Pizza Crust Woes

[laurelfla]

i'm hoping someone can tell me what i did wrong with Bette Hagman's Thick (actually a misnomer!) Yeast-Free Pizza Crust, p. 246 of the updated cookbook, The Gluten Free Gourmet: Living Well Without Wheat.

it was my first foray into making a pizza, gluten-free or otherwise. i greased the pan really well, with olive oil. and the crust stuck to wazoo and back! it was so bad that i basically had to scrape off the top half of the pizza in order to have dinner!

was olive oil a bad choice? why did it stick so badly?

thanks!

[lonewolf]

I wouldn't use olive oil. I usually dust my pizza pan with rice flour (very generously) and then sprinkle corn meal on it. This works if the dough isn't too sticky - I've never had pizza crust stick. If your dough is really sticky, try something like non-stick spray or a thicker type of oil like coconut oil or even both.

Liz

[jnifred]

I've used the Chebe mixes, they are fabulous!!!!

otherwise I'd try cornmeal...not sure what else to offer.

[lpellegr]

Sometimes solid shortening seems to work better than oil for prevention of sticking. Try that AND dusting with cornmeal. I had success with the Easy Pizza recipe from the Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy, which contains yeast, but I put it on a greased non-stick pan. That's the best recipe I've found for thick crust - I grew up on Sicilian style pizza and used to make it once a week for my family until my diagnosis. The best bought crust is from Whole Foods' gluten-free bakery. Hope this helps. Don't give up on that homemade pizza!

[Katydid]

So sorry to hear about your stuck crust. I know how discouraging it is when you try so hard to make something gluten free and things just don't turn out right. I've been at this for 17 years, and I still have occasional flops...but not near as many as in the beginning.

I use Kinnikinnick Pizza Crust mix and it is sooooo good that I buy it direct from them 20 lbs at a time. I follow the recipe exactly on the package with two added techniques.

(1) I always add a couple teaspoons of italian seasoning to the dough. I use Tones Presti's Pizza Seasoning, but any gluten-free one would do. I think Hy-Vee has one under their brand.

(2) I use a large greased ice cream scoop (the kind with a lever) to deposit the dough in the pan because its so darn sticky. I use greased foil pie pans to make pizzas. Then I spray both of my hands throughly with cooking spray; and walla, I can now pat the dough out very easily and quickly with nothing sticking to my hands. Prick the bottom and bake 14 minutes. You can then freeze for future use, which I do; or top and bake again until toppings are done and cheese melted.

My husband is such a pizza lover that I'm glad this is one of my easiest things to fix. This same recipe also makes fantastic bread sticks.

Hope this helps...but don't give up. You will master it.

[Guest nini]

I wouldn't oil the pan... I would dust it with either rice flour or corn meal... I tried to oil the pan ONCE and it stuck so bad I had to throw it all away INCLUDING the pan.

[laurelfla]

  nini said:

I wouldn't oil the pan... I would dust it with either rice flour or corn meal... I tried to oil the pan ONCE and it stuck so bad I had to throw it all away INCLUDING the pan.

lol, that's what i thought i was going to have to do, too! it was awful. but i figure that pan may have had its share of leftover gluten, as it was my dad's in his pizza restaurant when i was little and has considerable scratches in it. but my sister and her husband gave me a new one for Christmas, so i'm going to break it in in the New Year!

Thanks, everybody!

[angels71]

I use the pizza pizzazz machine.I really like it for homemade pizza. It allows you to cook the bottom of the crust longer if you need to, with out over cooking the top of the pizza.I have found some gluten free crusts need to cook longer then others. I grease the pan and sprinkle corn meal. I have never had trouble with it sticking. This is one of my favorite gluten free meals. These machines I think are around $30 now. I use my a couple of times a week, so it was a good investment for me. Hope this helps.