Dough Wars

Parcall · June 2011

Ok, I admit it. I have cooked on my Egg for almost 5 years, and today I tried pizza for the first time.

Sauce: excellent
Toppings: excellent
Taste: very good

Crust: not so hot

I bought a large dough ball at Publix and left it out to sit for a couple of hours, per one of the posts I read on the site. When it came time to use it, it had risen considerably and was almost impossible to shape into a 13 in pie.

I would move it out, and it would spring back, move out, spring back....

Finally after getting it into a shape somewhere between round and triangular, I applied the sauce and toppings and put it into a 550 degree Egg. Because the dough was too thick, it did not want to cook all the way though.

The taste of the finished pie was very good, but the crust was disappointing.

Suggestions?

Willie Lump Lump · June 2011

The gluten will relax if you give it five minutes. If the dough is fighting you let it relax.
WLL

Botch · June 2011

What Willie L2 said.

Pizza crust can be a whole new world if you really get into it. I joined www.pizzamaking.com about a year before I got my Large, and its as much of a learning experience as the Egg and this forum are.

How heavy was the dough ball you bought? A 13" pie isn't that big, you maybe could've made two, or four, pies.

Parcall · June 2011

Thanks for the tips. I will try it again this week, and will keep trying until I get it down. Anyone have a really good recipe for "thin crust" dough?

Crimsongator · June 2011

Publix pizza dough isn't ideal. It is more italin bread dough and way too hard to handle and shape. I think that is what got you this time. Try another source for dough or make your own next time.

flyboy320 · June 2011

I'm gonna try the pizza recipe from here;

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/pizza.htm

Used the dough recipe as the link above and tossed into my bread machine. We'll see how it turns out tonight!

Buckwoody Egger · June 2011

I agree that Publix pizza dough has it's quirks. Only advice I have for the original poster is that 550 is too high for the Publix dough--try around 450 max and it will be a longer cook. The longer I let it sit out and get warm, the better. Still practicing.

Making your own dough is the gold standard, kind of like Egging is mastery over fire and temp. I think it takes more of a learning curve but has a higher ultimate payoff...someday....

Parcall · June 2011

I am going to hang in there until I get it right. I will be trying again this weekend.

biggreenmatt · June 2011

Parcall:

I've been using the Julia Child dough recipe (from Baking with Julia) for years and it absolutely excels at making excellent, thin-crust pizza. Granted, you need to prepare it ahead of time (it needs time to proof and rest), but once you taste it, you'll agree that it's miles ahead of the store-bought stuff.

http://dishtrict.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-pizza-in-dc-your-name-heres.html

Dough Wars

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