Pizza afficionados

Unknown

So.... I made my dough ball as per instruction and is currently rising nicely. My question is, I used standard flour as opposed to bread flour. Am I going to have problems tossing the "skin" ie blowouts. Can someone discuss gluten when adressing pizza issues? I have a pretty basic recipi and lack knowledge that is assumed in the recipi. Thanx. I'm gonna do it till I get it right. I think it's callede a quest.[p]ern

fishlessman

ern,
i dont know much about the flour, but sometimes i find that it stops stretching out when you toss it up, putting it back down to rest a couple 5 minutes and you can pick it up and continue with the stretching process. im thinking that the higher gluten stuff needs a little more resting while doing this

icemncmth

ern,[p]
Well you are asking a HUGE question..[p]Everything depends on the recipe you are using...[p]How much water or hydration is very important...[p]You will know if you have too much gluten because when you try to pull the dough it will snap back like a rubber band..[p]Most of the time when making pizza people don't use enough water...[p]The dough should be a little sticky when you let it proof..[p]then you can add a little flour to the mix to make things less sticky.[p]
As for gluten..it really depends on the flour..[p]If you use a true pizza flour or a "00" grade flour you will have a high gluten flour..[p]Bread flour is a little lower on the scale..00 flour is very fine and is hard to get. [p]You can get a really nice flour from King Aruthur...I think it is called Sir lancelot...[p]It is a fine milled flour and is perfect for pizzas..[p]When you make pizzas at home and you are using standard flour. It isn't milled as fine as a bread flour so you get larger particles of grain and they absorb more water...
Thus this makes each grain of flour larger and this gives you a different texture...[p]Also basic flour is kind of low on the gluten scale and you might have to add more flour to the mix to get things right..[p]OK..now you do have to take in consideration the humidity in the air...[p]When I make pizza dough I weigh everything..I don't use cups..or the like because a cup of flour one day can be or weigh more than the next depending on the humidity in the air...[p]what you need to do is mess with the dough...Make a double batch..split it and add more water to one than the other...[p]And see how you like it...[p]You will also be better off us Active Dry Yeast..or Bread Machine yeast..[p]It works better for pizza ...unless you are looking for a better flavor ..[p]You can slow down the yeas process by placing the dough in the fridge for a couple of days an pull it out a few hours before you use it...[p]This causes the yeast to slowly eat the sugars and this will give you a better tasting crust...[p]It will also give you more gluten....[p]
If you need more information than you need drop me an email and I can hook you up!

citychicken

geeze icemncmth that was a lot of help. thanks.
btw i'll buy the beer if you come on by to help me too.

Unknown

icemncmth, Super!! exactly what I was looking for. Yes, it was way too tacky after mixing, so I just added more flour on the kneading board and kept kneading till just past tacky and let 'er rise. Only took about 45 minutes to nearly triple in size, so I punched it down and stuck in fridge for tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm off to find some 00 flour.[p]Thanx a bunch,
ern

icemncmth

markkal123,[p]I guess you can say that I have made a few pizzas in my life[p]
As for the beer...I really can drink a lot....!![p]Just ask my wife she is always complaining that I drank all the beer in the fridge...

Unknown

fishlessman, Thanx for your input. As I said, I'm going to keep trying till I get it right. That bit about the 00 flour is something I simply did not know. [p]ern

omba

ern,
You've got some real expert help down below. I would certainly take advantage of it. :-)[p]FWIW ...
I have also been on the pizza dough quest. I have found that adding a bit of olive oil to a recipe makes the lower gluten flours stretch better. I have only used Sir Lancelot in the past, and the "eaters" around here say it's perfect. But ...[p]Having grown up on NY style pizza and being somewhat stubborn, I'm not 100% satisfied yet. A couple of days ago I made two more experimental doughs ... one with "regular" bread flour and oil; another without oil. As I ALWAYS let dough sit AT LEAST 36 hours, I just might pull some doughballs out today. I'll let you know the results. :-)[p]There are so many ways to make a pizza, and many are good. Everyone has his/her own style. Some basic "musts" for me personally:
1. Let portioned dough rest in refrigerator at least 36 hours. It just seems to taste better.
2. Use higher gluten flours ... bread, sir lancelot
3. Never use cold dough. Room temp for 2+ hours.
4. Never cook pizza sauce.
5. Less is better. Avoid the "kitchen sink" toppings.
6. Crank the BGE to 600+.
7. Cool pizza on wire rack a couple of minutes before slicing.
8. Make dough with COLD water to slow down fermentation. (Back to #1)
9. Drink beer.
10. Thank your Egg.[p]Best of luck,
Peter[p]PS > The resource below has been VERY helpful to me.
[ul][li]Pizza-Making Forum[/ul]

Darnoc

ern,
King Arthur Sir Lancelot is great stuff!I tried six different grocers in the Baltimore area and no one carried the Lancelot mixture.The last place I tried was Food Lion and they carry it.This might save you some time in your hunt.

fishlessman

ern,
another thing ive found is that you can get the dough right, but then go cook it at the wrong temp. i havent made any from scratch in quite a while, but there are three different supermarket doughs near me, one definatly needs to be cooked at lower temps than the other. make sure to experiment with different temps

icemncmth

ern,[p]You won't find it locally....unless you have a pizza place that will sell it to you..[p]You can also get it at a resturant supply store..
But most likely you will have to buy 50 lbs.[p]You can order it online..and that is what I do..