I started a thread a while ago about my attempts to make a lower sodium pizza. I have not made one that’s very good yet. I suspect what’s missing is salt. 
I’m still trying to get a good sauce before I get into making my own crust and I’m using a pre-made crust that is not particularly salty. I’m willing to accept that there is something about these pre-made crusts that is causing this problem but I’m not sure. The problem is, the sauce/toppings/cheese do not stick to the crust at all. I cut a slice off and pick it up and everything slides right off. I’ve tried cooking and not cooking the sauce but no difference. Next time I’m thinking I may try putting the bare crust in the oven for a couple minutes to “dry it out” a little before I add the sauce and toppings. The crusts are actually pretty good, just can’t get the whole thing to hang together.
Thoughts?
I make my own pizza - sauce AND crust. The recipe that I use is enough for two large pizzas, and contains three teaspoons of salt for everything. Since I’ve started to make my own, every other commercial pizza (Papa John’s, Digiorno, etc.) taste WAY too salty.
Here’s my recipe:
PIZZA SAUCE
[ul]
[li]1(28-ounce) can whole peeled (no salt added) tomatoes, drained and liquid discarded[/li][li]1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil[/li][li]1teaspoon red wine vinegar[/li][li]2medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)[/li][li]1teaspoon table salt[/li][li]1teaspoon dried oregano[/li][li]1/4teaspoon ground black pepper[/li][/ul]
DOUGH
[ul]
[li]3 cups bread flour, plus more for rolling (Chef’s Note: Using bread flour will give you a much crisper crust. If you can’t find bread flour, you can substitute it with all-purpose flour which will give you a chewier crust.)[/li][li]2 teaspoon sugar[/li][li]1 envelope instant dry yeast[/li][li]2 teaspoons kosher salt[/li][li]1 1/2 cups water, 110 degrees F[/li][li]2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons[/li][/ul]
Directions
Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and combine.
While the mixer is running, add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and beat until the dough forms into a ball. If the dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball. If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball.
Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to let it double in size, about 1 hour.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces.
Cover each with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.
Baking the crust with pricked holes and a bit of olive oil for 5 mins and pulling it out to add toppings will help. Make sure you have good cheese. Crap cheese just will not melt properly. The heaviness of the cheese may be pulling everything off. Get the ammount of cheese right.
Perhaps you’re adding too much sauce? A properly made pizza has a fairly thin layer of it.
What kind of cheese are you using? My first job was as a pizza cook and we used two-thirds mozzarella to one-third cheddar. There weren’t any sliding issues. Those are both pretty salty, however. If you’re using low-salt cheese that may have something to do with it.
I have been using pre shredded mozzarella or pizza blend cheeses. The ones that come in resealable bags. They are not super salty, some salt but not insanely so. The main sodium cuts I’m doing are no salt added tomato products and using seasoned (red and black pepper) ground beef in place of sausage and pepperoni. Also adding mushrooms, onion and green pepper.
Thanks! Saving link to this thread.
Entirely possible.
The problem is the crusts are already cooked. The top surface has hardened and won’t rapidly absorb the sauce. With fresh dough the sauce cooks into the dough. If you make your own dough you can rid of most of the salt found in cooked crust. You usually only need about 1/2 the salt in dough recipes to control the yeast. If you’re going to use the pre-made crust try perforating the top with a fork, get a lot of hole in it, or cross-hatch it with a knife maybe.
What kind of pizza are you making? Three cups of bread flour is about 140 grams, and 1.5 cups of water is about 235 grams, so that’s about 165% water in bakers’ ratios. Are you making crackers instead of pizza crust?
Try this local trick: put the cheese on the dough directly, sans sauce. Put the sauce on top. Not traditionally American, but tradition in my parts. The cheese-dough interface is quite extraordinary.
I always use whole milk mozz. The Polly-O brand works well for me. Cut it into blocks and then freeze it to make shredding very easy.
Also, I sprinkle shredded parmesan cheese on after the sauce. Gives it a very nice flavor.
How long do you wait before cutting the pizza? If you cut it as soon as it comes out of the oven, the cheese is just going to melt back together, which could cause the sliding-off problem as you are trying to pull a slice out. Let the pizza sit for a few minutes so the cheese can cool down and set up. Then when you cut it all the slices should stay separated.
I would avoid pre-shredded moz. It seems to form a crust which impedes melting. Shredding from a block is a pain, but pays.
Much of the pre-shredded Mozz has an anti-caking agent added that dries out it’s surface. Traditionally pizza makers used shaved cheese because it melts more rapidly (high surface area to volume). Harder part-skim that’s been frozen is much easier to shave. But if you have a hot enough oven pre-shredded will work okay unless you want a soft crust.
Slices of fresh mozzarella on a pizza are becoming common around here. The goal is not to brown the cheese at all, it changes the appearance of the pizza with just random blobs of cheese scattered over it, and the taste is actually kind of bland, but different.
I usually mix some parmesan and other more flavorful cheeses with the mozzarella.
I love the sauce part, thin layer wont do for me.
I always have trouble with the crust. Always. I like it chewy so regular flour is fine with me. I think it comes out too bready for me. I like the bar type pizza the best. Some of the chains get to be too bready. Seems like (not necessarily true) the bar pizza is a different kind of crust
Any hope for that?
Also it doesnt matter what i do to make the yeast work, it doesnt :smack::smack:. On all products with yeast except for the break maker, it works well there.
But let me add on the sauce!! :eek:
When you know you like a lot of sauce, you can always modify something or switch your recipe to accommodate it. Just be aware that not every crust works well with a lot of extra sauce.
What kind of yeast are you using?
Mind’s Eye’s crust recipe is basically what I do, except I don’t put any salt in it. Comes out just fine.
Also, not all cheeses are created equal. I can’t eat a homemade pizza with Kroger mozzarella on it–too salty.
As for the thing not sticking together, have you tried adding some tomato paste to your sauce? Alternatively, boils a bunch of the water out of the sauce; or thicken it up with some nice, sticky, gluten-rich flour.
Normally it’s just starch, so there’s nothing dangerous or bad about it, but it can definitely make it act differently when it’s melting.
Pizza is all about the bread. Make the dough yourself and use fresh yeast. Keep the base thin, don’t pre-bake but use a stone or similar that is brutally hot and it should cook in no more than 5 minutes. Thin topping and basil, garlic and olive oil to drizzle on at the end.
Margherita is the devil. Cooked pizza crust should never be less than 1 inch thick, and toppings should be double the thickness of the crust and weight twice as much. It is known.