How would one use fresh yeast in this recipe? That's what I normally use for pizza dough, but without sugar.

When a recipe calls for dry yeast, you'll need to double the amount when substituting fresh yeast. For this recipe, you'll need 20 grams of fresh yeast (I would use a scale for measuring fresh yeast). You don't have to use the sugar, but this amount doesn't hurt the recipe. Just break up the fresh yeast a bit and mix all of the ingredients together as the video shows. You'll work it into the dough when mixing and kneading it.

Thanks Kimberley.

Is there any way you can replace the Semolina and Bread flour with just regular flour?

No problem, Vanessa. All purpose flour works just fine...the crust won't be as crispy, but as long as its thin, will work well. You can add a bit of whole wheat flour, or even cornmeal for that crispy texture...or simply bake a little longer.

Is it possible to use active dry yeast instead of the instant dry yeast used in this recipe? Thats all I have on hand right now.

It is possible to use active dry yeast...just let it dissolve before continuing on with the recipe.

Technically the "instant dry yeast" we used did not have to be dissolved first in the water. It could have been added directly to the flour. However, "active dry yeast" does need to be dissolved first in lukewarm water.

Good Luck! Wish I was having this right now!

I made this recipe tonight and it turned out wonderful and delicious! Thanks so much.

I've finished the first part of this recipe; the dough is now half resting in the fridge and the other half sitting in the freezer for another day.

A few things I learned:
1. Houston, where I live, is amazingly humid. (Recently, a friend told me that he knew he was in the South when he stepped off the plane and the humidity punched him hard in the face and stole his wallet.) Plus, it doesn't help that Hurricane Dolly is off the Gulf coast not too far south from here. The dough became VERY wet and sticky during kneading, and I had to add a bit of flour to the work surface, a wooden cutting board, to keep it from grabbing and sticking to the board. I realise you added no flour to knead, and kneaded on a metal work table, so I attribute the difference to the ambient moisture or change in flour characteristics?
2. I watched the recipe about 10 times over the last couple of days before making it. I don't have the computer in the kitchen, so I'm without the video when it comes time to actually work. In the printed recipe, it says to add half the flour, then add the remaining flour and salt, without the "stir to combine" in the middle. Didn't hurt anything, I don't think, but it did confuse me in the paper copy.
3. Any opinion on using a stand mixer for this? I know it's not a long time to be kneading, and the dough is very soft, but it's already late here and I'm curious to know if I can fall back on a stand mixer with a dough hook. I guess I'll have to make a few batches to compare.

Excellent!
- Mike

Hi Mike,

1. The environment can affect flour and baking considerably. This is why it is best to weigh your ingredients to obtain consistent results. One day there may be more or less moisture in your flour than the next. If you don't have a scale though, it’s no problem. Just be careful as to how much flour you add to the dough when kneading - just add a bit at a time until you get the right consistency. Many people think that dough shouldn't be sticky at all. I learned in pastry school that a "sticky dough is a happy dough" and it's true. Even though it may feel wet as you initially knead it, it will actually start to come together with time (unless, of course, it is extremely wet).

2. The text recipe has been updated to say "stir" after a portion of both flours are added. Hope this makes it clearer for our users. Thanks for that.

3. You can use a stand mixer to mix and knead the dough, but make sure it is a powerful one and keep your eye on it. The motor can easily burn out on a stand mixer with low wattage, so be careful. Besides, the best way to learn about dough is by touching it. This is the only way were allowed to make dough in pastry school. Everything was done by hand and for good reason. To really learn about dough, you need to understand how it should look and feel. By practicing a few times the good old fashioned way will help you know what to look for when you move on to a stand mixer.

One more thing, when using a stand mixer, make sure to set it at a speed that will match your hand-kneading speed. Even though the machine will do the work for you, it should be done at the same rate. Don’t rush it.

Hope this helps!

Delicious!!! and really easy!!! i made this pizza dough last night and we love it at home :)

Im also really entusiast, happy and satisfy with the cooking school. Im learning a lot of new things and improving others :)

I really appreciate the quality from all your videos, these make it delicious to learn from you!

Admiring your effort!,
Juliana

I have now made this twice in the last 2 weeks, since reading your comment Juliana. I must say, I do love having the dough around, to have pizza whenever we feel like it. Once the dough is made it takes me less than 20 minutes to have a pizza ready....that's quicker than take-out. Lately I have been into the simple pizzas - tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil...finished with a drizzle of e.v.olive oil.

As for the cooking school, and your praise...well, thanks a lot! Much appreciated. Keep up the hard work! dawn

I heard that the best way to know when the dough is kneaded enough is to use the window something test , you take a small piece of the dough and stretch it is if you were making a small pizza if you were able to make it very thin in a way that you can see your fingers behind it then it's ready.
Is this a good method or would you actually over kneed the dought ?

The window test tells you when plenty of gluten has been developed. However, pizza dough usually has olive oil in it, which inhibits proper gluten development. As long as the dough feels very smooth and has good stretching ability, the window test may be an overkill. The window test is more essential for breads made without any fat in it.

I am about to invest in my first pizza stone and am wondering if there are any "favourites" out there? Secondly, can you tell me a good place in North, West or DT Vancouver to pick one up? Cheers!

I have had 3 pizza stones in the last year. Something about the high heat and the fact that I forget to soak it all of the time, makes them crack.

I have now switched to a perforated aluminum pizza tray instead. They are only about $15 dollars and it will last forever (well almost).

That being said, I did like my pizza stones, so I guess as long as you soak them and then preheat them in the oven you should be okay. You can find them at most kitchen stores. I have bought them at linen n' things, the bay, and local kitchen stores.

Hope this helps! I will let you know how the perforated tray goes the next time I make pizza.

Hi,

I would like to know if the amount of water and sugar use for this recipe change at all if you use instant dry yeast instead of active dry yeast.

And when using active dry yeast, is it correct to take the water to dissolve the yeast from the 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water needed for this recipe or do I need to use the complete amount of water mentioned in the recipe, plus the water I need to disolve the yeast?

Just wanting to know if I'm accurate :), thanks!

Active or instant can be used - the water and sugar would be the same for both. If using active just let it dissolve first in the water.

And if I am understanding your question - you do just need to use the amount of water in the recipe to dissolve the yeast (no additional water should be used just for dissolving the yeast). Does that make sense? Hope this helps!

Funny I just made this the other day. We had a delicious pizza yesterday for lunch. I used half regular mozzarella and half smoked and topped it with a bit of spicy salami...yum!

Good to know, I just wanted to be sure when sharing the recipe. Thanks! :)
I prepared this on mom's day. My mother in law just love it ;)

No nonsense and delicious!
I will never buy pre-made dough again...

I suppose, after a year and change (oops!), I should point out that the pizza came out spectacularly. (No, it didn't rise for a year. I made it a few days later.) And yes, I do it entirely by hand now, which gives me much more control.

I've given the printout of this recipe to an able cook and friend of mine, whose family now insists on having pizza with this dough at least once or twice per week. Home run!

Keep up the excellent work,
Mike

Why do you use cornmeal on the peel rather than semolina?

Either one will do, but cornmeal is likely easier to find for most people. If using semolina, just make sure that it is coarse type. The coarse bits act like little ball-bearings on the peel and prevent the dough from sticking.

I'm big on my time-saving efficiencies and would like to make some dough to use, and some to freeze for later. Where in the process should I stop with the dough I'm going to freeze; Do I let it rise, then freeze it, or freeze it without letting it rise? Do I need to let it re-rise after refrigeration?

Good question...you should freeze it before it rises. After you knead the dough, divide it up and then store it in individual freezer bags.

Then when you want pizza, remove it from the freezer the night before and let it rise in the refrigerator. Then about an hour before you make the pizza, take the dough out and let it come to room temperature...making it easier to roll out.

Happy Pizza Making!

I have been making mozzarella cheese lately and use the leftover whey from the cheese making in place of water when I make pizza dough. It has consistently made the best dough I have tasted yet. I believe you can buy whey in some health food stores, but it is easy to make mozerrella. I freeze the whey in measured portions and defrost it when I am ready to make pizza.

Also: I have a question about feezing dough. I read many years ago freezing dough actually improves its texture. Is this true?
Thanks, Michelle G

It's actually the resting period in the freezer that relaxes the dough's gluten for easier rolling. Perhaps the freezing itself does the same. When it comes to the question of texture, that may be a matter of opinion.

In either case, pizza dough does freeze quite well, and always good to have a few freeze-well ingredients or preparaions at hand.

Making pizza dough with whey or milk produces a dough with a different texture (softer) and one that browns faster (because of the milk solids). Again, this is also a matter of taste.

Will using a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and dough hook produce the same quality dough as hand neading it?

You can use the mixer to start the dough (until it comes together), but you will likely need to knead it a bit more by hand.

if I only use bread flour do I use the same measuremnets as using flour and semolina flour?

Yes, for the best accuracy, weigh the bread flour (use 500 grams total)...or measure about 4 cups. Happy cooking!

We tried making dough last night for tonight's dinner. When I took it out of the fridge 24 hours later, it had risen but there were areas that were bright white in color and the dough had a slight beer-like smell.

Did we hold the dough for too long in the fridge? Is this dough unsafe for consumption?

It should be fine to eat Aaron, no worries...the beer smell is from the yeast. In fact yeast is part of the process when making beer. Cheers!

I could not find semolina in our local Sobey's - in fact, I have never heard of semolina flour - on your video it look like corn flour? I made the dough with Robin Hood flour for bread. The pizza dough came out just fine and we bought a pizza stone to make the pizza - the results were quite delicious - I loved the thin crisp crust.

I followed the recipe exactly (using volume measurements though) and the dough came out very brittle; it has NO elasticity at all, if I try to stretch it it breaks. What could be wrong? I used bread flour (graded 650, I don't know if that makes sense to you as I'm not in the US, but it's the flour I use very succesfully for no-knead bread). Thanks.

Me again. I've researched this a bit and it seems that there are two different things out there: semolina and semolina flour. In italian, they are called "farina din grano duro" or "semola di grano duro" for the flour and semolino, for the other thing. I am pretty sure I used semolina and this is why it came out so brittle. Also, in more than one hour it didn't rise AT ALL. Can you maybe clarify the difference between the two, if ther is one? Thanks.

All bread flour can be used in this recipe with great results (I often do this without using any semolina). The bread flour you used has a high protein content, which is fine. The semolina provides a different texture to the dough.

Perhaps your flour is very dry or too much might have been packed into your measuring cups. I would also test your yeast to see if it is active - sounds funny that you wouldn't get any rise.

The next time you try this (if you don't have a scale) add only half to three-quarters the amount of flour to the water mixture and bring the dough together. If you are not weighing ingredients, don't feel obligated to use ALL of the flour. Commit to the liquid ingredients, yeast, sugar and salt. Then just keep adding flour until you get a soft (but still a tiny bit tacky) dough and you should be fine.

I just found a link that has good information about Italian Flours. Don't be afraid to try it again. Hope this helps!

When I couldn't find Semonlina, I used Robin Hood best for bread flour - Homestyle White. Since I live in Ontario, all our flour is Canadian and probably comes from Durham or hard wheat. I usually use All Purpose Flour but wanted the pizza dough to come out, so bough the Bread flour - it came out fine.

If anyone lives near Ann Arbor, MI...Zingerman's Bake Shop sells semolina flour. Also, check with any restaurant that makes their own pasta or an Italian bakery. They should be willing to sell you a pound or two...or at least tell you where they purchase it.

Kimberly, thanks a lot for the answer. I reached the same conclusion as you: the yeast must have been quite old. It took the dough half a day to even smell like dough, and no rise at all! It was indeed 2 years past its expiration date... I had bought a lot of yeast two years ago when I started to bake no-knead bread. I guess I have to make a trip to the store and get a kitchen scale while I'm there; it was on the list anyway. Regarding semolina vs. semolina flour, I'm pretty sure I used semolina, which is just a flour with a coarser ground after all, but I don't think that would have been a problem if the yeast was good.
I'm happy to report that the yeast was not totally dead though ; I made pan-fried indian breads from this dough, to serve with the almond-coriander chicken curry (loved the recipe!) and they were excellent, (brushed with a little ghee)!
Thanks a lot for the great videos and a great website. I am already learning a lot. I can't wait for more stuff on baking as this where I am the weakest.

Good to hear you found out what the culprit was. Sounds like a good idea to stock up on some new yeast (try to buy small amounts if you don't use it that often). You won't regret buying a kitchen scale either...it will help with many baking recipes down the road. Cheers!

Store your yeast in the refrigerator or freezer.

Thing is that I've been using it all this time with good results; I baked a no-knead bread just a couple of weeks ago and it was fine; probably the long fermentation time made up for the weak yeast. I came to this "belief" that yeast actually never expires ;) which is obviously wrong. I will definitely buy a scale too, I think it is one of this things that takes you to the next level.

I have gotten much better results with the pizza dough if I let the yeast, sugar, water combo proof for about 10-15 minutes. Am I just using the wrong type of yeast? BTW, I lived in Italy for 3 years and have missed the pizza of Napoli so much. This is the closest I have come including any/all restaurants that I have tried. Now I just wished I had a true Italian pizza oven

It is fine to proof the yeast for 10 minutes or so - this is very good to do if you are using active dry yeast. Great to hear that you are getting excellent results! I actually love making this pizza on the barbeque with a pizza stone. I get far better results with the crust. I place the cold stone onto the cold grates, close the top and slowly let it heat up. The temperature gets nice and hot (hotter than a regular oven) and the pizzas cook in about 4 minutes - they are fantastic! Happy cooking!

I made pizza last night and, excluding the sticky dough, they were perfectly tasty and crispy! Delicious! I used my new pizza stone and am a fan!
My problem was sticky dough - after proofing for a few hours the dough had risen really well but when I took it out of the bowl it was so sticky I had to use quite a bit of flour to enable me to shape it.
I used all bread flour and weighed the 500g out so I'm guessing that there was too much water (I used the full 300ml). Can I add the water to the flour instead and only use the amount necessary to get the dough to the right consistancy?

If you have scaled properly, the dough shouldn't be extremely wet. It is ok to use flour to SHAPE the dough, just don't work a lot of it INTO the dough. Was the dough difficult to knead? Or was it overly warm?

When I first learned about doughs in pastry school, we were continually reminded that "a sticky dough is a happy dough". Don't be tempted to add too much flour, as this will just create a dry and dense dough. Some doughs are just stickier than others. I would stick with the formula and try it again. The most important thing is that you enjoyed how the pizza baked up. Cheers!

So I get to combine my two favourite things - cooking and reading! In John Irving's latest novel - Last Night in Twisted River - his fictional cook is famous for his pizza - Dominic adds honey to the recipe and he also lets the dough double rise. If I wanted to try this, would I substitute the honey for the sugar? or add it in addition to? Does double rising make a better dough? Also the recipe specifies sea salt - is it really better? Great novel by the way - lots of great Italian recipes described in the novel!

To answer your questions - The honey would be added instead of the sugar. Sugar or honey are often added to doughs, as yeast feeds (and loves) the sugar.

The double rise (or double conditioning) is likely a good step (not sure of the recipe, but here are a few reasons they might do it).

During the fermentation process or the double rise, the yeast releases carbon dioxide, enzymes, alcohol and acids. Theses enzymes strengthens the protein (or gluten), which gives the dough more stability during final rise (or proof).

These enzymes also help to mellow out the dough which can make it more pliable (making it a bit easier to shape). The extra rise can also have a softening effect on the dough, Which can make for a softer dough once baked.

Another reason why the double rise might be used is because it might give the dough more time to rise and the longer rise the more flavor will be developed.

I say give it a try and let us know how it turned out

Yes, sea salt is better than table salt. For more on salts watch the lesson on How to Season with Salt, Topic 2 talks about types of salt.

Thanks for the tip on the novel, I am always a fan of books that somehow incorporate food into them. It has also been years since I read a John Irving novel. Thanks for the recommendation!

Hi Kimberley,
Thanks for your comments. When I kneaded the dough it felt fine and was easy to knead. It may have been too warm during the proofing process. It rose a lot during the 2 hours of proofing but when I took the plastic film off the bowl the dough lost all its air and flopped down into the bowl and was very sticky. I did have to add quite a bit of flour in the shaping stage, probably kneaded more into the dough than you advise too! It was sticky enough to cover my hands and make it impossible to touch without being stuck! It couldn't be shaped at all without the addition of flour.
I will try it again but leave it rise overnight in the fridge and see how that turns out.
Thanks for you help.

Hi Amanda,

Just a few more comments. Once the dough has been kneaded, it just needs to rest (covered) in a bowl until it doubles in size. Depending on the temperature, this could take anywhere from 30mins to quite a few hours (especially if the dough is in the fridge). The colder the temperature, the slower the rise...but you don't want the temperature to be too much warmer than room temperature. Next time, if proofing the dough at room temperature, don't go by time...just look at the dough to see that it has doubled in volume.

Also, it may have been the type of flour you used. I know you indicated that you used bread flour...is this bleached or unbleached? We much prefer unbleached over bleached (and make sure it has a protein content of at least 12%). Even though you scaled the ingredients, some bleached flours will make the dough wet. Make sure you are not using bread flour designed for bread machines.

We will be releasing a couple of dough/bread making lessons in the near future. Hopefully the information in there will also help you to troubleshoot. Happy baking!