"John" > wrote in message
...
> First, here are the results (broadband/DSL recommended):
>
> http://i10.tinypic.com/2eklx6f.jpg
>
> The pizza peel is also homemade. I made it from scrap wood and coated in
> shellac. I have it for about 10 years.
>
> Dough for a 13"-15" pizza
>
> 3/4 cups of water.
> 1/2 tsp yeast
> 1/2 tsp sugar (sucrose)
> about 2 cups of KA white flour.
>
> Add yeast and sugar to warm water to dissolve.
>
> I use a cuisinart to knead the dough. The dough should be just slightly
> sticky.
>
> Let dough rise is a slightly oily pot for about and hour or two.
>
> Preheat oven to 550 degrees with pizza stone in oven.
>
> I use Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes with basil for the pizza sauce. I found
> it a lot less expensive (about $1 per 28oz can) and much better tasting
> than commerical "pizza" sauce.
>
> I use Sargento mozzarella & provolone. Every now and then my supermarket
> has them on sale for half price so I stock on them.
>
> I roll the dough on a lightly dusted pizza peel. I measure the dough out
> for my pizza stone; a 14" stone bought from Bed & Bath for $15. I wish I
> still had my commercial oven where I used to make 20" pizzas.
>
> Add a little oregano and or garlic powder to the top of the cheese.
>
> Slide the pizza onto heated stone in oven.
>
> Carefully watch the pizza. It can go from delicious to burned in a few
> minutes. When the bottom the crust is slightly brown, I remove the pizza.
>
> My pizza costs me about $2 to $3 and we greatly prefer it to the local
> salty greasy "pizza". If we were in NYC, then that would be another
> matter.
>
Your picture looks very nice. Some time ago a breadmaker friend told me not
to roll
pizza dough, but to stretch it by hand, coupled with the occasional toss
into the air. I started doing this and I not do it routinely. The finished
crust has an airy delicacy at the edges, and somehow the bottom remains
crispier than the rolled. I'm guessing you are rising for a long time with
only 1/2 tsp yeast.
I've been doing what you do with sauce for some time. Trader Jose's has 28oz
Roma tomatoes for about a buck a can. Process it, season it, and that's it.
Some time ago the San Francisco Chronicle had a taste test on canned
tomatoes, and Trader Joe's won, over other very expensive ones.
Making pizza is a mental illness, albeit an enjoyable one.
Kent