MY BEST HOMEMADE PIZZA CRUSTS
Most people seem to love pizza. My family and I sure do. These past few months I have made some of my best homemade pizza. The key to a good crispy crust is not just the recipe but having a pizza stone and heating your oven to the highest temperature.
-In 2020 I had just begun nurturing a sourdough starter for the first time. I had "discard" to use and only had all purpose flour available (early in the pandemic it was hard to find some flours). I made this crust from “King Arthur Baking” and it was fantastic. My husband said it tasted like "Jersey pizza." (pictures not included).
-Next, I got my hands on some white whole wheat flour so used that in combination with all purpose flour to try something new to me...cold fermentation. Cold temperature slows the activity of the yeast to allow optimal texture and flavor. The recipe I used has the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight but some sites say it is best to wait 3-5 days. This crust is delicious. I did not add oil. I used 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour and 2 cups white whole wheat flour. I ended up needing to add an extra 1/4 cup cold water to get the dough consistency right. I wrapped the dough with parchment paper to keep it from sticking to the plastic bag while in the refrigerator. The recipe can be found at “101 Cookbooks” : "Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough Recipe".
-As the pandemic panic started settling down, I was able to consistently find white whole wheat flour on the shelves again. Because I usually fail to plan days in advance to make "Peter Reinhart's" recipe, I found this recipe which my husband and I enjoy as well. I used white whole wheat flour (no all purpose flour) and instant yeast. I made 1/2 batch and for that batch needed to add a couple of extra tablespoons of water to get the dough consistency right. My pizzas took 12-13 minutes to finish baking at 500 degrees. You can find this recipe at “Veggie Society”: Best Vegan Pizza Dough Recipe.
The first 13 pictures below are "Peter Reinhart's" recipe and the last 4 pictures are the "Veggie Society” recipe.
