31 replies to this topic

[Chris Hennes]

I'm experimenting with ways of getting the kind of pizza crust I like, which is thin and crisp. Of course, most pizza dough recipes out there seem to be sort of bread-y crusts, or for Neopolitan-style crusts, which are thin like I like, but not crisp enough (and of course there is the issue of oven temperature). Tonight I tried to use a recipe from Roden's recent Spain book for a coca dough, which winds up crisp; I had some trouble adjusting the baking time for the thickness I rolled out, which is much thinner than her coca calls for, and the fact is it just didn't taste very good.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a sort of cracker-type pizza crust?

[David Ross]

What was your oven temperature and did you bake the pizza on a stone?

[tikidoc]

Have you been to pizzamaking.com? There is a whole section of the forum for cracker-like crusts.

[HowardLi]

http://www.varasanos...PizzaRecipe.htm
www.pizzamaking.com
http://slice.serious...za-at-home.html

[Ashen]

Reducing or completely ommitting the fat(olive oil genereally) will bring you to a crispier cracker style. I don't have a specific recipe for you though. My preferred is a thin but more chewy than crispy crust. On that side of things,( much of this is a combo of info I have gathered here and other websites) a high hydration autolyze before mixing the other ingredients and long ferment with a bit of ascorbic acid as a dough conditioner has come the closest to my perfect homemade crust. When summer comes I am going to try hacking my bullet smoker and using a pan on top and bottom with natural lump charcoal and having the stone on a shelf inbetween. I may even see if I can get a piece of thick copper foil to go under the pizza for the first few minutes for subsequent experiments.

The best part about perfecting pizza is that most of the experiements are highly edible. :))

[Karri]

Whatever recipe you are using, substitute about 20% flour with fine semola. This is the way a very succesfull pizzeria near me makes their delivery pizzas crispy even after a half an hour wait.

[weinoo]

I don't know that reducing or eliminating the fat will end up in a crisper crust. After all, Neapolitan pizza, made according to standards, has no olive oil in it, and is usually a fairly soft crust.

What I think you're looking for is a Roman-style crust, which tend to be thin and crisp. Peter Reinhart, in his book American Pie, has a recipe for that style crust; indeed it contains a small amount of semolina flour, but in no way approaches the 20% mentioned above. Here's a blog post which discusses working with Reinhart's Roman-style pizza crust recipe.

[slkinsey]

I think probably what you're looking for is that midwestern-style "cracker crust." And guess what? Most of this is done using a pre-made crust. You might try, then, pre-baking your crust 3/4 of the way through with no toppings. Then take it out, top as usual and re-bake until the cheese melts. Docking the crust before you pre-bake will probably help keep it flat and cracker-like. And you might get some inspiration by perusing some actual cracker recipes and adopting some of the principles. Or google for cracker pizza dough.

[Chris Hennes]

Yeah, Sam, I think that's what I'm looking for. Mitch, does that describe Reinhart's recipe? I've thought about picking that book up but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

[rotuts]

Cook's Country ep 413 'st. louis' from the America's test kitchen Cabal ( ) did a thin cracker like pizza. the key ( maybe you can find the recipe on line) is not to use yeast but baking powder. They do use olive oil.

i havent made it but didnt see a ref to baking powder above but its got to be in the noted cracker refs.

[weinoo]

Yeah, Sam, I think that's what I'm looking for. Mitch, does that describe Reinhart's recipe? I've thought about picking that book up but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

No, definitely not Reinhart's recipe.

I just checked out one of the recipes from Sam's link - it's on the pizza making forum. It has a little olive oil in it, but the interesting note is that the hydration level is under 40%. That sounds like a matzo!

Thin Cracker-Crust Pizza.

[Paul Bacino]

I messed around with just rolling out the dough as opposed to tossing it!!

Here: Antico 00 Caputo Flour

Basically deflated!!

My son likes alot of sauce.. SORRY

Edited by Paul Bacino, 29 January 2012 - 11:46 AM.

[Chris Hennes]

was that thin pie crispy?

[Paul Bacino]

Chris..I think it would have been ( more ) if I hadn't added like double the sauce.. the edge was really crispy..

I cooked this on a stone that registered 500 degrees on the deck.. I was getting hungry.. I think i could have gotten it higher but this was with my Weber

Edited by Paul Bacino, 29 January 2012 - 11:51 AM.

[Paul Bacino]

My best results in the oven, come from slkinsey idea..

Dock and pre bake.. I always/usually sauce on top too!!

[tikidoc]

I would highly recommend going to pizzamaking.com. There is a section on cracker type crusts, and the people there are as obsessed about pizza as people here are about, well, whatever foods they are obsessed with. There is also a section called "ask the dough doctor", and Tom, the guy who runs it, has a HUGE wealth of knowledge on all things pizza. There are over 2500 posts in the "cracker style" section. Just like here, if you ask a question, you will get lots of knowledgable people chiming in with helpful information. Along with egullet and thefreshloaf.com, it is one of my favorite food related online communities.

[Chris Hennes]

I'm looking at the thin crust recipe at pizzamaking.com that Mitch linked to above, and they talk about using a dough sheeter (if you've got one). Do you suppose a pasta roller would do the trick? I'm not fixated on round pizzas, I'd be perfectly happy with two long skinny rectangles if it meant a better crust.

[AAQuesada]

Sure, Ben Ford of Ford's Filling Station uses the pizza roller for his flatbreads. You should be able to do it with other doughs as well..

http://www.epicuriou...n-Hummus-351889

ps.. they freeze great par cooked for quick meals

Edited by AAQuesada, 29 January 2012 - 02:07 PM.

[qrn]

I found that to get crispy, one needs a hot stone,the only way I can get my stone hot enough is to make it out of steel,I bought a 1/4inch thick steel plate at the industrial place,and when it is on the bottom rackof the oven and when the oven,turns off at 550 degF the plate is 750deg F
Makes a nice crisp result...
Bud

[Chris Hennes]

I'm not looking to go the high-temp route: I'm really looking for a cracker-type crust here, and crackers and baked at lower temp for longer time.

[qrn]

Ok I understand..I glanced at the pizzmaking article and I must have gotten mine there,as it also uses High gluten flour,and I let it sit for a few days as they do(except I make lots more than I need, and freeze the stuff till I need it
Good luck,,Bud

[tikidoc]

You might want to look at this thread. Lots of people report using Pete-zza's cracker style with good success, and he goes through several variation in lots of detail on this thread. http://www.pizzamaki...pic,5173.0.html

Seems the common things I am seeing in common with most of the cracker crust threads are low hydration (~50%), roll it thin, moderate heat as far as pizza goes (475F), and a small amount of baking soda in the dough.

Another suggestion for this site - lots of people there get into making clones of their favorite pizza places. If you have a favorite pizza place, do a search, you might find that someone else has already reverse engineered their pizza.

[HungryChris]

I have had very good results with the pizza dough I buy at Walmart for about 89 cents. I keep a few in the freezer and take one out in the morning before leaving for work if I think I'll want pizza for dinner. That night the plastic bag will be puffed out like a taught pillow and I remove the dough and toss it out on a floured board. It usually takes about 4 or five sessions of rolling it out, but I just roll it out as much as I can and then let it relax for a few minutes. I can get it as thin as I want using that method. I preheat the oven to 550 (f) with the stone in for about one half hour. If I have not divided the dough I will usually be putting about a 13 or 14 in pizze in the oven, using corn meal as little ball bearings for sliding it onto the stone. It is done in 12 to 13 min. The crust is quite cracker like to the point I have thought about getting a little more chew to it by adding olive oil.

HC

Edited by HungryChris, 29 January 2012 - 04:02 PM.

[Chris Hennes]

You might want to look at this thread. Lots of people report using Pete-zza's cracker style with good success, and he goes through several variation in lots of detail on this thread. http://www.pizzamaki...pic,5173.0.html

Thanks for the suggestion: in particular this post looks like a promising method, requiring moderate oven heat and no pizza stone (only a perforated pan, which I think I own).

[tikidoc]

Pete-zza really knows his stuff, and seems to be happy to help people. I would give it a try, and if you then have questions, PM either Pete or Tom (the dough doctor) to help troubleshoot. Sorry I can't be more helpful, if you ever want to try Chicago style, I might be able to contribute more than a list of links!

Jess

[djyee100]

Not cracker-like, more pita-like, but very thin and crispy: focaccia col formaggio di Recco from Reinhart's American Pie. I tasted it at a demo that Reinhart gave when he was publicizing the book. Reinhart's version was very rich with olive oil and cheese topping--I remember oil dripping on my hands. A little too much for me, but others liked it. Method and recipe here:
http://www.fornobravo.com/pizzaquest/instructionals/59-written-recipes/147-focaccia-col-formaggio-di-recco.html

[Paul Bacino]

Chris,

Did you have luck, getting your thin cracker crust pizza? I keep reading about the sheeter too!! I haven't tried it, but they say to roll it to 1/16".

Or I'm i just stuck with my hand crank pasta roller?

paul

[IndyRob]

I haven't tried this yet, but if you're willing to experiment, you might try adding a goodly amount of cornstarch to the dough. I've been thinking about this in relation to getting a crispy outer crust on a thick crust Sicilian pizza. I was inspired by an experiment I did with using a dough starter in a waffle iron. With a straight starter (100% hydration, 2% salt and a pinch of yeast left at room temp overnight) I got waffle shaped bread (very interesting, but without any practical application that I could see). When I added cornstarch and some sugar for added browning (among some other things) I ended up with quite a nice crunch on the outside.

[Paul Bacino]

What..I'm seeing
100% AP
36% H20
3.5% Veg OIl
1.2% Sugar
1.2% NaCL
1.2 % ADY

18 hr Rise

For my recipe: What % Corn starch..just curious!!

This is dry!!? Would be difficult to roll..

Paul

Edited by Paul Bacino, 14 September 2012 - 07:07 PM.

[Paul Bacino]

I hand rolled out the dough.. no Problem:

Cracker Crust Pizza!!