I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in the 60s before all the chain
pizza places took over. About once a week my dad would bring home pizza
from one of the neighborhood pizza places. Instead of Pizza Hut or
Dominos, they had names like Luigi's, Al's, or Parkview. What I
remember most about them was the crust, it was fairly thin, cut in
squares not pie pieces, and it had a number of air pockets that rose up
through the toppings. I have tried to duplicate this at home without
success. How can I get a crust to grow large (1"or so) bubbles while it
bakes? -RP

at Fri, 10 Oct 2003 18:34:15 GMT in >,
(Randy Price) wrote :

>I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago... the neighborhood pizza places.
>... had names like Luigi's, Al's, or Parkview. What I
>remember most about them was the crust, ... and it had a number of air
>pockets that rose up through the toppings.
>...How can I get a crust to grow large (1"or so) bubbles while it
>bakes? -RP

Lots of water in your dough. Your dough should be so wet that it's almost
wallpaper paste, so that it only just holds together in a lump. It will be
*very* sticky - you'll need to handle it carefully and with well-floured
hands. Using an oven paved with unglazed quarry tile will help to maximize
the volume of the bubbles, as well. Use a sheet of parchment to set the
pizza on when you put it in the oven, and just put it right on the tiles.
Or if you don't have tiles, use a pan, lined with parchment to minimize
sticking. You can also attain minimal sticking with a dusting of semolina
on the pan or the tiles.


--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Randy Price wrote:
> I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in the 60s before all the chain
> pizza places took over. About once a week my dad would bring home
> pizza from one of the neighborhood pizza places. Instead of Pizza
> Hut or Dominos, they had names like Luigi's, Al's, or Parkview. What
> I remember most about them was the crust, it was fairly thin, cut in
> squares not pie pieces, and it had a number of air pockets that rose
> up through the toppings. I have tried to duplicate this at home
> without success. How can I get a crust to grow large (1"or so)
> bubbles while it bakes? -RP

Don't know about Chicago, but when I make pizza crust it is usually thin and
also puffs like you describe. You've gotten some good advice here; the
dough should be very wet and sticky. I like to taste the crust. Thick
crust is like eating bread with some stuff piled on it. It has its place,
but... 'nuff said

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 c. warm (about 110-115 degree) water, hot out of the tap
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2-1/2 c. flour

Dissolve the yeast in warm water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in remaining
ingredients. Work it all together until you have a wet, sticky dough. Beat
it vigorously with a fork. Let it stand, covered, 5 minutes. With
generously floured hands, divide the dough in half and pat out onto two 12
inch pizza pans (or stones or tiles; whatever you like). Top as you like
and bake for 10-15 minutes until the crust is golden and puffed.

Jill

Thanks, I'll give it a try. -RP