made my first pizza today, question.

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Freddy_Krugerrand

New member
Hey everyone,
I made my first pizza today and it turned out pretty good. The crust however didn’t really have a lot of taste. It rose, was crispy and good but was lacking something. I used hygluten flour but only let it rise 6 hours in the fridge (after first rising for 2 hours on the counter). 8 hours total.

I was wondering if any of you add anything extra to your crust to get more flavor. Do you put butter on it? Garlic in the dough mix? Any suggestions? Perhaps I did something wrong?
 
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People put all kinds of things in pizza crust, thinking that there is some secret ingredient that will make it stand out.

I think a good pizza crust is made with flour, water, salt and yeast.
 
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Our crust has a little bit of sugar in in too. We also brush lightly with butter after it comes out of the oven, I think a garlic butter would also taste great.
 
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Alot of times just a nice brush of a garlic butter on the crust before or after cooking will do alot for the flavor. What people put in their dough’s for flavor varies highly. Some do use butter but I have never been a fan of that. If you want to add a butter flavor then just brush some liquid butter on the edge of the crust to save money as most of the pie will have the toppings for flavor.

Just one man’s suggestion
 
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Thats a good idea I will try that next time, Thanks!

I also think that I will let the dough rise for 24 hours before baking and see what changes that makes. I got impatient and hungry so it only rose for 8 hours.
 
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Yeah, nothing wrong with doing stuff to the crust before or after cooking. We season our pies before they cook; and if some of that seasoning happens to fall on the outer crust, well, so much the better.
 
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I’ve been where you are and I understand. First, we need to know what type of dough you are trying to end up with. New York Style dough, Chicago Style Dough, Thin and Crispy, and Sicilian all have different ratios of flour/water and different dough handling procedures (among other differences). I highly recommend you hang out at the pizzamaking.com forums. Those guys are mostly hobbyists so they are open about their recipes and techniques. As you can imagine, those on this forum make their living off their version of pizza and may be reluctant to give up all their trade secrets.

That said the flavor in dough comes from fermentation. Dough that rises for 18-24 hours (depending on lots of variables of course) will develop a much more complex flavor than dough risen for shorter periods of time.

If you post your recipe and the type of dough you want to end up with, I’m sure there will be lots of good responses here as well. I for one appreciate the flavor of well made dough. I think it is a unique attribute. You cannot substitute seasoning on the pie for a really good crust. Just my 2 cents though…
 
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Dough flavour typically improves with age (within reason). Our dough has a 5 day life and we like to use it day 3 onwards. IMO it tastes and rises best day 4 and 5 (and in ideal conditions sometimes day 6). If we have to use it on day 2 its very hard to slap and the taste and rise isn’t as good.

Personally, I’m not one for flavouring the dough, as Kinsman says, I think there should be enough flavour in the dough by itself, but each to his own.

Tom is your man in terms of advice on this area but his starting point will be to see you recipe, process and temperatures so maybe you wanna post these.

You’ll need to spend hours and hours and hours (and hours) in your kitchen trying different recipes, proofing times and cooking variations before you’ve even a clue how what works for you, then how your crust, sauce and cheese combine THEN you’ll have to do it all again in a commercial oven! Have fun!!
 
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Wizzle hit it. Dough is like wine in that the flavor volitiles develop over a cycle of time. Patience is the ingredient you need to add, Freddy.

Wipe with light coating of oil and Cover your dough ball. place in fridge for 24 hours and taste the difference. If you get more flavor, then try another 24 hours for another ball. Your will be pleased at the flavor compounds that yeast let out over the fermentation process.
 
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How are things working out with your dough? Did an overnight/24-hour ferment make any difference in your flavor profile?
 
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Without knowing more about your dough formula and dough management procedure, it is hard to give any reasonable answer as to what might be wrong, or what you might do to improve the flavor of your pizza crust. If you can, please give us you dough formula and then walk us through what you do withthe dough from the time it comes off of the mixer until you form it into a dough skin for dressing. Then tell us how you bake the pizza. With this information you will get a lot of very useful guidence while shortening you learning curve substantially.
By the way, congratulations on making your first pizza! That’s where we all started.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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I made the recipe again and this time let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours (rather than 8 ) and it made a big difference. I also made the dough a tiny bit “wetter” and this helped as well because when I began to flour my board and work the dough it made for a better consistency.

Now if I could just learn how to toss the dough better. I stretch it on the floured board but its still a bit of a struggle.

I was making a New York Style pizza.
 
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If you give details that Tom Lehmann mentioned, he can help a WHOLE TON. In case you don’t know of him,he is called the Dough Doctor. Formulation and management techniques are genetically part of him 🙂
 
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Here is the recipe that I have had the most success with.

10oz high gluten flour
3.7 oz semolina flour
8 ounces of water @ 110 degrees
6tsp sugar
1tsp salt
1 1/4 regular olive oil
2 tsp SAF instant yeast.

mix for about 20 minutes, let rise on the counter for about and hour and a half then overnight in the fridge.

This recipe is from “The Ultimate Pizza Manual”

Thanks for your input.
 
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Congrats on your first pizza. To get better at making pizza, keep making it! When you think you are good. Make more! Always room for improvement. New York pizza is very simple. It seems to be simpler here in new York then most make it out to be. Not knocking the way anyone makes money, I’d sell dominos to get rich.

" new York pizza"- crispy but doughy crust. Feremented flavor. Pick your sauce but when it comes to cheese the best plAces out here use grande. Read all about grande on here.( make your own decision). New York pizza is known for the fold , and should never flop over. Not even with toppings.

When making a pie make sure that your not too thin in the middle. Try to picture your dough as a round sheet perfectly even. Push the sauce 1/2 an inch from the crust and the dough will rise around the sauce and cheese creating a lip.
Unless your climate requires certain ingredients you should stick with
1- flour
2-yeast
3 salt
4 water
5 time
110 degree water sounds really high. Forget about the semolina, proof your dough for 36 hours and see what happens.
 
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Freddy,

Are you planning to use the dough recipe you posted in a commercial setting and, if so, what kind of oven will you be using? Also, what size pizza will you be making and what amount of dough will you be using to make the pizza?

PN
 
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Pakula's Pizza:
1- flour
2-yeast
3 salt
4 water
5 time
110 degree water sounds really high. Forget about the semolina, proof your dough for 36 hours and see what happens.
Click to expand...
You don’t add any sugar? Why don’t you like semolina?
 
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