5 ways to make better homemade pizza

Thanks!

Sure thing! The recipe comes with a sauce, but I don't use their sauce - just their crust recipe. Couple things to know - preheat the oven to 500 for an hour. Put your stone (or, in my case, steel) at the highest rack possible during the preheat.

I slip the shaped crust (still can't get it round like a Pizza joint) on the hot steel for about 3 minutes using a peel (I found 4 minutes, as called for in the recipe a little too long for this first baking time.) I have found that using corn meal or flour to keep the wet dough from sticking on the peel ends up burning in the oven and setting off the smoke alarm! :( So, what I do now is shape the dough on a piece of parchment and slip that onto the steel for the 3 minutes. (no fires on the parchment yet at 500!).

Then I take the dough out, spritz with a little olive oil and put on my desired toppings. Back in the oven (without parchment, because now the pizza will slide off the peel) for maybe 9 minutes or less...keep a close eye on it. I sometimes turn on the broiler for the last minute or so (that part's still in the experimental stage).

It's important to retard the dough for at least overnight, and up to 3 days. This really helps develop the flavor of the dough.

This is the only pizza dough I've played with for the past maybe 2 or 3 years. I'm just now getting the hang of how the dough should look in the KitchenAid at the end of the mixing time - a mixing time that is not near as long as for a loaf of bread. Dough should stick to the bottom of the bowl, but not to the sides. It's a fairly wet dough.

I have also recently made homemade sausage (to reduce fat and sodium) and homemade cheese (just for grins). For me, neither was worth the trouble since I don't eat much pizza. My neighbors love me since they get all my experiments! I'm so into this "hobby" that I recently bought a bunch of pizza boxes for delivery to my neighbors. Weird, I know.

Good luck!


DOMINOS THIN CRUST PIZZA

For the pizza dough:
• 2 cups high-gluten bread flour
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Mix the dough together and let it retard in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees an hour before you begin assembling the pizza.

Bring the dough to room temperature and roll it out into a very thin, round crust. Dock the dough by using a dough docker or poking it with holes using a fork. Bake the crust for 4 minutes before topping with the rest of the ingredients.

Place cheese on top of sauce and bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.

mitch5252 wrote:
I have been trying to perfect a thin, crispy crust for 10 years. Finally found the recipe that is very consistent - a Domino's copy cat recipe. And for baking, I have discovered the benefits of using a Baking Steel instead of a pizza stone.

Sooooo: how about posting that Domino's copy cat recipe you found :W

I have been trying to perfect a thin, crispy crust for 10 years. Finally found the recipe that is very consistent - a Domino's copy cat recipe. And for baking, I have discovered the benefits of using a Baking Steel instead of a pizza stone. Trouble is, that thing weighs 15# - not a good travel companion!

Here are a couple of pizzas from last month. I need tasters because I cannot possibly eat all the pizza I make and the few neighbors I have are getting sick of pizza...(it's kinda my hobby). So, if you're ever in the neighborhood... :)

I've been making this recipe weekly for over 30 years:

Faster than delivery pizza
---------------------------
Add to small bowl:
2/3 c. warm water
2 tsp. active dry yeast
5 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp honey
Stir to dissolve honey and wet yeast. Then add

1 1/2 c. flour
pinch salt

Stir in flour until leaves the sides of the bowl, a minute or less.
Let sit 5 minutes (during this time I assemble the rest of the toppings)
With oiled hands, spread on pizza stone, pizza pan or while camping, 12" cast iron dutch oven.

Add favorite toppings, we use pizza sauce, pepperoni, shredded mozzarella. Sometimes sliced mushroom. Sprinkle on oregano or Italian spice mix.
In season, I substitute thinly-sliced fresh tomato and add diced green/red pepper.

Bake in 425F oven for 15 minutes, when cheese evenly browned.
Makes enough for the two of us, scale up as needed. Makes one large thick crust pizza. Original recipe said would make two thin crust, but I don't care for that, so never tried it.

Prep time 8 minutes
cook time 15 minutes

For camp fire pizza I use an Indian fry bread recipe, flour, water, baking power and salt it is easier than the yeast. I cook crust on both sides like a fry bread on a griddle on an open fire then add sauce and toppings and cover with a lid, it's quick and easy. At home I do the yeast thing.

Halmfamily wrote:
Our pizza dough recipe...2 cups flour, 2 tsp yeast, 2 tsp sugar and a cup of warm,100° water. Mix well and let set for 30 - 60 minutes. We bake on a pizza stone in a 500° oven. We use this while camping also.

We're going to try this.

Our pizza dough recipe...2 cups flour, 2 tsp yeast, 2 tsp sugar and a cup of warm,100° water. Mix well and let set for 30 - 60 minutes. We bake on a pizza stone in a 500° oven. We use this while camping also.

Pita bread makes for a very good pizza.

NYCgrrl wrote:
Hmmmmmmmm......the no knead pizza dough might cause me to stop picking it up from a local shop or WF (who also gets their dough from a local pizzeria):W.
Good read and my crew is definitely in the less is more topping brigade. Unless I need to get rid of leftovers at which point I brook no grumbling since we'll undoubtedly buy a pie from Pepe's eventually, LOL.

I've eaten some spectacular and disastrous "leftovers" pizza in my lifetime. Who says dinner can't be an adventure!