Chewy pizza crust. Been trying for months, still every recipe we try isn't working. Help? Does anyone have a good one, with a good technique?

I've tried many different recipes, with oil, without. With kneading, without. Resting time, without. And they all come out like cracker. What am I doing wrong? What's a good way to get a good chewy crust?

kim
  • Posted by: kim
  • September 3, 2014
  • 31100 views
  • 13 Comments

13 Comments

Pam P.
Pam P. September 6, 2014
Lots of ways to get to there! But I've made tens of pizzas successfully using Peter Reinhart's pizza dough recipe. Like others have suggested, it involves retarding the dough in the fridge. The dough itself is prepared with ice cold water and cold flour. It works every time though!
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html
 
Pegeen
Pegeen September 4, 2014
This one works for me: How to Make Homemade Pizza Dough by Amber Wilson. The comments section offers some useful advice.
https://food52.com/blog/10312-how-to-make-homemade-pizza-dough
 
Dave O.
Dave O. September 4, 2014
All great suggestions. Also, how are you cooking the pizza? I use a pizza stone on my grill, and let it get nice and hot before I throw the dough on. A little sauce and keep from over loading the center w toppings. Try a nice, easy Margherita w no sauce, a little olive oil, thin tomato, a few pieces of mozz, and fresh basil.
 
Chuck
Chuck September 3, 2014
I actually work at an Italian restaurant where we feature Brick Oven Pizza. One key thing that we do is we let our dough rest / slow proof (under refidgeration) for 24-48 hours. Allows for flavors to develop and the glutens to relax...
 
Tami
Tami September 3, 2014
Ido this as well and it works
 
Jan W.
Jan W. September 4, 2014
Yes - if you put the dough into the fridge after pushing it down once, and let it rest (slow proof) in there for at least one day, the dough will develop a much fuller flavor, and it will have a nice elastic chewiness with still a bit of crunch on the outside. If you make the dough and cook it on the same day, it almost always will be like a cracker.
 
kim
kim September 3, 2014
Wow, you guys are all giving such great answers, I"m going to try them all! Going to try to proof it for a long time, like lapadia, and I'm going to try Jim Lahey's recipe. Thank you everyone!
added 2 minutes ago
 

Voted the Best Reply!

Jim L.
Jim L. September 3, 2014
Pizza crust, like all dough texture, depends on both the wetness of the dough (% of hydration) and the degree to which it's fermented. If it's like a saltine cracker you most likely have a dry dough with little fermentation. Add more water let it ferment longer. In "My Pizza" I offer a pretty simple foolproof recipe.
 
lapadia
lapadia September 3, 2014
Hi Kim, For the kind of crust you are looking for give this recipe a try sometime. Crossing my fingers it is "the" one you are looking for :)
https://food52.com/recipes/11482-pizza-pie
 
Susan W.
Susan W. September 3, 2014
It sounds like your dough is too dry or not enough yeast or not enough proofing time? Also, what kind of flour are you using? It sounds like you have tried multiple recipes, so I am leaning toward inadequate kneading or proofing. I stick mine in the fridge for 6 hours.
 
HalfPint
HalfPint September 3, 2014
Could you be rolling out the dough to thin?
 
kim
kim September 3, 2014
I've tried thin, thick, it always has the consistancy of a saltine cracker.
 
HalfPint
HalfPint September 3, 2014
It's hard to know without seeing how you go about making your pizza. If the crust is hard, but it rose and has little holes throughout, then I'm inclined to think that you've over cooked it. If it's a hard cracker crust with no air bubbles, you might be over-handling the dough (destroying those air bubbles that formed during proofing) when trying to form your pizza, and overbaking it.

Since you've tried many recipes, I would suggest watching some YouTube videos on how to make pizza, look for videos that demonstrate on to handle the dough. There's lots of them out on YouTube. Good Luck!
 
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