but crust seemed to dry out in a few hours. would ooil help. usually the pizza doesnt last too long so its not a major problem . Patrick from Modesto

I am using this type of flour for the first time for pizza, has anyone ever used this grade of flour and if so is there a difference vs. bread flour?

Last week I posted a video by Susan Reid of KA Kitchens demonstrating Asiago Grilled [Flatbread] Rounds. I tried the recipe, but was a bit disappointed in the results--they came out kind of tough. After musing about it this week, I think I probably over grilled them. I watched the video, but then made the recipe according to the printed out version. If anyone tries these, I urge them to follow what she does on the video rather than what is written. For my grill, 8 minutes was too long. She also covered them before flipping them on the video--the written instructions say after flipping. I should try this recipe again sometime.

http://how2heroes.com/videos/dessert-and-baked-goods/grilled-asiago-rounds

--Pamela

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/dining/08pizza.html?_r=2&ref=dining

I do enjoy pizza from time to time, but I'm baffled over how far some are willing to take the concept in the search of the "genuine" pizza... How can a $34 pie be representative of a meal that originally was prepared to put a hodge-podge of leftovers to good use?

I've made pizza a few times using various crust recipes, but one recurring theme is I seem to have an issue with oven spring.  Last night I made a pizza in which the crust inflated like a balloon.  It looked sort of like an inflated whoopee cushion.  This particularly pizza recipe called for par-baking the crust for six minutes before removing from oven and adding toppings. I deflated the crust as best I could before adding the toppings.  It ended up tasting great.  In fact, it was the closest to a perfect NY style thin crispy-chewy crust that I've come up with yet.  I used HG flour and the methods prescribed by Steve from breadcetera.com.  I put my stone on a rack placed as close to the top of the oven as possible, preheated at the highest heat and then turned on the broiler for a few minutes to get the stone as hot as possible before sliding the crust in.  I know the extreme heat had a lot to do with the oven spring, but what is the proper method of shaping a pizza dough that would result in a fairly even crust with no excess ballooning?  Do I need to beat the heck out of the dough to get all the excess gas out first?  I must admit, I've read a bunch about shaping pizza dough and never seen this issue addressed.

I am frustrated because I can't seem to figure out: Do I add flour or water to get the dough the way it's supposed to be? I hear the terms tacky and sticky but I can't seem to correct my dough. I am making the PR pizza nepoltana. I am putting the ingredients in the mixer, after weighing, and letting it mix where the dough sticks to the bottom but not the sides just like he says. BUT when I take it out to knead it a bit more (because it sticks to the dough hook) I end up with it all on my hands, whether I use flour or water or both. It's one big mess all over my hands. So I end up getting frustrated and putting it in a bowl in the frig.  This happens with all my breads by hand (I also make PR's master formula whole grain bread). I get to the point where I, after using the machine for initial kneading, take it out to knead by hand, it seems just perfect until about 3-5 minutes later after adding water to my hands to keep it from sticking to them, it gets super tacky and I can't seem to correct it, even by adding flour at that point. It almost becomes like a paste and trying to knead it more just makes it worse. Am I adding too much water but how do I keep my hands from sticking to the dough while kneading? What am I doing wrong?

Thank you and forgive my frustration.

Video: King Arthur's Susan Reid shows how to make Grilled Asiago Round. Who's the guy in the background?

http://how2heroes.com/videos/dessert-and-baked-goods/grilled-asiago-rounds

--Pamela

The site that Hans found also has a great nearly 10 minute long video on how to make and shape pizzas.

http://how2heroes.com/videos/entrees/crispy-chewy-pizza-dough

--Pamela

     I considered myself a fair baker having started over 30 years ago with my good friends mothers apple pie recipe. I have worked in the food and beverage industry for about that same period of time in various positions, front and back of house. While very open minded, I have not sought to expand my baking acumen beyond what I already knew, which is mostly pies, cookies, cakes, and crap loads of pizza. I am sooooo going to break out into breads it is not even funny!

     Since finding this website and trolling alot of the posts I have come across some fantastic, innovative techniques, as well as some great references to cookbooks on baking. The first techniques I have used are the the autolyse as well as the the French fold as shown in Richard Bertinets great video posted by ehanner, sorry, don't know how to link pages yet. Wow! What a diffefence this has made to my pizza dough! It was supple and much more stretchy than I am used to. Got a great windowpane after just a few minutes of kneading.

     I cannot wait to make my pies tomorrow! FYI, i am using the recipes from Reinharts American Pie book. The only difference is that I incorperated an autolyse with 80% of the flour and all the water for the first mixing. Waited 30 minutes and added the remaining flour and other ingredients and followed with the Fench fold for about 7 minutes. All mixing was done by hand as I have a pretty good feel for dough, plus my KitchenAid mixer is the suxor for bread, especially a 10 cup batch. Before I had always used an active yeast with the sponge method. This time I used SAF instant yeast directly to the dough. I think this will be a transformational change in my baking as well.

     This is my first post on a website devoted to baking. Normally I just troll and have a grand old time learning what I can. This time, however, I wished to share some of my success and with others that have the same passion as I do with food in general and baking specifically. I wish to develop a relationship with all of you passionate bakers and learn and share as much as I can.

     Hopefully I will have some good pictures of my pies in the next few days, going on a camping trip this weekend. If anyone has any questions, please ask, I will check my post and respond to all inquiries. While I am new to this site and have alot of things to learn, I have been and avid dessert baker for along time. Also, I have made hundreds of pizzas in many variations. So please avail yourself if you have any questions. I'd love to help anyone make better pie, pizza pie that is!

     Thanks for your time!

Kerry Young

Anchorage, Alaska

Has anyone here had success making roti canai?  It is the Malaysian version of Indian parathas, that I ate when I was in Malaysia earlier this year.  Flaky, crisp on the outside, layers of soft chew on the inside, sometimes filled with egg, meat, or banana.

The shaping of the dough was interesting, too.  It was flung around in a circular motion and slapped onto the counter until it was paper thin and nearly see-through, then folded into an envelope and thrown on the griddle.

I want to ultimately make a whole wheat or partially whole wheat version of this, if possible.  So far, no good!

You can read more details on my blog.

Anybody have more success at this than I did?

Aloha,

Alina

Find award-winning vegetarian and vegan recipes at my blog:  http://almostveganinparadise.wordpress.com