100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

[Villa Roma]

No joke here folks. One could say that 100% whole grain pizza is the holy grail of pizza. Sure some people have made pizza with whole grains but most aren't using 100% stone ground whole grains.

Those that are using 100% whole grains are usually making a heavy, dense crust that has a somewhat bitter flavor. How many pictures of 100% whole grain pizzas have you seen that you would really want to eat? Personally I haven't found even one but that's about to change.

I've made pizza with 50% and 66% whole grains, that was too easy. This time I decided to jump on board the stone ground whole grain pizza crazy train. I made two small test pizzas, one with 100% GM stone ground whole wheat flour and another with 100% Hodgsons mills stone ground whole wheat graham flour. Check them out below. These are just the prototypes and I mixed these by hand. They will come out much better when I use my mixer.

I'm working out the details of the large recipe so stay tuned.

Villa Roma

[BrianShaw]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

How many pictures of 100% whole grain pizzas have you seen that you would really want to eat? Personally I haven't found even one but that's about to change.

Me neither. I can't wait for you to perfect the recipe and share. I'll try it if the pizza will look as good as your picture!

[Villa Roma]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

Ok, I just made another batch of 100% whole grain pizza and beagles. (not bagels). I used Gold Medal stone ground whole wheat flour and they came out great. Here's some pics.

Villa Roma

[Villa Roma]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

I also made a litter of beagles with the same whole grain dough. They're like bagels only better. Check out all the English muffin like holes to catch the melted butter! Who needs pop tarts when you have these puppies!

Villa Roma

[Ken524]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

Villa Roma,

Wow! I'm camping out right here in this thread so I'll be in the front of the line when you publish the recipe!

[Villa Roma]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

Here is the ingredient list for the pizza crust. I was using a preferment but found it wasn't necessary. This is for 400 grams of flour, you can scale it up or down to suit your needs. I used 1/32 of a tsp IDY per 100 gm of flour. You can find mini measuring spoon sets on e-bay or at kitchen stores from 1/64 through 1/4 tsp. or just eyeball it.

400 gm Gold Medal stone ground whole wheat flour (100%)
200 gm water (50%)
200 gm cold milk (50%)
8 gm honey (2%)
8 gm sea salt (2%)
8 gm lite olive oil (2%)
1/8 tsp IDY
small pinch ascorbic acid (vitamin C) Do not leave this out!

I make this the night before and it's literally a dump and stir. I put the flour in a bowl and dump everything else in and stir it with the end of a long plastic spoon. Let it sit for an hour and stir it again, then just let it sit overnight. In the morning stir it again. About every 3-4 hours give it a stir, at this point you can either refridgerate it or toss it in a mixer or processor to really develop the glutenus to the maximus. You can also scale it and use it with just the hand mixing.

I'll be making a video later this week and I plan on making three batches. One will be hand mixed, one I'll use my mixer and the last I'll hand mix and retard in the refer. I made a test refer dough and I took it straight from the fridge and cooked it with no warm up time and it was fantastico, as they say in Italy. I'll post a link to the video probably late Saturday or Sunday.

Villa Roma

[Ken524]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

Villa,

At the risk of exposing my ignorance here for all to see... What is IDY? I'm guessing it's a type of yeast since that's the only ingredient I don't see in the recipe.

Also, what does the ascorbic acid do?

I'm building faster so I can try your recipe!

[Villa Roma]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

Villa,

At the risk of exposing my ignorance here for all to see... What is IDY? I'm guessing it's a type of yeast since that's the only ingredient I don't see in the recipe.
Also, what does the ascorbic acid do?

I'm building faster so I can try your recipe!

Ken.....IDY is instant dry yeast. You can use any yeast you have on hand as long as it's not old. If you use active dry yeast just use a little more as IDY is finer is size and a little more active. There's a conversion factor but don't get too wrapped up around the axle over it. It won't make a big difference.


The vitamin C acts as a dough conditioner and strengthens the gluten as well as helping the yeast work longer and stronger. It's kind of like viagra for your dough. I get 500 mg chewable vitamin C pills at the supermarket and run it over my fine cheese grater. You don't need a lot.

If you have any questions about ingredients you can go here:

ENCYCLOPIZZA -- Pizza Recipes -- Pizza Dough, Crust, & Sauce Recipes

Villa Roma

[Ken524]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

Excellent link. And thanks for clarifying!

[Villa Roma]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

Hello whole grain fans,

I have good news and not so good news. The good news is that I made pizza this weekend. The bad news is that I didn't have time to make a video. Too many other "commitments" took priority.

This batch acted somewhat different than my last few batches. I started on a new bag of flour and although the expiration dates are within 4 hours of each other, this bag was not as easy to work with as the previous bag.

One issue may be that the flour is old as the date on the bag is 06 Dec 07. Being a US civilian working at an Air Force base in Germany, I'm at the mercy of what they stock in the commissary. Seems whole wheat flour is not a big mover so it sits on the shelves a long time and it usually gets tossed out when it reaches the expiration date.

This bag just didn't seem to have the elasticity that the other bag of flour offered. Next go around I'll lower the hydration back to 90% and see if that solves the problem. It would be nice if I could get my hands on a nice fresh bag of flour.

Here's a picture of one of the pizzas. This one I retarded in the refer for about 30 hours and used it straight from the fridge. Not the best but far from the worst. I think if I would have let it come back to room temp I would have a lot more spring to it.

Villa Roma

[Acoma]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

VR, tell mom you want fresh flour for Christmas, show her the thumbnail, and promise her one upon your return. I hope you have some personal time in Europe?

[Villa Roma]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

Here's a few 100% whole grain pizzas from this weekend. I lowered the hydration to 95% and left the vitamin C out. No mixer was used, I just stirred the dough.

Villa Roma

[Acoma]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

VR, your'e good...I mean great at pizzas. These are perfect. Don't forget about mom. I see your calling upon your return home.

[Frances]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

This may be a dumb question, but with 100% hydration (or 95%) how do you shape the pizzas? I'm thinking it would be pretty difficult to shape a dough you can stir... And when? Your recepie calls for stiring every 3-4 hours on the second day, can you use it from that point, or should it stay in the fridge for another day?

Please keep posting on this thread, I love whole grain baking and your pizzas look so good!
Frances

[Villa Roma]

Re: 100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

OK, here's another batch of whole grain pizza using the stir method of mixing. These 3 were 90% whole wheat and 10% rye. The last one is not whole grain but 90% Harvest King and 10% rye. I taped the mixing of the dough so when I get time, I'll post a link to it.

Villa Roma