Great Thin Crust w. Rice Flour

[BTB]

Then it baked for about 12 to 15 minutes at approx. 450 degrees F.  I have been keeping it on the bottom shelf for the duration of the baking cycle, but depending on one's oven (type of heat, location of heating elements, if any, etc.) one may need to put the pizza on a higher shelf or use the oven's convection (fan) feature for a few minutes.  I started to cut the baked pizza into "strips" but pie shaped or the traditional "Chicago squares" will work just as well.

[BTB]

The pizza again turned out great even tho it had AP flour in it as opposed to the bread flour that I usually use for thin crusts.  And the pieces of the pizza again held nicely firm and straight out, rather than limp and floppy, as witnessed by these photos.   And it seemed to be as crunchy, tender, tasty and crispy as those made with the bread flour.  I hope others find this line of pizza as satisfying as I have.                                                                                                --BTB                               

[mrmojo1]

Mrmojo, no the crust is much different from DiMaggio's, which is generally thicker and more chewier, altho sometimes when I talk them into to making an extra thin one and cooked well done, it comes out crispier there at their restaurant on Blue Star Hwy near Lake Michigan.   I dine there at least 3 or 4 a times a year, so I'm pretty familiar with their pizzas.  While they sometimes cut their pizzas into strips and often don't, my model for doing so was a famous pizzeria on Archer Ave. in Chicago, Chesdan's, that was Home Run Inn's chief neighborhood rival for over 50 years before they closed and left Chicago a few years ago.  The Chesdan's family still have 2 locations in far away southwest suburban Chicago locations. 

If done right, this crust will eliminate the floppiness and limpness so common to many other recipes.  Just par bake the docked skin 6 or 7 minutes (or longer depending on one's oven and temperature) till the dough skin just starts to turn a little brown.  And when you do that, its an amazing transformation from a soft, somewhat delicate dough skin to one that is firm and crispy.  I'm generally very satisfied with part skim over whole milk cheese, altho like everything, I have my Almond Joy moments (i.e., "sometimes you feel like a nut, . . . sometimes you don't").  And when I do I often blend or just use some whole milk and even some fresh mozz fits the bill at times (altho sparingly as it can cause a lot of wateriness on the pizza).

Jackitup, the 2 trials that I reported on above were "same day" doughs cooked within 6 or 7 hours, but I just completed a 3rd trial in which I refrigerated the dough (and used AP flour along with semolina and rice flour) in a ziplock bag for 48 hours and it turned out great also.  Since I had planned to refrigerate the dough, I almost halved the yeast to slow the fermentation.  I think  -- but don't have the experience to back it up -- if you lower the amount of yeast to .9 or 1% (or maybe lower) and do a counter 24 hr. room temperature proof, that it should work fine.  My same day doughs rose "beautifully!" 

The one challenge to this dough is getting it onto whatever you bake it on, as it is a soft and delicate dough skin until par baked.  But I've become very adept at rolling it onto my rolling pin and off onto a pan or screen, but I went through a learning cycle on that (with many a messed up dough skin).  If holes or tears in the skin happens, just plug with some scrap dough.  After it hits the oven heat, it firms up and becomes crispy, crunchy and tender (after 6, 7 or whatever number of minutes of par bake).  I'll report shortly on the 3rd trial with pictures, but I held a large piece of baked pizza on the very edge of the piece with my fingers and it held out to be rigid and firm throughout, with no floppy or limp characteristics, yet tender and tasty.  I used some corn meal under the crust this last time and it turned out really good.  Whenever you get around to trying it, I don't think you'll be disappointed. 

Preliminarily, I am recommending that the semolina and rice flour be limited to 20% and that the white wheat flour (bread or even AP) be 80%.  And of that 20%, the rice flour can be used in the range of 8 to 12% of the total flour amount.
                       --BTB

thanks BTB, yes definitely thinner than dimmagios.   you know exactly the one i was talkin about near hagar shore rd.  something about the pics of the whole za reminded me of them, but my memory is fuzzy.  i only get there once a year now if lucky.  our family has had an old cottage about 5 miles away from there for over 30 years....boy i sure miss those summers and dimmagios. thanks for your reply and advice!  and your newest pics look fantastically delicious yet again!

[Jackitup]

Smoked Buffalo Chicken Ranch Pie
Tonites pie made with inspiration from BTB's crust, "awesome".
Flour Blend 100% (80% hi gluten, 10% semolina, 10% rice flour)
H2o 47%
IDY .8%
Salt 1.5%
Sugar 1.5%
Cold Butter 18% (I ran out of olive oil so I used all butter)

The butter was ice cold and cut into the flour, salt and sugar mix in a food processor like one would with a pie dough. Then briefly mixed with water and yeast till it just came together. Proofed for 24 hours.
Then as shown in the pics I rolled between a layer of oiled plastic wrap and oiled foil, then into the oven for a par bake. I must say that the aroma from the par bake was incredible, very heady. Just that little bit of semolina and rice flour made a big difference on the aroma and taste. I can only guess that the rice flour added something different to the fermentation....a good thing. The texture after topping and baking was akin to that of a 'very' crispy biscuit or cookie, quite enjoyable. The pie was topped with homemade ranch dressing with Gorgonzola cheese crumbled into it, then onions,  portabella mushrooms caramelized with cream sherry, thin slices of apples and leftover smoked beer can chicken from the smoker the day before. The chicken pieces were tossed with Frank's Hot Sauce that was sweetened with a bit of honey to give that "sweet heat" thingy. Then a sprinkling of parm, mozz and cheddar and some pre-fried maple bacon on top with a sprinkle of pizza seasoning . The overall taste of the pie was great, flavor of the crust came thru wonderfully and everything else was a great blend of flavors with nothing taking over, served extra hot sauce on the side. This will certainly go in the keeper file for several repeats. Here's some pics.
Jon

http://w186.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w186.photobucket.com/albums/x41/Jackitup1/03242302.pbw

[Pete-zza]

Jon,

I found your photos at http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x41/Jackitup1/?=view&current=95f76c71.pbw95f76c71.pbw.

I think you should submit your latest pizza as an entry for the April 2009 Monthly Challenge at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8298.msg71580.html#msg71580. I counted 15 items on the pizza:

1. Homemade Ranch dressing
2. Gorgonzola cheese
3. Onions
4. Portabella mushrooms
5. Cream sherry
6. Apple slices
7. Smoked beer can chicken
8. Beer used to make item 7
9. Frank's Hot Sauce
10. Honey
11. Parmesan
12. Mozzarella
13. Cheddar
14. Pre-fried maple bacon
15. Pizza seasoning

Anyone for 16 or more items?

Peter

[Jackitup]

Well we could also add the wine, chicken broth and spices injected into the chicken before smoking too! 16, 17,18
Jon