Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight

[james]

Ooops.

Hey di Segni,

Pretty funny. You'd end up with some pretty odd dough without the yeast and salt.

I'll fix that. While I'm at it, I will add the dough by volume measurements to the Caputo pdf file and post that to the site.

Nice catch; thanks.
James

[maver]

Does it burn

Janprimus, my usual pizza recipe has a little olive oil, but with the higher heat of the pizza recipe I've dropped the olive oil to slow down the browning so the crust doesn't burn prior to the toppings browning. Have you used your EVOO recipe in your pizza oven? There's strict VPN pizza dough and then there's personal taste. I have not tried caputo flour yet though, so I'm not strictly traditional either. I've usually used a cup of flour (or a little less) per pizza, but I roll it out to about 16 inches.

[di Segni]

Yeast & Salt

James, a little correction, please? Perhaps you neglected to mention when to add yeast and salt. Even with autolyse, ya gotta put it somewhere! And on another subject, I'm going to see if the wonderful fromagiere at Oliver's in Santa Rosa will get us mozzarella curds.

We have been experimenting with this for some time, and I think we are ready to offer a standard "by weight" recipe for Pizza Napoletana dough. One thing that is remarkable is how simple it is -- if you start with the right ingredients and use a digital scale, it can be easy and fast. This is an olive oil-free recipe, but in order for it to work, you need to use real Italian Tipo 00 pizza flour.

http://fornobravo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=675

I have started working in grams, as the baker's percent is easy to calculate digitally. If you don't have a digital scale, think about getting one. They aren't expensive (I bought my scale at Walmart for $25), and a scale will definitely improve you baking. If you don't want to go digital, you can find our Pizza Napoletana recipe (in cups) here:

http://www.fornobravo.com/PDF/Using-caputo-tipo00.pdf

That said, I have enjoyed moving from volume (cups) to weight (grams). It is more accurate and it's fast. It can also be consistently replicated -- which unlike most home recipes, it very important.

Here goes:

500 grams Caputo Tipo 00 pizza flour
325 grams water (65% hydration)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast

Using a stand mixer set a low speed (use #2 for a minute or two, go to #4, then back to #2 with a KitchenAid mixer), blend the water and flour until you have reached a dough ball. It should take a couple of minutes. Once you have incorporated all of the flour, stop, and let everything rest for 10 minutes. This period will allow the flour to fully absorb the water.

Then mix the dough for 10 mintues.

Let the dough rest at room temperature for 90 minutes. It should have doubled.

Then, cut the dough into four balls (125g each). Shape the pizza balls, and set them on a floured surface to rest for at least 30 minutes. If you start in the morning or the night before, make your dough balls in advance and put them in the refrigerator.

If you use Caputo Tipo 00 flour, the moist (65% hydrated) recipe and you handle your dough gently, you will reward you with a supple, silkly pizza base that is easy to shape, springs in the oven, and tastes great.
James

[janprimus]

EVOO anyone?

I have always used an EVOO rich focaccia recipe for my pizza dough, does this mean there is no oil in a traditional dough? Hmmm OK
Also, what is the proper amount of dough to use for an 8 inch personal size pizza?

[jjerrier]

The Best Pizza Ever!

Today was a great day...everything came together! I made fresh mozzarella yesterday, scaled down the VPN dough recipe to a manageable size, and broke out the San Marzano tomatoes from FB.

The pizzas came out perfect - exactly like I made them at Antica Pizzeria in California...crisp bottom, a little chew to the crust, nice browning on the edges. Everyone agreed this was the best batch after cooking in the oven for almost a year and a half.

We made margerhita, sausage and pepper, and carcerone (margerhita with a little ricotta hidden in one part of the crust).

Here is the perfect dough recipe...the numbers are a little funny because I was using a formula to convert ounces to grams...


- 2.2 lbs Caputo flour (around 998 grams or a kilo is close enough)
- 600 ml room temp water (around 79 degrees)
- 19.8 grams salt (if you can measure that close, 20 won't kill you)
- 4.25 grams ACTIVE FRESH yeast (hard to find, but they have it at specialty grocers...I paid $0.79 for a little cube)

Add water to mixing bowl, stir in salt to dissolve.
Mix in yeast with your hands and swirl to dissolve.
Start mixer on low speed
Add flour
Mix for about 8 minutes on low
Check the dough during mixing to make sure it is clearing the sides but sticking to the bottom - add water or flour to get it there if necessary.
Remove the dough from the bowl and cover with a wet, warm dish towel for 45 mins - 1 hr (I set mine on a granite counter)
After resting, cut the dough into 9.5 oz (269 gram) dough balls - you should get about 6.
Place dough balls on cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap on top and bottom.
Refrigerate 1-2 days and use

This dough was really easy to stretch and handle. no tears or holes and I could stretch it to thin 11 inch pies or so. I find it easier to use the dough right out of the fridge...so I didn't let it warm up to room temp.

I also really fired my oven good because I wanted it HOT. I also used my FB log holder and that seemed to let me keep a nice flame going.

If you try the recipe above, let me know how it goes. I'll try to post some pics at www.texaspizzaoven.com

Jay

[jjerrier]

VPN Pizza Dough

Hi All - here is the recipe for VPN pizza dough that I made in the class a while back...it is for a massive amount of dough (55-60 9.5 oz dough balls). I am going to attempt to cut it down this weekend to make 5-6 doughballs at a time so I will also post those results:

- 22 lbs Caputo Flour
- 1.5 oz active FRESH yeast (fleischman's has fresh yeast in stores like Central Market and Whole Foods in the refrigerated section near the pillsbury rolls in cans)
- 7 oz table salt
- 6 litres water at room temperature (79 degrees)

Measure out all ingredients separately
Add salt to bowl
Add water to bowl and mix with hand to dissolve salt
Add yeast to water/salt and mix with hand to dissolve!! (I've never done this as I was always told to keep salt and yeast separate)
Turn mixer on low speed only (we were using a hobart 30 qt floor mixer - but I will try with a kitchenaid)
Add flour bit by bit until you've got it all in
Mix on low speed for about 7-8 minutes
Dough is in good shape if clears the sides but still sicks to the bottom
Remove dough from bowl and cover with wet cloth napkins/towel and let sit for 45 mins to 1 hr
After that time, cut dough into 9.5oz balls for 11 in pies, 5 oz balls if you want "lunch" size (too small for my taste!)
Roll into balls and place on plastic sheeted tray and cover with another sheet of plastic wrap.
Put in fridge for 24 hours

This dough really came out well...very light, spring in the oven, held up to substantial toppings...I will let you know how it goes to reduce it.

I am also picking up 10lbs of mozzarella curd from a local cheese shop on monday - so I'll also give you the story on that too.

Jay
www.texaspizzaoven.com

[Richard]

James,

Thanks so much for your experimentaion on this. Ever since posting the first weight vs volume question months ago, I am convinced that weight is the only way to go. Provides for consistency, easily scaled using %, with flour being 100%.

Thanks again for your efforts. You are more than just a great moderator for this forum

[james]

We have been experimenting with this for some time, and I think we are ready to offer a standard "by weight" recipe for Pizza Napoletana dough. One thing that is remarkable is how simple it is -- if you start with the right ingredients and use a digital scale, it can be easy and fast. This is an olive oil-free recipe, but in order for it to work, you need to use real Italian Tipo 00 pizza flour.

How to Read an Italian Flour Label - Forno Bravo Forum: The Wood-Fired Oven Community

I have started working in grams, as the baker's percent is easy to calculate digitally. If you don't have a digital scale, think about getting one. They aren't expensive (you can on in the FB Store for $40), and a scale will definitely improve you baking. If you don't want to go digital, you can find our Pizza Napoletana recipe (in cups) here:

http://www.fornobravo.com/PDF/Using-caputo-tipo00.pdf

That said, I have enjoyed moving from volume (cups) to weight (grams). It is more accurate and it's fast. It can also be consistently replicated -- which unlike most home recipes, it very important.

Here goes:

500 grams Caputo Tipo 00 pizza flour
325 grams water (65% hydration)
10 grams salt
3 grams active dry yeast

First, mix the flour and water, and let it rest for about 20 minutes. Using a stand mixer set a low speed (use #2 for a minute or two, go to #4, then back to #2 with a KitchenAid mixer), blend the water and flour until you have reached a dough ball. It should take a couple of minutes. Once you have incorporated all of the flour, stop, and let everything rest for 20 minutes. This period will allow the flour to fully absorb the water.

Next, add the salt and yeast, and knead the dough for 10 minutes.

Then, make a large dough ball, and let the dough rest at room temperature for 90 minutes. It should have doubled.

Then, cut the dough into four balls (about 215g each). Shape the pizza balls, and set them on a floured surface to rest for at least 30 minutes. If you start in the morning or the night before, make your dough balls in advance and put them in the refrigerator.

If you use Caputo Tipo 00 flour and the moist (65% hydrated) recipe, and you handle your dough gently, you will reward you with a supple, silkly pizza base that is easy to shape, springs in the oven, and tastes great.
James