Tom Lehmann thin cracker crust pizza

[duckjob]

I saw this recipe posted on another post on this website, and since I just recently received my sexy new scale, I thought I would give it ago. I documented the whole process for anyone that is interested. I used 16 oz of flour and followed the bakers percentages for the rest of the ingredients. I substituted in 1 1/2 teaspoons of ady for the compressed yeast though. One thing to note is that when you're calculating the amount of water, to use, its ideal to use a scale, for 16 oz of flour the volumetric measurement says to use 3/4 cup of water, however the volume of 7.2 oz of water is closer to 1 cup.

I proofed the yeast in the water for about 5 minutes to begin with and poured it into my Kitchen Aid mixer. I then added the flour, and then the salt sugar and butter. I mixed it on speed 4 for about a minute and then added the olive oil. I let it continue kneading on spead 4 for another 5 minutes. Which resulted in the following.

http://www.duckjob.net/pizza/toml-cracker/lehmannc1.jpg

I formed it into a ball, lightly oiled it, and placed it in a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap. I let it rise for 24 hours on the counter, no refrigeration. Here is the resulting dough after rising. It increased in size by roughly 50%

http://www.duckjob.net/pizza/toml-cracker/lehmannc2.jpg

The first thing I noticed about the dough was how easy is was to roll out and work with. Probably due to the higher hydration percentage(compared to DKM's) and the fact that it was not refrigerated. I rolled it out on the counter, and then placed over a 16 inch pizza pan pretending to be a cutter pan(i'll be receiving mine soon).

http://www.duckjob.net/pizza/toml-cracker/lehmannc3.jpg
http://www.duckjob.net/pizza/toml-cracker/lehmannc4.jpg

I preheated my oven to 500 degrees for 45 minutes. I parbaked the crust for 4 minutes, preped the pizza and baked for another 5 minutes. I then put the pizza directly on my stone for 1 minute just to get the bottom a little extra crispy. Here are the final results:

http://www.duckjob.net/pizza/toml-cracker/lehmannc5.jpg
http://www.duckjob.net/pizza/toml-cracker/lehmannc4.jpg

It was by far the best thin crust I have ever made, I'm anxious to try DKM's recipe and pretty much every other dough recipe now that I have a scale, I've realized what a difference it can make when dealing with such small quantities.

Brian

[duckjob]

Just thought I would mention that I made a batch of this again last week. I used half after a 24 hour counter rise, and I used the other half after a 24 hour counter rise,  followed by two days in the fridge and then two hours warming up on the counter. The 3 day dough tasted noticabley better. I'm curious to try this with DKM's thin crust recipe.

[Randy]

Steve and DKM got me hooked on thin crust and I have tried a few differant counter rises but not you version.  I have found if I use a little warmer water I can make it first thing in the morning and have a great pizza that night.  It is good to know if a schedule change comes up a night in the Cooler want hurt. 

Did you put the cheese on the top or bottom?

Randy

[duckjob]

I put the cheese on the top, however i may try slicing some mozerella real thin and putting it on the bottom.

[Randy]

I think a Chicago thin crust has the cheese on bottom.  I tried it once it was tasty.

Randy

[DKM]

I remember trying the Chicago thin. 

It was good, but not what I was expecting.

I tend to do like you Randy, make my dough in the morning and the pizza at night.

DKM