Another Kind of Free Pizza

Some may recall that I was under orders to eliminate wheat from my diet, and in particular, gluten. I have not been diagnosed with any particular disease or gluten intolerance, but I was put to the challenge at one time. I quickly discovered that Gluten Free was not cheap, and was more than difficult to obtain. This makes for a good challenge. Over time, gluten free options have improved, and it was hard not to notice Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour at my local Costco. Here was a 5lb bag of flour, with not a trace of wheat in it.

I scanned the recipes on the back of the bag, and was quickly overtaken by the Xanthan Gum chart. Depending on the kind of recipe, cookies, cakes, yeasted breads and pizza crust, there were different concentrations of Xanthan Gum required. Now I know a little about this wonderful substance. It's used in most every commercial salad dressing as a thickening agent and in drilling mud to prevent blowouts when oil wells are drilled. It's a moisture absorber and gets sticky like glue.

Looking to duplicate what I learned about pizza dough making from another short stint at a different pizza delivery job, I was browsing the flour isle at the local Vons. That's when I discovered the expensive, but available, Xanthan Gum, in powder form. It was in a different section, but had the Bob's Red Mill label on it. I then returned the wheat flour, bought two small packages of the Gluten Free flour and headed to the checkout line with a basket full of supplies for a Gluten-Free Pizza Crust.

I got worked. Not only from the $2 per ounce price for the Xanthan Gum, but from the process of making a yeasted dough and kneading it on a plywood cutting board that I had yanked from the kitchen cabinets of my 40 year old apartment. I ended up a mess, but the rapid-rise yeast did it's job, and I had a success at a basic pizza. I also had another dough-ball to use for the next meal. It took 10 minutes to scrub the dough from my hands and fingers. The more water I added, the slipperier it got. Xanthan Gum. Wonderful stuff.

By the end of the weekend, I had added a 5lb flour container, a Roul'Pat silicone mat, silicone scraper and a Zojirushi BBCC-X20 bread machine to my list of tools. On Monday I acquired a set of nested measuring cups to properly feed my bread machine. Between the Xanthan Gum and the Yeast, I had no choice but to be precise like a chemistry experiment.

Experimenting with the bread machine and tweaking the recipe for dough during the week lead up to a six pizza extravaganza over the Superbowl weekend. Saturday, my first pizza stone cracked while cooking the first pizza. I used it for the rest of the day, making three pizzas total. Sunday required an endurance test at the store for more toppings, and a new pizza peel to go with the backup stone that I had on hand. Three more pizzas got grilled on Sunday.

On President's Day, I got adventurous, and tried a beer-dough. I use a different size measure for each ingredient, so my recipe is a little bizarre, but it makes it easier since I do not have to wash and dry a cup or spoon to measure a different ingredient. Here's what I loaded the bread machine with:

3 Tablespoons Light Olive Oil

Pour about 1 teaspoon over each shaft before installing the kneaders. Make the kneaders face each other when installing and pre-align them with a test install in the bread machine. This will prevent the collapse of your mountain in the bucket when you install the loaded bucket. Always add ingredients to the bucket with the bucket removed from the bread machine. Pour the remainder of the oil over the installed kneaders.

4 Tablespoons Agave Sweetener

You can re-use the same tablespoon measure that you just used for the olive oil. The oil coating will help the syrup leave the measure cleanly and completely. The oil on the shaft will allow you to remove the kneaders easily before the rise begins.

20 Oz. Double Bastard Ale (2 1/4 cups)

You want this to be flat. Warm the beer to 120 deg-F to stimulate the yeast you will add later. The easy way to do this is to measure out 2 ounces of beer (1/4 cup) and dispose of it. The remaining 20 ounces of beer will fit in a 2 cup Pyrex liquid measure. 1125 Watts for 145 seconds.

1 Teaspoon Salt

I add this as two 1/2 teaspoon measures, since it fits better in my salt jar. I also use Sea Salt. Sprinkle this over the beer.

4 Cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour

I add this as Eight (8) 1/2 cup level measures. The 1/2 cup measure stays in the flour bin. I think my Mom did this too. This was the inspiration for tooling the recipe the way I did.

1-1/4 cups Cold Milled Golden Flax

If you don't add this, add 1/2 cup more flour and be prepared to make a white pizza with all of the extra flour that you'll need to finish the crust. Otherwise, do this as Five (5) 1/4 cup level measures. When you add this, you want to make a nice plateau for the Xanthan Gum.

8 Teaspoons Xanthan Gum

If you are going to timer-start the bread machine (ill advised) you know that you have to put the yeast on top. Since Xanthan Gum absorbs moisture, and should not be in contact with the water right away, it forms a layer between the flour and the yeast. Add it in a plateau. The small scoop size lets you control this very well.

5-1/4 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

This gets added as Seven (7) 3/4 teaspoon measures. If you're doing a timer start (ill advised) then you will spread this over the plateau of Xanthan Gum you just added. The Xanthan Gum will keep the yeast very dry. Maybe too dry. I add alternating measures to the warm liquid on each side of the flour mound, and split the odd measure. I'll then spatula the yeast into the liquid to get it going.

Now you run the machine. I use a 5 minute preheat and 20 minute knead cycle. Use a longer preheat if you use a timer start (ill advised). 1 hour of rise time is suggested. A spatula should be applied to the walls of the bucket during the initial low-speed mixing cycle. After Kneading, remove the kneaders and form the dough into a loaf. Cover with plastic wrap to keep the dough very moist while rising.

Punch down the risen dough, divide and form into balls. Add small amounts of Flax to your hands and the working surface if the dough is too sticky. Refrigerate dough balls, covered, for up to 72 hours before using. Let dough double in size before final punch-down and forming into a pizza skin.

Enjoy!