Pizza Redux

The bread machines are multiplying--again. Damn me and my addiction! To help us decide which one(s) will stay and which ones will find new homes, I gave the husband the task of testing the dough cycle on one of them and testing some new flour. Oh what fun!

--The Faudie

Yes, it's pizza time again! As long-term readers of this blog will remember, I've been able to produce a pretty good deep-dish pizza with a lot of effort but have had only marginal success making pizza dough the quick way, with a bread machine. But seeing as how we have plenty of different bread machines on hand to experiment with--and because we picked up some high-protein flour during the visit to the Round Rock Sprouts a few weekends ago--it seemed like a good time to make another attempt at quick and easy pizza dough.

Angela and I both favor our Welbilt model ABM-3600, but in the spirit of giving the other machines a chance, I thought I'd see if the Breadman Ultimate model TR2200C could produce some decent pizza dough. The recipe came straight from its instruction manual:

Pizza Crust Dough1 C water, 80 degrees F
1 T oil
1 T sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1 T dry milk
2 1/4 C bread flour
1 t active dry yeast

1. Add ingredients to the bread pan in the order listed.
   
2. Select the Dough or Pizza Dough option on the machine.
   
3. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface.
4. Divide the dough, if making two thin crusts, then press onto one or two 12-inch pizza pans, raising the edges of the dough.
   
5. Spread pizza sauce over the dough, then sprinkle with toppings.
   
6. Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 min. or until the crust is golden brown around the edges.

Yield: One thick or two thin crusts

Nutritional Info
Not provided.

The Husband's Futzings
I'd chosen the TR2200C for this recipe specifically because it has a lot of controls for making specialty breads. Turns out, however, there's nothing special about its pizza dough setting--it's a quick, 55-minute cycle that I think any of our bread machines could have accomplished. So much for the TR2200C's fancy controls.

Compared to my previous attempt at bread machine-made dough, this batch was not nearly as gooey or as sticky. Despite this, I still managed to make a mess of getting the crust shaped properly.

The next time I try this, I'm going to forget about trying to shape the crust on the counter and take the dough directly from the bread machine to the pizza pan, where we can use Angela's silicon roller to get it into shape (which is what we've had to do both times anyway).

I baked the crust bare for about 15 minutes, then pulled it out of the oven long enough for the boy to add the toppings. Instead of the typical BBQ chicken pizza, we opted for something more traditional, using a sauce Angela had put together from who knows how many tomato-based leftovers.

My assistant took care of the toppings, and by "take care" I mean "ate half of them."

I'm extremely happy to report that the crust rose nicely in the oven (a significant improvement over the last attempt), and it came out chewy and golden brown. The taste, however, was somewhat unspectacular--Angela thought it was a bit salty, while I found it reminiscent of Little Caesars. I don't think either of us were paying it a compliment with those observations. Still, it was freshly made 'za, and that means it tasted a lot better than the pre-made crusts we typically use. I'll probably try out some other pizza dought recipes, but I'll keep this one on hand too.


And besides, who cares about the taste when you've got that nice, chewy texture, anyway?