Pizza Dough???

Gato · October 2011

I'm gonna try a pizza this weekend and want to make my own crust, I have watched some videos that show people mixing by hand for a single crust. I was also looking at the Bobby Flay recipe and it shows using a stand mixer. Is the stand mixer necessary?? Any other tips would also be welcome. New egg user! Cooked on it once so far and love it!! Thanks

VanDawg38 · October 2011

Stand mixer not necessary. We usually hand mix even though there is a Kitchen-Aid on the counter. I'd start with a simple recipe and go from there. Practice makes perfect.

Gato · October 2011

Thanks. Can't wait to give it a try. I've been reading and think I have decided to use the setter, legs down with ceramic feet and a baking stone I had before getting the egg. Thinking about 425° ten to twelve minutes. Good plan???

ribmaster · October 2011

good plan unless it is pampered chef stone.

Gato · October 2011

It's not a pampered chef stone, but not a bge either. Not sure what brand, it was a gift. Not very thick though.

bostonjosh · October 2011

made pizza on the bge a few weeks ago for the first time. came out great. one thing i haven't mastered is the slight-of-hand it takes to get the prepared pizza onto the hot stone. two methods i've done to "cheat" are: (1) bake the crust first for a few mins first to get it a bit rigid, pull off and then add sauce/cheese/toppings, or (2) prepare the whole pizza first on nonstick alum foil, xfer the pizza to the stone with the foil, and then bake for a few mins until the crust is a bit rigid, and then pull out the foil like a magician pulling off tablecloth from a fully set table. or, do it the "real" way and somehow get the whole prepared pizza onto the stone directly from the start, and let me know how u did it!

Gato · October 2011

I am planning on using some sort of peel with cornmeal on it. I have seen others use it and I'm guessing it helps the pizza slide off easier...

SmokeyPitt · October 2011

I have some el cheapo pizza stone and it hasn't cracked yet. I don't think you will have any problem at 425. I usually go about 500 for 8 minutes or so. Some people like to go nuclear temps but I like the results around 500.

One good tip for your first pizza is to make sure to let your egg get nice and hot to burn off any smoke. I let the egg run full tilt for 20-30 minutes then bring it down to about 500. Basically you want to make sure it is burning nice and clean to reduce the smoke taste. Unless of course you want it to be smokey :). I didn't do this on my first pie (threw it on as soon as the temp reached 500 or so) and it came out too smokey for my taste.

Gato · October 2011

Thanks everyone for all the help and tips. Can't wait to give it a try...

JeffM · October 2011

Try making the pizza on parchment paper then sliding paper and pizza onto the stone-foolproof.

GrannyX4 · October 2011

What Jeffm says works real good. We did the corn meal thing and the texture was like grit on the bottom. We didn't much care for it. We might have used the wrong kind of corn meal - not sure. Parchment worked for us.

greenfan · October 2011

I have cooked several pizzas with a Pampered Chef stone without any problems. but I do usually cook at around 450 not ultra high temps like some prefer. I also use plate setter legs down with ceramic feet, but I don't pre-warm the stone.

Austin Egghead · October 2011

Greenfan, if you do use your pampered chef stone don't go above the 450 mark. Mine cracked in half at 500.

Gato · October 2011

I like the foil and parchment paper idea. I think that could work. One other thing, does anyone know how far in advance I could make the dough and what do I do with it after it its made. Refrigeration???

GrannyX4 · October 2011

Refrigerate or freeze.

kpetry · October 2011

Fred's Music and BBQ Supply has lots of good videos:

http://www.fredsmusicandbbq.com/category_s/230.htm

Most of the pizza videos are down near the middle of the list. I've learned quite a bit from these!

bostonjosh · October 2011

JeffM, GrannyX4 - Do you bake the pizza the whole time with the parchment paper? Or slip out the paper at some point?

BBQMaven · October 2011

I've done it both ways... can't tell any difference if leaving or removing is better.

If doing multiple pizzas, I'll pull the paper after about 3 mins and use it to build the next one on.... I've used two pieces and cooked 8 pizzas with them.

GrannyX4 · October 2011

I leave them on. I don't cook on a pizza stone so it doesn't make any difference. Also makes it easy for me to take them off. I just slide them on to a rimless cookie sheet.

gerhardk · October 2011

I have only made pizza in the egg once but have made pizza on a stone in the oven for years. I originally used corn meal but it made a mess of the oven, the first time I used parchment I had a soggy crust so then I pulled the parchment out after about 2 minutes and liked the results. I posted a video of how I baked pizza with the egg in this thread Frozen pizza by a 'green' BGE user

Gerhard

newegglander · October 2011

Cornmeal will make a bitter taste when it burns. I use semolina flour, it has a similar texture but when it burns it turns into dust with no off flavors.

I used this recipe for pizza dough, and it is wonderful. It does, however, take planning as the recipe takes a couple of days with all of the sitting.

http://www.stoneturtlebaking.com/webdocs/Apizza_Dough.pdf

newegglander · October 2011

Also, I don't like or use parchment. It seems to defeat the purpose of using the stone.

Squeezy · October 2011

Has anyone used Fleishman's Pizza yeast? It says on the lable that proofing isn't needed just mix up and knead, spread and load her up. The method on the jar is so small I copied it. See below;

Pizza dough (Pizza yeast)

1 cup all purpose flour

2¼ tsp undissolved yeast

1½ tsp sugar

¾ tsp salt to a large bowl adding

2/3 cup warm water (120-130º) and

3 tbsp oil mix I min. to blend well, add enough flour to
make a soft dough

¾ to 1¼ cups flour, should form a slightly sticky ball

Knead on a floured surface adding as needed until smooth and
elastic. About 4 min. Pat or roll dough on floured surface (parchment, pan,
peel) with floured hands or roller.

After putting on toppings, bake at 425°F for 12 – 15 minutes

gerhardk · October 2011

Newegglander you are right if you use the parchment throughout the bake it does defeat the purpose of the stone when used the way I do it is a processing aid much like your use of semolina flour.

Squeezy the problem with no proof is that the flavour of the dough will never have a chance to develop. I use a sour dough instead of yeast which works but it takes time and your bread and pizza will have a totally different flavour. I guess the difference is like comparing instant vanilla pudding to real custard, kind of the same but totally different at the same time. Some people throw the outer crust of the pizza away so the flavour of the crust is less relevant but this is one of my favourite parts of the pizza.

Gerhard

Squeezy · October 2011

I appreciate your feedback, as I have no previous experience with fresh dough. Hmm ... I love sour-dough ... haven't has any in quite some time. Hadn't though much about the crust flavor ... was more concerned with texture because we all know how inferior frozen pizza crusts are.

Are there any flavorings that any of you would reccomend to add to this mix that I could try until I use up this yeast?

gerhardk · October 2011

Squeezy I guess I am a purist with dough all I add is flour (unbleached), water, my sourdough culture (it is like a pet, if you don't feed, water and take care of it it will die), olive oil and salt. The flavour in the dough comes from the bacteria and natural yeast in the sour dough consuming the sugars in the flour. I am sure the big food companies have ways of chemically enhancing the flavours of bread, pizza, pork shoulders etc. but it defeats what we are doing by taking the time to make our own food. I am not some health food nut but I buy the pork from a butcher that uses the pigs from his brothers farm and they are raised anti-biotic free, I have read enough horror stories about large scale factory food that I like to think supporting the small guys is good for me and them.

Gerhard

Squeezy · October 2011

I hear and agree with you for the most part. I'm just trying to get started baking my own pizza and find that there are so many ways to do this ... :( ... I will try this yeast as is and see what happens ... got to be better than store bought (I hope)

Gato · October 2011

Just made my first pizza dough and cooked my first pizza on the egg. Used the Bobby Flay recipe on the food network. Makes two pizzas. Prepared the pizza on parchment paper as was suggested and pulled it out after three minutes or so. Ended up cooking at around 475° for about twelve to fifteen minutes. Looks and tastes pretty good. Seems like the top was getting done a little before the crust. Really enjoyed it and thanks for all your help. Can't wait to try it again!

gerhardk · October 2011

Looks good enough to eat, if you want a darker crust you can cut down on the proof time a little and/or add a little sugar.

Gerhard

GrannyX4 · October 2011

Squeezy,

Fleishman's pizza yeast sounds interesting: No rise time
To make homemade pizza dough, simply add water, salt and flour to Fleischmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast, mix and knead. There is no rise after kneading like other yeasts. You just need to roll or press out the dough to make the pizza crust.
Just relax
Pizza Crust Yeast is specially-formulated with dough relaxers that keep the dough from pulling or snapping back when shaping it. So it’s easy to make your crust the shape and size you like. Individual sized crusts, thick crusts, thin crusts or hand tossed crusts, it’s up to you!

This is what they had to say about about the yeast. No waiting around for a rise and no snapping back sounds very interesting. Just keep trying for the flavor that tickles your taste buds. Butter, olive oil, garlic, basil, oregano, or Parmesan cheese just to name a few. This yeast sounds like the perfect yeast for someone to get their feet wet and the feel for making dough.

Gato · October 2011

It did have some sugar in it. Didn't know the proof time could have an effect on it. I did make it a little early. May also try it without the egg feet next time. Baking stone right on top of p.setter.

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