On 4/3/2010 1:37 AM, phaeton wrote:
> On Apr 2, 10:37 pm, Christopher > wrote:
>> On Apr 2, 8:31 pm, > 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

You need to have the oven at a much higher temperature.