Topic: Pizza from scratch

[vindaloo]

i use the allison type of yeast only for bread. i use "fast action" dried yeast for pizza dough. the short cooking time for pizza does not seem to suit the normal yeast ie allison type - u still get a sort of yeasty taste in the cooked pizza base. i buy the fast action from ASDA but I've also used tesco no probs. i've also used fresh yeast (ask at the bread counter in ASDA) and that works pretty good too.

Cheers Jerry. I've swapped to the fast action yeast now...its great. The Alinson stuff in the yellow tin made the dough smell 'yeasty'. I do your recipe to the 'T' as its perfect!

Mark

[JerryM]

vindaloo (Leic),

well pleased it's working out. we make twice a month.

well worth trying (an essential for me) is to put pre cooked chopped garlic on the cheese before cooking. i chop the garlic (i use 2 off whole bulbs for 6 off large pizza), add a little butter & oil oil (1 tsp ea) and microwave for 2 mins on full, stirring halfway.

i've also found (taken aback even) the Rosemary method of dough kneading well improves the dough in the cooked pizza.

[JerryM]

took a few pics of the Rosemary Shrager method of dough needing following canicant's post on naan (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4610.0) which raised the subject of breadmachines for making dough.

i have had breadmachine in the past and they are good for making & proving dough. canican't has shown for naan bread they work a treat. i used to use mine for pizza dough but have never found a need to replace since using the rosemary kneading method. the rosemary method works a treat for proper bread (love the stuff - i add oregano to it).

it's worth pointing out that the manual kneading involves a fair amount of energy and it's not for everyone particularly if they need convenience. the kneading takes me around 10 mins for 2lb of flour but upto 20 mins might be needed until u get into it (develop u're muscles). the idea is to really work the dough - what i mean by this u need to aim to be rough with it and really stretch the dough without worrying if u end up tearing it.

hold the dough ball with 1 hand and push the dough ball away from u with the other hand - the hard part of u're palm (just in front of the wrist joint) - aim to stretch it as long as possible typ 500mm


then roll it back up towards yourself (making a swiss roll)


turn it through 90 deg


then stretch it back out again and then repeat the cycle


don't for get to cover with a damp tea towel whilst it's proving

[Malc.]

Interesting technique Jerry, i'll give it a go next time round.

[JerryM]

have had real U turn on the base dough

for those interested i will update spreadsheet added at the start of the post. there perhasps is not that much need as all anyone needs to know is amazingly here - a website i stumbled on called Forno Bravo.

http://www.fornobravo.com/#pizza_ovens

several things conspired to force this re think.

firstly UB's "wet" - high hydration really does work for me - it produces far softer dough than otherwise possible. YES it's quite sticky and you do have to handle it differently.

i made a smaller amount of dough last weekend and picked up using the original spreadsheet values - i had not realised that i gradually upped the water amount to 65%. the cooked pizza dough was rubbish in comparison to what i normally make (using the revised hydration ie 65%).

the next day was Lucky enough to be in casa in liverpool - lovely dough. much much softer than i can produced. this got me thinking that i needed to use proper pizza dough. i got a bag of this "00" stuff (by mcdougalls) and have been putting the whole pizza base making through it's passes ever since.

anyhow in short water has to be 65% of the flour by weight. plain flour is still my preference. out goes the oil and the milk powder.

the forno bravo really does have all the info needed - even down to chucking the rolling pin out. the amount of salt they use is a tad high for me (i cut it by half).

[JerryM]

tried the new recipe out and it works a treat. i'm well sold on it and taken aback by how much better is achieved with a more simple recipe.

i still think there is mileage in using whey powder and will keep an eye out for a local supplier - supermarket milk powder just does not cut it.

have attached revised spreadsheet which is "xls" file loaded as jpg.


http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/f47096bbbc518e67f4e28d5be1d76b0e.jpg

[George]

have attached revised spreadsheet which is "xls" file loaded as jpg.

Jerry - many thanks for this tip. What a good workaround!

[martinr1000]

Hi,

it sounds like you are pretty happy with your dough formulation at the moment Jerry but if you are interested i've been looking in on this forum site for a while now which attempts to produce perfect restaurant pizza replicas in much the same we do for curry.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php

i also bought a couple of books which are very good 'pizza modo mio' (may have to check the spelling) and american pie. can't think who the authors are.

hope it helps

[JerryM]

martinr1000,

many thanks. was thinking i could do with joining a pizza forum.

ps have registered - looks good

[George]

What's everyone's favourite pizza place for (a) sit down meals and (b) takeaways?

I'd say my favourite restaurant chain is Pizza Express for their La Reine pizza
(Prosciutto, cotto ham, olives, mushrooms).

As for takeaways, I don't know. I've never ordered one.