I know, that’s a really crazy headline but I was making pizza dough the other day and realized that I used one skill I learned from being a potter and it made all the difference in the world.
When the pandemic of 2020 hit hubby Ben and I decided that instead of having a date night out, since all the dine-in restaurants were closed, that we would start having a special Pizza and Svengoolie Night!
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In the Pottery Studio, we use a gram scale to weigh out our glaze material so I knew ALL ABOUT grams but I had never used it in baking.
I actually had a kitchen scale at home that I used for some stupid diet I was on. A tiny button on the bottom changed it from ounces to grams.
Once I began making bread by measuring out the ingredients in grams, I began to have consistent loaves of Bread.
Weighing (vs measuring) does that.
The other super, awesome part of baking using weights is there are so many fewer dishes to clean afterward. When I make my Bread dough and Pizza Dough I only use ONE BOWL!! And you can do that by Taring between ingredients.
To Tare or Not to Tare. That is not the question.
When you cook with a scale, like when you make a glaze, you TARE the bowl before you put in the next ingredient. Tare means setting the scale to Zero, no matter what is on it. All of the cheap $15.00 kitchen scales I have, have this ability but double-check just to make sure.
So give it a try. I will share with you my two recipes. Everyday Sandwich Bread and Pizza Dough
Making Pizza Dough
Originally, I made dough by measuring out in cups and teaspoons, but my dough was inconsistent. Once I recalculated my recipe in grams my dough is SPOT ON every week.
I use pizza screens but this recipe will work for any way you want to cook your pizza. Just monitor the cooking time to make sure the bottom gets nicely browned.
This recipe makes four 10″ Pizzas or two 14″ Pizza
Ingredients
- 667 G Flour (4 1/2 c) I make mine with 300 g of whole wheat and 367 g of white flour)
- 24 G Sugar (3 tbsp.)
- 11 G Salt (1 tbsp.)
- 7 G Yeast (1 tbsp.)
- 35 G Olive Oil (4 tbsp.)
- 367 G Hot Water (120 F Degree) About 1 2/3
INSTRUCTIONS:
-Add water and knead in machine until a smooth ball forms
OR if kneading by hand Stir the ingredients as much as you possibly can. Then dump the dough and remaining flour onto a clean counter. Hand knead until all the flour is incorporated into the dough. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth.
For 10″ pizza, make it into 4 equal balls. Knead each one and form into a small oval disc. Lightly dust with flour, cover and refrigerate until an hour before needing it. Remove from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature before rolling out and using.
Roll out the dough starting from the inside and pushing out. Use a rolling pin if needed. Place the rolled out dough on the pizza screen and cover it with your favorite toppings.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cook pizza in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
Remove, cut, and enjoy!
I would love to hear if you try making these using the weighing method and what you think!!
Everyday Sandwich Bread
Ingredients – Makes two loaves
- 440 ML (2 cups) warm water 110 degrees F/45 degrees C
- 110 G (1/2 cup) white sugar
- 11 G (1 1/2 tablespoons) active dry yeast
- 8 G (1 1/2 teaspoons) salt
- 44G (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
- 750 G (5-6 cups flour) You can use all-purpose flour OR bread flour!
Instructions
In a large bowl, dissolve the 13 G of the sugar in warm water and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
Mix remaining sugar, salt, and oil into the yeast.
Slowly mix in flour. The dough should be tacky and clean the sides of the bowl. Don’t add too much extra flour or your loaf will end up dry. If you think you added to much flour add a bit more hot water until you get the correct consistency. It should be slightly sticky to your hand.
Knead in a Mixer with a bread hook OR Hand Knead dough adding flour as needed until it’s no longer sticking a lot and is smooth ( 7 minutes.} I find myself kneading the dough like I wedge my clay!!
Place in a well-oiled bowl and turn dough to coat.
Cover with a damp cloth.
Allow the dough to rise until its doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Knead for 1 minute and divide in half.
Shape into loaves and place into two greased 9×5 inch loaf pans.
Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until the dough has risen about 1 inch above the pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30-40 minutes.
This bread cuts beautifully when cool but who can resist it hot out of the oven! Of course, having soft butter ready to spread is a plus. Check out my Butter Keepers!!
My name is Dani and I am the potter behind this page! I am retired and having a ball being the artist I always wanted to be. My studio is located in NW Arkansas where I live a quiet life, on a lake with my husband, 3 dogs and two cats.
Have a look around!
Digital Scale
This is the scale I use for both weighing out glaze material and to weight packages for shipping. I love that the display is angled away from the weighting tray making it easy to read. Metric and Imperial weighing.
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Pizza Making Kit
If you are new to Homemade Pizza Making you might want to start with something like this. I bought these as gifts for my kids and they looked like really nice quality.
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Pizza Baking Steel
Since writing this article I have changed from using Pizza Screens to a Pizza Steel. The steel cooks more like a wood cooked pizza. It takes a little more practice since you have to slide the Raw pizza from the Pizza Peel to the Hot Steel but its worth it!
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Pizza Screens
When I need to make several pizzas at the same time, I go back to my very loved, very used Pizza Screens. You can build your Pizza right on the screen and bake several at the same time. With a screen you don’t have to worry about sliding the pizza off the Peel onto a hot Pizza Steel Or Pizza Stone
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Pizza Peel
The Pizza Peel is a necessity if you are using a pizza Steel or Pizza Stone since both those need to be preheated before you can bake your Pizza Pie. If you are using screens a pizza peel is optional.
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Kitchen Aid Mixer
I love my Kitchenaid (I wish it were Red like this one!) and use it constantly not only for Pizza dough but for bread, tortillas and even making pasta. I bought the optional pasta maker). The less expensive models attach at the base of the bowl. Mine attaches with the side arms like this model. I think its more stable when kneading dough.
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