atot bakers/pizza makers: thin crust dough?

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
I've been baking for years, and can make a pretty good pizza....but its a little on the thick side

ive got some friends coming over this weekend and want to do some on the grill, but i need a thinner crust for this, anyone have a good recipe that they know will work?

unfortunately i dont have time to play around and experiment to get a thin crust down properly :-/
 

SunnyD

Belgian Waffler
Jan 2, 2001
32,674
146
106
www.neftastic.com
Just use less yeast, press it thinner, and add a little baking soda (makes it crispy, just be careful not to add too much - probably no more than 1/2 tsp at most).
 

Saint Nick

Lifer
Jan 21, 2005
17,722
6
81
Just use less yeast, press it thinner, and add a little baking soda (makes it crispy, just be careful not to add too much - probably no more than 1/2 tsp at most).
Came in to post this...do this and you should be all set.
 

NetWareHead

THAT guy
Aug 10, 2002
5,847
154
106
Let the dough rise in a warm place. When it is soft to the touch and has risen, punch it down. Depending on your dough recipe, the yeast might have enough energy to allow for another rise. If so, let it rise again and punch down and then make into pizza.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
91
I've never had to adjust my recipe to get dough thinner, but I do have to use a rolling pin. Pizza experts advise against rolling pins (something about gluten bonds or something like that), but it has never been a problem for me. I've rolled dough so thin I couldn't even see it. Just keep rolling, eventually the dough will give up and let you have your way with it.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
remember to use a piazza stone

Pizza-fail.jpg
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,374
8,499
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alton has a thin grilled pizza episode


Good Eats S14E05 Flat Is Beautiful

mario batali makes his pizza on a cast iron griddle that's been heated on a gas burner. a lot of heat and a lot better transfer mechanism than stone.
 
Last edited:

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,267
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I suggest you add 10% by weight additional water, cut the yeast in half, and prepare the dough a day in advance. Made sure you cover and refrigerate. None of these steps are optional. When it's 2 hours before baking take the dough out and leave covered in the bowl in a warm place. You should have a soft pliable mass. Work the dough to shape, but do not knead. You spent all this time getting the gluten to relax.

This should work.
 

DirkGently1

Senior member
Mar 31, 2011
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Olive Oil in the dough is critical. Most people don't have a pizza stone but you can lay the base out on oiled up Tin Foil and cook it like that.
 

disappoint

Lifer
Dec 7, 2009
10,132
382
126
Olive Oil in the dough is critical. Most people don't have a pizza stone but you can lay the base out on oiled up Tin Foil and cook it like that.

Why not? I got a pizza stone and wooden pizza peel both for $15 (they come as a set) at Bed Bath and Beyond. Makes a great pizza.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,605
4,111
126
Just find a cardboard box from a frozen pizza. The boxes are about as tasty as thin crust on a pizza.

Thick crust all the way - so you can pile on topping 1 inch thick (or thicker) for maximum flavor!
 

Ninjahedge

Diamond Member
Mar 2, 2005
4,149
1
91
The stone is good for even heating.

It just makes it less likely to get burnt spots and soft spots. I can also see where a good hot cast iron will do something similar.

Also make sure that most of your ingredients are either warmed up a bit (room temp) or thin (pepperoni) or you might end up with a cooked crust and undercooked toppings.


Pizza, in general, is kind of hard to get "right". You may be less fussy if you have not grown up in an area that has more pizzareas than supermarkets and convenience stores combined (most of the NYC area), but certain thnigs do make a difference.

NJ Shore pizza is great, but it has never tasted quite like some of the places in NY, Brooklyn or even NE suburban NJ. They all have their own style, and sure as hell i don't think I can easily match the better ones I have grown used to.

Not w/o a pizza oven and a lot of practice! ;)
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
166
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www.slatebrookfarm.com
There are two separate directions you can go with your crust. One style of recipe uses sugar or honey in the recipe. The other style is for patient people who want excellent pizza.

High gluten flour, water, yeast, shortening, and during the final couple minutes of mixing with a dough hook, a little bit of oil. Sorry I don't have the exact amounts of ingredients; I do it all by eye. In fact, because of differences in the humidity, moisture content of your flour, etc., it's impossible to have an "exact" recipe anyway.

First mix your flour and shortening together for 5 or 10 minutes, until there are no little hunks of shortening. (Just use a dough hook on a mixer.) Yeast depends on the type; some types of yeast, you add directly to the dough; others you have to mix with water to activate. The latter is most common. Kind of follow the recommendation for the amount of flour that you're using. A little more or less isn't going to hurt much; it'll just affect times later. Don't add all the water you think you'll need at once. Maybe 90% of what you think you'll need. Allow it to mix with a dough hook for 5 or so minutes. Gradually add water, just a tiny bit at a time until the dough forms a "nipple" at the top while it's being mixed. Occasionally punch that nipple down into the dough to ensure good mixing. After a couple minutes of it mixing like that, the dough should appear slightly sticky to the sides of your mixing bowl at the very bottom. There should be no dry flour left. At some point or another while mixing, you might have to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl down to get the ring of moist flour out that's just above the dough ball and not getting mixed in. At this point, when you have a ball of dough with fairly even consistency and a nipple on the top, add in a few splashes of oil. As it mixes in, briefly (for a minute or so) it'll look like the ball is no longer going to hold together. But once mixed in, you'll be fine. Take your ball of dough out of the mixer and put it in some container that can easily hold double the size. (Or leave it in the mixer if you can do it in there.) Thoroughly rub the surface with oil, cover, and leave in a slightly warm area to rise. Rising will take from half an hour to an hour. At this point, form it into a dough ball by poking it into itself, almost like you're turning it inside out. This will knock it down quite a bit. Again, allow it to rise. This time, for 1 to 4 hours, depending on temperature, how much yeast you used, humidity, etc. It should be very easy to work with and capable of making a pretty thin crust. (26 years of experience making pizza dough for a major local restaurant that's very popular for pizza. It's all in the dough.)
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,267
126
There are two separate directions you can go with your crust. One style of recipe uses sugar or honey in the recipe. The other style is for patient people who want excellent pizza.

High gluten flour, water, yeast, shortening, and during the final couple minutes of mixing with a dough hook, a little bit of oil. Sorry I don't have the exact amounts of ingredients; I do it all by eye. In fact, because of differences in the humidity, moisture content of your flour, etc., it's impossible to have an "exact" recipe anyway.

First mix your flour and shortening together for 5 or 10 minutes, until there are no little hunks of shortening. (Just use a dough hook on a mixer.) Yeast depends on the type; some types of yeast, you add directly to the dough; others you have to mix with water to activate. The latter is most common. Kind of follow the recommendation for the amount of flour that you're using. A little more or less isn't going to hurt much; it'll just affect times later. Don't add all the water you think you'll need at once. Maybe 90% of what you think you'll need. Allow it to mix with a dough hook for 5 or so minutes. Gradually add water, just a tiny bit at a time until the dough forms a "nipple" at the top while it's being mixed. Occasionally punch that nipple down into the dough to ensure good mixing. After a couple minutes of it mixing like that, the dough should appear slightly sticky to the sides of your mixing bowl at the very bottom. There should be no dry flour left. At some point or another while mixing, you might have to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl down to get the ring of moist flour out that's just above the dough ball and not getting mixed in. At this point, when you have a ball of dough with fairly even consistency and a nipple on the top, add in a few splashes of oil. As it mixes in, briefly (for a minute or so) it'll look like the ball is no longer going to hold together. But once mixed in, you'll be fine. Take your ball of dough out of the mixer and put it in some container that can easily hold double the size. (Or leave it in the mixer if you can do it in there.) Thoroughly rub the surface with oil, cover, and leave in a slightly warm area to rise. Rising will take from half an hour to an hour. At this point, form it into a dough ball by poking it into itself, almost like you're turning it inside out. This will knock it down quite a bit. Again, allow it to rise. This time, for 1 to 4 hours, depending on temperature, how much yeast you used, humidity, etc. It should be very easy to work with and capable of making a pretty thin crust. (26 years of experience making pizza dough for a major local restaurant that's very popular for pizza. It's all in the dough.)

Still going to be better with an overnight retardation ;)
 

Jaepheth

Platinum Member
Apr 29, 2006
2,572
25
91
Related question:
My dough keeps tearing when I try to stretch it. I believe it's because I'm using all-purpose flour instead of high-gluten flour. I see boxes of wheat gluten at the store. Can I add that gluten to all-purpose flour to get a close equivalent to 00 or semolina flour (both of which I've heard are better for pizza dough)? If so, how much would I add?
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
91
Related question:
My dough keeps tearing when I try to stretch it. I believe it's because I'm using all-purpose flour instead of high-gluten flour. I see boxes of wheat gluten at the store. Can I add that gluten to all-purpose flour to get a close equivalent to 00 or semolina flour (both of which I've heard are better for pizza dough)? If so, how much would I add?

I use:
3 cups bread flour
1 cup semolina flour
3 tablespoons gluten

(makes 3 x 14" thin crust pies)

There's no reason to use all-purpose flour, bread flour is easy to find. High-gluten flour is what is hard to find.
 

TraumaRN

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2005
6,893
63
91
I always use bread flour, I make my Focaccia bread dough recipe(can't remember it offhand) and just use a rolling pin to make super thin crust. then either bake or grill it.

If grilling I use my 12 inch cast iron skillet flipped upside down. If baking I have a 16 inch round unglazed terra cotta pot bottom.
 

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
alton has a thin grilled pizza episode


Good Eats S14E05 Flat Is Beautiful

ill look into that

i think ive tried using less yeast in the past but lost whatever notes i had with that and other experimentation

i definitely have and use a pizza stone (and olive oil, for that suggestion, i always use that)

thanks for the input so far everyone :)
 

Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
25,195
0
56
FYI, you can "make" a pizza stone by using ceramic tile in your oven, just layer it on one of the racks and you're golden.

Dirt cheap, and works beautifully.
 

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
FYI, you can "make" a pizza stone by using ceramic tile in your oven, just layer it on one of the racks and you're golden.

Dirt cheap, and works beautifully.

yeah, i started doing that years ago.

Making thin crust is more about how to make the dough than it is about the recipe.

http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

This will result in a dough that stretches pretty much as thin as you want to get it.

i looked over this (holy crap)

I suggest you add 10% by weight additional water, cut the yeast in half, and prepare the dough a day in advance. Made sure you cover and refrigerate. None of these steps are optional. When it's 2 hours before baking take the dough out and leave covered in the bowl in a warm place. You should have a soft pliable mass. Work the dough to shape, but do not knead. You spent all this time getting the gluten to relax.

This should work.

and between that and this (more or less) i got a very nice, thinner crust. grilling it didnt work perfectly (i didnt really expect it to) but i was happy with the results

thanks everyone :)