baking Pizza crust risen with brettanomyces!

[Steve973]

I have been wondering what would happen if I used "wild" beer yeast in my pizza dough. So I took the dregs from a beer fermented entirely with 2 strains of Brettanomyces yeast (claussenii and bruxellensis) and mixed up my usual batch of pizza dough.

Instead of using regular yeast, I included the collected yeast sediment from the bottle. So I mixed the dough up and let it sit at room temperature for two days. I noticed a very nice crust rim rise, great coloration, an airy and open (but chewy) crumb, and some great sourdough flavor! This was such a great success and such a nice surprise that I don't think I even want to bother with conventional yeast anymore unless speed is of the essence. At any rate, I think this will be the first of several more experiments to come. So, without further adieu, here are the pictures:

Whole pizza:

Cross section:

Crust rim:

Crust coloration:

 

[The Hot Pepper]

The looks like a NY pie! The "orange" look of the cheese and oils instead of white on red, and the crust too. WOW! I'd eat that in a sec.

 

[Steve973]

Thanks, that is a huge compliment! I know how serious New Yorkers are about their pizza, and with good reason.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

You managed to get good browning on the crust and the cheese... not too much, not too little. How did you cook it? I see you have a pizza peel, you must have a stone too.

 

[Steve973]

Yes, the stone is essential. I preheat my oven to 550 (with the convection option on) and then let the stone preheat for an additional hour. The pizza then goes in for 6 minutes, and what you see above is the result.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Amazing. Best home cooked pizza I've seen yet.

 

[moyboy]

wow steve, that's really good. I'm looking to make a sourdough style pizza dough in the coming weeks and those pics have inspired me...

 

[Steve973]

There is a wealth of information on a pizza making forum that I belong to. If you are interested, it's at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum and there is specifically a NY section there.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Thanks, I've seen that before. I have a gas oven, and a countertop convection oven I'll be seeing which is better, when my kitchen is done.

 

[Steve973]

When I set my oven to 550, the convection option actually drops it by 25 degrees, so it ends up being 525. I like the convection option, even though it is slightly less hot, because it helps crust coloration.

 

[texas blues]

Very well done Steve! Beer after all is liquid bread. I bet that would make a tastier cracker style crust too!

 

[Steve973]

Cracker style crust is going to be my next undertaking!

 

[xgrafcorex]

Hah that's and awesome idea, I would've never thought about that. Looks great!