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simple pizza crust

henapple
henapple Posts: 16,025
edited October 2012 in EggHead Forum
Have had the egg a while and am ready to branch out from pork and chicken, etc.... The family loves pizza so I'm looking for a stone. I need a simple crust recipe. At this time I don't have a mixer that most of the recipes I've found require. As far as the stone...I know PC won't work. Any ideas other than BGE's brand. As always...thanks.
Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 

Comments

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Without getting into special Tipo 00 flour, lots of manual labor or a stand mixer, it doesn't get much easier than this.  I've done this one a few times.

    http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/03/no-knead-pizza-dough

    You do want a kitchen scale to measure dough ingredients.

    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    Have you got a Kitchen Collection store near you? They have a 13" stone with rack (Think it is Hamilton Beach?), for $10, although it says good up to 475, I've had mine for over a year and used on the egg since June, cook temps 525-575. I've also used my PC pie plate for deep dish. As long as the temps are under 450 and you put the pie in the plate cold, then on the indirect grill you are fine. I think where the PC pizza stones get shattered is if you pre-heat them. A cold pie put on a hot stone is death to the PC stone.
    All dough recipes can be made by hand, the initial mixing is easy, it is the 5 to 10 minutes of kneading that most folks don't like to do by hand. Just knead as long as you can, dump into an oiled bowl and let it rise. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    As with all things new...I'm bombarded with different things. 450 say some and 700 say others. Some of the doughs are easy enough but most require a lot of time to rise...with kids, business, etc...it's hard to plan 18 hrs ahead. I guess I'm looking for fast rather than easy. I've made pizzas in the oven, on a stone but always deep dish and about 15 years ago.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    Well, I let my dough rise about an hour, then cook it. I have also just made it and cooked right away, the rise was on the stone. Use any recipe, like Nola's, good bread flour, water, yeast, salt and oil. If you can, try a pre made dough - many here use it all the time. 
    Temp is a big thing, as noted I use 525 to 575 dome. Better to be at 500 for the first few then take it up as you become expert if you want. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    High temp pizza cooking is tricky.  I'd start off in the 500s.  If you're doing deep dish, even that's too hot.  Deep dish pizza cooks more like a casserole.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Been using Pampered Chef , so far so good ! But I also have been keeping the temp reasonable 600 F is about as hot as i have taken the stone.
    Ova B.
    Fulton MO
  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    Here's a no rise dough I've done a couple of times.  Found this one on line at the 'Once Upon a Plate' blog.  Doesn't get much easier and makes a pretty good pizza. I cook it at 500 on a raised stone.

    Scant 1 Tablespoon active Quick Rise* dry yeast, or 1 packet

    Pinch granulated sugar

    3/4 cup very warm (not hot) water

    1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    Optional: may mix in 1 tablespoon olive oil to the dough mixture

    Pizza sauce and toppings of your choice


    In a small bowl or glass measuring cup dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water, stir and set aside for 10 minutes. Mixture should begin to bubble and foam at the end of the time (indicating that the yeast is activated & alive.)


    In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt, set aside.

    Add the liquid yeast mixture (and olive oil if using) to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.


    Flour a work surface and knead dough for a couple of minutes until smooth and elastic.


    Shape the dough into 1 large, 2 medium, or 4 small pizzas using whatever method you prefer; rolling pin, stretching or off the board between your two hands, in the air.


    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Try to let the pizza stone heat up and cool down in the egg.   I had one spontaneously break from cooking too fast after removing it from the oven.  This isn't a problem with cast iron pizza pans.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • DonWW
    DonWW Posts: 424

    I use the dough recipe from the BGE cookbook.  Similar to many others.  Simple and easy.  1 hour rise is adequate.

    I don't have a stand mixer.  I use a hand mixer with the dough attachment.  A little more effort, but has always worked perfectly.   

    Not sure why you are opting against the BGE brand pizza stone.  There are many testamonies to its durability, right alongside photos of other stones cracked on the PS.  Either way, agree 100% on allowing stone to heat up, cool down with the egg.

    XL and Medium.  Dallas, Texas.
  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    edited October 2012
    2.5 cups flour
    1 cup warm water
    1 packet active dry yeast
    1 tsp sugar
    1 tsp kosher salt
    1 Tbsp olive oil

    That's the original ingredients list for the no rise / no kneed dough I make.  The instructions were to basically just dump everything into a bowl and mix until uniform, let rest 10 minutes, and form pizza.  I've been messing with the recipe for more than a year (making a pizza a week).  Things I've changed:

    I've experimented with different flours and mixes and settled on 2C King Arthur AP + 1/2C King Arthur white whole wheat.  Lately I've been using a teaspoon or two (I don't actually measure it) of honey instead of sugar.  I use 3 Tbsp olive oil.  I mix the warm water, yeast, and honey in a large bowl first, and while that sits I measure out the salt and flour.  Then add the oil and salt, stir, then dump in all the flour.  Mix by hand with a fork until I have a nice dough...more flour if needed (too sticky).  Then...either let it sit loosely covered in the fridge over night (around 20 hours), or if you have the time, just let it rise covered with a towel at room temp.  If I made it the night before, I punch it down in the morning, return to fridge, and remove it when I get home from work, punch down again, and let sit out until I'm ready to cook.  If I didn't make it the night before, I punch it down after about an hour of room temp rise, then give it another 30-60 min of rise time, punch it down, let it rest a few minutes, and form the crust.

    I can't find the video now, but I accidentally stumbled on a pizza making video on youtube recently that demonstrated a "turn and slap" method for forming the crust.  Basically, you stretch the dough just a little in your hands, then put it down on a well floured counter/board.  Then press by hand only in the center...not the edges.  Then pick it up, rotate 90* and flip it.  Press some more.  Repeat until you have the size you want.  Last pizza I made I did this method and made the dough same day (no fridge) and I think it was the best crust I've ever done.

    I cook on parchment on a preheated stone (425F) in the oven.  I pre-cook just the crust 2 minutes, then top it and cook another 14 minutes.  This recipe makes one 16" pizza.
  • If busy lifestyle is an issue, you can always buy raw pizza dough in the bakery section of many grocery stores. I know Publix and Kroger both have them. Just remove from the bag and roll out. Bada bing, bada boom!
    Killen, AL (The Shoals)
    XL, Small, Minimax, and Mini BGEs
  • r270ba
    r270ba Posts: 763

    If busy lifestyle is an issue, you can always buy raw pizza dough in the bakery section of many grocery stores. I know Publix and Kroger both have them. Just remove from the bag and roll out. Bada bing, bada boom!

    I bought the publix crust and did not like it. I couldn't get it thin enough. Anyone else have thoughts on it?
    Anderson, SC
    XL BGE, Father's Day Gift 2012 (Thanks Fam!!!)
    Webber Kettle and Webber Summit Gasser
    Want List: Thermapen, Small BGE, Wok, Adjustable Rig, Food Saver, More $

  • Been using Pampered Chef , so far so good ! But I also have been keeping the temp reasonable 600 F is about as hot as i have taken the stone.
    Ova B.
    Fulton MO
  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    +1 on Pampered Chef stone.  Multiple pizza's and no issues yet.  
    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    edited October 2012
    I finally found the video so I had to dig this thread up.  I've used (from memory) this technique the past two times...not quite exactly as they do it, but close.  For today's pizza I didn't feel like making the crust last night and I knew I'd have some time this morning, so I mixed it up this morning, kneaded it for a few minutes by hand (have never done this and was curious if it'd make a difference), let it rise an hour covered on the counter top, punched it down, then put it in the fridge covered until this evening.  This batch needed some extra flour and with the bench flour it picked up while kneading, it probably ended up closer to 3 cups flour total.

    I don't know if it was the kneading or something else, but this was probably the best crust I've ever made.

    Forgot to mention the first time around, after cooking, I move the pizza (still on parchment) to a cooling rack and let it cool a few minutes before slicing and eating.

    I'd not quite remembered the name of the technique.  It's slap and stretch, not turn and slap.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J9IYEzIjUs&playnext=1&list=PLde6xj2c8n7kCV19qezk-jpTb-6F_weUr&feature=results_main