October 20, 2021 - 4:43pm
Delivery Pizza Dough
Hi everyone,
I've been making a lot of pizza recently, some Neopolitan some NY style. I'm trying to make some dough that will hold better after being cooked and am really struggling. Does anyone have ideas about how delivery is able to achieve such great dough after 20-30 minuets in a hot back? Is adding extra fat to the dough, or dough relaxer the way to go here?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
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What exactly do ya mean by "hold" better?
Super hot oven and stone? If you mean it's not soggy and soft.
+1 for the hot stone. The dough cooks from the bottom and I find that my baking steel needs to be at least 500 degrees to get a reliably crisp crust. Also avoid wet toppings.
I make pizza and/or calzones nearly every week now since discovering a fantastic grilling stone that I can utilize on our outdoor gas grill. I think it is actually ceramic. I can get the baking temp to over 600 degrees F with the grill and pre-heat the 'stone' for a good 30 minutes. I use a sourdough pizza dough (tipo 00 flour, some spelt and durum, olive oil) that rests in the fridge for 24-48 hours, that I then divide up into rounds, top and bake, which results in a thin but crisp bottom crust with airy holes in the outer edge. Far and away better than any pizza I was ever able to make in my indoor oven with a baking stone. What I love about it is it's not floppy in the center--you can hold a slice at the edge and it stays level. I think this is what you were meaning by 'hold better'...? Apologies in advance about the length of the link:
https://www.weber.com/US/en/accessories/accessories-by-category/tools--et--cookware/grilling-stone/8829.html?utm_source=paid_search&utm_term=&utm_medi...
Eric, sorry, we are not clear on your question, but I find that if I have made a pizza and I want to keep it warm for a while, I put it on a pizza screen in a warm ( 250F ) oven. I did that tonight and it sat about 20 minutes before the guests were ready for it, and they said it was fine.
If you want the dough to last longer before going stale, just add a couple tablespoons of oil to your dough.
For pizza most recommend olive oil but it can have a smoke point as low as 340F, way below most pizza bake temps. It's tasty inside the dough but can result in a smoky or greasy crust. If you don't like the burnt oil effect, then you can also try sunflower oil or corn oil. Both of these have a much higher smoke point and produce an authentic American style takeout pizza dough.
I've never had any issues using olive oil in my pizza dough, focaccia or other bakes (although 'authentic' Neopolitan recipes usually only include water, flour, yeast and salt). I've never experienced an unpleasant smoky taste or greasy crust. I prefer the time-tested olive oil to the other artificial vegetable oils that are highly processed (which have negative health implications re: PUFA). The new info on smoke points makes me feel even better about doing so:
https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/why-you-should-stop-worrying-about-olive-oils-smoke-points
We also don't have any issues about dough going stale at our house as the pizza gets eaten as quick as I can pull them off the grilling stone ;-)
Thank you all for your great feedback. As far as clarifying, yes I mean, cooking and then waiting 20 minuets or so before eating. Delivery places seem to stay fresh longer. Will try some oil and see how there is any issue with the oil burning and I will report back. Thank you again!