Minimal pizza dough quantity?

Of course you can.

My dads pizza dough recipe is:

3 c flour

1.125 c water

1 7g packet of yeast

Salt

I wish I knew this recipe by weight but like I said, it's not mine.  This is perfect for 2-3 people and I've found its about the smallest amount of dough that my 5 qt stand mixer can still knead.

I am kind of a pizza purist and have been practicing seriously on and off for about the last year and a half. I started with a version of the Jeff Varasano recipe but have altered the amounts, mixing, and cooking. So now I can call this whole process my own.

This is a 5 pie batch.

850g 00 flour

550g water

100g sourdough
30g kosher salt
1tsp ady
305g+ per pie

For scaling this down to one pie, I would just hand mix/knead it.

My dough is cold fermented in the fridge for between 4-7 days. I am also cooking these things at a temp of between 800-850F. I am able to achieve these temps by pre-heating the oven at 550F for an hour and then turning the broiler on high for about another 20 minutes.

This is the kind of pizza I am getting.

1 1/4 Cups Water

1 Tbs Honey

1 Tbs Yeast

2 Cups HG Flour

1/2 cup WW Flour

2 Tsp Salt

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

Makes one large Pizza, two medium thin crusts.

Bishop, I used to bake my pizza like that but I wasn't happy with the lack of char underneath.  I can see how a broiler would be 800 to 850 from the top but you're clearly not getting that underneath.  If you want a bit more char on the bottom I use this method:

Heat a cast iron paellera as hot as you desire.  I usually go to about 900 degrees with an IR thermometer.  Then I flip it over, place it in the broiler and use the peel to slide the pizza right on top.  Cast iron has some great heat retention properties but not even close to a ceramic oven so the pan should be reheated for each pizza, it doesn't take long though.

A friend of mine cooks his Neopolitian style pizza in the oven while its on the cleaning cycle.  It takes FOREVER to preheat but does reach a legit 800 degrees.  His pizza can cook in about 2:30, my method is more like 2 minutes even and my pies are a full 12" and a hair thicker than the New Yorkers make them.

My husband LOVES his pizza.  For years he talked about Tomato Pie.  I tried for years to figure this one out and find a recipe.  Finally a friend of ours gave me her recipe; this makes just one pizza, plenty for 2-3 people:

Mix together in a cup and allow to proof -

½ C warm water

One ¼ oz pkg yeast

1 tsp Maple syrup

In a food processor mix together –

Yeast mixture

1 C + 3 Tbsp warm water

½ tsp Salt

1Tbsp Olive Oil

4 C Bread Flour

Once the dough comes together, run the machine for 30 seconds, this kneads the dough for you – Place the dough ball in a large, oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap to proof until doubled in size.

In a half sheet pan that has been well greased with Olive Oil, spread the dough out with your fingers, top as desired; bake @ 450 degress F for about 20-25 minutes, keeping an eye on the crust.

I make a multi crust dough batch and freeze the extra dough. Take it out and let it thaw all day on the kitchen counter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by benway 

Bishop, I used to bake my pizza like that but I wasn't happy with the lack of char underneath.  I can see how a broiler would be 800 to 850 from the top but you're clearly not getting that underneath.  If you want a bit more char on the bottom I use this method:

 

Actually I clearly am getting those temps on the stone. Pies are finishing between two and three minutes. I quit timing them. The pie pictured above might have been cooked at closer to 800 but that was just me being hungry. I am careful not to let the bottoms get too much char because of the bitterness that adds to the overall pie.

I have been curious about Nathan Myrhvold's suggestion of using a piece of steel as the cooking surface in his new book.

Just haven't had a chance to try that out.

Oh and to the person that was asking what ADY is. Active Dry Yeast

I'm impressed that you can get that kind of heat from your stone!  My oven has never touched that on anything other than the cleaning cycle.  I find that if a char on the crust is too bitter, its often because I used too much bench flour between shaping it and putting it on the peel--I completely get what you're talking about though.  If you ever feel like experimenting you could still give my method a shot although with the heat you are getting the only real advantage of my way is speed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by benway 

I'm impressed that you can get that kind of heat from your stone!  My oven has never touched that on anything other than the cleaning cycle.  I find that if a char on the crust is too bitter, its often because I used too much bench flour between shaping it and putting it on the peel--I completely get what you're talking about though.  If you ever feel like experimenting you could still give my method a shot although with the heat you are getting the only real advantage of my way is speed.

A lot of the pizza cooks over on Slice are doing a variation of what you are talking about. They all seem to like it.

I did actually hack my almost brand new electric oven to work on the cleaning cycle but was never able to get the proper heat reflection back on to the top of the pies. They were always burned on bottom before getting the proper color on top. This broiler method seems to have given a better balance of heat at least in my oven.

Next for me is some kind of wood fired oven. Not going to be happy until I have one. I can just imagine how a little smoke would add so much flavor to the pies.

ChrisBelgium, 

i use Mario Batali's par baked pizza crust recipe...its wonderful, easy and makes 8 individual sized pizzas. you could easily cut the dough into 4ths as well,but will need a bigger griddle  and more room in the fridge if you don't use them all. i also like small pies with totally different toppings. these crusts are really fun! the crust is more new york than anything, which is thin but still has some 'bread' to it. i par bake the crusts on a hot griddle pan til browned in spots, then cool, use however many i want and freeze the rest. you can also store them parbaked in your fridge and use them like nan or a wrap or warm bread or anything you like. only thing i do differently than Mario's is that i roll the crusts out on polenta instead of flour. think i've also tried different flours, or a mix of flours, spelt being one. the recipe is from 'molto gusto' easy italian cooking by mario batali. the recipe is on epicurious.com as well, under pizza dough.

joey

oh geez, i forgot to add the best part...the beauty of these parbaked crusts are,once parbaked and topped, only take about 8 minutes under the broiler...how's that for simplistic?

Bishop,

are you retarding the doughs rudded in oil?

Chris... off topic.

My 19yr old is on his way to his annual European backpack trip. 30 days. He'll be in Antwerp then Brussels 26,27

any suggestions for good sights and meals?

jeff

Quote:

Originally Posted by panini 

Bishop,

are you retarding the doughs rudded in oil?

 

 

 

Chris... off topic.

My 19yr old is on his way to his annual European backpack trip. 30 days. He'll be in Antwerp then Brussels 26,27

any suggestions for good sights and meals?

jeff

I wipe the bowls I am aging the dough in with just a few drops of olive oil. I don't coat the entire ball with oil. Is that what you are asking?
 

Judging from the "cheating" thread, Bishop will absolutely hate this but I have a sourdough shortcut that I often employ to get a complex flavor from my pizza doughs and bread.

I once had a sourdough starter (named Kevin) that I had kept going for two or three years but when my girlfriend moved in, I came home one day and it was gone.  She had mistaken Kevin for rancid batter and threw him out.  In an ironic twist that really defines what its like living with women, the girlfriend complained about the Kevinless bread a few days later.  So I sought to imitate sourdough without enough time to reincarnate Kevin.  Not surprisingly the thing that makes sourdough sour is acid but straight lemon juice or vinegar won't do.  The primary acid formed in sourdough is lactic acid, the same stuff that makes your muscles sore after you work out btw.  Well lactic acid isn't a common ingredient in cooking, but it is very common for those who brew beer and living in the beer capital of the world, I've got several friends who had lactic acid in stock.  After playing around with amounts, I had an approximation of sourdough that I was happy with.  No waiting, no feeding, no heartbreak when your girlfriend throws away your pet.  RIP Kevin.

I do a 24 hour warm ferment for my pizza dough, the flavors from this are great.

That looks fantastic, ChrisBelgium!

I’m with you about commercial pizza too.  Both my husband and I need a huge handful of antacids when ever we go out for pizza.

I use bread flour exclusively when I make pizza dough and the other trick that I learned is to not use the dough on the day that you make it. 

I divide up a HUGE bowl of dough into quart sized freezer zip top bags and stash them in the ‘frig for a minimum of 24 hours (break open the seal & place on the kitchen counter for a few hours to come up to room temp).

The flavor profile is like night and day!!   

I guess we'll have to settle this like men:

http://www.google.com/search?btnG=1&pws=0&q=%22beer+capital+of+the+world%22%2Bmilwaukee

23,500 Results

http://www.google.com/search?btnG=1&pws=0&q=%22beer+capital+of+the+world%22%2Bbelgium

15,300 Results

Booya

Hopefully nobody on this forum is from Munich :)

Standard bread yeast. I use a modified version of the Pizza Inn recipe from pizzamaking.com, I use a little more water to get a slightly softer and easier to work dough. Get the dough to come together, stick it in a plastic bowl that is sprayed with oil and cover it with a corner barely open. Put it on the counter and let it warm ferment. This is for a thin crispy cracker style crust. One of my free form pizzas cooked at 500 degrees on a 3/4 inch stone that is preheated for an hour

Stone is from here http://www.bakingstone.com/order.php

Quote:

Originally Posted by benway 

Judging from the "cheating" thread, Bishop will absolutely hate this but I have a sourdough shortcut that I often employ to get a complex flavor from my pizza doughs and bread.

 

I once had a sourdough starter (named Kevin) that I had kept going for two or three years but when my girlfriend moved in, I came home one day and it was gone.  She had mistaken Kevin for rancid batter and threw him out.  In an ironic twist that really defines what its like living with women, the girlfriend complained about the Kevinless bread a few days later.  So I sought to imitate sourdough without enough time to reincarnate Kevin.  Not surprisingly the thing that makes sourdough sour is acid but straight lemon juice or vinegar won't do.  The primary acid formed in sourdough is lactic acid, the same stuff that makes your muscles sore after you work out btw.  Well lactic acid isn't a common ingredient in cooking, but it is very common for those who brew beer and living in the beer capital of the world, I've got several friends who had lactic acid in stock.  After playing around with amounts, I had an approximation of sourdough that I was happy with.  No waiting, no feeding, no heartbreak when your girlfriend throws away your pet.  RIP Kevin.

You were right. I do HATE that your girl tossed out Kevin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by benway 
..I once had a sourdough starter (named Kevin) that I had kept going for two or three years but when my girlfriend moved in, I came home one day and it was gone.  She had mistaken Kevin for rancid batter and threw him out.  In an ironic twist that really defines what its like living with women, the girlfriend complained about the Kevinless bread a few days later...

Let me get this straight, she threw out Kevin and she was still around a few days later??? Boy oh boy, you certainly are very forgiving!