Dough Doctors cracker...No fail!

[Chicago Bob]

Just now saw this....Nick, your cracker looks absolutely amazing. Great work man!! 

I'm in the process of losing 100lbs. but your latest creation is going to be made on my next cheat day.....thank you!!   

[nick57]

  Thanks Bob. The texture and bite is a little different from some of my past experiments, it's more what I have been looking for. Had not seen you on the forum for a while. Glad you are doing OK! I've lost over 20lbs in the past year. I wasn't really trying, I've just cut back to no more than two meals a day. I have had some back problems this year and it impacted my appetite. Now I am used to eating less without feeling hungry. I have had weight problems all my life..YOYO syndrome.  Hopes and prayers for your success in losing weight, it's one day at a time. I been thinking of trying my latest recipe again to see if is good as the last try. I may make the skin a little thinner this time out. Glad to hear from you. If you do make a pie post thoughts and pics! Nick

[nick57]

  333meg your pie look great! Try rolling the skin out to a thickness of a dime or credit card next time. Be sure to dock the skin pretty heavy. What I have been doing as of late is changing the way I dust the counter when rolling. I dust the counter lightly with flour. When the dough stops expanding, I dust the top with a little flour and flip the skin over and continue rolling till  it stops expanding, then repeat the process till I get to the desired size. My style of a cracker crust may not be the same as what you are looking for. If not, that's OK, it's my personal quest. Check out other members of the forum that have had a hand in cracker crusts. You can learn a lot just as I have from them.  Post pics and thoughts on your next attempt.

[Hermit]

  It's about time.....Maybe I should walk that back a little to it's almost about time after 5 years of experimenting. The crust was almost perfect. It was very crispy, and had a nice light chew. The bite was more tender, and was what I have been looking for. It was like a saltine but it had more body. The added garlic powder added a lot of flavor, and made the kitchen smell great...almost like a pizza parlor. The only problem, I did not roll it out quite thin enough....Easy fix. It's been a long and frustrating journey. I felt like giving up at times. But, I kept researching, experimenting, and have almost reached cracker nirvana. My next attempt may be the one, I just have to keep the eye on the thickness. This attempt reminded me of a Shakey's/ Ken's crust.

  This has to be one of my best flavor profiles I have made. I used Cento crushed tomatoes doctored with sugar, salt, pepper, and some basil. I let it meld in the fridge over night. The Corando Tosano Italian sausage was great. It had the right amount of fennel and anise. The Best Choice mozzarella melted nicely and had a very good flavor. Thanks Pete for the advice about Best Choice mozz. My taster does not like pizza, and could live without ever eating another slice. This time he wolfed down two slices. Maybe he will be a convert yet.

  As for the cook. I left the dough ball covered on the counter for three hours before rolling out. I put the skin in the cutter pan and placed it on the stone at a oven temp of 550 degrees. After two and a half minutes I removed the skin and put it on a cooling rack for ten minutes. I then dressed the pie which took about five minutes. I let the ingredients sit on the counter for an hour to warm up before toping the pie. My thought is it would promote a quicker cook. I was going to finish it off in a four hundred and seventy five degree oven. After some consideration, I decided against it. It would lengthen the cooking time, which might decrease the tenderness. It went with five hundred and fifty degrees, with a cook time of six minutes. Total cook time was eight and a half minutes. I usually cook my crackers for ten minutes or a little longer. Will try this recipe again, with no changes. Hopefully rolling the crust out thinner will be the ticket. I did not know what to expect this time, but it was better than I was expecting, I am very happy with the results. First time in all these attempts that I am not thinking how I can improve the recipe. I'm kinda happy... and kind of sad. Have I finally reached my goal of a Pizza Hut original cracker crust from the 60's?  I will find out next time. If not, I am pretty happy just to make this version from now on.

Thanks @nick57, this inspired me to try and make a dominos type thin and crispy, and I thought it was pretty damn spot on if my memory serves right.  Loved the texture and plan on doing this again, except delving into Honey + DMP instead of sugar, and doing CF.  This was just a 10H RT, I didn't use the granulated garlic in my dough but everything else was the same.

[nick57]

That looks mighty tasty. Need to make a cracker soon.