Crispy Pizza bottom

[axelrodp]

I have been searching for the crispier bottom too. On the theory that increased hydration would produce more steam, thereby lifting the crust off the floor and thus crisping it, I decided to add some potato flour since it retains moisture better than wheat flour. I used 5% potato flour by weight and increase the recommended 65% hydration by 4%. I.e. for a 500g flour recipe, that's 475g italian 00 flour, 25g potato flour, and 69% hydration ie 345g water. Not only that, but I sprayed about a tablespoon of water into the oven in the middle of the bake. The result was the lightest and crispiest pizza crust I've made so far.

[mrgweeto]

After over a hundred pizzas we are at the point where we have the pizza dough down to a science or at least to what we and others find to be magnificent. We were using 3 cups of unbleached all purpose flour, 1 1/3 cups of water at approx 100degs, 5/8 teaspoon of rapid rise yeast, 2 teaspoons of salt (in the flour) and 1 tablespoon of EVO. The dough comes out light and airly yet crispy on the bottom. We are going to use half the amount of oil because we realized that when the dough is proofing we coat the bowl with a little oil and that works its way into the dough. This results in a crisp yet light cust that is outstanding. We also let the dough proof in the refridge overnight and relax several hours before we use it the next. At a floor temp of 750deg +/- the pizza cooks in about 90secs - 2mins and is great. We love those crispy crusts and if you don't smother the pizza with more than 1-2 toppings the bottom is nice. Why they sell pizza crust bubble poppers is beyond me. That is like a desert at the end of each slice eaten. We hope that winter is not too harsh so we can use it in CT without too much trouble. I figure we can make 2 inside and run them out, cook them and run them back in and repeat the process without getting too tired out.

[david s]

We find that the addition of some semolina into the dough (two tablespoons per 4 cups flour) does a great job of producing a crispier crust.