pizza dough ?

SPRIGS

Tried my first thin crust pizzas Friday night and was fairly pleased with the results.  But I have a question - do you guys pre bake just the crust for any length of time and then put your toppings on?  I only did them at around 500 (raised indirect with stone placed on the swing rack) and pre baked just the crust for around 5 minutes.  Put the toppings on and finished for about another 5 minutes.  I am just using bread flour but will be ordering some Caputo "00" flour as i can't find anyplace around here that sells it.  Also, using 6 in 1 crushed tomatos as my sauce base.  I just wasn't getting the big bubbles on the outside rim of my crust like I have seen some of you guys post.  Not sure if it was the flour, how I did it, etc...  I actually flipped the crust after the prebake then put my toppings on the side that was on the stone for the first 5 minutes.  Was just nervous it wasn't going to get all the way done without burning.  Probably not how it is supposed to be done so I am looking for your temp and timing.

 

Just curious if you pre bake and if so, at what temp and for how long?  I think I will give them another shot tomorrow night.  Thanks guys.

nolaegghead

I used to when I did pizzas on the grate on a charcoal grill, but not with a stone or steel.

Mama Roneck

I've never prebaked a crust. I put the pizza together on a well floured peel (or use cornmeal or semolina) then on to the preheated stone for 10-12 minutes at 500-550 or 600-650 if I'm using dough made with 00.

BizGreenEgg

No need to pre bake. And bread flour should be fine. Knead the dough well to develop good gluten structure. Also I believe you want a fairly wet dough to have more rise and larger bubbles. It will be sticky and hard to work with but i have had good results with wet dough. Zippy lip has a good recipe on the forum. also bake as high in the dome as possible. 

Skiddymarker

I agree with @BizGreenEgg wetter dough is better. IMO, using the KitchenAid - I let it run for 10 minutes or more. Can't knead enough. Let rise an away you go. 

Takes a few times, but I've found about a 400º stone works best for my topping amount. I never prebake. 

OMG Eggs

I've played around with dough more than I'd like to admit.  IMO, unless you're Cooking at 800+, stick with the bread flour.  If you do use 00, I highly recommend oil and sugar in the dough to help with rise and color of the final pizza.  00 on a Lower temp cook will generally end up bad.

nolaegghead

Tipo 00 does not brown well...it goes from white to black at some point.  But the black is so good.

paqman

Look at this post:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1141565/finally-the-pizza-dough-recipe-i-was-looking-for

The Caputo 00 flour does make a difference.  I have tested a few other brands of 00 flour and consistently had better results with the Caputo...