On Apr 2, 10:37*pm, Christopher Helms > wrote:
> On Apr 2, 8:31*pm, phaeton > wrote:
>
>
>
> > I have a pretty bad pizza habit, and I was trying to 'cheat' a little
> > the last couple of times by using frozen bread dough for the crust.
> > I'm sure that this is illegal in some states. *Nonetheless, it only
> > turns out 'ok', with the biggest problem being that the crust is fine
> > around the edges, but as you move towards the center of the pizza it's
> > still doughy. *I'm trying to determine if my problem is the dough, or
> > the technique. *Here's what I'm doing:
>
> > 1) Thaw the frozen bread 'loaf' in the fridge overnight per the
> > package destructions.
> > 2) Place the thawed loaf in a covered container on the counter and let
> > rise for 3 hours, per package destructions.
> > 3) Prepare toppings (cook meat, chop vegs, shred cheese, etc)
> > 4) The dough doubles in size just as one would expect after 3 hours.
> > 5) I then roll the dough out on a 16" circular pan (tin plated
> > steel). *I'd say that the dough is about 3/16" thick or less all the
> > way across, excluding the 'handles' built up on the edges.
>
> > The first time, I added toppings and baked it for 20 minutes. *At the
> > 20 minute mark, it seemed to work out perfectly, as the cheese was
> > melted and bubbly, and the crust was a nice golden brown. *However, as
> > previously stated it was fine on the edges but doughy in the center.
>
> > The second time, I prebaked the crust for about 10 minutes first, THEN
> > added toppings and baked it for 20 minutes. *After the prebaking, the
> > crust rose to about 1/2". *I didn't mash it back down before adding
> > the toppings. *In the end of the whole baking sequence, it turned out
> > no different than the first time. *In fact, the 1/2" rise that it had
> > was gone, and it was back down to 3/16" and doughy.
>
> > Regarding toppings, it is sauce, cheese, sausage, onion. *I make it a
> > point to go light on the sauce and toppings so that it (normally)
> > cooks evenly and well.
>
> > Am I doing something wrong, or is the dough just not right for this
> > application? *Thanks.
>
> > -J
>
> I don't think it's the dough itself. It sounds like 1. you might have
> the temp too low, 2. you're not leaving it in the oven long enough. 3.
> your oven's calibration might be out of whack or 4. your dough is too
> thick. There are a lot of reasons a pizza dough might not get done
> towards the middle but too low a temperature would be my first
> suspicion. When I make my own I always go with a pre-heated 400 degree
> oven for 25 minutes or so, but that's me and I'm not a fan of really
> thick crusts. I never tried it with one of those frozen bread dough
> things but I can't imaging that being the problem. In fact, it might
> be a good time saver.

I forgot to mention that I'm baking at 350F