Super sticky pizza dough

Last night I made some pizzas using the "Now or Later Pizza" recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion cookbook. The dough (double recipe) was started the day before and had 6 cups of AP flour, 2 tsp instant yeast, 3 tsp salt, 4 TBSP olive oil and 2 1/2 cups water (calls for up to 3 cups, so I used the lower end of range). It was put in the fridge for about 24 hours before using.

When I did use it, it was VERY sticky. It calls for putting it on parchment and baking for 4 minutes then removing and topping. There is NO WAY this dough would have been able to be put in oven without the parchment paper, as it more so had to be smooshed out into a pizza shape. It stuck to the paper like those old candy dots, but peeled off once par baked.

The end result was quite good, but not what I expected from the dough. Do the ratios look normal for a pizza crust? I don't think I did anything stupid like left out a cup of flour. Is that just the way this dough is for anyone that may have made it? It almost seemd like it was more of a Bobili (sp?) type crust than anything else

Ended up making some pizza sauce from olive oil, garlic and canned whole tomatoes that was then pureed.

First pizza was topped with shredded mozz and red and yellow bell pepper.

Second pizza had a BBQ sauce base (mix of Paradise Ridge and Sweet Baby Ray), with some of my chopped up crisp homemade bacon and some chopped chicken breast that was sauteed in the bacon fat, and mozz.

Third pizza was tomato sauce base, with a chopped up Parker House hot link that had been pan fried then braised with some onions. The onions were quite soft and were chopped up to top the pizza as well, and then topped with mozz.

All were a big hit, just not so sure on that dough. Any thoughts would be appreciated as I am far from a pizza making expert...

Jamie

Rule #1: Always weigh out the flour. Volume measures for flour are very inconsistent and they are the source of most problems of this type.

Wet dough is good for pizza, especially if your oven is very hot. But overly sticky dough can be a sign of improper mixing - that is not enough of the water was absorbed by the flour. What was your mixing procedure.

Bill/SFNM

I used my KitchenAid stand mixer with dough hook, and it had formed a cohesive dough before I let it rise.

I did also weigh the flour out.

The recipe did call for a AP and semolina mix, though had a footnote to simply use 3 cups of AP if you did not have semolina. So I wasn't winging it by only using AP.

Maybe I'll give the recipe another shot as I do have leftovers of everything needed to put a pizza together.

Jamie

Jamieson22 wrote:
I did also weigh the flour out.

Jamie,

What was the weight for the 6 cups of flour?

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:
Jamie,

What was the weight for the 6 cups of flour?

Bill/SFNM

Good question, can't remember for sure but think it was 5.5 oz per cup.
Jamie

Jamieson22 wrote:
.. think it was 5.5 oz per cup.

That would be about 64% hydration which is a very wet dough. If not handled correctly, this can very easily become too sticky. The way you combine your ingredients can make a big difference. For example, adding the flour to the water rather than adding the water to the flour will result in more water being absorbed. Also, sifting the flour into the water will help. You should also wait for the water and flour to be well combined before adding the oil (even better, wait 5-20 minutes after combining the water and flour before kneading or adding any other ingredients). These seem like little things, but taken together can result in a dough that is much easier to work with. Anyway, these are some of the things I do to prevent highly hydrated doughs from becoming too sticky. Hope this helps a little.

Bill/SFNM

Thanks Bill. So what is a good recipe for pizza dough? I only have AP and bread flour on hand (and some whole wheat).
Jamie

Jamieson22 wrote:Thanks Bill. So what is a good recipe for pizza dough? I only have AP and bread flour on hand (and some whole wheat).
Jamie

Jamie,

Depends. What kind of pizza crust do you like? NYC, Chicago, American, Neapolitan, thin, thick, crackery, soft, chewy, crunchy, bready, biscuity, ...

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:Jamie,

Depends. What kind of pizza crust do you like? NYC, Chicago, American, Neapolitan, thin, thick, crackery, soft, chewy, crunchy, bready, biscuity, ...

Bill/SFNM

Looking for something along the lines of NYC. Floppy with a bit of chew and crunch.
And something that can be made with the flours I have on hand.
Jamie

Jamie,

This is very doable, but will require some commitment from you - it is more involved than simply following a "recipe". People have spent years on this path, but you may not have to. Step one is to check out this thread at pizzamaking.com which is the best site in the world for home pizza makers.

Let me know if you need any help, but my focus is Neapolitan-style pies.

Bill/SFNM