Lazy Man's Pizza Dough?

WudEyeDoo

I'm going for two firsts this weekend. My first turkey on Saturday and first pizza on Sunday. The turkey is brining as we speak.[p]I have looked at Spin's pizza dough recipe and I anticipate after a round of golf in the afternoon I won't have the time or patience to do the pizza dough right (Spin's way). Also, I don't have a mixer of any kind to mix the ingredients.[p]To all you "short cutters", what do you consider the best, EASY alternative for me to use? The boxed, just-add-water mix? The store bought, already formed crust? What do you suggest?[p]Bob

Shelby

WudEyeDoo,
I've begun using the bread machine to simply mix the dough. Pretty simple...put the stuff in, turn it on. 90 mins later, the dough is ready.

fontzmark

WudEyeDoo,
Buy some frozen bread dough, let it thaw in the fridge overnight, a couple hours before take out and let proof, press it down, let it relax a bit then roll it out on to a pizza peel dusted with corn meal. If it acts like it won't roll out(keeps shrinking back) let it rest a few minutes the roll some more. You might want to shape it into a ball after it thaws, so it will be easier to roll into a circle. Hope this helps, it works well.

Spin

WudEyeDoo,[p]Stop by your local pizza establishment and buy the dough from them.[p]Spin

Kevin D

WudEyeDoo,[p]What type of setup are you planning for the egg? Platesetter and stone? Two stones? Bricks and stone? Most important, I have found, is to get the setup on the egg fairly soon (when eggy is 300* or so) and let all that mass rise in temperature together until it maintains 550*-600*. I give it about 45 minutes. For lazy man's pizza dough I buy pre-made but not preformed pizza dough from the grocery store. The bakery makes it, bags it, and throws it in a cooler.[p]Kevin

Sippi

WudEyeDoo, Spin's three part pizza recipe became a family favorite soon after I got my BGE. When you have time available, I suggest that you try it. The dough really isn't at all difficult to make and can be done rather quickly after a little practice. A Wal-Mart mixer with dough hook can be purchased for about the same price as one family trip to the local pizza parlor. Now I'm sure it wouldn't last with heavy use but will certainly work well for making pizza once in a while. Try it. You won't be disappointed with the investment in time or money.

Alan

WudEyeDoo,[p]I like to use Pilsbury pre-made pizza dough. It comes in one of those biscuit-style cardboard tubes. I have made many pizzas(thin crust) using it and it works very well and has a nice consistency.[p]Cheers,
Alan

RAK

WudEyeDoo,
You can make your dough today and put in the fridge for tomorrow. You just need to punch it down when you see it getting out of hand:-) I have kept my pizza dough in the fridge for several days and not had a problem.

Zip

WudEyeDoo,[p]There are alot of good ideas below, but here is something else to consider. Around here on the cakemix/flour aisle in the grocery store they sell a hot roll mix. There are two brands that I've tried that are pretty good, Pillsbury and Dromedary(sp?). They both have instructions on the box for making pizza with good results. [p]If you decide to make dough from scratch, you can freeze it for later use. You can freeze the dough before the first rise or let it rise the first time and divide and freeze in plastic wrap.[p]Ashley

Trout Bum

WudEyeDoo,
I buy my dough made fresh from my local super market. They have their own pizza department and sell the dough only also. All you have to do it roll it out and egg it.
B D

davidm

WudEyeDoo,[p]I find my local pizzeria is happy to help me, especially if I can give them a day's notice. I call or stop in and ask them to prepare four or five dough balls that would make their medium-sized pizzas, and they sell them to me for the price I'd get them for at the supermarket. The crusts are much more extensible, though, and taste a lot better than the kind you'd get at the supermarket.[p]And I don't think the Pillsbury or other boxed-mix crusts come close even to what you'd buy in the supermarket refrigerator case.[p]There are probably enough pizzerias around you that you can find one that's happy to help.[p]Cheers,[p]David

Citizen Q

WudEyeDoo,
If you don't like the dry, starchy effect that you get from most supermarket doughs and a good ITALIAN Pizzaria is hard to find for ready made doughballs try this: Make a large batch of dough in advance, enough for 4 to 6 pies, and as soon as you knead the dough, separate into individual dough balls about 4 inches in diameter, coat with olive oil and bag each separately in large freezer bags before the dough rises. Squeeze out all of the air, seal and store, put one or two in the fridge and freeze the rest, make sure that you use a good yeast though such as Fleishman's so that it will remain active when you thaw.
You can thaw at room temp for 6 to 8 hours or toss in a 125 deg oven for 2 to 3 hours, or straight out of the fridge for 2 to 3 at room temp or an hour in the oven. Open the seal, punch down the dough, reseal and let it rise again while you're heating the sauce and lighting the Egg.
Turn the dough out of the bag onto a large floured board, punch it down again starting your round pattern, then roll it out or toss it to size. Add your sauce and toppings and cook it up.
Fresh dough is definately preferred but it'll keep for more than a week in the fridge and just about forever in the freezer if you use a good quality freezer bag to keep the air out.