Pizza dough help

T

therese

Well-known member
Hi. I've been researching and trying various pizza dough recipes (including reading posts here). The one I've been using the most lately is from smitten kitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/01/pizza-and-the-limits-of-diy/) and I like it a lot, esp. the thinness of it, but sometimes it's a bit too thin and hard to roll out to fit my pan. (I double it to make two pies to fit my 13"ish pizza pans. I've noticed that the dough never doubles during the rise like it should, but I'm usually pressed for time and forge ahead anyway. Her recipe doesn't have the initial step of mixing the yeast with water and sugar. Could this be related to the lack of doubling? But in her many, many comments on her blog no one else seemed to have this problem. If I add that step at the beginning of the recipe, will it help the dough rise and possible make the finished product a teeny bit thicker?

Here's an updated smitten kitchen recipe, adapted from Mario Batali's with honey and wine, and it does have the "mix water and yeast" step in there. I wonder if that would help. (http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/09/pizza-even-sweeter/)

Second question: what would be the steps for mixing this recipe in my KA mixer? Kind of a dumb question, but it helps me to have things spelled out. The previous threads I've read here about dough are helpful, but so conversational that once I'm done reading my head is spinning!

Thanks for any advice! My kids LOVE when I make homemade pizza and I'm pretty pleased with the results I'm getting, but am trying to make them even better.

 
Hi Therese....my first question would be to ask what yeast you're using

With regular Active Dry yeast, instant yeast, & bread machine yeast, you can get different results. Active Dry yeast shouldn't come in contact with the salt until it has "bloomed"...that initial step most recipes apply as a first step. Perhaps your inconsistency occurs because sometimes the yeast comes in contact with the salt and sometimes it doesn't? If you use instant yeast, you don't have to worry about that aspect.

That might also explain why sometimes it seems like there isn't enough dough...if all of the yeast isn't working properly the dough isn't expanding to its full capacity?

I don't know...I'm just taking a stab here. Since the bloom step is only 5 minutes, why not add that in and see what your results are.

Good luck. Let us know what happens. A good pizza is a terrible thing to waste.

 
I've been using active dry....

I'll try the blooming step and see what happens. Just seemed weird that all these commenters weren't having the same problem I was.

My old standby was the recipe I got here that came from Fine Cooking, I think. Maybe I should resurrect it....

 
I don't know if this is relevant, but the rec. I use has an overnight rise--in the fridge. Seems to

work, and it usually doubles. (It's covered with oiled Saran Wrap.) PM me if you'd like the recipe. smileys/smile.gif

 
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