Pizza Dough Troubles

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1

Hi all! :smiley:

I love pizza. I eat pizza at least every 2 weeks, if not every week. :oops:

I’d like to know why pizza dough always “shrinks” on the pizza pan when you’re trying to make fit to pan size. You see some pizza chefs toss their dough up in the air!! When I try to do that with my dough, it gets full of holes LMAO. Hey! Just had to try it. :lol:

I heard that if you add olive oil to your dough, it will stop the “shrinking” process when you stretch it out. Hasn’t made a difference for me!

Also heard that if you put cornmeal under pizza crust, it helps make it crunchy, not soft. Is that true?

Does anybody have a great tasting pizza dough recipe where you don’t taste the yeast but is light and crispy?? Thanks! 8)

2

Aline

I found this online. Personally I prefer to use cornmeal!

A great pizza starts with great dough!
Ingredients for the Pizza Dough
(Makes 2 Large Pizzas, or Four Thin Pizzas)

2 Packages yeast (or 1/2 oz. or 4 1/2 teaspoons of yeast)

2 teaspoons sugar

4 cups of flour or more

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 and 1/2 cups of warm water

Directions

  1. Put yeast and sugar in a cup. Add 1/2 cup of water. The water should be between 100 and 110 degrees F. ( 37° C- 43° C ). Mix well. Wait about 5 minutes for the yeast and sugar to activate.

  2. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, olive oil, 1 cup of warm water and the yeast mixture. Mix this with a fork to get all the liquid absorbed by the flour.

  3. Place a handful of flour on a mixing surface. Dust your hands and spread out the flour. Empty the contents of the bowl on to the flour.

  4. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until the texture is smooth and uniform. If the dough seems a little sticky, add a little more flour. One method to knead, is to lean on the dough with the palm of your hand. Press the dough to the mixing surface. Fold the dough and repeat.

  5. Place the dough in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Place bowl in draft free area and cover with a cloth.

  6. Let the dough rise for about an hour. Punch down the dough and wait about 45 minutes. Your dough is now ready.

  7. Cut the dough in half.

  8. Dust a rolling pin with flour and gently roll out on a floured mixing surface. until the dough is the desired shape. Keep using flour, as needed so the dough won’t stick. (A rolling pin is not essential!
    You can also just use your fingers to shape the dough!)

  9. Dust a cookie sheet with corn meal. (Oil will work ok, but the dough will be greasy.)

  10. Use a spatula and slide the dough onto the cookie sheet. If you have a peel, assemble the pizza right on the peel dusted with corn meal. Then use the peel to place the pizza on the pre-heated pizza & baking stone. (You can also assemble the pizza first and then slide a peel underneath the pizza.) If the pizza is “sticky” and won’t slide easily, use some dental floss to slide under the dough!
    Make sure you use enough flour under the dough next time!

  11. The more you make dough, the easier it will become. Don’t get discouraged if it seems difficult the first time.
    You will surprise yourself at how easy it becomes the second time.

  12. Actually, the hardest part of making dough is the clean up!

After rolling the dough, transfer to a peel.

3

quick easy pizza dough

I buy jiffy pizza dough it’s very cheap and I doctor it up.

Instead of water for the dough I use water and beer
I also add to that apx 1 tbls brown sugar mix it and set it on the stove top while I preheat the oven. After about 45min-1 hour I flour the surface and roll it out with a rolling pin the size slightly larger than the pizza sheet fold the dough in half then in quarters and place on sheet fold edges in or cut to fit but make sure the dough touches the edge I then like to brush the crust with butter and cook in oven just for a few maybe 10 minutes so it’s not soggy when you put lots of stuff on it (which I like to do).

This is easy and cheap you can usually find jiffy pizza mix in the baking isle or some stores will put it by the pizza sauce or pizza mix section.

4

I ditto your passion for the pie!
Having attended culinary school both in LA and Italy, I am on my quest for the perfect pizza dough recipe.
Tossing by hand is an art and skill that comes with time; good luck. :slight_smile:
Adding Olive Oil does nothing but add flavor and tends to help the crust brown slightly.
Pizza dough recipes are personal and there are a zillion. It comes down to what you like.
Basic dough recipe (Birth place Naples Italy) Uses Flour/water/salt/yeast. Anything else is 100% you.
I buy “OO” flour from Naples as well as San Marzano tomatoes.
It is the gluten in the flour that aides in the chew of the dough as well as type of oven.
Make sure your using a stone with temp at least 500 degree’s for that thin crisp crust.
Cornmeal is a personal taste. It is used by some IN the dough, but when used on the pizza peel; mostly to help slide the pizza onto the stone with out making a mess.
Google
Caputo Flour, there you’ll find a basic recipe and can order from Naples if you wish. From that basic recipe build your own to fit your taste. Good luck.

5

Oh, I see where someone’s recipe adds sugar? Again, personal–But every Italian just took a step back with that. LOL.

6

Nice to see all the tips but I love only to have Domino’s pizza.

7

I think most cooks would agree that Domino’s pizza is far inferior to making your own.

8

When pizza dough starts snapping back, let the dough rest for 5 or 10 minutes to relax the gluten and then try stretching or rolling out again. You may have to do this a couple of times. Most pizza is made from high gluten flour, so use bread flour. Pizza dough is better if made ahead and stored in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight. It develops more flavor, most pizza places do this.

9

This recipe makes a different, really good pizza crust:

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Makes two 12-inch pizzas or four 9-inch pizzas.

1 1/4 cups (305g) Water
2 1/4 tsp or 1 packet (7g) Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast
3 Tbsp (35g) White Granulated Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1 1/4 tsp (7.5g) Table Salt
1 2/3 cups (225g) Bread Flour
1 3/4 cups (225g) Whole Wheat Flour
4 tsp (20g) Olive Oil

Mix 1/4 cup of warm water, the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar in a cup. Set aside for 15 minutes until foamy.

Add the remaining water, remaining sugar, beaten egg, and salt to the mixer. Mix well.

Stir the foamy yeast mixture into the mixer. Mix well.

Add the bread and wheat flour to the mixer.

Mix on very low speed with dough hook for 1 minute, until the dough comes together into a ball.

Add the olive oil.

Continue to mix at medium-low speed (2) with a dough hook for 9-minutes.

Form dough into a ball. Place in oil coated bowl. Turn dough to evenly coat with oil. Cover and refrigerate for 8 to 72 hours.

Take out of refrigerator 2 hours before baking.

Form into desired pizza size. Spray with oil to coat (this prevents the sauce from making a soggy crust). Add toppings.

Bake at 450-F for 20 to 30 minutes, until edge is golden brown and center is done.

Adapted from the book, “Encyclopizza”.