Dough isn't crispy

[texassourdough]

Good to have you back, Dutch!
Jay

[kebwi]

My experimentation hasn't deviated too far from the official Forno Bravo recipe (although I have made several batches in which I dumped a generous helping of Italian seasoning and it is EXTREMELY popular amongst my friends/family).

I'm using "proper" Caputo flour, the big 55lb blue bag. In my experience, unless the floor of my oven is well into the 700s, my pizza doesn't cook fast enough and the dough becomes tough and chewy. If I can keep my floor in the 700s though, I get beautiful cripsy crusts with black blisters on the bottom and irregular black and brown bubble blisters on the cornicione (and it cooks like a laser on popcorn, gotta watch carefully!).

I don't know about other flours, and I didn't read carefully enough to see what flour you're using or whether you qualified "hot" with a number, but if you're using Caputo pizza flour, don't cook your pizza under 700 degrees. Even 650 absolutely sucks for me, it simply ruins my pizza.

[kebwi]

Originally Posted by splatgirl

IME, all other things the same, a cooler oven floor and a longer bake time will make more of a crackery crust.

Wow, it is weird to see you write that. If I cook cold (and necessarily longer), in the 600s on the floor, my pizza crust has the consistency of pita bread: tough and chewy, not crackery at all. On the flipside, I find that my crusts are the "driest" and "sharpest" if I cook hot and fast, in the 700s, although not really "crackery" either.

I wonder what the difference is.

[woods witch]

Thanks so much for all the advice! I am actually having trouble finding semolina flour, believe it or not! I really want to try the it in the next pizza dough batch and I also want to have it on hand for bread. My concern now is when I am able to locate the semolina I'm afraid it may not be very fresh! I will get pictures and post here when I make the next pizzas.

[texassourdough]

Bob's Red Mill semolina flour is readily available everywhere I frequent. Health food oriented groceries should have it if your regular grocer does not. I don't think you will find it very time sensitive. They have a store finder on their web site. Weis and Wegmans in SE PA carry Bob's...

Good Luck!
Jay

[UtahDave]

If you add malt or sugar and a little bit of oil to your dough it will certainly brown more, and likely make it crisper.

[UtahDave]

You also mentioned a concern about fresh semolina. I wouldn't worry to much about fresh as far as flour goes. That may be part of your problem. If the flour you have is too fresh (ie recently milled) then it will be very starchy without many simple sugars. Flour that has sat around for a few months will have more sugars as the enzymes will have had time to breakdown the starches.

[woods witch]

finally got my Caputo flour and did the first pizza with it. We were very happy with the results. We paid closer attention to the fire this time, removing a good bit of the ash toward cooking time. We then bumped the fire back up to get that rolling flame and cooked on about an 800 degree hearth. It is a noticably better crust with more flavor and more crispiness. I made the dough 2 days before the bake and do believe that it improves with time to develop in the fridge.

The morels were sooo good!!

I have learned so much here, thanks to you all

[horrocks007]

If your sauce is too thin then your dough will have a hard time crisping up.

You pizza also looks too thick, I have great results stretching 250g doughs to 12 inch pies.

Your fire will heat the cooking floor better if you push it to the side instead of the back. This has to do with the way the natural convection pattern works in the oven.

Lastly, most pizza places re-heat their pizza slices, this makes them crispier. If I have guests over (4-6 people), I'll cook everyone's pizza and then re-heat them for 30 seconds back in the WFO. This way I get to eat WITH my guests too!