How To

One meal we repeat more than we probably should in this house, is homemade pizza. A couple years back we got a Blackstone Pizza Grill and have had so much fun learning how to up our pizza game. (Correction: Geoff has had fun learning, I’ve just had fun being the official taste-tester.) When Summer hit and it got way too hot to cook pizza over a 500 degree flame outside, we got the Baking Steel Stone for inside and honestly like the results just the same, if not better! We follow this 72 Hour Dough Recipe exactly (which makes 4 12″ pies) but sometimes substitute the bread flour for 00 flour if we have it on hand. Some of our favorite combos are fresh mozzarella with Boars Head pepporoni + hot honey, BBQ chicken + red onion, sweet potato + ricotta + caramelized onions, roasted corn + tomatoes, and lemon zest + goat cheese.

In a rush? The first several times we test drove our Blackstone, we practiced first with store bought dough. (Learning how to launch a pie is no joke! Be sure you have a good pizza peel and dust whatever you build your pie on with some semolina flour.) Store bought dough can make the whole process much simpler and quicker, and you can get some pretty good results with dough from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. (Or ask your local pizzeria if they’ll sell you pre-shaped dough balls!) If you decide to go this route, just be sure to allow the dough to rest (up to 5 hours) as individual balls to obtain a shapeable dough. Cold dough that hasn’t rested will be incredibly elastic, making it near impossible to work with. If you have to use a rolling pin to shape your dough, it’s not ready yet, and you likely won’t get that light and airy crust we all love. Once you’ve mastered the art of simply working with dough, challenge yourself and try out the 72-hour dough! (Having a bin like this, and containers like these for each dough ball is super helpful, too!) GOOD LUCK and sure to check out Baking Steel’s site for more tips and recipes! 🙂