I am a relatively experienced amateur when it comes to making pizza, especially pizza doughs. I recently went to Italy and enjoyed some calzones with super-thin crusts.
My standard recipe for a pizza crust is essentially the following:
- 1.5 cups bread flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)
- 0.5 cups semolina flour
- 1 tsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. quick-rise yeast
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. olive (or cooking) oil
- 1 cup warm water
- More water or flour to achieve a mostly-elastic (but slightly sticky) dough
I typically add some of the following seasonings for fun and flavor:
– 1-2 tsp. minced garlic
– 1-2 tsp. onion powder
– 1-3 tsp. oregano
– 1 tsp red pepper flakes
The above recipe works great for crusts thicker than a few millimeters. When I roll it out thinner, however, it isn't strong enough and tears when forming a calzone.
How can I modify that recipe to get a crust that's strong enough for making a calzone? I expect substituting bread flour for the whole wheat flour would help, as well as not adding extra ingredients. Perhaps I could add a few teaspoons of gluten?
Thoughts? Thanks in advance!
Best Answer
Don't use whole wheat flour if you want a strong or thin crust.
The shards of bran in the whole wheat flour will cut the strands of gluten, weakening the crust, which prevents it from being stretched very thin.
You can verify for yourself by performing the windowpane test.