100% Whole grain pizza? Is this a joke?

[Timpanogos Slim]

I grew up eating whole wheat bread made from wheat my folks milled in an electric "magic mill" that sounded like a jet engine.

It took a lot of years for dad to master it. There were a lot of wheat-based bricks.

My point, though, is that commercial whole wheat bread always tastes rancid to me. It only takes a few days for the oils from the bran to go off. There might be a corollary to north american olive oil preferences though -- the "good extra virgin olive oil" flavor that most americans recognize and say they like is what most europeans would call rancid.

Whole grain pizza sounds awful to me. I'll get my fiber some other way.

[diulin]

I'd love to revive this thread if anyone has had more success with 100% whole wheat pizza dough. I am going to try Villa Roma's formula this weekend, but in this thread, he offers two formulas with very different amounts of yeast (3/32 tsp with 600 g flour vs. 1/8 tsp with 400 g flour, i.e. 0.05% vs. 0.1%). The one with the higher yeast quantity is also the formula with higher hydration (100% as opposed to 95%), which seems counterintuitive. Maybe he made a mistake and meant 3/16 instead of 3/32 or 1/16 instead of 1/8; in that case the two percentages would be the same. Another post in this thread links to another version of Villa Roma's formula in the photo gallery, but I guess that link doesn't work anymore.

It would be great to hear of others' successes (or failures) with 100% whole wheat pizza. I'm not giving up my white-flour pizzas, but this is a challenge that intrigues me.

Don Ulin
Allegany, NY

My first (and, so far only) oven build: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LEXgKCbEESXxbun36

[Villa Roma]

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

Ken...Good looking pizzas.

Here's one from my last batch. I used 100% GM stone ground WW flour.

Villa Roma

[Ken524]

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

We tried Villa Roma's whole wheat pizza last night, and it was GOOD! Villa Roma has an updated WW dough recipe that he posted in the photo gallery. The recipe is hard to find so here is the link:
PhotoPlog - Pizza

The dough has really high hydration; it's right on the line between batter and dough. After flouring my hands, it shaped very nicely into 12 inch pies. It baked up beautifully.

Pie #1 is pepperoni, mushrooms, fresh basil & fresh tomato.
Pie #2 is leftover taco beef, chedder/mozz cheese, onions & pineapple.

YUMMY!

[Villa Roma]

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

Here's a pizza made with 90% GM all purpose flour and 10% whole grain rye. You don't need high gluten flour to make great pizza. Also check out the 100% whole grain bagels. Start your morning off right with whole grains! The last pizza is 100% whole grain, All courtesy of the LBE.

Villa Roma

[Villa Roma]

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

I made a video the last time I made whole grain pizza and posted it on the tube. The big difference is this pizza is made without a mixer. That's right, I used a screwdriver and a plastic bowl to mix this batch of whole grain pizza. I cut the business end off the screwdriver and rounded it over with a file. I did this just to prove that you don't need a big fancy mixer to make great pizza. The last pizza on the video is 90% Harvest King and 10% rye flour so this method works equally well with regular white flour.

The dough was 90% stone ground whole wheat and 10% stone ground rye flour but it was 100% delicious! I used 95% hydration which seems high but as you will see it was no problem.

The rye made the dough a little heavy but it adds some good flavor. You can use all whole wheat for a lighter pizza dough if you like.

(YouTube - Whole Grain Pizza and Bagels)

Here’s the recipe:

540 gm Gold Medal stone ground whole wheat flour (90%)
60 gm Hodgsons mills stone ground rye flour (10%)

270 gm cold water (47.5%)
270 gm cold milk (47.5%)

12 gm honey (2%)
12 gm salt (2%)
12 gm olive oil (2%)
3/32 tsp IDY (1/64 tsp per 100 gm)
Vitamin C

Villa Roma

[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

[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

[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.

[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, 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?

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

[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?

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?

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!