Pizza 4 Parkinson’s?! So, what does Pizza Dough have to do with peppers? Well, I use some of my powdered pepper seasoning AND the home made Liquid Smoke from the smoking process in my dough! Also some chopped peppers! I know there are a lot of pizza dough recipes out there but, this one is ONLY HERE and is tried, true and achieves perfect results in a conventional oven. Please buy the recipe or my recipe book (coming soon) to help my wife’s ongoing Parkinson’s treatments. I cannot stress enough how much every little bit helps. All the links in this website are to our Amazon affiliate account so, any purchases you make from these links also help.
Some of the ingredients that are most important as well, from trial and error followed by years of consistent success are as follows:
Caputo Pizzeria Flour which I use combined with Caputo Chef Flour and I use Caputo Yeast.
If you make a lot of pizza, like I do, you can get the Caputo Pizzeria Flour and the Caputo Chef Flour in larger quantities to save some money.
I use these flours and this yeast EXCLUSIVELY and it is VERY IMPORTANT. The blend I make works perfectly in conventional ovens that only go to 525 degrees F. Each flour on its’ own does not work for me but, when I blend them IT IS AWESOME!!! I get a great result which is puffy inside, cracker crispy on the outside and only takes 10-11 minutes to cook with my fav toppings!
Why do I blend the two flours? Well, one flour (Pizzeria) is made for high temp pizza ovens that far exceed my conventional ovens 525F max temp. The other is the “Chefs” flour which works for many things at normal home oven temperatures. There are a lot of other factors like moisture content of each flour and a list of other differences. Many “experts” will go quite overboard explaining the science. Myself well, this flour is packaged in a paper bag. Yes, I store it in the fridge in a sealed container but, I remain skeptical about the exacting science of each individual flours moisture content characteristics after it’s exposed to the world around it, being packaged in a paper bag!
As I previously mentioned, I have used each flour on its’ own and the result was just okay and really, not note worthy. Better alone than the best grocery store flour yes, for sure but, the combination of these fine Italian flours provides the perfect, in our opinion, pizza dough in a 525F oven for a total of 10 to 11 minutes.
Another unique thing I do is: Before I put my newly made dough into the fridge, I remove 100 grams of it and put in a small Tupperware container inside a Ziplock bag then, into fridge. I will add that to the beginning of the next batch of dough! I have done this for years. My dough sample and its’ yeast culture is over 15 years old! I got the idea when I was in San Francisco from the very famous San Francisco sourdough bread company. This makes my dough one of a kind and VERY SPECIAL!
After my dough has been in the fridge a few hours, I remove it from its’ 1 gallon freezer bag, stretch it out, as much as it allows, as it’s cold, and yes I toss it spinning into the air too! I place it onto a 16″ round pizza pan and stretch a little more. The pan is previously sprayed with a little olive oil or Pam and dusted with corn meal. I put the pan and dough into a large turkey bag and fold the open end under the pan. I let it rise and warm up at room temperature. After about 30 minutes, I again STRETCH the dough but this time, out to the edges of the pan. Do not crush or roll your dough! I then let it rise in the bag for another 30 minutes or so while the oven pre-heats. The last rise time depends on room temperature and its’ individual personality (yes, each batch has its’ own!), it is a visual check. I don’t want the dough to do all of its’ rising outside. I want the dough to finish its’ rise in the oven while cooking. I then top the dough with my ingredients.
A note if you use pepperoni: Before I put the pepperonis on my pizza, I lay my pepperoni slices evenly, flat out on a doubled up paper towel and another paper towel on top. I then microwave them for 30 seconds. I press down on the top of the paper towel, then cook again another 30 seconds. I let them sit while the dough is on its’ final rise. This GREATLY removes the amount of oil as you will see in your oil soaked paper towels. This really makes for a better pizza and with more sensitive people, reduces the chance of heartburn considerably.
I use a pizza stone that I made. I cut the side off of a 21″ round shelf from a ceramic oven so the oven door would JUST close. It is about 3/4 inch thick. You can use a commercially made pizza stone as well. Just be sure to get a LARGE PIZZA STONE. I cannot imagine making pizza without one. I place the pizza, still on the pizza pan into the pre-heated 525 oven onto the pizza stone on very bottom rack of the oven. I cook for ~3 minutes then, using a pizza peel, I pull the pan with pizza out of the oven. Using the pizza peel, I scoop the pizza from the pan and place it back into the oven, quickly sliding it directly onto the pizza stone. Allowing it to cook for the final 6 to 7 minutes. A note: On the last minute of cooking, I switch the oven to broil at 525.
When you shop for a pizza peel, you will find mostly, 12″ wide peels. THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT. You need, seriously, at least 13.5″ wide. This Pizza Peel here is JUST wide enough for the pizzas I make with my recipe. This is the one I use. This item is really a necessary tool to get your pizzas in and out of the oven with ease. I cant tell you how many pizzas I have torn, slopped the tops off or mutilated before I got a nice pizza peel! This one is slippery enough and works perfectly for me. I wish it was 1″ in diameter larger but, I have not had issues with the little bit of crust that hangs over the front since the dough is just rigid enough after the initial ~3 minutes before I transfer directly to the stone.
After I peel the pizza from the oven, I place it back onto the now cooled pizza pan. I cut it up right away with my favorite Pizza Cutter! AND WOW, there are many very cool pizza cutters right here! Pizza cutters for people who like Cats, Bikes, Star Trek, Sports Teams, Roller types, Traditional and so many options!
DONE and… wow YUM! Crispy brown underside and outside crust with puffy, but not too puffy, dough! NOT GREASY or doughy. You can pick it up and eat it without it flopping around! Honestly, it is the best pizza I have ever had in my life and I have had a lot of pizza from some the “supposed” best pizza “specialty” restaurants in the world. Not bragging, truth. I would honestly, share my dough short comings here in attempt to rectify them from others advice! However, I would not change a single thing with my core pizza dough recipe!
My favorite breakfast food…? COLD PIZZA!
Want the recipe?? 1- Make my pizza. 2-Don’t eat it all at once. 3-Refrigerate!
Okay, my pizza dough recipe I have guarded for years. But seriously, I need to help my wife with the Parkinson’s meds and Neurologist visits. So, I will part with my recipe, the process and my pizza topping secrets. Yes, there are methods of preparing the onions, peppers, garlic and other items so you do not get a soggy top! Is my way the best? ABSOLUTELY!…… not … But that said, my methods are born of trial, error and adaptation. Also focused on the affordable ingredients which are readily available. So, for $10 (cheap) donation you can download a PDF ot TXT file of my recipe and process. Trust me, you will save a lot more than 10 smackaroos by trying to figure it out yourself! Although eating your failures is not such a bad thing! I have even had a 30 year professional chef compliment me on my recipe. I was glowing for a week after receiving my first ever pizza crusted ego cookies! (RECIPE COMING SOON)
