Make a Perfect Pizza Crust - Part 3 - Chill Out

Photo courtesy of Flickr and Sarah and Jason

The following ingredients are the basis for most standard white-flour dough/crust recipes. Some people like to use olive oil. You can put lots of other things into the dough too. Try herbs like basil, oregano, or rosemary. Put in some minced garlic or garlic powder, but be a little careful here; too much garlic can retard the action of the yeast. I'll bet some chopped sun-dried tomatoes would be yummy. Don't get too fussy about the exact amount of water or flour; you may need to add more of one or the other while you are mixing the dough.

1 package active dry yeast (2 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water (105° to 115°, no more)
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
(optional) 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little for coating
What does each ingredient do for the dough?
Should I use all-purpose flour or bread flour?

The traditional directions for pizza dough as are follows. After we've gone through the basics, we'll talk about those secrets I promised.

1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water (takes maybe 5 minutes).

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and liquid.

If making your dough by hand, stir until the mixture forms a ball, then turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for about five minutes.

If you have a mixer with a dough hook, knead the ingredients on low for about five minutes with the dough hook.

3. Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover loosely and let the dough rise until about doubled in volume, an hour or two.

4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and move it, by hand or with a rolling pin, into the desired shape and thickness. Make sure your edges are a little thicker than the rest of the pie crust.

5. Transfer carefullly to baking sheet and add the desired toppings. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted and lightly browned." />

Photo courtesy of Flickr and foéÖþoooey

Most traditional pizza dough recipes instruct you to "proof" the dough after it's been kneaded. Proof is just the fancy word for putting the dough in a greased bowl and letting it rise.

There are a number of well-respected pizza-ologists who insist that the dough go through a slow fermentation process in the fridge rather than a fairly quick rise on the counter. By slow, I mean at least 18 hours.

So here's the secret: After you've finished with the kneading, divide the dough into the number of pizzas you intend to make with it. Shape each one into a ball and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Leave it there at least overnight. You can leave it up to three days if you want, but longer than that, freeze it. When you're ready to make pizza, take the dough out of the fridge, let it sit for an hour or so, then roll it or shape it and finish your pizza. Take dough out of the freezer a day ahead and put it in the fridge.

Some pizza experts tell you to let the pizza dough rise again for a couple of hours after you've shaped it. It's up to you.
Why does this method make the pizza healthier?

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Flour contains two proteins, glutenin and gliaden. When water is added, glutenin and gliaden get plumped up, start to mix together, and along with the water molecules, begin to form gluten. As you mix the dough, gluten molecules stick together and form longer strands.

During kneading, the gluten strands become stronger and stretchier. Continued kneading aligns the strands into a honeycomb-like network that will trap gas and expand as the yeast goes to work.

Yeast in bread-making is a single-celled fungus that feeds mostly on simple sugars in order to produce energy to grow and reproduce. In the digestion process, called "fermentation," the yeasties "burp" out carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. The carbon dioxide is what causes the dough to rise.

Photo courtesy of Flickr and Slice

Fermentation in dough is useful in other ways too. The fermentation process produces the enzyme protease, which relaxes the strands within the gluten network, making the dough stretchier. Fermentation also produces lactic acid and acetic acid. These acids react with proteins in the flour to create that wonderful aroma and flavor or freshly baked bread.

Within limits, the longer the fermentation process goes on, the more elastic the dough and more flavorful the bread. Refrigerating the pizza dough slows down the fermentation process, so that these other chemicals have time to do their own magic.

When I tried the slow fermentation method of making pizza dough, I was moderately impressed. I needed about half the usual amount of yeast. I rested the dough about 18 hours in the fridge, then took it out and let it sit on the counter for a couple of hours before shaping it.

The stretchibility of this dough was incredible! I could stretch it paper thin if I wanted. It didn't fight me at all. The texture of the crust after it was baked was light and slightly crispy. I would rate the texture definitely above average.

I was disappointed in the taste. I was expecting some amazing transformation in flavor from the slow fermentation. I didn't really notice much of a difference in the flavor.

I think I'll incorporate this technique into my pizza making when I have time. The texture of the dough and crust make it worth the extra time.

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