Anyone in here make pizza dough at home, sans mixer?

[bicentennial_baby]

If so, recipe? Tomorrow is homemade pizza with vegan mozzarella experiment day :D

:hi:

[DarkTirade]

1. Depends how you make your pizza...

do you just roll it out, or do you actually know how to throw the dough?

[DarkTirade]

3. Ah, here's the recipe I usually use.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pizza-Dough-III/Detail.aspx

This one is too mushy for throwing, but it works for rolling. However I discovered if you add another 1 1/2 to 2 cups of flour, it's solid enough to throw.

If you don't know how to roll and throw it, I can try and give you a few pointers (I worked at a pizza place for just shy of 3 years), but it might be better to just roll it out if you're not sure.

Oh, and despite what that recipe says, use BROWN sugar, not white. With white sugar it ends up pretty much completely tasteless. And you might want to add another teaspoon or two for extra flavor.

[bicentennial_baby]

5. Thanks friend!

:pals:

[DarkTirade]

8. NP.

And if you need any tips on how to impress everybody by throwing it instead of rolling it out, lemme know.

It's funny how working at a pizza place gets ya no respect... but the minute people see you at home, throwing pizza dough in the air and doing cool things with it, they're all impressed. :)

[bicentennial_baby]

9. Once I get the rolling thing down, I will totally ask you for those tips

Baby steps :D

[hippywife]

13. I use that one, too

and sub in some whole wheat flour. I use just a touch of honey in the warm water to proof the yeast instead of sugar. :hi:

[DarkTirade]

14. Yep, that'll add a bit of character to it too. :)

None of that plain old white flower and sugar for me. Gotta have something to wake your tastebuds up.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. Here's the most important factor: slack dough.

Put only enough flour in to prevent stickiness. Most recipes call for too much flour.


(BTW, cheaters use Trader Joe's ready made pizza dough. It's not bad and it's foolproof.)

[bicentennial_baby]

4. But I don't wanna cheat!

:P

[flvegan]

6. Same as with, just knead with your hands.

Build that hand strength, too. I like to actually knead basil into my dough.

Good luck, and please post pics!

[bicentennial_baby]

7. Okey doke...

Thanks for the basil tip :)

And we will! :bounce:

[DarkTirade]

10. Hand and forearm strength. :)

Working at a pizza place and kneading/rolling dough for at least an hour a day helped my sword sparring immensely. Just ask The Animator. :) I went from being equally unstable sparring one-handed as he was, to suddenly being able to spar as well one-handed as he could with two hands.

And my forearms got frikkin' huge. They actually got a little smaller when I lost that job and ended up doing manual labor for the next couple years. Coincidentally, that's when I started a long-distance relationship... so there were a few jokes at my expense on that account. :P

[laconicsax]

11. Here ya go:

-3 cups flour plus a tiny bit more for later
-1 teaspoon instant yeast
-2 teaspoons kosher flake salt
-1 1/4 cups water
-2 tablespoons olive oil plus another teaspoon for a little later.

*Mix the yeast, salt, and half the flour in a bowl
*Add the water and 2 tablespoons olive oil and stir until smooth
*Add flour to the mix a little at a time until the mixture gets too thick/stiff to stir--err on the side of adding too much flour at this point.
*Lightly flour your work area and begin kneading the dough, adding just enough flour to keep the dough from turning into a total mess.
*Knead until the dough is smooth, but still pretty moist. If you go too far, rinse your hands in water, then go back to kneading without drying your hands. The little extra water should be enough.

*Grease the inside of a bowl with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil.
*Work the dough into a ball and put it in the bowl.
*Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warmish place for about 2-3 hours. The dough should double (at least) in size.

*Lightly flour your work area and remove the dough ball from the bowl.
*Flatten the dough a bit, then re-roll into a new ball. Let the ball sit for about 20 minutes (now's a good time to preheat the oven).
*Roll out the dough to the size you want, and pinch the ends up a little to make the edge of the crust. If you're using a pizza tin, you should grease it before rolling the dough out.
*I usually brush a little olive oil around the edge of the dough before adding sauce and toppings
*Add sauce, toppings, and bake (about 10-15 minutes at 450^o).

[bicentennial_baby]

12. Thank you so much! That's perfect!

:yourock:

:)