anyone else really into making homemade pizza?

[cheezus]

here's my method:

dough:
3/4 warm water (beer is good too!)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry (or bread machine) yeast

I make that in my bread machine because I'm too lazy to knead and too poor to own a freestand mixer (I want one, but it'd be an expensive xmas gift). The bread machine doesn't really knead enough to create enough gluten for the perfect stretchydough, but it's good enough for me.

sauce:
I like the ragu homemade style pizza sauce, and it's cheap, but I also like to make my own by draining a can of whole pealed tomatoes, then adding it to a pan with oregano, basil, rosemary, salt, until it cooks down (based off Alton brown's tomato sauce recipe).

I like thicker, chewier crust, and a pizza stone is a must. preheat that sucker good and long before putting the pizza on it. once the cheeze is brown you can take it out of the oven and the crust will cook for a bit while the cheeze/topping cool.

I like toppings of all kinds, the more the better. keep in mind that wet toppings take longer to bake. i think cheeze is normally overused: if you have alot of tasty topping, the cheeze is just needed to hold thing together. I use about 6 oz on a 12-14 in pie.

if you're just going to make one pizza, you'll find that it's not any cheaper than dominos... this will change when you start buying ingredients to make lots of pizzas

my wife and I make our own pizza about twice a week and it's great. we've even gone so far as to make pizzas out of leftovers (be creative- pizza only REQUIRES bread and cheeze, the rest is up to you!), and make egg topped breakfast pizza.

anyone else into the tasty cheezy pie? any suggestions to make them better?

[bif]

1. I add a little cornmeal and a little semolina to my dough

It gives it a chewier texture and a bir more flavor. We make pizza from scratch all the time.

[Not Me]

2. How does a freestanding mixer add gluten?

Not sure of your statement...
I have both bread machine and a kitchenaid mixer with a bread hook. I use the bread machine out of simplicity and ease. Would I be better off using the freestanding mixer?

btw, I haven't bought a pizza in three years.

[tridim]

6. Gluten isn't added, it's activated

specifically by kneading. You can make gluten by hand, or with a dough hook. I knead by hand just to avoid having to clean my mixer. It's good exercise too.

[bif]

3. Another tip

Afer I take the pizza(s) out of the oven, I put them on cookie racks while they set to keep the crust from getting soggy.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Have you ever thought of using flour in your dough?

If so, how much?

[bif]

8. Good catch

Add "enough" flour. I.E. you add flour a little at a time to the liquid until it won't take any more.

[Kolesar]

9. I think we saw the "Low-Carb" recipe here

I don't own any bread machine or such mixing apparatus. How long does it take to knead dough? I have never seen it done, so I am really out in the woods here.

[tarheel]

11. I have been

struggling with this myself. So far the only solution I have come up with is to use some soy flour when making the dough. I have found though, that the wheat flour cannot be replaced 100% by the soy flour. You can only replace about 15% of the wheat flour with the soy flour. (this is due to the soy flour not containing any gluten)

Any sugar usually added to the sauce can be replaced with Splenda sugar substitute. The rest is fairly low carb. Peppers, tomatoes, and onions all have some carbs, but in the amounts you get with each slice, they are not very high.

I use a recipe for making two 16 pizzas using my bread maker, and the best I can do is to get the carbs down to about 25 grams per slice, if I used the soy flour. Otherwise it is about 34 grams per slice.

Does anybody else have a recipe to lower the carbs any lower than this when making homemade pizza ?

[Kolesar]

12. the joke here is Cheezus left flour out of the recipe

Thanks for the advice, anyway. I appreciate the effort !

My advice would be not to make pizza the whole meal. Have some vegetables on the side if you are trying to cut complex carbohydrates. Personally, I have not looked into the low carb diet. I am very skeptical of it.

[tarheel]

14. I am convinced

that the low carb diet works. I have lsot 15 pounds over the past 4-5 weeks (and I have modified the diet to suit my willpower and the sacrifices I am willing to make :P )

I am not sure about the long term effects but my wife, whos has studied as a nurse, has read the Atkins books and seems comfortable with it as ong you do make an effort to take in the proper amounts of carbs (your body does need some carbs) and use a good multi-vitamin.

I just can't getthe carb level down to where I can enjoy the number of slices I used to. Most of the carbs in pizza is in th eflour in the dough and there is just no way around it.

[Kolesar]

16. We better get off this thread

I am starting to get cravings!

[TreasonousBastard]

18. Right-- soy flour won't hold together, but...

you can try buying gluten, if you can find it, and adding it while increasing the soy flour.

[cheezus]

19. good point. forgot that

2 - 2 1/4 cups

[tridim]

5. Costco is a goldmine for home pizza makers

They have cheap faux mozzarella and cheap real mozzarella. They're the only place I've found that carries Canadian bacon that isn't $20/pound (it's about 3 bucks a pound there). My favorite pizza is shredded c.bacon and pineapple. Occasionally they have huge bags of pepperoni for about 1/10th the price of the grocery store. The best deal there is the yeast, a year's supply costs $3.50.

But the greatest invention ever that makes pizza making incredibly easy is parchment paper under the crust. Dirty, oily, burnt pizza stones are nasty.

[cheezus]

20. psst. canadian bacon is just ham.

get them to slice some smoked ham think at the deli. much cheaper than bagged cbacon

btw - the pizza stone isn't dirty - it's *seasoned*

[Lars39]

7. Some of the best homemade pizza I ever laid tooth to was made with

sourdough crust. :9

[ihaveaquestion]

10. Quick pizza = sauce and cheese on pita bread. Great for lunch!

[Trailrider1951]

15. Heheheh, y'all are amateurs, here's my pizza recipe:

Crust:
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 teasp honey
1 pkg dry yeast
mix together in a 2 cup glass measuring cup and place in warm place with a towel over it until yeast "works", about 10 min.
Measure into a medium bowl:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teasp salt
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the liquid ingredients, and dump into the middle of the flour and salt mixture. Mix well with spoon and hand and pour out onto a flour coated countertop. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 min.
Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly grease a 12 inch cast iron skillet with olive oil and sprinkle some sesame seeds on it. Work dough with hands until it covers the bottom and 1/2 the sides of the skillet. Spread dough with tomato sauce. Add your favorite spices, i.e. onion, garlic, oregano, basil, savory, etc. Top with fresh sliced tomatoes, mushrooms and zucchini. Add a topping of mozzellera and parmesean cheese. Bake until golden brown on top. Important: let stand for 10 minutes after taking from oven before cutting slices. Enjoy!

[Lavender Brown]

13. Thanks a lot

I'm really hungry now and dinner is hours away. :)

[Beer Snob-50]

17. Carmelized oninons and sausage as the topping

with fontina and mozerella cheese!! great topping.

my kids like it when I make them their own with whatever topping they choose. Once it was PB and J for one and chocolate fudge for the other.