Sam Adams Beer Pizza Dough – Erica's Recipes – homemade pizza dough (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making good pizza dough? ›

There are many tricks to achieving a tasty, homemade pizza dough that rises into a beautiful pizza crust, such as making sure your ingredients are at right temperature, using half bread flour for a stronger dough and half all-purpose flour for a nice rise, substituting honey for sugar to help caramelize the crust and ...

Specifically, Brewdog Lost Lager. It gives you a light dough with a crispy finish and that light grainy, floral taste enhances the dough. Now, this is not quick dough - I generally make this at lunch time to use at dinner time as it does need time to rise.

So today we decided to dump a bottle into our pizza dough. It's literally a 1 for 1 substitution for water. Instead of a cup and a half of water, substitute with your favorite beer.

Lehmann notes that improved flavor is the main benefit of adding beer to pizza dough. “Some people say it adds a more malty flavor,” he says. “In our experiments with some mainstream light beers, we found they did not add much in terms of taste, even in blind taste tests—robust or full-flavored beers worked better.

Not Letting the Dough Rest

Proofing – which is the process of putting the dough aside and allowing it to rise – enables the yeast to leaven through fermentation, making the dough rise. Not allowing your dough to proof for long enough will result in a hard, dense and just plain gross pizza base.

Flour is the main ingredient in pizza dough, and the type you use can have a big effect on the end result. All-purpose flour will work fine, but if you want a chewier crumb and a better hole structure, you should consider buying yourself some high protein bread flour.

It's kind of on par with my obsession with biscuits. I really branch out, I know. But what makes this particular pizza crust stand out — what makes it really, extra special — is the flavor: That classic yeasty beer bread-like flavor, only in pizza dough form. In other words, it's fantastic.

Our favorite type of yeast is the sourdough starter because it's the most authentic, inexpensive type of yeast. Sourdough starter is most commonly used to make its namesake bread (which is another delight that you can make using a pizza stone). It's made from yeast particles that occur naturally in the air around you.

Salt: Salt adds necessary flavor. Sugar: 1 Tablespoon of sugar increases the yeast's activity and tenderizes the dough, especially when paired with a little olive oil. Cornmeal: Cornmeal isn't in the dough, but it's used to dust the pizza pan. Cornmeal gives the pizza crust a little extra flavor and crisp.

I prefer high-hydration doughs between 70-80%. Still, it can be trickier to work with, so knowing this key formula, you can easily calculate dough hydration before you start in the kitchen. Depending on the type of pizza you want, most recipes range from 60% to 75% in dough hydration.

Why do you put ice water in pizza dough? ›

Keeping the dough cold during mixing—especially when friction from a food processor is involved—allows the yeast to ferment gradually when the dough is refrigerated. During this proofing period, the yeast develops complex flavors and creates just enough gas bubbles to make the dough pliable.

The protein in milk, called casein, can act as a binder and help the dough to hold together better. The yeast in the dough will feed on the lactose in milk, which will increase the fermentation process and lead to a higher rise of the dough.

Vinegar: Strengthens gluten and helps dough to rise higher. May enhance yeast activity in small amounts, or is at least unharmful. Retards yeast in large quantities. From a teaspoon to a tablespoon per loaf is typical, depending on the flavor desired and the vinegar being used.

Powdered milk also contributes protein, a small amount of fat and calcium, and in, sufficient quantity, should help produce a softer crumb in the crust. I would guess that you would need something like 4-5% (by weight of flour) to get a flavor impact in the crust.

Too little yeast and your dough won't rise enough, and the pizza base will taste bland. Use too much yeast and your dough may over-ferment. Tell-tale signs are your dough expanding too much or tasting and smelling a bit sour, with an almost alcoholic aftertaste (the yeast produces alcohol as it ferments).

Cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger can increase yeast activity, potentially challenging the slow fermentation process. Dry mustard has the potential to slow down yeast development and can result in a more sour flavored crust. Sweet – If not spice, than sugar is nice.

Pizza dough loves warmth, so if you can find a way to add some extra heat, your dough will rise faster. One way to do this is to preheat your oven to the lowest setting (usually around 200 degrees Fahrenheit) and then turn it off. Place your pizza dough in the warm oven for 10-15 minutes until it begins to rise.

Nail the sweet spot — warm enough to rise at a decent rate, yet cool enough to develop flavor — and you're golden. Studies have shown that the optimum temperature for yeast to grow and flavor to develop is 75°F to 78°F.