The night before I was born, my mother ate an entire large pizza by herself. Little did she know that she had just solidified my love for pizza. When I was little, it was cheese pizza. I grew up a little and moved to pepperoni and cheese. Then I started working in a pizza kitchen. This opened up a whole new world of pizza toppings for me. I'm still a pizza purist (meaning I believe the best pizza has a good crust, red sauce, and no more than 4 toppings) but I have broadened my horizons as to which toppings make a really great pizza.
But first....the crust.
I have tried about 6 different dough recipes. Some of them tore too easily, some of them turned out soggy in the middle, some were too doughy, some were not crunchy at all! So I started experimenting with different amounts of yeast and how long to let the yeast bloom. Some recipes call for a full bloom and some recipes want you to mix the yeast and water straight into the flour, then let it rest. Being a novice at pizza dough, I didn't know what methods and ingredients I needed to get my personal taste for the crust. I found a really great dough recipe the other day! This one calls for AP flour, normal yeast, some kneading, and some resting. That recipe was pretty close to what I'm looking for. It stretched out to a decent size (between 10" and 12") and had decent heft to it, but it wasn't airy enough for me. I did some more research and found out that I need to be using high gluten flour!
Have I lost you yet?
Gluten is what makes bread awesome. Higher protein flours are best for breads, pizza doughs and whatnot because protein equals gluten, and gluten is what gives you that chewy, airy goodness we all love in a pizza crust. So I found some high gluten flour. I also decided I am going to try to duplicate one of my favorite dough recipes at home. The Mellow Mushroom has some of the best pizza crust I've ever had. Their dough has the perfect amount of airiness, chewiness, and crunchy-ness for me. Again, after doing more research I discovered two things about their dough. The first is that they use spring water rather than tap. That may seem inconsequential, but think about it. Why does New Orleans have the best French bread? Why does NYC have world-famous pizza? WATER! It's all in the water!
The second thing unique to Mellow Mushroom's dough is molasses. Most pizza doughs call for sugar or honey to feed the yeast. The recipe I linked to earlier does not call for either. I know molasses has a unique flavor that you can't really get around, and spring water is cheap, right? So I bought a jug of water and a jar of molasses.
I currently have a dough ball rising on top of my fridge (best place to let dough rise because it needs to be in a warm place) that is an amalgam of both tecniques. I used the same proportions from the recipe I linked to, but to the dry ingredients I added about 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary and 2 tablespoons of molasses, while using high gluten flour and spring water.
This is what it looks like before kneading:
This is what the dough looks like after 8 minutes of kneading and about 30 minutes rising:
This is what the dough looks like after a full 1.5 hour rise , being punched down, and pinched in half. The recipe makes enough dough for 2 12" pizzas. Save the second dough ball in a greased bag in the freezer, or in the bowl in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
This is the dough stretched out on my peel. I could tell this dough was going to be a winner as soon as I started to stretch it. Full of gluten, it was hefty enough for me to slap hand to hand in the air without tearing! That, my friends, is GOOD pizza dough!
This is my dough topped....
And THIS is the finished product!!!!
See how the bottom browned so nicely?
I think I've found my perfect at home pizza dough. The molasses gave the dough a nice earthy flavor without changing the taste too much. I'm sure you could cut the molasses in half and still have great dough, but I like the look and taste it gives my pizza.
The point I'm trying to make with this post is that great pizza can come from your kitchen! My molasses cost $3, a 5 pound bag of bread flour was about $5, and a gallon on spring water was less than $2. For ten dollars I will be able to make at least 50 pizza dough balls. Literally 50. Probably more than that! I also bought my yeast in a jar rather than those little packs, and I keep it in the freezer. It cost me $5 two years ago and I have just under half the jar left to use.
Getting your dough right is a matter of trial and error. Don't get discouraged if you run into problems at first. Everyone does! The important thing is to keep trying. If you love pizza as much as I do, the savings are monumental by making gourmet pizza at home. I'm talking literally pennies on the dollar compared to ordering out.
I hope this post inspires you to give home pizza a shot! Thanks for reading!
