St. Louis (Imo's) Style Crust

[BTB]

jgame, suggest use of those in the first posting above, or

Flour (100%):  160.13 g  |  5.65 oz | 0.35 lbs
Water (46%):  73.66 g  |  2.6 oz | 0.16 lbs
Salt (1.75%):  2.8 g | 0.1 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.5 tsp | 0.17 tbsp
Olive Oil (8%):  12.81 g | 0.45 oz | 0.03 lbs | 2.85 tsp | 0.95 tbsp
Sugar (2.5%):  4 g | 0.14 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1 tsp | 0.33 tbsp
Corn Starch* (5%):  8.01 g | 0.28 oz | 0.02 lbs | 3.31 tsp | 1.1 tbsp
Baking Powder (1.25%):  2 g | 0.07 oz | 0 lbs | 0.5 tsp | 0.17 tbsp
Total (164.5%): 263.41 g | 9.29 oz | 0.58 lbs | TF = 0.07

This was supposed to be for a 12" diameter pizza, but I rolled it ultra thin to fit a 14" cutter pan.  You'll have to determine how thin you want it.  And with the use of the expanded dough calculating tool, you can figure out your needs for any size pizza.                                   --BTB

[orlando pizza man 1]

BTB- Tried this cracker crust last night and it was pretty good. I was wondering if it would be o.k. to reduce the amount of salt or if this would change the consistency or formula to not make the other ingredients work correctly?  The crust was good and crunchy but I had to add a small amount of water and a little bit of oil to get to bind together as it was very crumbly. Look forward to your opinions.

[BTB]

Orlando PM,

Oh, the salt isn't critical to the recipe, so you can easily do without it.  The original author and I think the salt is important for flavor, but many prefer to go without it.  It's funny as I thought the dough ball was almost a perfect consistency, not too dry, as it was easy to roll out on the counter and form the skin.  But like I said before, this is an art and you have to feel your way through it all by adding a bit of water or oil or flour to get the right result for you.  Your pizza pieces looked good.  The second time I did this, I put some corn meal under the crust, and that was well received. 

I was only once at Johnny's in LaGrange and have only a little recollection of it.  I remember the original Barone's in Brookfield, tho, when it was real good.  And of course the original Villa Nova.  I was there last summer and it looked still like a pizzeria from back in the 50's.  It's hard to find anything as good as those places down here in Florida.

                                                                                                    --BTB

[orlando pizza man 1]

Thanks BTB! I haven't been to Villa Nova in years. Barone's in Brookfield was another one our favorites as well. I grew up less than a mile and a half from Villa Nova so it too was a family favorite too. Do you remember the original Salerno's on 16th street in Berwyn or Al's in Cicero on Cermak Rd? These two were my wife and my favorites in our dating days. We discovered Falco's in Cicero the night before we moved to our the first house that we bought and thought it was right up there with Home Run Inn, lucky for me we had one not too far from the new house that we just bought back then. I had just started to dabble in pizza making back then with a Pat Bruno recipe that was my go to recipe that I have adjusted and have used for years before I found this site. Thanks for triggering the memories. I will try the cornmeal on the bottom next time that was always a favorite touch I enjoyed also, not too many places do that anymore. I also added a little bit of oil to the crust rim and that was a good thing for the browning. Thanks for your kind words.

[steve_appenwood]

I can't wait to try this! I ordered some of the equipment BTB shows here and I need to go dig up that Cook's Country recipe since I have no clue for the other proportions of sauce, toppings, etc. since I'm a pizza rookie.

BTB how long did you end up cooking these? I've seen some people parcook the toppings, esp. sausage but I guess they ended up done?

[The Dough Doctor]

For the Provel cheese try a blend of 75% Provalone cheese and 25% Velveeta cheese.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[Mick.Chicago]

For the Provel cheese try a blend of 75% Provalone cheese and 25% Velveeta cheese.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Ewww 

[JackHerer]

I was born and raised in st. louis.  Your crust looks good.  Here in st. louis you can just buy par baked imo style crusts top em and bake therefore i have never tried making my own.  The dough doctor is off with his cheese concoction.  Here in stl we put provel on everything.  Roast beef sandwich, chicken parm, pizza, and at many italian places its the go to cheese to top baked pasta.  It is a mixture of provolone, cheddar, and swiss.  Its moisture content keeps it from legally being called cheese.  Its a pasteurized cheese product.  Its great. most people dont like it unless they are from stl.  Its made by a company called Hoffmann Cheese in Wisconsin specifically for the st. louis market.   

[Saturday Coffee]

The photos on this post had us craving something different.  We were intrigued by Provel processed cheese in a Provolone -Swiss Cheddar flavor----is that as bad as putting Velveeta on a pizza?  


We made our own blend of real cheeses - Provolone, Domestic Swiss and Vermont White Cheddar and used this one side of the pizza - the other side was mozzarella and parmesan.

Using post #11 as a starting point for ingredients I decided to try this pizza.  I failed miserably at rolling out dough super thin.  What should have been enough dough for two pizzas made one pizza.  

For a 16 inch pizza I used the following...

DOUGH:
3 cups flour
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. corn starch
9 oz water
3 Tbsp olive oil

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. Mix water and oil in large measuring cup.
Stir together till dough comes together.  Knead a minute or two.  Dough was extremely dry so I added a splash of water on my hands before kneading again a few seconds.  Divided dough in half and placed between 2 sheets of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour.  Proceeding to roll into a 16 inch circle, I realized there was no way I could roll this dough that thin.  Put the dough back into one piece and rolled into a 16 inch out-of-round circle.  Placed dough on a pan lightly greased with Crisco.  Did not dock the dough.  

Pizza Sauce: 18 – 19 oz.  crushed tomatoes, onion, oregano, pizza spice

CHEESE:  
on half pizza Italian-style
approx. 6 oz. Mozzarella  
a generous dusting of Parmesan Cheese (only on the Mozzarella cheese side of the pizza)

other half pizza St. Louis Style
approx. 6 oz. Blend of Provolone, Swiss and Vermont White Cheddar – Real cheeses

Added roughly 18 - 19 ounces of pizza sauce.  One side of the pizza dressed with Mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni.  The other side dressed using pepperoni plus White Vermont Cheddar, Domestic Swiss, Provolone that I cubed and blended myself.  

Baked at 475°F for 12 minutes in a home oven.  

Sliced into 1/8 and 1/16 pie shaped slices.

I thought the dough was a bit bland.  The dough reminded me of dough used in a quiche.  The St.Louis style cheese blend was a different taste than the mozzarella and Picky Eater really preferred the St. Louis Cheese blend over our usual mozzarella/parmesan.

Picky eater actually liked this pizza and would like this pizza repeated again soon using all St. Louis Style cheese.

All in all... if Picky eater likes it ....I will keep the recipe.  Next time I will try docking the dough.  Do I need to pre-bake the dough too? and for how long at what temperature?














 

 

[Mamma Mia]

I recently tried the original recipe on this thread.  I had two modifications in that I used Sam's Club bread flour instead of AP flour and I make a slightly larger (15") and therefore thinner crust.
I rolled the crust right in the pan using a small kitchen roller I have (looks like a ink roller). The pie was quick, easy, and turned out very tasty.

[Saturday Coffee]

I had two modifications in that I used Sam's Club bread flour instead of AP flour and I make a slightly larger (15") and therefore thinner crust. I rolled the crust right in the pan using a small kitchen roller I have (looks like a ink roller).

Mamma Mia....
That's exactly what I need a small kitchen roller, and a dough docker.  Picky Eater is growing quite fond of my kitchen experiments.  I have bread flour on hand so I will try that next time. 

The Provolone, Swiss, and White Cheddar is really a nice change from Mozzarella.

[Jackitup]

Ewww  

 HEY now, Don't be a knocken on Velveeta!! I'll admit I have not used it on a pizza but MANY times in sauces and such, not to mention mac and cheese. It may be a bastardized form of cheese but I like it  

Jon

[Saturday Coffee]

  HEY now, Don't be a knocken on Velveeta!! I'll admit I have not used it on a pizza but MANY times in sauces and such, not to mention mac and cheese. It may be a bastardized form of cheese but I like it  
Jon

Velveeta has its place in food - it just doesn't belong on pizza. 

I indulge in a grilled Velveeta sandwich with a few dill pickles on the side once or twice a month.   

-- SC

[Jackitup]

try some pickled jalapenos and onions in there....now you got something ;-)

Jon

[JackHerer]

Saturday Coffee.  If your are trying to replicate Imos, you need to dock ur dough and pre bake your crust then cheese it and cook it until the cheese just melts.  judging by your up skirt it should be a little darker than that just from the prebake.  then u melt the cheese.  i could be wrong as process provel melts like american cheese.  not sure if this can be achieved just with the swiss, cheddar, and provalon blend.  think the thick ness of a saltine cracker with ur crust. not the texture or taste though

my 2 cents

[nick57]

  I saw the Cooks Country episode on this style pizza. I missed the amount of flour used, so I Googled the recipe and got several hits including this. I followed their recipe, but used your weight in grams and not cups to get the correct amount. For everything else, I followed Cooks Country procedure. The crust turned out very nice. I did not par bake it or dock it. It had a few bubbles, and it was crispy on the outside, and slightly chewy on the inside. It did not have that gooey layer between the sauce and dough. Next time I make this, I am going to dock it and par bake before I add the toppings. I would like the outside a little more crisp. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. I've tried a lot of recipes on this forum, and I give this top marks. I really like the idea of when  my pizza stone is hot I can have a pizza in 15 minutes. It's quick to make after a long day at work. I may add a little garlic powder to the dough next time.

[nick57]

This is my second try at this recipe. I made a 12" pizza with the recipe. I used the same amount of ingredients as before. But, this time  used butter instead of oil, and I added 1 teaspoon of high end garlic powder to the dough. I put the docked skin in a 12" oiled pan, and placed it on the stone at 500 degrees for 7 minutes. I then placed the skin directly on the stone for another 3 minutes. It was very crispy and darker than I usually let it get. I removed the skin and added, Monterey Jack cheese, Classico roasted onion and garlic sauce, and 4oz grilled chicken breasts. I placed the pie back on the stone and baked till the cheese was nice and bubbly. About 5 minutes.
 The crust was very, very crisp. It did not shatter when bitten, but had a very slight chewy texture. It had an easy bite, chrunchy, but not hard. Not a lot of crumbs. The slices drooped a little when held, and had nice bubbles. I rolled the dough a little thinner than a credit card. The garlic and butter really added to the taste of the dough. I am really pleased how it turned out. It was the best thin crust dough I have made to date. Next time I make this, I will take pics and share them on the thread. From starting to eating took about 45 minutes, and the dough was very easy to roll out.