I'm Ham and I joined to learn how to make a better pizza crust. I'm a long-time home cook/chef wannabe but I've never been much of a baker as most things involving flour, leaveners, starters, kneading, proofing, etc. tend to not turn out all that good for me. I've tried a few times at pizza in the past, but I can't get a proper dough but now I'm determined to make a perfect pizza that's as good as, or better than, my favorite pizzeria. I think I'm failing at having proper gluten development and not having a good recipe that uses weight and percentages vs. volumetric measurements. I've done a lot of research in the past on how to properly make dough, though this forum wasn't around then, but I also never had a standing mixer until recently so I felt I was hindered a little. My dough never really wanted to stretch out and was completely inelastic, which usually ended up tearing in a couple spots and being way too small for the amount of dough I made. It always ended up dense without a lot of rise at the edge once I baked it.
Ideally I want a crust that's foldable with a slightly crispy outside while being soft, pillowy, and chewy inside; i.e., NY Style.
Does that count as an introduction?
