I'm going to attempt home made pizza crust this weekend. Any tips? I ordered a baking steel to cook it on.

I don't have one, but I would suggest you purchase some dough balls from a pizza joint that you like in case your dough doesn't work.

-Let it ferment over night in the fridge
-Hydration above 60%
-Let that steel heat up for at least an hour
-Hot as you can get your oven
-Don't walk away/keep an eye on it
-If you have another stone place both racks as close as you can and have the stone on each rack. Cook on the bottom. You are using the top one to reflect some radiant heat.


It's fun, good luck!

bonfirewillburn said:

---

-Let it ferment over night in the fridge
-Hydration above 60%
-Let that steel heat up for at least an hour
-Hot as you can get your oven
-Don't walk away/keep an eye on it
-If you have another stone place both racks as close as you can and have the stone on each rack. Cook on the bottom. You are using the top one to reflect some radiant heat.


It's fun, good luck!

---

Thanks! The recipe I have says to make it the day before, so I think I have the overnight ferment covered. I only have 1 steel, so I'll just have to crank up the oven and hope that it works. I'll have to remember to heat up the steel.

http://www.varasanos.com/pizzarecipe.htm

From my experience: Use coarse cornmeal on the steel/pizza peel to help it slide. Once you toss the crust, top it quickly or else it'll stick. Put a layer of foil or oven liner in the bottom of the oven in case of drips.

See Serious Eats. A good primer on types of crusts, different flours, hydration, the all important fermentation and baking techniques.

And since this sounds like your first time, backup store crusts. Good luck! It takes practice so don't despair.

I've got a bunch of tips for you...I'll try to post in the morning when I'm not on the phone. But one of them is this: you'll need to make your dough a few days before you want to cook it and cold ferment it in the refrigerator!

OK, so here are some random pearls of wisdom:

• Start with a basic dough using the dough calculator found here: https://www.pizzamaking.com/dough-calculator.html

• I like to mix my water/salt/sugar/yeast with 1/2-2/3 of my flour for a couple minutes then let it rest for 20 minutes before mixing in the rest of the flour. I forget what technique this is called...but its common.

• I've had success with King Arthur bread flour, but lately I've been using All Trumps flour (from Restaurant Depot). The All Trumps flour (high gluten) gives a slightly crunchier/tougher crust. I found the KA bread flour to be great though and loved the taste/texture.

• I like to let my dough cold ferment in the refridgerator for 3-5 days. The longer it sits the better the taste and texture. How long to leave it depends on your recipe.
• Your "cooking steel" is likely to be too thin. I'd suggest 3/8" to 1/2" thick steel. I use 2 1/2" pieces of steel front-to-back in my oven. Having 2 separate pieces makes it easier to get it in and out. The pizza doesn't care about the crack in the middle. You can get steel like this from a local steel supply - ask for 1/2" x 8" or 10" flat bar (depending on what will fit in your oven). Have them cut the two pieces to the width of your oven's interior minus a couple inches. Clean off the rust with a sander then oil it down. Don't worry about any mill scale that doesn't flake off.

• I preheat my oven with the steel in place on middle shelf for 1 hour at 550

• I cook my pizzas for 2 minutes on normal/convection then rotate the pizza and switch to broil for an additional 4-5 minutes. You have to watch it close near the end - 15 seconds is the difference between under cooked and over cooked.

• I use rice flour to keep the pizza from sticking on the peel - I've never had a pizza stick.

• Do NOT pre-cook your pizza sauce - this will harm the flavor.

• I use Tomato Magic from Stanislaus foods as my base. I then spice to taste (salt, pepper, sugar, oregano, and pepper flakes). This stuff is the bomb and makes all the difference IMO.

• Do NOT use Hormel pepperonis. Use Boars Head or order you some Vermont Smoke and Cure pepperoni from Amazon.

• Use a good cheese. I like whole milk Mozzerela, but I use a Mozzerella/Provolone mix as well sometimes. I get the cheese in the large bags from Restaurant Depot (as well as the Tomato Magic).
• After you put the sauce on the pizza be quick to get it in the oven. The longer it sits with sauce the soggier/mushier the crust will be.
• Don't over sauce or put too much cheese on the pizza - it's easy to do! Too much sauce and stuff will be a gooey mess. Too much cheese and it won't melt/caramelize properly.

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough?action=click&module=Global+Search+Recipe+Card&pgType=search&rank=5

This is pretty good dough. You can mix with a dough whisk instead of your hands, seems unnecessary. Also you can "build" the pizza on parchment paper then transfer it into the oven if you have a problem with it sticking to the peel. After a few minutes in the oven you can then easily pull the parchment paper out. A pro pizza maker may look down on you but the pizza will turn out well.

This was one of my first pizzas, with bread flour:

One last comment:

IMO, you really need to weigh your ingredients. I use 2 scales, one larger one for flour and water and a smaller scale (better resolution) for salt/sugar/yeast/oil. This is the large scale I use:

https://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Scale-Bakers-KD8000-Weight/dp/B00VEKX35Y/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1484345131&sr=8-4&keywords=flour+scale

You guys do realize that while he is asking for advice on pizza dough, more generally aggiespartan is about as far from a noob as anyone on this forum when it comes to baking, right?

biobioprof said:

---

You guys do realize that while he is asking for advice on pizza dough, more generally aggiespartan is about as far from a noob as anyone on this forum when it comes to baking, right?

---

And most certainly not a he.


I got a 3/8" baking steel. Hopefully I can get a good enough result with just one.

aggiespartan said:

---

biobioprof said:

---

You guys do realize that while he is asking for advice on pizza dough, more generally aggiespartan is about as far from a noob as anyone on this forum when it comes to baking, right?

---

And most certainly not a he.


I got a 3/8" baking steel. Hopefully I can get a good enough result with just one.

---

Oops! Sorry bout that spartan!

Quote:

---

-If you have another stone place both racks as close as you can and have the stone on each rack. Cook on the bottom. You are using the top one to reflect some radiant heat.

---

I love this idea. I have both a stone and a couple of the mario batali cast iron pans. We love the pans but only use the stone as a placeholder for frozen pizza once it's cooked.

The toughest thing for me is finding a dough recipe that I like. They end up tasting to bread-y, or too yeasty, or if activated w/a sugar like honey, too sweet. I've never been able to get a good NY type crust that cooks properly with a slight crisp on bottom, chew on top, really thin, and the toppings perfectly cooked. Too thin and I ended up w/a cracker, too thick and I get bread.

He came into town to shoot at Stillwater BBQ. The owner is a good friend of mine out here and he brought them by to eat a few weeks ago. He seemed pretty impressed and asked if he could take some shots.

No brainer!

Was a pleasant suprise to see him post that. Kind words too! He posted a long exposer inside the oven that was awesome too.

Seeing some increase on my social media each time he posts. Gotta love it!

The biggest factor is the heat/oven.

if you want pro level pie you gotta have a pro level oven. The heat a WFO exerts changes everything. Thats where you get the char/browning/crispness.


I know, it sucks......keep playing and adjusting. Im sure you can figure something good!

What do you consider pro level heat?

have another idea about the 2 stones.....though it is untested...

grab a few fire bricks and 2 stones and BUILD a stone chamber in your oven.

-place the first stone on a rack (remove the other rack)
-line the perimeter of the stone (sides and back) with the fire bricks laid on thier side.
-place second stone on top of fire bricks

essentially your making a box of masonry without a front


-heat it up for a long while, and slide the pie in.


may help with the thermal refraction, may do nothing, but it would look cool at least!

IMO at least 750 dF



I cook upwards of 900 dF

The dough is resting now. I'm not sure how good it is, but we'll see. Later tonight, I divide and put it in the fridge.

My oven goes to 550, so that's what I'm going to do. Haven't planned out the sauce or toppings yet.

Sure, that's the way ovens go, I bet it'll be great!


Feel free to email me if you need help/more questions. I tend to see that faster these days. Business is good

Jason at vagabondpizza dotcom

Not too bad for a first attempt. The bottom has some good color, but I didn't take a picture.

Haha, I just saw those on Facebook

We have gone this direction.

We are giving it another go tonight. Hopefully it will be a little bit better.