Making Pizza at Home/Homemade Pizza

[TicTac]

*Note to mods - if this forum has a 'poll' feature, that would be great for this thread...

 

I am curious, as I am about to make some Pizzas on our newly acquired Modernist Cuisine Pizza Steel (a fantastic tool!), how many of you Pizza makers use a rolling pin vs. stretching by hand.

 

I go both ways, when the dough is fresh I will typically stretch by hand, when it has been frozen I roll with a pin.

 

My thought is that pin's will remove some of the lovely crumb one wishes to attain - then again when I roll I go for a very thin Neapolitan style pizza.

 

Would love to hear how you all spread out the dough!

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

By hand.

 

[IndyRob]

For me, it depends on the style.  Hand stretching for sure for most styles.  But what I call midwestern style is happy with a rolled, very uniform dough that is square cut.

 

[ETA] Chicago deep dish style dough is not really rolled or stretched, but rather, sort of mushed around the pan.

 

[Back again] Cracker style crust is also another good rolled style.

Edited November 19, 2017 by IndyRob (log)

[Okanagancook]

We like the airy texture of stretched dough.

[Duvel]

Normally, I stretch by hand into a disc, followed by some gentle stretches with a rolling pin to thin out evenly while preventing too much deflation. Works pretty well ...

[TicTac]

Majority so far seems to lean towards the hand pull method - which ultimately is my preference as well.  Tonight as mentioned the dough was frozen, and there simply is not enough air left in it to warrant the hand pulled method, not to mention the dough is not nearly as nice to work with.  So I opted for the thin Neapolitan style crust, which is still enjoyable.

 

Any special tricks you folks have learned along the way to avoid the inevitable (with the hand pulled method) massive air bubbles (I have had a few over the years that have been nearly half the pizza!).  Some I know like the 'random fork stab' method...

 

 

[IndyRob]

9 minutes ago, TicTac said:

 Tonight as mentioned the dough was frozen, and there simply is not enough air left in it

 

 

Frozen dough shouldn't mean dead dough.  Thaw it in the fridge overnight and then let it come up to room temp.  Then treat it as you would new dough.  It should still rise (not as well as never frozen, but still....).

[Ann_T]

I posted the pizza that we had for dinner last night to the Dinner thread.  The dough was just hand pulled to stretch. With rests in between.

[Lisa Shock]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

Majority so far seems to lean towards the hand pull method - which ultimately is my preference as well.  Tonight as mentioned the dough was frozen, and there simply is not enough air left in it to warrant the hand pulled method, not to mention the dough is not nearly as nice to work with.  So I opted for the thin Neapolitan style crust, which is still enjoyable.

 

Any special tricks you folks have learned along the way to avoid the inevitable (with the hand pulled method) massive air bubbles (I have had a few over the years that have been nearly half the pizza!).  Some I know like the 'random fork stab' method...

 

 

 

I have seen some pizza parlors using a docker on the dough before topping it.

 

Sometimes, I lightly coat the ball of dough with olive oil before pulling. I think it helps cooking -kind of like oiling potatoes before baking.

[TicTac]

1 hour ago, IndyRob said:

 

Frozen dough shouldn't mean dead dough.  Thaw it in the fridge overnight and then let it come up to room temp.  Then treat it as you would new dough.  It should still rise (not as well as never frozen, but still....).

Typically I thaw it the same day on the counter, then put in the fridge, and back to counter to come to room temp before using.  Wonder if your suggested method would produce better results....The dough frozen (which is not my preference) often seems to have more water content and far less volume/life to it.

 

44 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

I posted the pizza that we had for dinner last night to the Dinner thread.  The dough was just hand pulled to stretch. With rests in between.

I recalled the crumb in your fantastic potato pizza as I made this post and our pizza tonight.  Do you make your own dough, Ann?  It looked fantastic.

 

17 minutes ago, Lisa Shock said:

 

I have seen some pizza parlors using a docker on the dough before topping it.

 

Sometimes, I lightly coat the ball of dough with olive oil before pulling. I think it helps cooking -kind of like oiling potatoes before baking.

Interesting re: the oil.  How does that interact with the flour - or do you forgo it in that case? 

[IndyRob]

2 minutes ago, TicTac said:

Typically I thaw it the same day on the counter, then put in the fridge, and back to counter to come to room temp before using.  Wonder if your suggested method would produce better results....The dough frozen (which is not my preference) often seems to have more water content and far less volume/life to it.

 

 

Thaw it overnight in the fridge.  Take it out later and do not go back and forth.

 

The water content you're seeing is likely from the freezer taking water from the dough.  The freezer is a very dry environment,  If the dough is in a bag it will be contained there.  It needs to be allowed time to go back in when the dough is taken out of Colditz .  Incidentally, this is the same for, say, an already baked baguette you've stashed in the freezer.  Don't open the bag until it's completely thawed.

[Ann_T]

33 minutes ago, TicTac said:

I recalled the crumb in your fantastic potato pizza as I made this post and our pizza tonight.  Do you make your own dough, Ann?  It looked fantastic.

TicTac, I do.   I have the recipe on my blog.  You can find it  HERE.  The only thing I change with this recipe is the hydration.  Yesterday's pizza dough was at 76%.  And I also made two loaves of bread

from the same batch.  Posted on the Bread Thread on Pastry and Baking Forum. 

 

[JohnT]

Because I make my pizza's very thin, I roll the base to get an even uniformity. My base is about 2mm in thickness. When doing a thicker base, I just hand form it - but it is not often I do a thicker base!

[Lisa Shock]

15 hours ago, TicTac said:

Interesting re: the oil.  How does that interact with the flour - or do you forgo it in that case? 

 

It doesn't really interact, it's like changing what you do to the top crust of a loaf of bread. Bread that just gets steamed has a crunchy crust, oil gives a softer, more flexible crust. (steam still escapes from the crust) But, I suspect that there's a small effect with temperature -kind of like there is with roasted vegetables. The oil can obviously get hotter than boiling water temperature while the dough still has moisture in it. I tend to like thicker pizza dough, but have had nice results with almost every type of crust. (except I don't make the cracker-thin crust)

 

I also tend to build on a screen and then bake on either my steel or stone. (stone is always in the oven and easy, steel weighs a lot and i don't always feel like hauling it out) Try it some time and see what you think; maybe make a mini pizza with this technique the next time you're making pizzas.

Edited November 20, 2017 by Lisa Shock (log)

[Shelby]

By hand over here in Kansas.

[Ann_T]

Lisa, I just saw your comment on oiling.  I oil my hands with olive oil.  Does help with the stretching.  

[Duvel]

1 hour ago, Ann_T said:

Lisa, I just saw your comment on oiling.  I oil my hands with olive oil.  Does help with the stretching.  

So true. But also helps with handling the dough ...

[TicTac]

Great tips - thank you all.

 

I now look forward to the arrival of my pizza steel, and I can throw out my 'custom cut' piece of cardboard which has been filling the void till the real McCoy arrives! 

 

[Dr. Teeth]

On ‎4‎/‎24‎/‎2020 at 8:00 PM, Chris Hennes said:

I'm feeling kind of broken-record-ish here, but this is the last of the gorgonzola, so I guess I'll move on with my life soon.

 

 

 

Please don't.   The thread is fascinating, as are the pizzas being generated.  Can you tell me a bit more about the current cooking technique.   I have a pizza steel.   Do you pre-heat the steel prior to putting the pizza under the broiler?  In a 500 degree oven?  or under the broiler?   How far do you set the pizza from the heating element?

 

My favorite odd combination, if you are doing requests, is tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella and canned artichokes

[Chris Hennes]

48 minutes ago, Dr. Teeth said:

Can you tell me a bit more about the current cooking technique.   I have a pizza steel.   Do you pre-heat the steel prior to putting the pizza under the broiler?  In a 500 degree oven?  or under the broiler?   How far do you set the pizza from the heating element?

 

I have the 1/4" baking steel: I preheat at 500°F for an hour, then turn on the broiler, then pop the pizza in the oven. Modernist Bread wants you to wait five minutes after turning on the boiler, but with my oven that's not as effective as turning it on and loading right away. I'm using their recommended dough hydration percentage for that oven temperature, and I'm basically happy with the results. I'm 3 1/2" from the heating element, which is as close to my oven's "sweet spot" as I can get using the built-in rack positions.

 

I've got a batch of the Modernist Neapolitan dough in the works right now, so tomorrow night I should be ready to compare those results to the current no-knead. It's a tough life, testing all this pizza.  

[Dante]

21 hours ago, Chris Hennes said:

Modernist Neapolitan dough

 

Sorry for being so far out of the loop, but explain modernist pizza dough to me?

[MokaPot]

3 hours ago, Dante said:

 

Sorry for being so far out of the loop, but explain modernist pizza dough to me?

 

I think it's this recipe (or a version thereof) from one of the "Modernist Cuisine" cookbooks:

 

https://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/neapolitan-pizza-dough/

[Dante]

47 minutes ago, MokaPot said:

 

 

https://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/neapolitan-pizza-dough/

 

Thank you!  Something new to experiment with!  I make pizza fairly regularly. 

[Chris Hennes]

7 hours ago, Dante said:

 

Sorry for being so far out of the loop, but explain modernist pizza dough to me?

 

In Modernist Bread they present a two different recipes for Neapolitan-style pizza dough: what might be called "Regular" and "Modernist" (though note that the regular still incorporates their work on modifying the dough hydration to compensate for the low baking temperature of a home oven). Neither of those recipes are quite the one from Modernist Cuisine at Home, however. The one I made, the "Modernist" variant of their dough, includes a few additional components over their regular version to enhance the crispness and rise of the crust. Here it is today, after proofing for one day (the recipe calls for 1-2):

 

 

[Chris Hennes]

Now, to the other end of the pizza spectrum: same dough, but this time cooked in a skillet on the grill since it's starting to get a bit warm to have the oven on at 500°F for an hour and a half. Enormous quantity of Cabot extra sharp cheddar both above and below the sauce, as well as (taking a page from Reinhart's pan pizza book again) chunks put along the outside edge of the dough so it gets crispy. And olives, of course.