Ok pics of my somewhat less artistic attempts.

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"Coles home brand pizza cheese", bacon, onion, capsicum, chicken, sun dried tomato, fresh tomato, shredded salami and a couple of pinches of "pizza herbs" from the local farmers market.

Oh....and the base is Lebanese bread. Comes up nice and crispy. Yeah...I'm lazy.

I dont eat pizza much as yeast doesn't react at all well with me these days (especially the fresh stuff I use(used) in breads and bases. Anyway, we've been looking for a good alternative and today we found it.....I should have taken a photo.

Check our the recipe here

re-produced as follows:

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup rice flour

2/3 cup 2% low-fat milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon Italian spices

1 dash garlic powder (or salt)

Directions:

1 Mix gently, do not over-beat (batter will be runny).

2 Pour batter into greased pizza pan.

3 Bake at 425F for 10 minutes.

4 Remove from oven, add sauce and your favorite toppings and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly brown.

The only thing I did was doubles the mixture to give 2 "normal" size bases. But instead of using 4 eggs I used 3 and added wild oregano (dried stuff from Greece). All I can say is I am bloody impressed. We've tried a number of difference gluten and wheat free mixes and nothing comes close to this one. The edges went crispy and the middle was soft yet strong (if that makes sense). The cool thing is you can make this in about 10 minutes, not raising etc.

One word of warning, it is very running - its a batter like that you might have for crepes, but the first cook in the oven deals with that remarkably well

Edited November 4, 201213 yr by Peter the Greek

Been a while, junior basket has taken over Friday nights.

 

Friday night, pizza night.

 

 

Margherita with four cheeses.

 

Chicken, bacon, BBQ suace.

 

Roast capsicum, sweet potato, feta and basil.

 

 

 

This is a good thread, due to re-surface, so posting here for the first time. Friday nights go better with pizza.

 

Noice! what's the dough recipe?

The short version is:

 

Flour:Water = 100:68. Most steps benefit from being done slowly except cooking which should be as fast as possible.

 

I'll elaborate later, but going to watch the footy now.

Here's my dough recipe:

 

500g flour

2 tsp dry active yeast

1 tsp salt

340g water

 

Combine flour, yeast and salt. Add water. Stir/knead until dough forms a ball, then becomes smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. This is a breeze with an electric mixer/dough hook. Working by hand a dough this wet is hard to handle. The trick is to use a large bowl and a big wooden spoon and work the dough with the spoon until it is smooth enough to knead by hand. Cover with a tea towel or cling wrap and leave to rise until doubled in volume. Divide dough. This quantity makes 4 large or 6 small pizza. Allow dough to rest awhile before pressing out. Make your pizza.

 

Some finer points I've learned along the way:

• Weigh your ingredients: It's possible to manage otherwise, but using scales is fast and foolproof. It also gives you a way of understanding doughs for different applications. This all-purpose dough is 68 percent water:flour. It works for pizza or bread. But you can bring it back around 66% for a traditional loaf or out >80% for ciabatta.
• Most steps in the process benefit from being done slowly: This develops flavour and texture in the dough and makes it easier to handle. Leaving the dough to rest midway through the initial knead allows the flour to take up more water and makes it easier to knead. Leaving the dough to rise for 3 or 4 hours (instead of the minimum 1 or 2) makes for a lighter, chewier crust. (With the longer rise you will need to knock back the dough every so often and give it a fold so it doesn't get a thick skin). Leaving the dough to rest for >20 minutes before pressing out makes it much more pliant. Pressing the dough halfway out and allowing it to rest before finishing makes it easier to get a thin crust without ripping. You get the idea.
• Except cooking which should be as fast as possible: Here your oven will be the limiting factor. My oven will hit 300C max, but only maintains 250C when opening and closing the door as often as you do when making pizza. This is serviceable and gives a cooking time of 8-10 minutes. But if you ever get the opportunity to use a proper pizza oven (>300C) you notice the difference. The pizza cook in a few minutes and there's a lift, lightness and texture in the crust simply can't match in a domestic oven. The best you can do is preheat to maximum for at least half an hour.

Enjoy!

Cheers, always interested to see other recipes. I use to put a pinch of sugar in my normal flour recipe, makes it crispier

Thought I'd start a thread about making your own pizza as there wasn't one already. Tell us about your pizza making exploits.

 

I have cooked many different cuisines and dishes over the years, but not pizza and bread, or much baking in general actually. I recently baked my first quick and easy loaf and was kicking myself for not doing it sooner, as it's so easy!
 

I think the hesitancy with cooking pizza was the need for a really hot oven. Well, yesterday I built this easy one I'd be pondering for a while, and have entered the world of diy pizza making. Well kind of...  The oven is a simple U-shaped paver construction. It's a few layers of small pavers for the fireplace, then a large paver sits on top. This is where the pizza will sit. Then you have a couple more layers and another large paver for the roof of the oven. I used this guide.. 

 

 

 

So, with the oven built, I made a fire to "season" it. Originally that was the intention, but then I decided to actually cook my first pizza in it. I'd made dough earlier in the day, but that wasn't going to be ready until 2 days later, so I made a quick pizza dough for an hour or two later. 
 

Then a couple of realities dawned on me. Firstly, I didn't have light where I built the oven, and secondly, I had no peel/way to put pizzas in the oven. So I went to the shed and whipped up a peel, from car body panel steel I bought to make a foundry, but by that time I was over rushing, and decided to cook one in the kitchen oven. That was until I discovered I was out of tomatoes lol. So with the kibosh put on pizza making for the night, I watched the rest of the AFL GF and put the dough in the fridge.

 

So with the long rise and quick doughs, I now have enough for around 6 x 12" pizzas 😁 I realised late last night, that I could make bbq pizzas until I go to town and buy tomatoes 😎 I also have brisket, so bbq brisket pizzas might be on the menu tonight. 

We need pics 🍕🙏.

 

 

Great thread, I have been on this journey since June, deciding to go all out and make my own outdoor oven.

Backbreaking work but thoroughly worth it.

Almost finished.....

 

Edited September 26, 20214 yr by Mendes
.

1 hour ago, Mendes said:

We need pics 🍕🙏.

 

 

Will get some today hopefully. Not much to photograph yet, just dough and the oven.

 

Edit: Just saw your's. Looks great mate! Did you use firebricks for the base or just pavers? I have a lot of ceramic blanket I was considering using for the dome, if I ever build a proper oven. I bought way more than I needed to build my blacksmith forge and foundry. It would work well, but would probably need to be coated with refractory cement, which would be a pita.

Edited September 26, 20214 yr by Esoterica

30 minutes ago, Esoterica said:

Will get some today hopefully. Not much to photograph yet, just dough and the oven.

 

Edit: Just saw your's. Looks great mate! Did you use firebricks for the base or just pavers? I have a lot of ceramic blanket I was considering using for the dome, if I ever build a proper oven. I bought way more than I needed to build my blacksmith forge and foundry. It would work well, but would probably need to be coated with refractory cement, which would be a pita.

Hi Ash,

The oven floor has a ceramic fibre blanket then 25mm refractory fire bricks, all sits on 80mm concrete slab. The slab never even gets hot underneath.

 

Yes, it’s a look work just to make pizzas 🍕🙏

@Mendes Every time you make pizza in that oven, you are going to make your neighbours hungry with the smells for sure. 

27 minutes ago, Mendes said:

Hi Ash,

The oven floor has a ceramic fibre blanket then 25mm refractory fire bricks, all sits on 80mm concrete slab. The slab never even gets hot underneath.

 

Yes, it’s a look work just to make pizzas 🍕🙏

Interesting! Yes the blanket and bricks would be very good at refracting the heat back into the oven where you want it.

 

A few pics of my pizza peel and oven. Anyone wanting to make a cheap and quick oven like mine, just needs bricks/pavers. Still have to round the front corners of the peel and make a handle.

 

My first pizza turned out surprisingly well, since I had a few issues..

 

First of all, turning dough into a pizza base for the first time was tough. Then I didn't have the fire hot enough when I put it in. After putting more wood on, it was looking good, but I wanted to move it forward a bit, as I was worried the back was too close (or over) the gap at the back (for convection) of the oven. Tried using the peel to move it but failed. I was expecting a half charred mess, but grabbed it with tongs, and it worked out fine.

 

Dough was cooked through and crispy on the bottom. Not too many burnt bits and tastes good. Pretty stoked for my first attempt.

 

Homemade BBQ sauce base, with salami, mushroom and onion...

 

I'm sick of pizza now lol.

 

I had more balls of dough to use, so made a margherita for lunch today. That finished the quick-rise dough, which you can bake only an hour from combining, but 2hrs is recommended, or it can be refrigerated or frozen.

 

 I had a few slow-rise balls also, that I made last Saturday or Sunday. This recipe takes 2 days or more. I made and cooked my first pizza with this dough this arvo and it's a lot better! Better flavour and more bubbles throughout. As to be expected from a property leavened dough. It has that typical woodfired pizza flavour. It also puffs up a lot, so the little pizza I made looked like a deep dish style. So juicy and good, but next time I'll make the crust thinner.

Only got pics of the margherita..

 

 

 

 

I don't have a pizza oven but interested if anyone happens to have discovered a good pizza dough recipe to share.

 

I'm looking for more a thick base recipe for use in a standard oven.

The ones I've tried so far were nothing special.

 

Obviously happy for people to share their thin based wood fired recipes as well.

8 hours ago, Martykt said:

I don't have a pizza oven but interested if anyone happens to have discovered a good pizza dough recipe to share.

 

I'm looking for more a thick base recipe for use in a standard oven.

The ones I've tried so far were nothing special.

 

Obviously happy for people to share their thin based wood fired recipes as well.

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/381343/laucke-pizza-focaccia-dough-mix

I have been using the double ferment with poolish starter.

Vito is very helpful 👍🍕👏👏👏

 

 

 

Freezing dough, very useful....

 

 

12 hours ago, Martykt said:

I don't have a pizza oven but interested if anyone happens to have discovered a good pizza dough recipe to share.

 

I'm looking for more a thick base recipe for use in a standard oven.

The ones I've tried so far were nothing special.

 

Obviously happy for people to share their thin based wood fired recipes as well.

You can build one easy mate. All you need is around 30 (approx. 200 x 100mm) bricks or pavers and two large pavers (450mm square or larger).

 

You can use a regular oven, but will want a pizza stone OR steel. You need something that will hold the heat to make a crisp base. An oven like the one I built, or a proper one is better though, as higher heat (than a standard oven can produce) is ideal.

 

You only need basic plain flour, and can use part wholemeal if you want. You can also do sourdough, but that's a whole other level of commitment. I haven't used "proper" bread & pizza flour yet, as I had some opened bags of the cheap stuff, and they were fine, especially the neapolitan style (the flavour is in the fermentation). I bought expensive Lighthouse brand bread & pizza flour, so will see if that's any better next time I make some.

 

As for making a thick base, it should just come down to not making it too thin when you roll it out. The first one I made with the basic dough recipe had a thick base, because I wasn't good at it.

 

These are the recipes I used. Both are dead easy, just need to plan and be patient. 
 

Neapolitan slow-rise - https://www.thursdaynightpizza.com/neapolitan-pizza-dough/
 

Basic quick-rise - https://www.thursdaynightpizza.com/1-hour-pizza-dough/

 

And here's the video I based my oven on...

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 20214 yr by Esoterica

This guy has comfort food covered very well. Great content on bread and pizza doughs. Interesting to see the regional pizza styles in the US plus the traditional ones. Less is more 😉

 

https://youtube.com/c/WeedsSardines

 

Though not included in the video below, his "poolish" pre ferment and a touch of malt sugar have lifted my game.

 

 

Edited September 29, 20214 yr by zenikoy

I had a couple of balls of slow-rise dough to use, and was going to fire up the oven yesterday. That was until the mother of all storms hit.

 

I decided to use the regular kitchen oven, which threw off my routine. Normally I put the pizza base on the peel, THEN add sauce and toppings. Bloody twice, I added those while it was on the bench. The first one I managed to coerce onto the peel and onto the inverted baking try, I used as my pizza stone. The second was a clusterf... but serendipitously, the result was an aussie pie! Still tasted good, with a  fat, puffy crust.