TJ dough

[dusty]

OK, I gotta come clean.
For my first few pizza parties I made lots of dough using my Caputo flour and all. It was delicious but very time consuming and required planning ahead - that is we couldn't decide to have pizza on a whim 'cause we had no dough.
Then one night we bought pizza dough at Trader Joes. It comes fresh in a 1 lb bag and they have white, wheat, and some kind of herb-garlic. We got white. It was very good. Light and delicate and ready right out of the bag.
I am ashamed to say that I haven't made dough since. I have had the same 2 lbs. of Caputo in the cupboard for months!
Has anyone else tried it? Or am I the only outcast.

dusty

[RTflorida]

you are an outcast In all honesty, I know where you are coming from. Between being "just plain busy" and traveling for work...pizza nights only seem to fall on Saturdays (with prior planning). Can't say I have gone the route of Trader Joes (probably only because we don't have them in FL), but I have tried the dough that Publix supermarkets sell here. Didn't have good success in the WFO.
I have actually resorted to ordering pizza (blasphemy) from the not so great NY style pizza place in town on several evenings when I had no dough and no time for fire building. A WFO is a wonderful thing, its a shame we can't slow down a bit and really enjoy having one, all the time.

RT

[Frances]

... hehe ...

Nope, never bought dough!

I am shocked, absolutely shocked!!

I have cooked deep frozen pizza for the kids in my oven (only once, I swear! Well, maybe twice... They're so awful, I'm surprised the dome didn't collapse in disgust!)

The thing I often end up doing is being too tired or disorganised to make the dough a day in advance... and at its worst, the homemade dough has had tons of yeast and only an hour to rise. It still tastes sort of ok - but I don't know if your bought dough might not taste better in the end?

[BrianShaw]

I'm not embarassed to say that I use TJ dough when I get a whim for pizza and failed to plan ahead by making dough. It actually works out good... and is MUCH better than no pizza at all. Only once did I get some that seemed "old and gray". I assume that it is made locally so I don't know how consistent it might be.

[BrianShaw]

Oh... I've even been known to use the TJ sauce. It, however, seems to have become much too "pastey". It used to be better.

[asudavew]

Cheater!


Actually, I understand where you are coming from.
Making dough can also be quite messy, and the clean up isn't much fun.


Dave

[70chevelle]

I like fresh dough, but if I can't make it a day or 2 before, I find that freezing is the way to go. I mix up my dough, put it into balls and vacuum pack. A day or 2 before I'm ready to use I put them in a container at the back of the fridge for a 1 or 2 day raise. I pull them out of the fridge when I start the fire. By the time the ovens ready, the dough is room temp and ready to shape.

[asudavew]

Originally Posted by 70chevelle

I like fresh dough, but if I can't make it a day or 2 before, I find that freezing is the way to go. I mix up my dough, put it into balls and vacuum pack. A day or 2 before I'm ready to use I put them in a container at the back of the fridge for a 1 or 2 day raise. I pull them out of the fridge when I start the fire. By the time the ovens ready, the dough is room temp and ready to shape.

That's what I need to do.
Make up a freezer full!

Do you freeze the dough ball before vacuum packing?

[BrianShaw]

Originally Posted by 70chevelle

I like fresh dough, but if I can't make it a day or 2 before, I find that freezing is the way to go. I mix up my dough, put it into balls and vacuum pack. A day or 2 before I'm ready to use I put them in a container at the back of the fridge for a 1 or 2 day raise.

That is what I ONCE did... and will have to do it again. Except I didn't vacuum-pack, just used quart-size plastic baggies and doubble bagged them. Worked well!

[70chevelle]

Originally Posted by asudavew

That's what I need to do.
Make up a freezer full!

Do you freeze the dough ball before vacuum packing?

No, once I form the ball, I place it in the bag & vacuum away!

I will say that buying dough may be forgivable, but sauce???? No way! I do a similar process for my sauce. I use canned San Marzano tomatoes. I take some dry spices - basil, rosemary, oregano, black pepper, fennel, & thyme. I put them in a bowl and break them up as small as I can. Then I wet them. Not wet enough to have water in the bowl, just enough for the spices to be wet. Then I put the spices in the microwave for 1 minute on defrost. Again, just enough to release the oils in the spices, not cook them. Then I place that mixture, some garlic powder, and the San Marzano's in my food processor until it's the consistency I want. Then it goes in a tupperware bowl and into the fridge for a day or two. Whatever I don't use I take a gravy ladle and ladle the appropriate portion into ziplock sandwich bags and freeze. Pennmac has a 106 oz can of San Marzanos for $6. I've been buying Dellalo brand locally - $5 for 28oz can.