Quest for the perfect PIZZA CRUST

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yrba1 said:
When I make my pizza dough, I measure them by weight.

For NY-style pizzas, I use

500g of bread flour (100%)
300g of water (60% hydration, 100F-110F)
20g of salt (4%)
5g of yeast (1%)

I mix the water and yeast for 10 mins and mix the salt, flour together; then add the water with yeast to the mixer*. Then I put the extract the dough on an oiled bowl to cold ferment for at least 36 hours (longer is better up to 5 days); 500g of flour makes 3-4 doughs for me depending on how large I want to make them. I also prep a pizza stone at 500F for 50 mins before getting the pizza on there.

*I use a KitchenAid mixer
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It's funny how when I started it took me a while to realize how important heat is. I didn't realize the wood fire ovens get so hot (around 800 deg) and that the commercial ovens are also far higher than your average oven (7-800 deg). So for a long time I would cook my pizzas at 400ish. Now I use my oven on max (500 deg) and make sure my pizza stone sits in that 500 deg for about 30 mins before tossing the pizzas in, and there's a big difference in the quality of the crust particularly when making it thin.

The cold ferment you mention is not something I've played around with. Generally I make my dough earlier in the day and use it the same night. So I'll have to give that a shot.

Also I haven't really weighed my ingredients. I tend to use cups/tablespoons/etc which probably isn't nearly as accurate, so will give that a shot too.

Will try your recipe out next time I go with a medium crust pizza night. :D
 
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Merlin said:
It's funny how when I started it took me a while to realize how important heat is. I didn't realize the wood fire ovens get so hot (around 800 deg) and that the commercial ovens are also far higher than your average oven (7-800 deg). So for a long time I would cook my pizzas at 400ish. Now I use my oven on max (500 deg) and make sure my pizza stone sits in that 500 deg for about 30 mins before tossing the pizzas in, and there's a big difference in the quality of the crust particularly when making it thin.

The cold ferment you mention is not something I've played around with. Generally I make my dough earlier in the day and use it the same night. So I'll have to give that a shot.

Also I haven't really weighed my ingredients. I tend to use cups/tablespoons/etc which probably isn't nearly as accurate, so will give that a shot too.

Will try your recipe out next time I go with a medium crust pizza night. :D
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Yeah heat is vital on defining the crust's texture, I feel I do a great job with a pizza stone relative to the oven's limitations at 500F but I'm itching to take it to the next level with higher heat and that will require a wood oven to make it happen :(

Cold ferment can be 24-48 hours as well, I've done 55% hydration (275g of water) to accommodate for the shorter time while folding my dough ever 8-12 hours to let the gluten relax and develop

Weighing is also plus in standardizing ratios, I do measure in volume for yeast though.
 
Here's a compilation of pizza's I've made

Pepperoni and sausage
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Prosciutto and mushroom
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Pineapple :ROFLMAO:
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Margherita
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Arugula and proscuitto
IMG_0896.JPG
Kachapuri
IMG_0579.JPG
Deep dish
LHMZ4958.JPG
 
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Crush said:
Wood fired is the bomb if you can get it!! Thin crust is a must for me.
Here is an awesome pizza if you like to move away from the traditional.

-thin crust, a skim of basil pesto, top with chunks of mango, red onion, brie, bacon ( or chicken ), pine nuts ( lightly toasted in oven before hand ).

If you try it let me know! :D
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Homemade is the best! Dinner tonight.
pizza.jpg
 
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Crush said:
Hey there :giggle: the toppings are : basil pesto, mango, red onion, brie, bacon, pine nuts. Its likely the Brie that looks like chicken!
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You're a bold man. There's no way in hell I'd think of, cook, or eat anything like that. I hope you enjoyed it.
 
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yrba1 said:
It's a Georgian (the country) cheese bread with a raw egg cooked by the melted cheese. Great for drunken munchies, here's the video where I learned to make it

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Those look amazing. (y)
 
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Merlin said:
Settebello is the best pizza in Vegas in my estimation VR, they use a wood fired oven like Italy and their crust is very close to that thin but stretchy type I prefer (i.e. closest to real italian pizza that I have found). (y)

Pizza Rock isn't authentic or anything but they're really good. And their Margherita is excellent (Margherita is a gold standard in Italy btw, their state actually requires any sales point to be authenticated before they can sell that pizza to ensure the original standard isn't diluted). They use a different dough I think so there's only so many they can sell a day.
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Bet they lose their "authentication" if their pizza even sniffs pineapple.
 
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Crush said:
Hey there :giggle: the toppings are : basil pesto, mango, red onion, brie, bacon, pine nuts. Its likely the Brie that looks like chicken!
Click to expand...
You guys are putting out some great topping ideas. :)

I was kickin around a greek pizza, as I miss tzaziki (cucumber/yoghurt you dip bread into). Wanted to capture that but the heat ruins the cucumbers. But you know maybe I can go with feta and olives and dip it hmm....
 
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Merlin said:
You guys are putting out some great topping ideas. :)

I was kickin around a greek pizza, as I miss tzaziki (cucumber/yoghurt you dip bread into). Wanted to capture that but the heat ruins the cucumbers. But you know maybe I can go with feta and olives and dip it hmm....
Click to expand...

Dipping the crust in Tzatziki is a great option. I have made a runnier version of Tzatziki ( thin enough for a squeeze bottle ) and drizzled it over top of pizza AFTER its cooked. It was great!

I have also added other toppings AFTER the pizza is cooked - when heat might ruin them- cucumber would fall into that category.
 
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