Processed pizza..

Ok, so its dough made in a food processor...

Of the many methods that I have been experimenting with lately, I am still somewhat skeptical of the food processor method. The Great Kenji thinks otherwise... here I try out his New York Style pie.

It is definitely easy, but I am become more of a touch and feel guy and this just misses that subtlety that handling the dough allows.

Kenji's New York Food Processor Dough
22 1/2 ounces (about 4 1/2 cups) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
.35 ounces kosher salt (about 3 teaspoons)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
15 ounces lukewarm water


Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl of food processor. Pulse 3 to 4 times until incorporated. Add olive oil and water. Run food processor until mixture forms ball that rides around the bowl above the blade, about 15 seconds. Continue processing 15 seconds longer.




Transfer dough ball to lightly floured surface and knead once or twice by hand until smooth ball is formed. It should pass the windowpane test. Place in refrigerator in an oiled bowl and allow to rise at least one day, and up to five.





At least two hours (I prefer closer to 3) before baking, remove dough from refrigerator and shape into two or three even balls, then gathering dough towards bottom and pinching shut to form a tight ball. Flour well and place each one in a separate medium mixing bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise at warm room temperature until roughly doubled in volume.

Here on the left is the New York dough and on the right my own recipe with a wild culture, and a much high hydration (percent of water to flour), closer to 73%. You can see the bubbles, which leads to a lighter more open and uneven dough.



1 hour before baking, adjust oven rack with pizza stone to middle position and preheat oven to 550°F or the hottest your oven goes. Turn single dough ball out onto lightly flour surface. Gently press out dough into rough 8-inch circle, leaving outer 1-inch higher than the rest. Gently stretch dough by draping over knuckles into a 12 to 14-inch circle about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to pizza peel and top as desired. Here I used a cooked tomato sauce and aged mozzarella.



With the other dough I topped it with Franks Red Hot Sauce, roasted sweet potato, balsamic onions and Buffalo Mozzarella.



In the end, both were great pies, but we agreed that the culture dough tasted better.