The Pizza Therapy Forum and Pasta Therapy Forum

[dfandreatta]

I only make pizza on the charcoal grilll now. I just enjoy that so much more than using the oven.

Recently, I experimented with substituting some red wine for some of the water in the pizza dough, using the "Dough" setting on the bread machine (it takes 55 minutes on the "Pizza Dough" setting, an hour and a half on the "Dough" setting). For a single crust, I use one cup of water to 3 C of flour, so I tried using 3/4 C water with 1/4 C Carlo Rossi Paisano - that staple beverage. The dough seemed to be lighter, the flavor was slightly enhanced. I thought it was great.

The next time, I used 50/50 water and wine. The dough was very crumbly in the machine, and I ended up adding a little more water to make it work. It was still good. I am wondering if the alcohol in the wine resulted in a drier mixture.

My latest experiment was to use a cup of beer, with no water. I can't say that I was impressed - the crust seemed tougher. It may be that I should have used a little higher quality beer (although I did use "The Champagne of Beers). I might try a Porter next time, but use a mix of water with it. I did let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight, probably a mistake since I had never done that before so I had changed another factor that might have made a difference in the end result. But, it had been a long day, and I gave out before I could complete the process.

I know someone posted that they used Vermouth. Has anyone else done any of this?

Pizza on Earth!
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"Papa Don"
Apollo Beach, Florida

[Vince120]

Hi Df, Vinny here...

As you noted already, the flavor of spirits, or any liquid, or any ingredient for that matter, changes/enhances the flavor of the dough. Alcohol, however, has a double whammy for our little yeast friends. Alcohol denatures the food supply... our friends starve to death. The other parts of the booze, beer, wine, whatever, the acids inhibit glutten development, resulting in your crumbly texture. To successfully impart some flavor along the lines you discussed, try boiling the brew to burn off the alcohol and concentrate the flavor. Reducing a 12oz to 6, then use the remainder water.

Different vinegars can also be used, sparingly, they have even a stronger inhibitor effect.

GL

Vinny

[chefrockyrd]

My favorite pizza has been done on the grill for some time now. It comes out exactly the way we like it.

DF- Why substitute wine for the water? Is your water shut off? Drink the wine with the pizza, or the beer or whatever. Or use some wine in your tomatoes, but why ruin a good thing?
imho,
chefrockyrd

[dfandreatta]

The wine always goes into a glass during the process as well!

It seems to me that the wine in the dough produces a seemingly lighter crust, with a slight change in the flavor and a little bit of a pink hue.

I use sliced baby portabella mushrooms on my white pizza, which I sautee in red wine only.
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"Papa Don"
Apollo Beach, Florida