My First Pizza Anything

[CDN Smoker]

Been spending some time on a pizza forum. Man those guys take Pizza Dough to the next level.

After a lot of reading this was my first foray in to dough.
Flour (100%):         330.9 grams
Water (33.33%):    110.3
Milk (16.66):           55.16
ADY (1%):              3.31
Salt (1%):              3.31
Corn Oil (3%):         9.93
Total:                     512.91
My digital scale from target only measures to the nearest gram so I usually just round the ingredients.

This is the dough ball ready to go into the fridge. I won't add oil next time.


After 24hrs I removed the dough ball. Separated into 2 equal parts, kneaded and returned to the fridge. They were left for 96hrs.

Some big gas bubbles inside the dough.

Some of the ingredients


This was my Wife's


Cheese added


This is a photo of my pizza on the Pizza Steel




The bottom are over charred.


I mixed a lot of cornmeal with Fluor to stop the dough from sticking to the peel. I think this what made the bottom so black as it did not taste burnt.

The plate


I know that this will be a process to get this right. Time to re-think and make another dough ball. I will cut back on the ingredients and focus more on the dough until I have it right.

Thanks for viewing,
CDN

[hikerman]

Very good job my friend. It looks excellent. Say could I have a few pieces of pie and a Bodington's as well? 
Cheers

[Keymaster]

Looks really good CDN. It's not an easy task making a perfectly round pizza dough

[Pappymn]

Wow......serious dough recipe. Was it worth it? 

[CDN Smoker]

Yes Pappy I will be trying this again. It was a lot of fun and Lana liked it. Bonus points

The dough stretched out real thin so I will increase the batch to make the pizzas larger.m

I had issues with the dough sticking to peel. If anyone has suggestion I would like to hear it.

[Pappymn]

Yes Pappy I will be trying this again. It was a lot of fun and Lana liked it. Bonus points

The dough stretched out real thin so I will increase the batch to make the pizzas larger.m

I had issues with the dough sticking to peel. If anyone has suggestion I would like to hear it.

Cool. The dough is the money.....everything else is just gravy. Good luck.....keep posting.

You try high temp non stick spray?

[drholly]

CDN,

The corn meal is the best way I've found to prevent sticking to the peel. Are you using a wood or metal peel?

My experience with the cooking steel so far (and I need to practice a bunch more) is that fewer ingredients helps minimize burning. The more ingredients piled on the crust, the longer it needs to stay in the oven or on the grill. I like to use my Weber Performer for pizza on the steel (or oven when the snow is too deep to find the deck... )

A few years ago I bought the Kettle Pizza device for the Weber - tries to approximate a wood fired oven. It does work well - typically around 700* and you burn wood with the charcoal. Works real well with the cooking steel. But the steel alone works well in the Performer too.

When I use a minimum of ingredients, I get 6 - 8 minute pizzas and just a bit of char with some great air pockets. When I try to make the "garbage" pizzas that my wife loves, I get a longer cook time and a crust that is too dark. So, now I do hers on my G2G or the PBC.

FWIW,

David

[Pappymn]

CDN,

The corn meal is the best way I've found to prevent sticking to the peel. My experience with the cooking steel so far (and I need to practice a bunch more) is that fewer ingredients helps minimize burning. The more ingredients piled on the crust, the longer it needs to stay in the oven.

When I use a minimum of ingredients, I get 6 - 8 minute pizzas and just a bit of char with some great air pockets. When I try to make the "garbage" pizzas that my wife loves, I get a longer cook time and a crust that is too dark. So, now I do hers on my G2G or the PBC.

FWIW,

David

The pizza man has spoken!

[Smokin Don]

Good experiment with pizza. I got some sauce to try now I just need to get busy and make some. Don

[CDN Smoker]

Thanks David for the comments.

I have a better digital scale on the way and will be making dough again soon.

Any idea for a minimal ingredient pizza?

[nepas]

Heck yeah. Put a slice on my plate too, and one them Ale's

[smokeasaurus]

Looks like a fine effort from where I am sitting.

[drholly]

CaptJack has a very good point if you like more "loaded" pizzas.

I like smaller pizzas with fewer ingredients - cooked quickly to get a good char / bubble mix on the crust. It's a bit like the debate re: pasta vs. sauce - I like the pasta (and the crust) best - the toppings are more minimal and enhance the pasta or crust. That's just me (certainly NO one else in my family or extended family agrees... so, who's crazy here?  )

But, then I like to make pizza dough and pasta by hand - I like to get every bit of flavor and texture out of them - again - just me... 

So, my favorite pizzas have just a couple ingredients. For example, some olive oil or garlic olive oil or some other infused oil, then a few dollops (not covering the crust) of sauce, some hand torn fresh mozzarella and some fresh torn basil - a little more basil when it comes off the grill or out of the oven. A little alfredo sauce, some crumbled bacon and some smoked or cooked chicken. Some EVOO, garlic, green onions, mushrooms... You get the idea. Pick a major ingredient and one or two others that complement it. Use a cheese to create some interest. Less is more. Fresh (garden) tomatoes are my favorite.

I'm going to try some of Smokin Don's Melted Onion and Tomato Sauce - it sounds delicious and just right for a flavorful minimal pizza!

My favorite pizza place in the world (so far) is a small back street pizza place and bar in San Jose, Costa Rica. A complete dive - no more than 8 - 10 tables... They make their pizzas in a wood fired oven on the patio - no more than two or three ingredients per pie. The seafood pies were fantastic! The pizzas were rustic and each was enough for two people to share several. Each pizza took about 4 - 6 minutes from oven to table! We'd order a variety along with some good tican Bavaria Gold cerveca.

I've been trying to re-create those pizzas for several years!

David

[muebe]

Again there are so many good looking pizzas popping up in the forum lately!

[Sam3]

I haven't tried a pizza on the Weber, MAK or PBC yet, but I think it's coming soon.
Great post CDN and thanks for sharing!