The Pizza Therapy Forum and Pasta Therapy Forum

[Ghaleon]

Most of the time I make pizza I use whole wheat. It is, I believe, healthier. It has more protein, less carbs, and doesn't give me the "carb high" white flour pizza does. The main problem I had with it is that the dough was so tough and hard to shape. I even started adding more water to the dough to make it more pliable. It did make it less tough, but it also make the dough stick to my fingers. No good.

So I tried using the King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour and and it solved basically all my problems. It has a lighter color, a slightly less strong taste, and basically all the nutrients of regular whole wheat flour. Maybe 1 g more or less of a few of the ingredients compared with regular whole wheat flour. And more importantly, however, when I shape the dough in my hands, it almost "feels" like white wheat dough. It is a pleasure to shape now.

Take into account that it will still taste like whole wheat crust. It is not as crisp as white dough. Crust made with this flour will be chewy on the inside. I also noticed that it burns more easily than white crust. It takes more skill to cook it right than white wheat dough. So it's an acquired taste.

If you want to use whole wheat flour on your pizza, I recommend King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour. This is now the only whole wheat flour I use, and I don't care if it costs more.

By the way, I changed slightly the way I make my whole wheat pizza crust. The old recipe is in this thread:

http://pastatherapy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=363

The new recipe is here:

WHOLE WHEAT PIZZA CRUST

2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
7 oz. warm water
2 tbsp. soy flour
1/2 tsp. dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. honey

I heat the water in the microwave oven for 1 minute, add the dry yeast, and wait for 5 minutes. In the meantime, I mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. After the 5 minutes, I add the water and the yeast to the dough and kneed it by hand. I now store the dough in the refrigerator until the next day. The next day I first pre-heat my toaster oven, which already has the pizza stone. The highest temperature is 450 degrees Fahrenheit. That's not very high, which means my pizza will never be as great as the one from a local pizza place, but it's still good.

About an hour later I shape the dough over a cutting board with flour. I make the crust very thin. I them move the crust to the pizza stone and make many holes on the crust with a fork to prevent it from getting bubbles. Once the crust begins to get slightly brown (after a minute or two using my oven) I take it out.

Now I add the toppings, and put it back into the oven until the cheese is melted (a few more minutes). If I use fruits as toppings I don't add them until the pizza is almost ready, so they don't dry.

[Ghaleon]

Now I no longer use honey with that crust. It makes a crispier crust. One day I didn't have any honey, so I made it without it, and I ended up liking this version more.

[Ghaleon]

I made a few more changes to my crust. I now live in a house without a microwave oven, so I add the yeast to water which is at room temperature. I no longer use soy flour. I also add half a teaspoon of salt to the dough instead of one teaspoon. I have not noticed any differences in the taste of the crust after making these changes.