Making Basic Pizza with Kitchen Paddles

I started doing a lot of research for an article on Pizza. I have been doing some reading on the different styles of pizza and their history. Of coarse I will share with you how to create a pizza of each style at home. I have made some incredible sauce and have found some great toppings, but my crust has just been good, but I am on a quest to make a GREAT crust from the thinnest St. Louis style cracker crust to the the thick and hearty Chicago Deep dish. For today's demonstration were are making a very easy and basic Pepperoni Pizza

During my quest I have come across a great tool that every serious pizza maker needs - The Kitchen Paddles. The Kitchen Paddles have taken the concept of the traditional pizza peel and made it more functional with their revolutionary new design.

"The peel apart Kitchen Paddles use a natural side by side motion to place your pizza, bread or other baked creations with toppings intact, exactly where you want it on the cooking surface. During baking you can use the paddles with an easy shuffle motion to rotate your pizza, etc. in place for evenly baked results. Removing your pizza, etc. masterpiece is made so easy by picking it up with the tapered edges and using that natural side by side motion.

Together, while paddles are interlocked, they have a total area spanning 12×20 inches, from side to side, tip to handle, respectively – with a total working area of about 12×12 inches. Apart, each paddle measures a convenient size of 6×20 inches for specialized tasks and easy storage."

Aside from being a great tool for your kitchen the Kitchen Paddles have a couple other great features. One, they are made from bamboo. Bamboo is a great substitute for traditional hardwoods, since bamboo grows 1000’s of times faster than hard wood trees, using it helps contribute towards saving the environment. Number two, Pizza For All LLC. donates 50 cents from every sale of the Kitchen Paddle to Action Against Hunger to help fight world hunger.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 teaspoon of dry active yeast
1 teaspoon of white sugar
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1/2 cup of luke warm water
1/2 cup of cold water
3-1/4 cups of flour
1/4 lb of Peperoni
3 cups of shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 cup of Pizza Sauce

EQUIPMENT
1 set of Kitchen Paddles
1 pizza stone
1 kitchen aid stand up mixture with mixing paddle and dough hook
Roll of Saran wrap
Measuring cups and spoons


PROCESS
Dissolve yeast into 1/2 cup of luke warm water. After a few minutes pour yeast mixture, sugar, olive oil and cold water into your mixing bowl. First use mixing paddle attachment and mix on low and slowly add a 1/4 cup of four at a time until you have a batter. Then change to the dough hook attachment and continue to add flour slowly. Continue to mix until a ball is formed. Add an additional 1/4 of four if needed.
Once your dough is formed, take off of the hook and form a nice round ball with your dough, then place in a large greased bowl. Cover the bowl with Saran wrap and place in refrigerator for 24 hours to slowly rise.

After 24 hours has past, preheat your oven to 425 degrees with your pizza stone in the oven on the middle rack. Then place you Kitchen Paddles on the counter and sprinkle with flour. You enough dough to make 2 medium pizzas on the paddles so divide your dough and half. Then take half your dough and sprinkle with flour and form your crust on the paddle. Once you have formed one nice round thin crust on your paddles, evenly spread a 1/2 cup of sauce on to the crust. Then place you pepperoni on top of the sauce. Finally spread 1-1/2 cup of cheese over the top of your pizza. Then pick up your Kitchen Paddles with your pizza on it and slowly separate your paddles as you slide you pizza of the paddles on to the stone. NOTE: make sure you flour your paddles so the pizza slides off nice and easy. Then close oven and turn on light. Watch you pizza, when your crust starts to crisp and your cheese bubbles it is done. Take your pizza paddles and reverse them, so the part that interlocks is facing out and the tapper part is facing in. Slide you paddles under your pizza and pick up and take out of the oven and place on cutting board to rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve!
Remember you have enough dough for two pizzas, so repeat the process and make another pizza

You can get your own Kitchen Paddles at
The Kitchen Paddles website