best frozen results, par freeze, then vacuum seal. You can preserve a high quality for a long time. I worry about it less, because, yes, my wife was right, we will eat it before it matters. Cheers!

I am actually going to give this a try, instead of buying frozen when I don't have time for anything else. I like the idea of par freezing then vacuum sealing. Never thought of that. I suspect you could actually do that without cooking first if you wanted. Ideas for some experimentation.

 

[mtnagel]

Frozen cooked pizza lasts for quite awhile in the freezer. I learned that a long time ago when my brother worked at Pizza Hut and would bring home cooked pizzas all the time and we'd freeze what we weren't going to eat in a reasonable time. And I still do it all the time. When we get pizza out, I almost always get the largest size since it's always such a better deal based on the unit price and then we freeze the leftovers. To reheat, I nuke for 30 sec or so to knock the chill off, then finish cooking in a cast iron with a lid. It crisps up the bottom and many time it's better than when it was fresh.

 

[Jaybird]

Yep, we make them, cook them and freeze them. For camping I reheat on the campfire. Highly recommend. I dont freeze anything uncooked if I can help it. Pizza is definetly not making it 60 days round here. I dont want to ruin the test, but pretty much anything is better fresh and the less amount it is in the freezer. That pizza will have begun its journey from best little by little each day, amount depending on how it was frozen. But the convenience is totally worth it imo. For best frozen results, par freeze, then vacuum seal. You can preserve a high quality for a long time. I worry about it less, because, yes, my wife was right, we will eat it before it matters. Cheers!

Appreciate the tip! The 60 day test was...ahhh just OK. I mean it was pizza and I ate it. Unfortunately I kept comparing it to the fresh one. Bad idea. LOVE the idea about freeze and cook camping! Great idea. Save me from bringing the entire pizza oven and all the fixings. Last year I did the PIZZA CAMPING deal and I cooked for 20. Totally worth it!

Cheers
Jay

 

[applescrap]

I am actually going to give this a try, instead of buying frozen when I don't have time for anything else. I like the idea of par freezing then vacuum sealing. Never thought of that. I suspect you could actually do that without cooking first if you wanted. Ideas for some experimentation.

Yep instead of frozen pizza, a quick lunch on the ready with grouchy kids, a drunken midnight snack air fryer makes for a nice middle of the night reheat. Good thinking with par frozen unbaked. Only problem for me is my freezer will only fit smaller ones.

My son made a blimp and my daughter a heart. The other two this wanker made. Garden tomatoes, garden onion, garden jalopeno, coolapeno, and sweet pepper with salami, and pepperoni from my lunch pack, and homemade sauce. Really good, frozen pizzas saved, for now. Bronco game is what I am thinking for them. Their own pizzas, it's so cool to see.

 

[applescrap]

I reuse the cooking parchment and put the slices wrapped up in it folded up one at a time, separating each slice with parchment, keeps them separate for easy portion. Like an accordion in a way, slice down, fold over, slice, fold, etc. Stuffs in gallon size beautifully. Off to hotel on friday night or in cooler on road trip and that ridiculously expensive first night meal is a time money saver joyful pizza fest in the hotel room. A bag of frozen pork for night two and a couple night hotel stay is easily navigated. I see people at out pool order a s... ton of meh pizza. We just throw ours on their grills or bring it warm. Haha, reminds me, we were talking about buying pizza boxes for this more to come.

 

[applescrap]

Appreciate the tip! The 60 day test was...ahhh just OK. I mean it was pizza and I ate it. Unfortunately I kept comparing it to the fresh one. Bad idea. LOVE the idea about freeze and cook camping! Great idea. Save me from bringing the entire pizza oven and all the fixings. Last year I did the PIZZA CAMPING deal and I cooked for 20. Totally worth it!

Cheers
Jay

Wow cooking for 20 is a big deal let alone outdoors. Super cool.

 

[davidabcd]

Making pizza again today, this time with 00 flour which is a first for me. I noticed a difference while working the dough.
I'm using the same method as last time from this video I found here.

I'll update this post with photos.
Photo one: ground cheese and the dough!

The dough recipe is definitely a keeper and I'll use it for squares too.

 

[Jaybird]

Indeed a total keeper! I personally add seasoning, double the salt and have found the dough to stand up to seasoning very well. Can't go wrong with his process!

Cheers
Jay

 

[davidabcd]

Indeed a total keeper! I personally add seasoning, double the salt and have found the dough to stand up to seasoning very well. Can't go wrong with his process!

Double salt, huh? I can see that working. I pull out my sensitive scale to measure the 25g of salt. Did you post that video? Thanks if you did--too lazy to go back and look. With my other dough, I add garlic powder and onion powder.
I'm still chasing a Jet's crispy crust kind of thing as well.

 

[Redpappy]

I have a delima going on. I am trying to find a good Gluten Free Pizza Dough. I have tried 2 so far, Red Mills pizza mix, and I have done chebe dough mix. Does anyone have a non-pre mix receipe I could try?

Long story short, wife needs gluten free, and we both love pizza (homemade preferably) From the 2 that I have done, I prefer the dough from chebe- but miss working from scratch. Thanks In advance.

 

[VApatriot]

I have a delima going on. I am trying to find a good Gluten Free Pizza Dough. I have tried 2 so far, Red Mills pizza mix, and I have done chebe dough mix. Does anyone have a non-pre mix receipe I could try?

Have you looked at the King Arthur (flour) website? We used to get their catalogs in the mail and they do sell lot's of gluten free products. Gluten is not an issue for us so I don't have any actual experience w/ that kind of thing, but I do remember seeing lot's G.F. stuff in the catalogs.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

KA also has 00 flour now.

 

[Redpappy]

Thank you @VApatriot and @Hoppy2bmerry. This is the first time that I have heard of them, so to me, that just gives me options.

 

[Wables]

I've been using the 5 minute a day artesian bread recipe for years, modified a bit for my pizza dough:

3 cups water
1T yeast
1T kosher salt
3.5C King Arthur bread flour
3c white flour

My wife bought me an OONI pellet fired pizza oven yesterday. We fired it up and it was amazing! Anyway, it got me thinking...is there any reason not to substitute beer for the water? I have my house ale on tap, malt forward and not too hoppy. Would it be better to mix half beer and half water?

 

[Hanglow]

No reason not to. I keep meaning to try it as well. You might get more browning from any residual sugars in the beer

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Another level of flavor.

 

[davidabcd]

Started another batch of dough on Thursday to be ready for pizza today. Going to make all squares this time. I'm expecting, given the method (poolish), that the dough will be airy. I also increased the salt this time.
Pictures to follow.

 

[Wables]

I've been using the 5 minute a day artesian bread recipe for years, modified a bit for my pizza dough:

3 cups water
1T yeast
1T kosher salt
3.5C King Arthur bread flour
3c white flour

My wife bought me an OONI pellet fired pizza oven yesterday. We fired it up and it was amazing! Anyway, it got me thinking...is there any reason not to substitute beer for the water? I have my house ale on tap, malt forward and not too hoppy. Would it be better to mix half beer and half water?

By far the best dough I have ever made. I had both regular and beer crust, and everyone liked the beer crust better...even the kids.

 

[davidabcd]

Pizza pizza.

Margherita pizza, sort of, below.

Cooling method.