Okay, well, I took the plunge anyway as-is, and I'll share my results with you all (sorry, no pictures this time around, just wanted to focus on getting things set up).
The dough recipe I used was as listed in the 1st post in this thread, except I used around 1 2/3 cups of water. I put all the dry ingredients in a bowl, started my DLX mixer, and slowly added the water. I immediately noticed that it mixed very briefly and then stopped mixing because it was too gloopy. I stopped the mixer and kneaded it a bit with my hands. It was, even by GF standards, one of the stickiest mixes I've ever had to try to manage! Lots of it kept sticking to my hands. I suppose wet hands would've been a better way to knead it--I'll try that next time.
Anyway, stickiness notwithstanding, I eventually got it kneaded a fair bit. It was sticky, but not a batter like many GF pizza dough recipes. It was more like slightly sticky playdoh. I covered the bowl and let it rise for 60 minutes.
When I uncovered it and peered in, I could see and feel that it had solidified a fair bit, and had even risen a little--positive signs! It now had the consistency of a very light fluffy dough ball. It was still a little sticky, but I was able to scoop it out of the bowl with my hands and put it in an oiled pizza baking pan. The recipe I posted should yield about two 12" pizzas.
Once the dough ball was in the pan, I was able to easily smooth the dough thin and flat with my bare dry hands, just by gently pressing outwards from the centre. It was very moldable, again like playdoh.
I had preheated the oven to 500 degrees. I put the pizza in the oven for about 5 minutes to parbake it. The dough actually rose very well during the parbake, although it did exhibit signs of cracking on top (like you'd see in a pie crust). Anyway, I then pulled it out and topped it, then put it in the oven until the cheese was done (another 4-5 minutes or so).
Result? The bottom crust was nice and crunchy, and the texture was VERY acceptable for GF pizza. Slightly chewy, but with enough airiness to not be dense. Not QUITE exactly like gluten pizza texture, but very close. The taste was very acceptable--a bit on the tasteless side, but not totally tasteless...neutral, with perhaps the slightest hint of rice flavour (almost indistinguishable, really). Bear in mind this is without an overnight proofing to let the flavour develop.
So overall, it was a pleasant surprise, and I feel like it's close to FioreGlut. My basis for comparison in this regard, by the way, is my many times eating GF pizza at Keste Pizza in NYC. They use a woodfired oven to make Neapolitan margharita pizza, and I've verified with the owner (and seen in news articles) that they use FioreGlut. The GF pizza there is phenomenal--soft, tasty, and completely indistinguishable from regular pizza. Obviously I won't be able to get the same effect as the WFO, but the dough I made tonight is at least is plausibly similar, in my amateur opinion.
What could be improved? Well, amping up the taste factor is definitely #1. I'd like to try adding some olive oil to the recipe for my next attempt, and also let the dough proof overnight, to see if that helps.
Will welcome any and all suggestions and feedback on my recipe!
