Share Your Best Pizza Dough...

[rexehuk]

I generally agree with rexehuk but one thing I'll say is that the bane of a lot of home bread-making is often low hydration of the dough. Very very roughly speaking, more hydration = better bread. Of course, more hydration also makes the dough substantially harder to work with (sticky). You should also be careful of how much flour you use when kneading and/or rolling or stretching. You could make something that is very high hydration and then use so much flour working with the dough that you essentially drop the hydration down to 50% or similar.

+1

Basically the same for me, when you're hand kneading, you find yourself adding more flour (so hard to resist) to make it easier to work with. By the end, you'll end up with an unknown hydration unless you're super scientific and measure the in-flour and compensate with water at the end once you've developed gluten.

The main reason I prefer the no knead, you know without doubt the exact contents of the dough, and the yeast develop the gluten and I can enjoy beers.

 

[Kimi]

Could you just gradually throw all the ingredients into a kitchen aid with a dough hook. Instead of it getting stuck to everything. Actually that would just be like kneading it

 

[rexehuk]

Could you just gradually throw all the ingredients into a kitchen aid with a dough hook. Instead of it getting stuck to everything. Actually that would just be like kneading it

Yeah for sure, 10 minutes in a mixer will do it justice with dough hook. I tried to use girlfriends mixer (breville) and it was murdering the motor... so would only say do doughs in a decent mixer!

 

[Kimi]

I knocked up the dough last night with the no knead method. Looking forward to making some pizzas at the weekend! im supposed to be going to a bbq saturday so i will take my pizza stone and half the dough

 

[Kimi]

Knocked the dough back last night, when i come to shaping this into pizzas, as its quite sticky whats the best way to go about it? if i add flour by putting some down as i rolling pin/hand shape then it will effect the hydration.?

 

[rexehuk]

Knocked the dough back last night, when i come to shaping this into pizzas, as its quite sticky whats the best way to go about it? if i add flour by putting some down as i rolling pin/hand shape then it will effect the hydration.?

How comes you knocked it back? Are you baking today? If you're doing no knead cold ferment, you leave it completely alone until you're good to go.

If you've got a good temperature you can be quite generous with flour when shaping the dough as it will fall off before cooking, and cook off when cooking as long as you're not kneading it into the dough further.

I shaped mine in what was almost a bath of flour, as you're working with 2 sides and not folding it in, so is perfectly ok, just make sure you shake the excess off before topping.

 

[Longbow]

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/07/basic-square-pan-pizza-dough-recipe-sicilian-recipe.html

Looking at directions 1 & 2, am I right in saying they are putting the dough on a baking tray right away, and will eventually cook from that cold tray? I presume the longer cooking time and the oil will counter act the cold tray.

 

[FrenchTart]

Yeah, that's right.

 

[Kimi]

How comes you knocked it back? Are you baking today? If you're doing no knead cold ferment, you leave it completely alone until you're good to go.

If you've got a good temperature you can be quite generous with flour when shaping the dough as it will fall off before cooking, and cook off when cooking as long as you're not kneading it into the dough further.

I shaped mine in what was almost a bath of flour, as you're working with 2 sides and not folding it in, so is perfectly ok, just make sure you shake the excess off before topping.

Ah i thought i was supposed to squash it back as it got bigger, im making some more on sunday so i will leave it for the duration!

 

[arknor]

Could you just gradually throw all the ingredients into a kitchen aid with a dough hook. Instead of it getting stuck to everything. Actually that would just be like kneading it

sure, I do my pizza dough in a bread maker

comes out amazingly well

just bang all the ingredients in on the pizza dough setting and 30-45mins later I've got some nice dough to stick in the fridge or use.

makes cleaning up a doddle too as there's no mess all over a worktop
I'm sure a kitchen aid is just as good if not better

 

[FrenchTart]

Ah i thought i was supposed to squash it back as it got bigger, im making some more on sunday so i will leave it for the duration!

Knocking back is something you do with normal bread dough to get rid of the larger air bubbles and potentially further increase gluten formation. It won't really have done any harm but as you say, no need (knead) to do it next time

 

[boxman2000]

Also with regards to yeast, is there a difference between quick yeast and active yeast?
like this
http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=34661

and

http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=2754

I use the top one - works perfectly for me.

 

[FrenchTart]

Made up a big batch of dough this morning for use tonight in testing out the pizza oven. It's a little annoying that I didn't make it a few days ago but it should still be okay, if not as good as I'd like.

Only issue is I'll end up with about 6 pizzas during my testing. Even with my appetite that might be tough going

 

[FrenchTart]

Bit of a mixed bag. Getting used to the pizza oven will take some time I think. Also, I'm incredibly out of practice with regards to stretching dough :/ Finally, I didn't pay attention and ended up burning things. Oh well

A few pics anyhow:

 

[FrenchTart]

^ All with 65% hydration dough and about 3 minutes of cooking.

 

[oHUTCHYo]

If you want to give my recipe a go it is:

All-purpose or bread flour: 100%
Salt: 2%
Instant yeast: 1.5 %
Water: 65%

I've got some dough sat in the fridge to this mix, thank you. I'm holding off until Monday so it's had 5 days to cold ferment.

Question - once I split the dough and shape them to two pizza pans, will I get the best results going in to my blazing hot oven while the dough is still chilled or should I leave it to get to room temperature?

 

[oHUTCHYo]

Bit of a mixed bag. Getting used to the pizza oven will take some time I think. Also, I'm incredibly out of practice with regards to stretching dough :/ Finally, I didn't pay attention and ended up burning things. Oh well

Looks nice mate, I should take a tip from you and not get carried away with my toppings. I always add too much, out of a) greed and b) wanting to use up ingredients

 

[FrenchTart]

Tbh I normally put more on too I was trying to be a bit more minimalist this time.

 

[zophiel]

Yes, but recipe will be different. Wholemeal absorbs a ton of moisture so not sure if 65% will work.

This looks quite yummy?
http://www.handletheheat.com/ultimate-knead-whole-wheat-pizza-dough/

thanks for that it worked a treat, just need to work on the thickness and dont forget to move it onto a tray before filling it up.

 

[rexehuk]

I've got some dough sat in the fridge to this mix, thank you. I'm holding off until Monday so it's had 5 days to cold ferment.

Question - once I split the dough and shape them to two pizza pans, will I get the best results going in to my blazing hot oven while the dough is still chilled or should I leave it to get to room temperature?

I get mine out about an hour or so before I'm using it, I suppose being at room temperature might be best? That way the dough cooks, before the toppings start to go. At least logically in my head that makes sense!

Get some pics up, be good to see how it comes out in the oven