What kind of cheese do Pizza Hut or Domino's use?

Question

I have been experimenting with Pizza and cakes. I can easily purchase mozzarella in India and have been using it for pizza, but it doesn't come close to the cheese Pizza Hut or Domino's use. Do they use some special cheese? I would like to experiment with cheese. I normally sprinkle oregano on cheese but I think there could be more to it.

Asked by Kumar

Answer

Pizza hut uses skim milk mozzarella on it's pizza, at least in the USA. Not sure what they use in other countries, but I would imagine it is still the same. Skim milk mozzarella is extremely stretchy, but loses a little on the flavor end. More expensive pizzerias normally spring for the full fat mozzarella cheese.

Dominos uses a mix of cheese, made up of mozzarella, Pecarino, Parmesan, and asiago cheeses. I think in their most recent reboot they switched to part skim mozzarella but I am not one hundred percent on that.

Answered by sarge_smith

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Is it safe to eat a non-refrigerated store-bought pizza base?

Question

We bought some pizza bases the other day and I just realized the package says to store below 4°C (39°F). We didn't store them in the fridge. Will these be safe to eat?

They contain wheat flour and yeast.

Asked by Adam Butler

Answer

The default answer is NO. You don't know how long the pizza bases have been left outside, but most likely more than 4 hours.

Before you open the package, see if it's vacuum packed or in a protective environment. If it's vacuum packed but bulging, throw it out, it can have dangerous levels of botulism toxins that are mortal. If it's not vacuum packed and bulging, you don't know...

You should open the package and smell. Yeast doesn't smell pleasant, but it has a distinctive smell. So, if it smells like yeast, and if you don't see any dark spots (of mold) on the base, and if you are a healthy adult, you could risk it (at your own risk). If you do see mold, just throw it out.

Do not give risky food to children or the elderly, ever.

At any rate, for the price of a pizza base, just throw it out. Make your own pizza base! Even cheaper than store bought and more fun.

Answered by BaffledCook

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Salt 'n pizza (how much salt should be in the dough)

Question

I've made a pizza today and thought the dough could use a little more salt. I've looked at this answer and have a question about the salt ratio. How is it calculated? The percentage of flour, or the percentage of dough?

My pizza recipe calls for 300 g flour, 150 ml water and 3 g salt. That is 1% of the flour weight, but less of the total weight. If 3% is the recommended salt level for bread, I should be using 9 gr for the flour, or 13,5 g for total weight. That is a huge difference.

Edit: The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 bag of dry yeast (but I use my own mother dough), and 60 ml oil.

Edit: I believe I measured one tablespoon to be 3g :-(

Asked by BaffledCook

Answer

When you have a (good) bread recipe, the weight ratio is always given as percentage of the flour. This tradition is known as a baker's percentage. It may sound counterintuitive at first, but when you are measuring, or scaling, ingredients (which add to the total weight by themselves) you soon notice how convenient it is.

So, if you recipe calls for 300 g flour and 3% salt, it needs 9g salt. The water at 150 ml is 50% - a rather low hydration, don't do this with bread flour unless you have another liquid in the recipe you didn't mention (eggs, oil, or additional water for a poolish). It will be stiff with AP flour, but I like it that way, while other people find it too hard. It is up to personal preference, I guess. Also measure the other ingredients (yeast) as a percentage of the flour weight. And if you are given a recipe for fresh yeast, don't forget to convert it to instant dry if you are using it, or vice versa - the conversion factor is 3:1.

Answered by rumtscho

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How is white pizza sauce made?

Question

As far as I know, the only difference between white pizza and red pizza is the sauce.

I know that the white sauce is dairy-based, but what is it exactly? What are the main ingredients, is it thickened somehow? Is there something special to pay attention to when making white sauce? How thick should it be exactly? Should it contain herbs or not? Oil? How does it combine with the cheese, is the cheese supposed to melt "into" it?

Asked by rumtscho

Answer

White pizza sauce isn't nearly as defined as red sauce. It's largely whatever you want it to be.

It's literally any sauce you top a pizza with that is white. It is often dairy based (cream or cheese added), but it could also be a thin parsnip puree. It may contain herbs, it may contain butter, its up to you. Again, thickness is up to you and whatever works for your dish.

Answered by rfusca

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How far in advance can I stage pizza?

Question

We're having friends over and I'd like to make 3 or 4 pizzas. I'm considering stretching out the dough and put on the toppings ahead of time, say an hour ahead of when I pop them in the oven. How long can the pizzas sit on the counter in this pre-oven state?

Asked by Neil Fein

Answer

You can stage pan pizzas (chicago style, or pizza hut style) for up to four hours as long as you keep them covered. You can stage a stretched dough for up to an hour and a half between two pieces of wax paper. However, you need to take the time into consideration when proofing your dough so that you don't get blown dough as that will not be delicious. You should not sauce the crusts or top them as pre-saucing will change how your dough cooks in the oven.

If the dough forms a harder crust/ dries out, you should consider tossing it as it will not result in good pizza after cooking.

Answered by sarge_smith

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What is the difference between pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce?

Question

Pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce are both tomato-based, have roughly the same seasoning (Italian) and look a like. However, I (and a friendly user here) think there is a difference between the two. So what is it? Or isn't there one and you can interchange the two without a weird feeling or taste?

Asked by Mien

Answer

Red pizza sauce is often (but not always) two things:

1. Thicker. Thinner sauce will tend to run in the oven and also steam the pizza crust as it cooks. Depending on the crust, the heat of the oven, the toppings above sauce, and how watery it is, this may not be needed. If you've just got some crushed tomatoes and a few bits of cheese in a super hot oven - the sauce should be fine without reducing beforehand. If you've loaded up a bucket of sauce and a pound of cheese, precook and reduce the sauce.

2. It's often simpler. Many pasta dishes like spaghetti highlight the sauce and hours of simmering happen for the sauce to bring it to perfection. They're all about the sauce. Pizza is really about the crust and what highlights it. Many of the best pizzas are simply topped. Crushed san marzano tomatoes (sometimes) reduced with a hint of salt is often all I do, and franky, it's enough. I'm not talking about the jarred varieties here, but what you might cook at home. Jars in the store, the main difference is just how thick it is.

Answered by rfusca

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What is the most practical pan for a deep-dish pizza

Question

So over the weekend I wanted to make a deep-dish pizza and ended up with a thick crust as the pan I have is only about half as deep as I would need and two inches wider than the recipe called for. For deep-dish should I bother with spending forty dollars on a black steel 2-inch high 12" pan (that would only be used for pizza basically), or would I be better served to pay half as much for a two-inch high cast iron Lodge skillet (which would be much more versatile)?

I really like the crust you get from a heavy aluminum baking pan (thick-crust must be some kind of nostalgia thing), and already have a large stone (so good to go on thin crust), so I am looking to round out my options. Is there an alternate material or pan combination that works as well as cast-iron but might be lighter or even less expensive?

Am I traveling the total wrong route to a great deep-dish, or do I just need some fine adjustment?

Asked by mfg

Answer

A 2" or 3" deep round cake pan (i.e., fairly thin aluminum, but nowhere near as thin as the disposable things) actually works pretty well. These cost under $10 each. For example, Walmart sells one for $9

That's a 9" wide pan, but 12" cake pans are available too—and only a little more expensive. Maybe expect to pay $15 for one.

Answered by derobert

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Windowpane test - Why does my dough fail it, and what is it good for?

Question

I am very new to pizza making, but after only 5 tries I am pretty pleased with the results. (I get passable Neapolitan-style and thin-crust pies.)

However, one thing I've noticed is that my dough has never passed the "Windowpane test," even after kneading (hand-kneading) my dough for much more than 10 minutes.

I have two questions:

1. What am I doing wrong?
2. What do I gain by getting my dough to the point where it does pass the test?

Asked by anon

Answer

I had this exact same problem for years. And it was all about letting the dough relax. I'd get beautiful crusts, but never EVER pass the windowpane test. I was so confused.

Turns out, all I had to do was leave it alone for about 10 minutes, much less and I'd still run into issues. The window pane test is intended to show that enough gluten has been formed that you can stretch the dough. It's a completely non-exact test. It's just to ballpark if there is 'enough' gluten. By leaving it alone for 10 minutes or more, the gluten has relaxed and can be stretched to form the window pane.

This relaxing is the same thing that you may need to do while forming your pizza. If you find that your pizza dough will stretch out some, and then pull back constantly - its good because you've probably got enough gluten. Let it relax for several minutes and then pull it back - go too far and you'll likely accidentally form a window pane!

Enough gluten means that you've formed an efficent 'net' of gluten that will trap gases from the yeast and also provide some 'chew'. You'll get better rise and your bread will have a better crumb. Yeast breads without much gluten development are often denser.

When hand kneading, an autolyse will also help (well, it always helps, just especially when you have to do the work manually). By giving the dough a short rest after initial mixing, you let the dough fully hydrate and some gluten will start to form on its own. When you come back to knead the dough, you should find the dough more workable and a little easier to get to the 'kneaded' point.

_{What's going on with 'relaxing' gluten? Kneading forms gluten, but it often also tangles them up a bit. With a short rest, they untangle a bit and will pull out into long strands easier.}

Answered by rfusca

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What can I substitute for rice flour?

Question

I am going to try to make gluten-free pizza for my wife, and I'm going to start with this Serious Eats recipe.

The recipe calls for white rice flour, but my wife has just about everything EXCEPT that. She has: corn, oat, potato, rye, sorghum, soy, and tapioca flours.

Which of these (if any) can I substitute for white rice flour? Or should I just go out and buy some?

---

For posterity, the recipe is:

• 1 (7.5 ounce) package Chebe Original Bread Mix (not Pizza Mix)
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup water plus an additional tablespoon or two, if needed
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Asked by anon

Answer

I would go out an buy some.

Dough textures for gluten-free breads are fragile and the result of extensive testing with various non-wheat flours (at least, good ones like Serious Eats are). None of the other flours you have available will have the same water absorbsion or starch content which rice flour does. If you substitute, you'd have to make the recipe several times in order to recalibrate it.

Besides, rice flour is generally pretty useful if cooking for someone who can't eat gluten. So you'll use the rest of it. And if you can find it in a bulk foods store, it's quite cheap.

Answered by FuzzyChef

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How do I ensure my deep dish crust gets cooked

Question

I've made a couple of deep dish pizzas over the last several months and I occasionally get either a soggy or a not cooked crust. I've been pushing the dough into a cast iron skillet and then putting it into a 400-450 degree oven for say around 25 minutes. By then the crust around the edges is threatening on burning but the crust on the bottom might still be doughy.

I've thought of a couple things and I'd love to hear some feedback on what you may have tried and found successful:

• "sear" the pizza on the stove for a little bit (Wondering if just a minute or two would suffice
• Bake the pizza with the pan on my baking stone

I'm nervous that the cast iron might suck enough heat out of the stone to risk cracking it.

As always your feedback is appreciated.

Asked by Brian

Answer

Deep dish modifications successful.

I ended up cooking in my 10" cast iron skillet at 475 for 20 minutes directly on my preheated pizza stone.

On top of this I followed @derobert's advice and sweat the ever loving crap out of my diced tomatoes. Was able to extract a full cup of liquid out of them AFTER draining for an hour.

The crust came out golden brown from edge to edge and all along the bottom and the exposed upper rim. There was no pool of liquid pouring through during cutting either. Was great last night and was great today for lunch.

Answered by Brian

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How Does a Grocery Store “Self-Rising Crust” Work

Question

As far as I understand, frozen pizzas sold at the grocery store are par-baked and then frozen, to be fully baked when they are put into your oven at home.

I noticed that some of these pizzas describe themselves as having a "rising crust." Those crusts get quite tall, an inch or an inch and a half (probably about 3-5 cm). My homemade thin crust pizza is maybe half that height.

Yet these crusts have much more in common with a thin crust pizza than a Chicago style, or the not-too-tasty bread-y imitation of Chicago-style that passes in most Chicago-style recipes and at some chain restaurants.

How do these pizzas work? I have trouble seeing how they could rise after par-baking, so are they not par-baked? How could I duplicate this crust from scratch?

Answer

I believe they use a combination of hydrogenated oils, yeast and standard leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda.

My experience is that without hydro, the super rising crusts are just tougher to make. I have settled for a medium riser but an awesome taste. I like to use yeast in my pizza crusts. Generally, chemical reactions go faster at higher temps, so yes temperature does matter...

However, since the reaction starts immediately, I would say it is more dependent on the amount and how long you let it work. The trick is the optimize the timing so that you bake the shape you want (i.e., fluffy and big) into the crust just as it gets to that point from the leavening (the most risen and fluffy). If you wait too long it will depress...

I read a bit about this here as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder

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What are the impacts of common pizza dough errors?

Question

I'm diving into the world of making pizzas from scratch, and I'd like to take a systematic approach to the possible mistakes I could make with regards to the dough.

What impact do each of the following errors have on the final taste/texture of the pizza crust?

• Quality (using old yeast) and quantity (too much/too little) of yeast
• Too much or too little water to flour ratio
• Overworking or underworking the dough
• Too much or too little resting time of dough

Answer

I don't see anything in the question that is peculiar to pizza dough. Anything I answer will apply to any kind of yeast-risen, glutenous dough.

The goal with any such dough is a well hydrated protein matrix that has been arranged in sheets that will trap the gas produced by yeast.

• If the yeast is dead it won't be able to produce gas and your bread will be somewhere between a cracker and shoe leather- depending on how thick you roll it out.
• Using too little yeast is not the same as dead yeast. If you use too little yeast (within reason) they will take a long time to reproduce, eat, and blow up your stretchy proteins. They will be producing a lot of flavor during this period. This will generally taste good.
• If you use too much yeast (within reason) the yeast will act very quickly. This is nice for speed but it will result in a much less developed flavor. Neither is a problem so you can choose for yourself.
• Using too little water will result in not enough gluten development and a dry, or crumbly dough. The dough won't hold gases and there will also not be enough steam when baking so the dough will be more dense.
• Too much water and you have a batter that can't be worked with.
• Over working a dough isn't so much of a concern. It is possible to over knead but it is hard to do. See: Possible to over-knead dough?.
• Under working the dough will result in less gluten development and very similar results as using too little water- basically you will have unleavened biscuit dough. The exception is if you are following a "no-knead" recipe. In this case the dough is allowed to rest for days which lets the protein sheets form on their own.
• Resting the dough is necessary both to relax the protein mesh that you created as well as to allow the yeast a chance to blow it up with some CO2. Not long enough and you won't be able to roll out the dough because it will be too tight and it won't be risen because the yeast haven't eaten. Too long and the bubbles will coalesce into large open cavities. A good rule of thumb is "doubled in volume". Usually about an hour but this is highly dependent on how much yeast you use, how much water, and the ambient temperature.

The end result is that you don't need to worry about most of these things. The biggest mistakes I see people make is making a dough too dry or simply not kneading enough. It is easier to add flour than water so put in less than the full amount of flour, knead for a while, if the dough stays too sticky then add a bit more flour and knead in.

As answers to other questions have said- you want a dough that is "smooth and elastic" it isn't sticky and looks homogeneous. After just a couple tries you will get a feel for how wet that means and you'll be an expert.

For pizza dough in particular- almost as important as the dough construction is the baking temperature. You want to cook it as hot as you can. 500F in an oven or on a grill. It will only take 5-10 minutes. The fast hot cooking will do a lot for your crust texture. It makes the difference between a crispy, chewy pizza crust and a soft, bready (and soggy under the toppings) crust.

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How to avoid getting the pizza all watery?

Question

When I cook pizza it gets all watery. There's literarily water formed on top of the dough. I believe it's released by the mozzarella, but I'm not totally sure.
Any ideas how to avoid this?

Some more information: I'm cooking at around 230C (according to the oven, who knows!) with an electric oven. No stone, just the metal tray. The pizza has exactly the same shape as the metal tray (which is a rectangle, just as the oven).

According to my last experiments, the source of the water is definitely the cheese. I'm cooking the dough, then adding the tomato sauce, then adding the cheese and the water doesn't appear until the cheese-phase. I tried all the possible mozzarellas that I can get at the supermarket with the same result.

Answer

There are a number of factors that can contribute to a watery pizza:

• Cheese If you think the cheese is the culprit, you can try using a "low moisture" mozzarella (these are dry to the touch on the outside). If you are using a "fresh" mozzarella (these usually are sold in a brine), e.g., classic mozzarella di bufala or mozzarella fior di latte, I recommend slicing the cheese as opposed to grating the cheese. The idea is that slicing the cheese will produce less surface area, and thereby reduce the amount of water that leeches out. Also, I recommend dabbing the cheese slices with a kitchen towel to remove any surface moisture. If you use this method, it will also help to cut the cheese in very thin slices, since that will release more moisture before it touches the pizza and it will also reduce the amount of cooking time.
• Tomato Sauce I recommend making the sauce yourself. As opposed to simmering the tomatoes/sauce on the stove for a long time, I prefer making a light tomato sauce that actually cooks on the pizza itself. I quickly purée the tomatoes (canned are fine) in a food processor and then let them strain in a fine mesh colander for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. That gets rid of a lot of water (the tomatoes lose about half of their volume). Throw in some minced garlic, chopped basil, and season and it is ready to go on the pizza.
• The Cooking Method Since my home oven doesn't get as hot as a traditional pizza oven, I always "blind" cook my pizza without the cheese. In other words, I throw the dough, add the sauce, and then cook it with just the sauce for 4 or 5 minutes. This allows any extra moisture in the sauce to cook off. I then remove the pizza, add the cheese, and then broil it until the cheese is melted and browned.
• The Dough If the dough ends up becoming soggy, you can always compensate by making it a bit thicker.

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Is 'Pizza yeast' any different than normal baking yeast?

Question

A friend (Italian) mentioned that she uses 'Pizza Yeast' for making pizza, and one can't use normal yeast or it'll "grow too much".. I looked around the internet for "Pizza yeast" and all I found was people saying that it was a marketing gimmick and it was just normal instant yeast.

So here's my questions, is there anything special in "Pizza yeast" or can we just use normal yeast (in lesser amount of course) and achieve the same??

Answer

From what I can find, it contains 'dough relaxers' so you can shape the dough without it springing back. It also claims you don't need to let it rise, but it then tells you to bake your pizza for 30 minutes! So it essentially rises in the oven.

Compare this to 'proper' dough which you let rise for a couple of hours, pull into shape and then bake in a screaming hot oven for 5 minutes tops. It strikes me that using pizza yeast is 'pizza for dummies'; claiming 'it stops it rising too much' is nonsense because if the amount of yeast is correct in your recipe you control the rise anyway.

So it depends on whether you like doing things easy or doing things right. You can bet your pepperoni slices they don't use 'pizza yeast' in Naples. Personally I cheat just a little and use dried fast-action yeast as it has a longer shelf-life and you don't fuss around proving it, and my pizzas come out great.

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How do you protect a pizza peel?

Question

I got a pizza peel that feels like it is just plain wood. How can I protect it? I thought I heard somewhere to use some sort of oil.

Answer

I don't do anything for my peels. I only wash them if they get sauce on them, and then only with hot water and a gentle sponging. Never soak them with water. If you want to add a bit of water resistance, you could use some cutting board oil (a.k.a. mineral oil) to add some protection.

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Should chicken be cooked beforehand while making pizza?

Question

I was just wondering if I can arrange raw chicken on the pizza base and cook everything along or if I should cook the chicken first separately.

Answer

Cook the chicken ahead of time. I doubt your pizza cooking time and your chicken cooking time will be a perfect match, and it is more likely than anything that your chicken would be undercooked. That would not be good for anyone.

If you are worried about the chicken being dry on your pizza, you can try par-cooking the pieces instead of fully cooking them (though that may be a little dangerous, too), or you can add the cooked pieces to the pizza after it has begun baking.

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How can I create a sweet pizza that looks like pizza?

Question

Looking for a bit of inspiration for an idea I have had. I want to serve 3 courses of pizza, starter, main and desert. It's a gimmick, I know, but a fun one I think.

Got the starter and main nailed, but as neither of these will look much like a standard pizza, I wanted the desert to look just like a pizza.

My (as yet untested) idea is to make a slightly sweeter base (not too sweet, toppings will add sweetness) and for toppings I am thinking:

• Rasberry Jam (as the red base)
• Mascarpone and peanut butter (as the cheese, peanut butter to add a little crunch)
• Caramelised Sugared banana slices (hopefully, these will come out brown enough to look a little like peperoni)

Will the above work? If so, do you have any suggestions for the execution? If not, what should I do instead?

Answer

If you make the base neutral - a typical Neopolitan dough would do - you could use white chocolate shavings to give an appearance of cheese as well. I would keep the amount light.

While looking to verify this idea, I found a recipe that gave me a few more pieces of inspiration. Instead of carmelized sugar banana slices, try dried fruits (strawberries, sweetened cranberries, raspberries, etc.) for your toppings. These will look like sausage bits or pepperoni. You can also use pineapple and make it look like a Hawaiian pizza.

You could also use almond cream as a white sauce or as some of your cheese for a richness that is not too sweet.

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How do I get a chewy crust from homemade pizza dough?

Question

There's a local pizzeria that makes a crust I really like and I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong in reproducing it. The crust (under the toppings) is about a 1/4in thick. If you look at it as a cross-section, there's a thin layer of cooked crust topped by a more soft, doughy layer, almost like a "dumpling". Looking at the bottom, the crust is medium brown on average.

The dough is homemade, rises for about 2 hours, worked into a crust (about 1/4in thick), and only sets long enough for me to top it. I've tried cooking on a pizza pan, a stone, a cookie sheet, 350, 400, etc.

CLARIFICATION: The dough that I made is NOT from the pizzeria. It's from a recipe book on pizza doughs.

CLARIFICATION 2: The specific part that I'm trying to reproduce is the "doughy" part. If you look at the pizza from the side it has a layer of what appears to be "not completely cooked" dough. No air pockets/bubbles/etc, just dough. I know I'm not explaining this very well, I apologize.

Any suggestions?

Answer

I recommend starting with a chilled dough, puncturing with a knife or fork (see below), and cooking in a greased pan initially then bricking.

Cooking directly on the stone the entire time works better for thinner crusts than mid-dough. By mid-dough, I am referring to the ones that plump up a bit and finish between 1/4" - 1/2" in thickness. They can have both uniform, almost cake-y cross-sections, or air pockets and bubbles depending on how kneaded they are (more kneading means cake-ier, denser dough).

I worked in a shop that made a mid-dough similar to what you describe. It was a standard dough recipe (flour, water, yeast), but I have had success replicating it at home at 450'F with beer and less kneading. At home I use a pan and then finish either on the rack or a stone. In any case, you get a dough that tears nicely and has a good chew.

The dough itself was mixed in the morning and kept refrigerated for as long as 12 hours as individual shells in greased pizza pans covered with saran wrap. To prepare a pizza, we pulled the shell, punched it with a fork (puncture a ring around the edge to create a crust, puncture the inside to allow for air). Dress with sauce and toppings.

We had a stone-bottomed oven, but initially the pizza is baked in the oven in the pan until the bottom of the dough has hardened enough to get "bricked" (the dough should be rigid enough as to be removed from the pan with one spatula). At this point you remove the dough from the pan with a spatula and place it directly on the brick. Cook until the top of the dough browns, and the cheese and other toppings are evenly browned.

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Cooking frozen Pizza in the microwave

Question

I am totally new to cooking, I just boil eggs :). I am staying alone for sometime, and I want to cook some stuff at home instead of eating outside every day.

I thought that Pizza might be a good start. So, I am trying with pre-made frozen pizza (well, that is not actual cooking!)

The problem is that all the frozen pizzas I found are created to be cooked in oven (put 15 minutes in the heated oven), and my oven is broken. I have the fan grill, the oven top and a microwave..

can I cook pizzas using any of these?

Answer

No, you can't bake pizza in the microwave. See Why do my pizzas get such hard crusts? for details. The short answer: it gets as hard as brick.

I won't say that baking a pizza with a stove and a grill is impossible, but it is definitely not something for beginners. So this, too, is out. Really, a pizza needs an oven.

If you insist on pizza, the cheapest way is to buy a toaster oven. They start at 50 €.

If you just want to ease into cooking by preparing pre-made food, look into frozen pre-seasoned vegetable mixes for the pan, or fresh dumplings from the refrigerated goods aisle, or noodles with easy sauces. All of these can be prepared without an oven, and don't need much time or cooking knowledge. They won't let you experience all the benefits of home cooking, but neither will frozen pizza, so this is probably not a problem in your case.

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How can I improve my gluten-free pizza dough?

Question

I've been making pizza dough for years, and recently found that I have a gluten allergy, and can no longer eat wheat flour! Very sad news, indeed.

So... I bought Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza dough mix, which has a bit of xantham gum in it, and serval kinds of flour (rice flour, tapioca, flour, corn flour, etc). The dough itself was difficult to work with, a bit crumbly, and not as stretchy as I would like. I know that the "stretch" I'm talking about truly come from gluten, but is there anything I can add, to help with the consistency? The flavor was perfect, and the calzones were wonderful, they were just really hard to form...

Thanks for your help!

Answer

It seems like a lot of recipes recomend gelatin, which could add to the stretchyness. I frequent serious eats and a while ago they posted this recipe and they claim that it is great and stretchy.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/04/gluten-free-tuesday-easy-pizza-crust-recipe.html

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