Fluffy pizza crust?

12/3/2012 5:36:24 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
wolfyhp Bradley, CA 42, joined Apr. 2008	I've never been good at homemade pizza crust. Well, I suppose people who like a thin and crispy crust would say I do great, but I like a soft, bready crust. What's the trick, and do you have a good recipe? Would just a white bread recipe work if I roll it out like pizza dough after punching it down? Does the pizza pan I use matter? If I use the kind with holes in it, those are designed for crisp crusts, but if I use the kind without holes I always end up with the middle dough being raw while the outside dough is overcooked (I have tried adjusting oven temperature, as that would be the most obvious solution, but perhaps I need to go lower still?) Any help is appreciated. I'm tired of fast food pizza (the only thing available around here) and frozen pizza, and I love pizza. I make a great sauce, and I know what cheeses and toppings to use. Meet singles at DateHookup.dating, we're 100% free! Join now!
12/4/2012 7:42:25 AM	Fluffy pizza crust?
saruman256 Fairhope, AL 59, joined Jun. 2007	Good Pizza is baked at 500 plus degrees, Lombardi's in NYC uses a coal fired oven at 750. Variables in dough making are temp, freshness of the yeast, humidity. Use a baking stone in the oven for more consistency.
12/4/2012 9:12:01 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
sky_pilot42 Lexington, MI 61, joined Jun. 2012	found this recipe online and I kinda follow it. 3/4 cup hot tap water in a small bowl, 1-2 clove garlic crushed 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tsp salt I dissolve sugar and salt in the hot water, add crushed garlic and a packet of yeast when yeast is mostly softened I add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil In a big bowl--I use a pasta bowl 2 Cups bread flour some herbs and black pepper add stuff in small bowl to the flour mixture and stir it up until you can knead for about 7 minutes or so put a little olive oil in bowl and spread it around with the dough so it is coated and cover w/ plastic wrap and a towel until it rises Preheat oven to 450. A baking stone really is nice to have in the oven. Stretch the dough to shape you want, I use 14" pizza rounds but oblong shape works well too. brush with olive oil and top it adding a little grated parmesan or romano to finish it off. If you're using a stone you can omit the pan and do it on parchment paper. I do that when I'm making an oblong pizza. Make sure your dough isn't to thick in the middle and thicker on the perimeter.
12/4/2012 10:47:20 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
skiwino Redford, MI 53, joined Feb. 2007	Quote from wolfyhp: I've never been good at homemade pizza crust. Well, I suppose people who like a thin and crispy crust would say I do great, but I like a soft, bready crust. What's the trick, and do you have a good recipe? Would just a white bread recipe work if I roll it out like pizza dough after punching it down? Does the pizza pan I use matter? If I use the kind with holes in it, those are designed for crisp crusts, but if I use the kind without holes I always end up with the middle dough being raw while the outside dough is overcooked (I have tried adjusting oven temperature, as that would be the most obvious solution, but perhaps I need to go lower still?) Any help is appreciated. I'm tired of fast food pizza (the only thing available around here) and frozen pizza, and I love pizza. I make a great sauce, and I know what cheeses and toppings to use. Are you letting the dough rise before you toss your pie?
12/5/2012 8:22:50 AM	Fluffy pizza crust?
wolfyhp Bradley, CA 42, joined Apr. 2008	Quote from skiwino: Are you letting the dough rise before you toss your pie? Yeah, I've always followed the recipe directions for rising, punching down, oven temperature, etc. I have been wanting a good pizza stone. I've made homemade breads, and they turn out alright (not the best bread, but good enough, I can't get the texture right for bread yet) but I've never had any luck with pizza dough. My pizzas always end up with a crisp crust. I tried leaving the dough thicker (not rolling it out as thin) and I ended up with a thick, crisp cracker.
12/5/2012 7:18:35 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
skiwino Redford, MI 53, joined Feb. 2007	Quote from wolfyhp: Yeah, I've always followed the recipe directions for rising, punching down, oven temperature, etc. I have been wanting a good pizza stone. I've made homemade breads, and they turn out alright (not the best bread, but good enough, I can't get the texture right for bread yet) but I've never had any luck with pizza dough. My pizzas always end up with a crisp crust. I tried leaving the dough thicker (not rolling it out as thin) and I ended up with a thick, crisp cracker. I am going to guess you need a different recipe. It's been around 25 years since I made pizza dough, wish I could remember a good one.
12/5/2012 9:18:57 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
sky_pilot42 Lexington, MI 61, joined Jun. 2012	Try making the dough as wet as you can. As long as it is just sticky and not sticking to everything it will give you more rise than a drier dough. Also don't punch and roll and overly handle the dough once it has risen.
12/7/2012 4:59:50 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
shawnee_b Edmonton, KY 60, joined Apr. 2010	Wolf, I could give you one but Jazzys is about the same. Try that one, it soft, thick and always consistently the same. I make it alot. But sometimes want thin crust and finally made one I really liked. I do pre-heat a pizza stone, then put the dough on it, bake 5 min, top it and finish.
12/8/2012 6:29:46 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
wolfyhp Bradley, CA 42, joined Apr. 2008	Quote from shawnee_b: Wolf, I could give you one but Jazzys is about the same. Try that one, it soft, thick and always consistently the same. I make it alot. But sometimes want thin crust and finally made one I really liked. I do pre-heat a pizza stone, then put the dough on it, bake 5 min, top it and finish. Awesome. I'll probably try it in the next week or so. Thank you to everyone, including to Jazzy for the recipe. I will be getting a pizza stone, they don't cost too much. It seems it'll make enough of a difference to be worth picking one up this weekend or next.
12/8/2012 6:40:16 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
wolfyhp Bradley, CA 42, joined Apr. 2008	Quote from wolfyhp: Awesome. I'll probably try it in the next week or so. Thank you to everyone, including to Jazzy for the recipe. I will be getting a pizza stone, they don't cost too much. It seems it'll make enough of a difference to be worth picking one up this weekend or next. I'll also pick up some bread flour for it. I think I've used both at different times in the past, but it's been a few years since I've tried to make pizza crust. It's not a yeast problem, as I always test to see if the yeast is alive before using it and everything rises normally (doubles in size, re-rises after punching down.) As I said, I make bread now and then and it turns out alright (though I'd like to know how I can improve the texture of my bread.)
12/10/2012 10:20:27 AM	Fluffy pizza crust?
shawnee_b Edmonton, KY 60, joined Apr. 2010	This months Mother Earth News has some good stuff on bread. Grinding sprouted grains, and incorporate.
12/12/2012 11:59:02 AM	Fluffy pizza crust?
wolfyhp Bradley, CA 42, joined Apr. 2008	Quote from shawnee_b: This months Mother Earth News has some good stuff on bread. Grinding sprouted grains, and incorporate. I'll look it up. I'll let you all know how the pizza turns out. I still haven't made it, but probably this weekend if not sooner. I'm looking forward to trying again, and I hope it goes much better this time. I adore pizza, and I'm so tired of frozen and fast food pizzas.
12/20/2012 4:46:12 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
wolfyhp Bradley, CA 42, joined Apr. 2008	Quote from jazzychick: What type of flour do you use? bread flour or plain flour? Does the dough rise at all on the first rise? Does it rise again after you punch it down and let it rest? Could it be that the yeast is not growing properly? Here's the recipe off the White Lily flour bag (White Lily is the best flour for bread making): Pizza Crust 1 (3/4 oz) pkg active dry yeast 1 1/4 cup warm water (105° - 115°) 3 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour 1 tsp salt 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp olive oil Dissolve yeast in water. Combine flour, salt & sugar in bowl. Add yeast mixture. stir well. Add olive oil. Stir about 3 minutes until smooth dough forms. Shape into ball. Coat large bowl with non stick spray and place dough in bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover with towel. Let rise in warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Divide into 2 equal portions. Cover with towel. let dough rest 10 minutes. Press into 2 12" pizza pans. Cover and let rise in warm place for approximately 20 minutes. Heat oven to 425°. Top crust with favorite pizza toppings and cheese. Bake 25 - 30 minutes until lightly browned. makes about 16 servings My notes and observations from bread making: I believe one of the most critical elements in bread making is the temperature of the area you are working. Yeast has to have just the right temperature and food to grow. To make sure your water is the right temperature, place finger under warm running water, (since our body temp is 98.6 and yeast needs 105-115 there should not be a whole lot of difference between our body temp and the water) you should barely feel the warm water on your finger. If the water is very warm on finger then it is too hot for yeast and will kill it. If the water feels cool on your finger it is not warm enough and the yeast will not grow. A good "warm place" to let the dough rise is a warm oven. Before you start mixing the dough turn your oven to 250° and let it preheat. when it reaches 250° turn the oven off and prop the door open just a bit to let most of the heat escape. Mix your dough and when the dough is ready for the first rise the oven should be the right temp. Set the bowl in the oven and close the door. Trying this tonight, but I don't use non-stick cooking spray, so I'll coat the bowl with olive oil, which is what I do for most breads which call for it. I got a pizza stone the other day, but surprisingly it's only good up to 447 degrees, so your temperature works out fine, but I couldn't use it at 500 as some others suggested. Do I need the pizza pans if I'm using a stone? I've got one shallow, large pizza pan with holes in it, but no other pizza pans. Edited to add: I don't have white lily flour around here, but I got King Arthur unbleached bread flour. They're a company I've generally trusted for good flour. [Edited 12/20/2012 4:47:39 PM ]
12/21/2012 9:47:42 AM	Fluffy pizza crust?
saruman256 Fairhope, AL 59, joined Jun. 2007	King Arthur works just fine when you can't get White Lilly. What you are looking for is how the proteins are stretched during the dough making process, glutens.
12/21/2012 10:58:16 AM	Fluffy pizza crust?
wolfyhp Bradley, CA 42, joined Apr. 2008	Wow, thank you Jazzy and everyone. That was some excellent pizza! I added about a half a cup of parmesan (freshly grated) and about a tablespoon of granulated garlic to the dough to give it extra flavor. The dough was nice and soft and fluffy how I like it (finally!) and delicious. Thank you again. I'm glad I can now make pizza and have it turn out well. I already have a great sauce I perfected over the years (it's a version of my bolognese sauce of course.) I might try one with a pesto pretty soon.
12/23/2012 5:09:32 PM	Fluffy pizza crust?
wolfyhp Bradley, CA 42, joined Apr. 2008	Quote from jazzychick: Glad your pizza turned out great. That recipe always works for me. I too have used the King Arthur flour before. In fact, White Lily doesn't have whole wheat so when I want whole wheat flour I always buy KA. I agree with Saruman, it is about the amount of protein in the flour and how it reacts to the yeast and handling of the dough. I think bread flour has more protein than plain flour. I love the idea of adding the garlic and as Sky Pilot posted above, herbs and seasonings. I definitely want to try that sometime. Never have done that before. Makes me think it would be like garlic herb bread....yum...with pizza toppings, too. gotta try it! btw, I have made a deep dish pizza before in a 9 x 13 inch cake pan still using only 1/2 of the dough from the recipe. It was very thick and fluffy...very much like bread. IF I had added the garlic, cheese and herbs to this, it would have been amazing. I'm wondering if the same thing could be accomplished by using the entire recipe as one crust on one pizza pan instead of dividing it into two pies? Yeah, fresh garlic works as Sky pilot said, but I actually prefer granulated in the crust as it disperses the flavor better. When I make breadsticks I use both granulated garlic and fresh garlic, along with the parmesan. I forgot to note I also added about a teaspoon or two of ground sage to the dough. I think the main thing I was having a problem with for pizza was not having a pizza stone or a quality pan. If I had a good thick dough recipe, it wouldn't cook the dough in the middle of the pizza, so I ended up with thin pizza crusts. As I said, I've used bread flour in the past for pizza dough, I just never had it turn out right. I think having the pizza stone made all the difference for these (though a quality pizza pan might have also worked well.) I think I was also over-working the dough, as I noticed your recipe called for very little working of the dough. It turned out nicely. I think I'll try turning your recipe into some bread sticks sometime too, though I'm craving another pizza and will probably be doing another one right after Christmas.
1/8/2013 8:44:26 AM	Fluffy pizza crust?
saruman256 Fairhope, AL 59, joined Jun. 2007	Glad it turned out for you. Homemade beats commercial most of the time, unless you go to Little Italy in NYC. Another tip.... use distilled or spring water instead of the stuff that comes out of your faucet, you mould be amazed at the difference in taste.

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