I usually make pizza about once a month. I have a pizza stone that I love using in the oven, but it was designed for the Weber Kettle. Unfortunately, it had a reputation for cracking so I've never used it on the grill. Today I decided to make pizzas in the WSM and try the stone there. It worked nicely!
Dough
I love fermented pizza dough. Not quite sour dough, but not sweet dough either. I copied a basic recipe off the Internet and adjusted it to my tastes and choices of flour. It is SO easy to make, and the flavor is fantastic. I actually use the weights, not the cups and tsp, except for the gluten and additional water. Here's the recipe and some pictures.
4 Day Fermented Pizza Dough - Medium Crust
Ingredients
6.25 cups Gold Medal All Purpose Flour (750 grams)
3 tsp fine sea salt (24 grams)
3/4 tsp active dry yeast (3 grams)
2.25 cups room temp water (525 grams)
3.6 Tbs Gluten (adds protein)
4.2 Tbs additional water
Olive oil
Directions
1. Combine dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed.
2. Slowly add water and mix thoroughly with a spoon until you get a ragged dough.
3. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap, place on the counter and let it bulk ferment for 24 hours at room temperature.
4. Lightly flour a work surface, remove dough and place on floured work surface. Flour your hands then add additional flour to the wet dough so it is workable. Work it as little as possible to form a big round ball.
5. Divide dough into four equal portions. Next we're going to make dough balls. Place one dough portion between your hands and fold two sides into center. Rotate 90 degrees and fold into center and continue this process until a ball is formed. Add more flour to your hands if needed. Pinch the seam closed on the bottom of the ball. You can be aggressive with the pinch.
6. Place dough into highly oiled plastic container. Place in a cooler with an ice jug for 72 hours. Replace the ice jug every 24 hours. You can use the refrigerator but I found I like the taste best when the cooler temp is around 40-45°F.
7. After 72 hours, remove from the cooler at least 1 hour before use. I like to let it sit on the counter for four hours. Dough can be frozen too then counter thawed for later use.
Servings: 32
Source for inspiration: Baking Steel 72 hour pizza dough
Ragged dough
After 24 hour bulk fermentation
Wet dough poured out on floured surface.
Big dough ball ready to divide.
Four 13-15 ounce pizza portions.
Oiled and ready to ferment in the cooler or the fridge for 72 more hours. You can go longer. I've let the dough ferment for twice as long and it was still fantastic. I love the flavor best at 72 hours when the dough has cold fermented between 40-45F. .
Here's what the dough looks like after the additional 72 hour cold fermentation.
Now, being raised in an Italian household, I believed pizza always included red sauce. I've never made a pizza without red sauce ......... until today. Red sauce gives my honey stomach problems. So today, I decided to try something completely off the wall with pizza to see how it would taste. On a Calzone, instead of red sauce, I used a commercial Pepper and Onion Relish with grated mozzarella cheese, caramelized onions, and smoked chicken thigh meat dusted with a sweet and smoky pork rub. Now, you might be thinking I was planning on making a Calzone. Nope. When the pizza slid off the peel weird and I couldn't get it back on the stone, I turned it into a Calzone. It was only the second Calzone I've ever made, and the first one was caused by EXACTLY the same mistake!
Here's the Calzone on the WSM at 435F and when it was finished. Oh my god it was fantastic. The hot pepper in the relish gave it a bit of a bite. The sweet and salty balance with the cheese and chicken was perfect. Honestly, my wife and I were both shocked how good it was.
When I do pizza in a 500-550F oven, I get bigger "blisters," big bubbles in the dough. That didn't happen in the 435F WSM, but the flavor of the dough was still delicious.
The second pizza was in fact a pizza. I used a commercial Spiced Pear Chutney instead of red sauce, caramelized onions, grated mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, and smoked chicken thigh meat with the pork rub. It needed a little more of the chutney to balance the pizza, but man oh man it was good. I didn't get a pic of it on the WSM, but here is the finished product.
On both the Calzone and the pizza, everything worked together beautifully. You could taste the tang of the fermented crust, the sweetness of the relish, chutney, and caramelized onions, the neutrality of the cheese, and the smoky rubbed chicken. My Italian grandmother is either very proud, or turning over in her grave because I didn't use a red sauce, but we'll be exploring additional options for no red sauce pizzas.
Have a GREAT weekend everybody!
Ray
Dough
I love fermented pizza dough. Not quite sour dough, but not sweet dough either. I copied a basic recipe off the Internet and adjusted it to my tastes and choices of flour. It is SO easy to make, and the flavor is fantastic. I actually use the weights, not the cups and tsp, except for the gluten and additional water. Here's the recipe and some pictures.
4 Day Fermented Pizza Dough - Medium Crust
Ingredients
6.25 cups Gold Medal All Purpose Flour (750 grams)
3 tsp fine sea salt (24 grams)
3/4 tsp active dry yeast (3 grams)
2.25 cups room temp water (525 grams)
3.6 Tbs Gluten (adds protein)
4.2 Tbs additional water
Olive oil
Directions
1. Combine dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed.
2. Slowly add water and mix thoroughly with a spoon until you get a ragged dough.
3. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap, place on the counter and let it bulk ferment for 24 hours at room temperature.
4. Lightly flour a work surface, remove dough and place on floured work surface. Flour your hands then add additional flour to the wet dough so it is workable. Work it as little as possible to form a big round ball.
5. Divide dough into four equal portions. Next we're going to make dough balls. Place one dough portion between your hands and fold two sides into center. Rotate 90 degrees and fold into center and continue this process until a ball is formed. Add more flour to your hands if needed. Pinch the seam closed on the bottom of the ball. You can be aggressive with the pinch.
6. Place dough into highly oiled plastic container. Place in a cooler with an ice jug for 72 hours. Replace the ice jug every 24 hours. You can use the refrigerator but I found I like the taste best when the cooler temp is around 40-45°F.
7. After 72 hours, remove from the cooler at least 1 hour before use. I like to let it sit on the counter for four hours. Dough can be frozen too then counter thawed for later use.
Servings: 32
Source for inspiration: Baking Steel 72 hour pizza dough
Ragged dough
After 24 hour bulk fermentation
Wet dough poured out on floured surface.
Big dough ball ready to divide.
Four 13-15 ounce pizza portions.
Oiled and ready to ferment in the cooler or the fridge for 72 more hours. You can go longer. I've let the dough ferment for twice as long and it was still fantastic. I love the flavor best at 72 hours when the dough has cold fermented between 40-45F. .
Here's what the dough looks like after the additional 72 hour cold fermentation.
Now, being raised in an Italian household, I believed pizza always included red sauce. I've never made a pizza without red sauce ......... until today. Red sauce gives my honey stomach problems. So today, I decided to try something completely off the wall with pizza to see how it would taste. On a Calzone, instead of red sauce, I used a commercial Pepper and Onion Relish with grated mozzarella cheese, caramelized onions, and smoked chicken thigh meat dusted with a sweet and smoky pork rub. Now, you might be thinking I was planning on making a Calzone. Nope. When the pizza slid off the peel weird and I couldn't get it back on the stone, I turned it into a Calzone. It was only the second Calzone I've ever made, and the first one was caused by EXACTLY the same mistake!
Here's the Calzone on the WSM at 435F and when it was finished. Oh my god it was fantastic. The hot pepper in the relish gave it a bit of a bite. The sweet and salty balance with the cheese and chicken was perfect. Honestly, my wife and I were both shocked how good it was.
When I do pizza in a 500-550F oven, I get bigger "blisters," big bubbles in the dough. That didn't happen in the 435F WSM, but the flavor of the dough was still delicious.
The second pizza was in fact a pizza. I used a commercial Spiced Pear Chutney instead of red sauce, caramelized onions, grated mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, and smoked chicken thigh meat with the pork rub. It needed a little more of the chutney to balance the pizza, but man oh man it was good. I didn't get a pic of it on the WSM, but here is the finished product.
On both the Calzone and the pizza, everything worked together beautifully. You could taste the tang of the fermented crust, the sweetness of the relish, chutney, and caramelized onions, the neutrality of the cheese, and the smoky rubbed chicken. My Italian grandmother is either very proud, or turning over in her grave because I didn't use a red sauce, but we'll be exploring additional options for no red sauce pizzas.
Have a GREAT weekend everybody!
Ray
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