pizza dough in bread machine - what am I doing wrong?

[tasmaniandevilchaser]

I know you will all come on and say I should do it by hand, but for a lot of reasons (I won't bore you with the details) I need it to be quick and easy...

The main problem is the dough won't spread out very well and we end up with a thick base, when thin bases are much nicer imo. Can I change the recipe to make it stretchier and so get a thinner base?

My recipe is 1lb strong white flour, 2 tsp yeast, salt and olive oil.

I also have a problem with my lovely pizza wheel mesh thing - lovely crispy bases but they stick to it, even if I oil it first. What am doing wrong?

Is there water in your dough mix?

and water, yes?

the rest sounds fine...

a bump for you

don't use oil to grease your tins - use butter

oil heats up and slides off, butter cooks and stays in place

hth

I haven't got a breadmaker - I use the Kenwood dough hook to mix, but if you are finding it hard to get the base thin, have you tried rolling it out with a rolling pin? You have to be fairly brutal, but the dough is pretty stretchy!

ooh yes about 8 or 9 oz of water

I have tried a rolling pin, to get it onto the pizza mesh, I just couldn't do it! Maybe I'm not brutal enough!

On a normal non-stick baking tray I've given up using oil to grease the tray, the base seems ok without it, but still can't stretch it out to make it thin. Could try butter

Ok I use 11oz flour (300g)
1tsp oil
1/2 tsp yeast
1tsp salt
170ml water

its hard to spread it out but it does get there

yeah, when i do it i roll it with a rolling pin, then the springy dough springs back again. the only way it seems to stay put is if it sticks to a bit of the work surface that has no flour on it. it is pretty labour intensive getting a thin, flat pizza base.

and i sprinkle a thin layer of flour over my baking tray, that stops it sticking.

I don't know how breadmakers work for pizza, but I roll my dough out on the worktop, and stretch it where necessary, until it is bigger than the pizza pan as it springs back a bit, then I ease it out to the right size in the pan.

(This is how they do it at Pizza Express, as I have taken numerous groups of children for pizza making sessions there)

Thats how I do it too Tilly

I do mine in a breadmaker and its best left to rise a bit more before rolling it makes it a bit softer. I also double the mix then cut into 3 or 4 before rolling. Use a rolling pin and keep going then if you want it to stay thin and crispy don't let it rise again, shove in the oven quick.

I do mine in a breadmaker - in fact have just done so. My breadmaker recipe specifies: 8 floz water, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1lb flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp yeast. I sometimes use a rolling pin and sometimes stretch it by hand, but it goes quite thin. I use pizza stones to bake it on, not a mesh thingy.

Do you make it straight out of the machine or do you let it rise first?

I roll my dough out on greaseproof paper / baking parchment & transfer it to the pizza stone still on the paper (slide a baking tray under it and slip it onto the stone). I've found adding a little bit more liquid than the recipe calls for gives a more malleable dough, bit stickier though so flour the rolling pin.

isn't springyness to do with kneading? If it's not kneaded enough it won't stay put.

So I'd get it out of the machine and pummel it a bit more before you start rolling it out.

Aahhh! When I make it, it has to be left to rise for half an hour or more, then you roll it out. Is that how it works with breadmakers too?

it does some complicated rhythm of kneading and rising in the bread machine, I'll try a bit more water, leaving it for a bit at the end to rise a bit more and then maybe kneading it a bit!
thanks!

Kneading a lot makes it more elastic and easier to roll out.

I use half the water of the four (eg 400 gramms flour, 200 ml water). And put the rolled out dough on baking paper so it does't stick