Poolish Cracker Crust

[Randy]

Of late I have been using a poolish on my cracker crust recipe that was originally based on DKM's and Steve's recipe.

This one also features homemade Canadian style bacon which is easy to make.

Randy
Randy’s Thin Crust
February 1, 2012

 16 oz King Arthur Bread flour(Divided)
 0.5 oz or 1 Tablespoon Raw or Turbinado sugar or regular sugar
 5.8 oz. or 3/4 cup  warm(100F) water
 1 1/2  Teaspoons instant yeast or active yeast
 1 teaspoon salt
 1 oz or 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
 
·   Add 6 oz of the flour to the Mixer bowel for the Poolish
·   Add all the warm water
·   Add Sugar
·   Add yeast
·   Hand stir to combine well
·   Let it rise till it just about starts to collapse on itself
·   Add remaining 10 oz flour to the Poolish
·   Add salt 
·   Add oil
·   I stir the mixture by hand with the paddle first just to keep flour from flying out of the mixer bowel when the mixer is turned on.
·   Using the paddle attachment, run the mixer on Stir speed for one minute
·   Remove paddle and press the scrappy dough into a ball.  You have to press hard.
·   Cover loosely with plastic then cover with a dish towel
·   Leave to rise on the counter overnight or  24 hours is even better
·   Very, very lightly floor work area and the pizza dough.
·   Roll out dough (this takes some work) to about 20" in diameter which should get it around 1/16” thick.  Place on 16" pizza pan then use the roller to cut off excess dough.  Use a fork or docker to prick holes randomly on the bottom of the pan but not the sides. 
·   Place the crust in a 475F oven on the bottom rack for 5-6 minutes to par bake. 
·   Remove and add toppings.  I use a half-pound of cheese and one cup of sauce plus toppings.
·   Place back in the oven using the bottom shelf.  Bake for 8- 10 minutes.  Remove when cheese just barely starts to brown.  .

[BTB]

Very nice looking pizza, Randy.  I, too, like to use a little olive oil in a similar formulation and have found that KA Bread Flour does very nicely with this type of pizza.  I used to use the Turbinado sugar, too, but over time its use with me fell into disuse and I just use regular or sometimes light brown sugar.  I, too, like to use a pan and bake on the bottom or next to the bottom rack level of the oven.  But ovens vary so much in this regard and others should watch their pizza carefully the first few times they do similarly.

So now between yours and John's in another thread -- in which he uses no oil -- I have a bucket list to work with.  I do, tho, like to bake a little longer until the cheese starts to brown a little more.  But that's a personal taste thing and yours looked fantastic.

                                                                               --BTB

[Randy]

BTB, The last one I made during the parbake, had a huge bubble that nearly covered the whole pan.
The poolish really worked well on this style pizza.  It surprised me.

I think most people do prefer browner cheese than me especially on a cracker crust.

I will look for John's pizza thread.  Thanks for the reference.

Randy