I love PIZZA! A community tutorial

This thread is for the discussion of Homemade pizza or your favorite 'from scratch' pizza joint!

I love making a good pizza dough from scratch as I don't think North Dakota has a real pizza resteraunt. Lately I have been making a 5 pizza batch of dough every couple days it seems. We will have pizza for dinner at least once a week, and the rest of the dough gets eaten at night. I make a pizza at about 11 Pm to help me sleep(or so I say, pizza is just that necessary).

My current dough recipe is really simple and 'quick'. By quick I only mean that it doesn't have to sit overnight, although the dough will get tastier after a few days.

Credit for the dough has to go to SusansCookingSchool.com which also has a good Youtube video which details most every procedure I use.

The measurements are


1/2 cup warm water
1 packet ADY (active dry yeast 2 1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon sugar
5 cups of bread flour
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/4 cup water

I almost always make a pizza immediately after making a batch of dough so I start my oven right away. I set the oven to 550*F, as high as it will go. I then mix the warm water(about 110*F), yeast packet and sugar in a glass coffee mug and put it near the oven vent of the stove-top. I don't want it to get hot but close enough to stay warm as it proofs.

I then get the mixing bowl out and spoon King Arthurs bread flour into the mixing cup and dump it into the mixing bowl, it shouldn't be packed into the measuring cup. Add the salt next and wait until the yeast has foamed up about double in size. I add the yeast when it is ready and then use the remaining water to rinse out the yeast cup and dump it in with the flour. Add the oil and begin to mix it with a large spoon.

Once it is incorporated nicely I dump it out on the counter and start rolling it onto itself until all the loose bits stay in one big ball. Then I start kneading it by hand, rolling the dough against the counter with my right palm at an angle across to the left edge of the counter and then back to center, then with my left hand toward the right edge of the counter and back, keeping a decent amount of pressure on it. This process should take about 5 to 10 minutes, as the dough will slowly become smooth and elastic. If it sticks to your hands, little flour. If it won't roll on the counter, add a small amount of water. Once it becomes smooth and elastic, ball it up and pull the dough tightly towards the bottom of the ball until the surface is nice and taunt. Place it in a nice sized bowl, preferably something than can seal, if not just cover the bowl with a thin dishtowel and put it back on the stove-top where it will be warm and let it rise until double in size, about 20-30 minutes.

After it has doubled in size I sprinkle flour on the counter and scoop my dough mass onto the floured counter. I should measure the dough balls for weight but I haven't picked up a kitchen scale yet. I cut the mass into 5 equal looking pieces and pull each piece taunt and pinch the seam on the bottom. Each ball goes into a medium sized circular ziploc container with a sprinkling of flour on top. These all go in the fridge to be used up within a week or so.

I will add pictures and detail how I get from here to into the oven tomorrow!!!

Discuss

Ok, from dough to pizza! I will be adding photos in the next few evenings as I am writing this at work. If you ask nicely I might try and do a time lapse with my gopro.

For sauce I use a variety of store bought pizza sauces as I haven't made my own yet, need a small puree machine!
For cheese I use shredded mozzarella or a shredded mozzarella, provolone mix.
Toppings past that are personal choice, I use pepperoni.

If I am getting a dough ball out of the fridge I preheat my oven to 550*F(max) and take my containers of dough out and set them on the counter to warm. I always have my pizza stone in the oven so I let the oven get to temp and wait another 20-30 minutes longer before I start on my dough. A hot oven is key to a good crust and letting the stone get to temp can take a bit.

I prepare my work surface with a generous splash of flour along with flouring the peel. I rub flour into my wooden peel until it is completely coated, otherwise the pizza will stick. I flour the peel in between pizzas as well.

My dough should come out of the container in a ball and I plop it down on the counter into the shape of a disk, then flip it to coat each side with flour. I then brush a little flour away and in a cleaner area, using my fingers and thumb tips I flatten a circle about an inch and a half in from the edge of the crust, keeping the center plump to allow it to stretch.

I pin the dough lightly along the flattened circle and placing my other hand next to the first I massage the dough out and around in a half circle motion carefully stretching the dough out around the edge. I let go of the held position during the last bit of stretching motion to turn the whole pie and hold the next part down and stretch again, there is a rapid rhythm to it and the dough should almost be constantly spinning. I do this until the dough is about 10" in size and then pick it up.

I hold it over the top of my closed fists, positioned close together, allowing it to hang off-center. I gently shift the dough around, supporting the edge, in a shimmying motion. The weight of the dough hanging off-center will stretch it out slowly and gently. You can also pull your fists apart gently to stretch the dough. Tossing the dough is mainly for show although if you really know how to handle it you can toss it up while giving it a little spin with your fists and catch it in the thickest parts to get the dough evened and stretched quickly.

I stretch my dough out until it 'window-panes' or you can almost see through it. You should be able to stretch it over a jar of sauce and be able to read the label through the dough all without tearing a hole in the dough. It should be the right size to fit on your peel, I double check that there it can slide decently by giving it a little shake right away. If it doesn't move effortlessly then it isn't going to move after sitting for a minute load the toppings on. If you do end up with a hole, cover it up with a little piece dough torn from the edge. Don't try and press the patch into the surrounding dough, you only want to keep sauce off of the peel.

I pour some pizza sauce around the edge and smooth it into the center with a spoon, only use enough to give the dough a light coat and you should be able to see dough through the sauce. I then sprinkle some shredded mozzarella on, only enough to almost cover the sauce, you should be able to see the sauce through the gaps in the cheese. I usually add about 10-15 slices of pepperoni spaced evenly. I like to add a LIGHT dribble of olive oil over the top of the finished pizza.

Lift the peel and over the counter give it a shake, it may not slide on the first jerk but should slide before the toppings go everywhere. If it does not slide you are screwed.......

Not really, just lift up an edge and toss some flour under, lift another edge and flour, until the pizza moves again. When I was first learning I would pull the rack out and shake the pizza off on the stone but you should get the hang of it and not have to mess with pull it out. Starting about three quarters of the way over the stone give it a little shake and it should start coming off the peel onto the stone. Once it gets and edge on the stone it will slide off easier as you continue to shake the peel.

I cook my pizza until I think it is done which means the cheese is melted and bubbling, the pepperonis are sizzling and the crust is starting to darken across the bubbles, usually about 4-5 mins in my oven. Pull the pizza out and set it on a cutting board or serving tray and cut it up!

Nice.

One thing i was only recently exposed to was grilling my pizza. Its super quick and tastes great. I have a shitty contractor-grade oven in my apartment that never worked well, but it seems to come out great on my grill every time!

I roll out the dough (i dont know how to toss it ) and plop it onto the grill and close the lid for a minute or two. The crust usually starts to form large air pockets and getting a little toasty. At that point i open it up, brush some olive oil around the outside of the crust and start adding sauce and then toppings. It can get your hands rather toasty if you linger too long. But then you just close the lid and wait another few minutes. Presto, grilled pizza. Total elapsed time maybe ~6 min from start to finish.

I am not a clever man.

Love this thread.

Grilling with high temperatures is very popular! Getting the top to cook at the same rate as the bottom can be difficult on some grills.

Rolling pin is pure evil! I grew up with rolled dough and it was always good but I get more uniform circles the way I do it by hand and more bubbles in the dough.

Updates to post two.

For anyone looking for an AWESOME video on neapolitan pizza making style and some inspiration, watch this

NATURALLY RISEN