I love it when a plan comes together! I would like to reiterate the thought processes used to come up with the procedures for this crust. Laminated cracker crusts are made with sheeters, which easily roll sheets of dough which have been folded to form layers. At home, all we have is a rolling pin, but if we modify our processes abit it is really fairly easy to make a laminated cracker crust. I think it is important to know exactly what is happening in a cracker crust.
From "Formulas and Processes for Bakers" by Samuel Matz.
"Layering and reduction (thinning) processes improve the grain and texture of the finished product by reducing the size of large gas bubbles and by forming many nuclei for steam evolution as a result of subdividing pockets of entrapped air. These actions are separate from the fat layering effect and will occur even in the absence of any laminating medium such as shortening, although the latter may facilitate steam entrapment when it is present as a discontinuous phase. The practice of braking cracker or biscuit doughs to improve texture is based on these considerations, although dough development is another important result of such procedures".
So, two things are happening...we are improving texture AND we are developing dough. The problem is that if one works his dough too much (because of using a rolling pin), the dough becomes tough and in my mind..not worth eating. So, the first thought is....severely undermix the dough since the act of laminating will also develop the dough. The second thought is..warm dough is much easier to sheet than cold dough, so I recommend mixing the dough in as hot as tap water as you can get, and then letting the mixed dough rise in a warm oven to keep it warm. Don't be alarmed if the dough gets too warm....once you start the sheeting process, it cools off quickly. So, the very first step upon taking the warm dough from the oven is to sheet it quickly to a very thin layer...one eighth inch to one quarter inch....this will take a minute at the most. Then fold your sheet into at least 6 layers (I have experimented with differing numbers of layers, and 6 seems to be the magic number on the bottom side.) Take your time thinning the six layer dough, it will take a little more work, but if you let your dough relax, it will yield to your rolling pin. You need only get the dough to about one quarter inch. Now cut your skins, and stack them between parchment or wax sheets and wrap in plastic wrap so they don't dry out and place in the fridge. After your dough has totally relaxed (maybe 2 hours or so), take it back out of the fridge and finish thinning it to one eighth inch. This job will take maybe 20 seconds (very easy). I have found that silicon rolling pin rings work magnificently at this job....just put on a pair of one eighth rings and go for it. Put your skins back in the fridge and let them sit at least a day. When ready to make pizza, simply pull a skin from the fridge, dress it and bake.....(never take a skin from the fridge and let it warm up)
So, here are how my skins turned out. By the way, one of the skins was 10 inches by 6 inches and weighed 6 ounces for a thickness factor of .10 which happens to be exactly what we make with sheeters. Although it might seem that rolling 6 sheets of dough to one eighth inch skin, would make a very dense, crisp, hard skin....the opposite is true....look at the oven spring...these skins have a thin crispy bottom, a soft middle and are simply a joy to eat.
John
