August 14, 2016 - 6:44pm
The perfect thin crust
What is the key to a good thin crust pizza? Every homemade dough I make, I roll it out as thin as I can get it, but it still turns out thick and dense after baking in the oven.
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What is the key to a good thin crust pizza? Every homemade dough I make, I roll it out as thin as I can get it, but it still turns out thick and dense after baking in the oven.
I flagged this to follow it. I am having the girls over for a pizza party and made the dough today. It seemed pretty stiff so I am not sure I will be able to stretch it out nice and thin in a couple of days. I am hoping that the extended fermentation in the fridge softens it up. Hopefully others pipe in with ideas.
ETA: The crust was perfect. I posted the recipe below.
http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm
It's all there.
Personally, I think rolling out pizza is good for mass production. So assuming you are rolling with a pin, maybe better to try using your hands. It's really not that tricky, so long as you make a shape similar to the attached photo. you can stretch it on the counter top and get the main center crust very thin. In these photos, the crust is thick just coz I like a grabbable outer crust but the center here is quite thin. Also might help to know a little about how you are preparing your dough. Keep this in mind, if you roll it, the entire pie is uniform but if you hand shape, you can create a shape that foreces all the gass towards the outside thereby leaving the main center crust nice and thin (neopolitan style!)
Since two days I've been trying to make a perfect thin crust for the BBQ chicken pizza. I wonder how the pizzeria ppl prepare such perfect thin crust. I tried almost all the ways to get it perfect...But all my efforts are juz going vain. Tomorrow is my hubby's b'day and he loves eating BBQ chicken especially the thin and creamy crust which he usually orders it from the feast pizza menu of Fresh Slice Pizza pizzeria in Vancouver. I haven't even started preparing the crust, I've no idea how I'm gonna make it out within a day. Is anyone here who is a specialist in baking thin and perfect pizza crust? If no ideas comes up...then I've drop my plan :(
This makes a lovely thin crust that is somewhat floppy at first but then firms up as it cools.
Tarte flambée Dough
- 250 g flour
- 50 ml vegetable oil
- pinch of salt
- 125 ml of warm water
- no yeast
Mix salt and flour. Add water and oil. Mix well. Knead 5 minutes on counter. Let rest for a half hour covered with plastic wrap and then stretch thinly over a non stick pizza pan. I cut the excess that hangs over the edges. This can be made ahead of time and held in the fridge for a few days. Bring to room temperature before using.
This next recipe is the one I use for pizzas in our wood fired oven. I stretch the dough out in the counter and then place it on a perforated pizza pan so I am not fighting to get it off the pizza peel onto the cooking surface in the pizza oven. It makes a pretty thin crust, since I don't care for thick crusts. It is a breeze to make, can be made ahead and easily stretches out.
Pizza dough
1 cup wholewheat flour (or white if you prefer)
2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp salt
1pkg instant yeast or 2 and 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
Add dry ingredients to food processor and whirl to combine. Mix oil with water. While food processor is going, add oil to bowl and process until ball forms. Take dough out and knead for one minute. Place in oiled bowl, let rise for 45 minutes to an hour in a warm place. Dough should rise significantly but no more than double. Split into two balls and place into plastic bag previously drizzled with a bit of oil. Store in fridge until needed. Bring back to room temperature before stretching out.
This gives you two things to try but I think I would try the tarte flambée crust. It is close to what you describe above. It has a lovely buttery flavour even though there is no butter in it.
ETA: I took a look at your link and that pizza doesn't look particularly thin. Maybe you want to use the section recipe. The edge would look more like the ones in your link.
If you post your recipe, and your process, that should help. Thin crust depends on recipe and technique, as well as how you roll it out. Are you trying to get it thin and crispy - like Pizza Hut, or thin and floppy like a street pizza in New York?
an elastic one. Long cold ferment and proofing using AP flour at about 68% hydration should do it for you. No need for a pin. After seeing Neicco Capon stretch my SD dough over the granite edge of that counter and then bake it at 950 F was all it took.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/43777/nico%E2%80%99s-sourdough-pizza-crust-and-focaccia
Happy thin crispy pizza making