July 22, 2011 - 8:03am
New member from Central Oregon, Hello.
Hello members of the fresh loaf forum! Being recently retired due to physical disabilities I am spending more time in the kitchen. I've always enjoyed baking, it seems to be therapeutic and brings back good old memory's from growing up. My mother and grandma were always baking something and filling the home with wonderful smells. Recently I've been experimenting with pizza dough which in a round about way brought me to this forum in my search for a good book on the art of making pizza dough. Well, I'd better see whats cooking in this forum!
Share
Welcome aboard! I hope you've found the search function at the top of the upper left-hand column. Type in the words "pizza dough" and stand back. I also hope that you've a creative mind that goes well beyond tomato sauce pizza. There's so much more variety in even traditional pizzas. Potato and onion pizza without any red sauce. Cauliflower and olive pizza. Cherry tomatoes and chopped fresh rosemary, again without red sauce. White pizza (mozzarella and ricotta) with sauteed broccoli. (See if you can find a copy of John Lahey's My Bread for suggestions. Everyone's taste's different. I stay away from piling on lots of stuff and I never like what I think of as hokey Americanisms like fresh pineapple chunks and boiled ham, but, hey, if other folks like such things, who does it hurt?
The only thing that's important to me is a thin crust with just the right amount of char. I hope you have an oven that reaches about 500 degrees, and that you've read about the care that has to be taken so as not to break your pizza stone. After I'd learned through experience how easy it is to break one, I bought 6" by 6" unglazed refractory tiles, enough to fit my oven rack, and then was off and running. Haven't broken one of them since.
Good luck!
Thanks for the welcome Rick,
yes have a stone what a great thing to have. Hopefully this will post been having issues logging on...
Hey Rodney,
Come on in the waters fine. There's enough info here to fill a book about pizza. Do some searches, look around. And don't mind me I'm just looking for my marbles {:=)))
Us older outta work guys gotta stick together and get back to some play dough.
Jim
Your right Jim but I am a book junkie! the more the better. I've already got some real good advice right here and have some dough on the rise for a dinner pizza. I'm using unbleached organic flour and instant yeast EVoO salt, sugar and water, a pretty fundamental receipt to use. what my experience has been with the pizza crust has been, one batch was really difficult to push out and make a circle it was constantly wanting to shrink back. last night the dough I used was so soft and easy to form the crust. I'm not sure what I did different? maybe the batch last night I didn't kneed as much in my Kitchen Aide? It's all good and what I don't eat the puppies are not so patiently waiting for their share.
Hey Bud,
If you want to talk about books send me a personal message (upper left hand corner here). I got a bunch.
As far as the pizza dough, unless you have a weak flour, underkneading is good. If the dough resists, let it rest for 5 mins. I also like to fridge mine over night, next day form a ball, pat down flat, oil top and bottom, roll out to near size and work a rim with the fingers. In good weather I fire it up on the gas grill, 650°F, nice crisp crust!
Jim
The dough I am using tonight was in the fridge since yesterday PM and I've had it out on the counter for a few hours then in a warm oven and it looks about ready to flatten out. I.m going to be real gentle this time and not over work it. It will interesting to see the difference.