Better Pizza Through Chemistry

This week we show you how two simple changes can turn cardboard-y pizza into award winning pie (okay, award-winning might be a slight exaggeration, but we awarded ourselves a win, so deal with it).

Here’s our simple recipe for making stellar pizza at home:
Mix 1 package (0.25 oz) of dry yeast into 1 cup of warm water
Let sit for 5 minutes.
Add 2.5 cups of bread flour and 1 tsp of salt. Mix.
Knead the dough for a few minutes.
Dust your hands with flour and form your pizza dough into a round ball. Transfer to a bowl.
Let the dough sit, covered, in the fridge overnight. THIS IS KEY!
Remove the dough from the fridge, let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, then using your hands or a rolling pin spread out the dough.
Set your oven as high as it can go (for many ovens that’s 550 degrees F)
Add sauce and toppings
Put your pizza in the oven until the crust starts to brown (should be around 9 minutes, maybe a little longer if you like it crispy!)
Let cool and enjoy!

You might also like:
The Science of Kombucha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxARRckS9dA

We Found The Best Hot Pepper Cure (It’s Not Milk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R98O29Fs7s

How Milk Becomes Cheese
https://youtu.be/uJEkb4Hq5jY

We ?Burned? Food to Figure Out How Many Calories It Has:
https://youtu.be/ahvE5kuWcps

Credits:
Executive Producers:
George Zaidan
Hilary Hudson

Producers:
Elaine Seward
Andrew Sobey
Darren Weaver

Writer/Host:
Sam Jones, PhD

Scientific consultants:
Michelle Boucher, PhD
Emily Jane Buehler, PhD
Brianne Raccor, PhD
Peter Reinhart

Sources:
The Bread Baker’s Apprentice
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bread-bakers-apprentice-15th-anniversary-edition-peter-reinhart/1123130134

Baking Bread: The Chemistry of Bread-Making
http://www.compoundchem.com/2016/01/13/bread/

The chemistry of pizza
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/reactions/videos/2014/the-chemistry-of-pizza.html

The science and magic of breadmaking
https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2009/nov/26/science-breadmaking

Bread Science: The Chemistry and Craft of Making Bread
https://www.twobluebooks.com/books/

[Excerpt] Bread Science: The Chemistry and Craft of Making Bread
https://www.twobluebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Excerpt-BreadScience.pdf

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S08E21 - Death and Decomposition