Recently, I decided that it would be fun to try Trader Joe's pre-made pizza dough. I'm a big fan of Trader Joe's products in general, so I was very excited to try it, and plus, it's only 99 cents for a ball of dough. I got the garlic and herb kind. The first major problem was that the dough was VERY STICKY. Adding flour helped, but it was still difficult to work with. Next came the stretching. Stretching out the dough to a uniform thickness, proved to be almost impossible. It took me almost 20 minutes to get it into a somewhat uniform round shape and it was especially frustrating since it kept scrunching back together even after I stretched it or getting holes where it was too thin.
I did some research online and found that people got the best results when they pre-baked the dough and then added the toppings (otherwise it was very soggy). So I tried that- preheated pizza stone at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, prebaked dough for 8 minutes, added toppings, baked for 8 additional minutes. The result? Still chewy, soggy dough. Gross.
Even if the dough had turned out great, I would have still hesitated to use it again since it was so much work to prepare. Since it ended up with less than desirable consistency, I can say for sure that we will not be trying this again.
Did anyone have a similar experience? Or, have you found a dough that you love? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Debbie - we also tried the trader joes pizza dough and had a very similar experience. What fun! we thought, but no. Its really hard to get it to spread out (Im pretty sure I gave up and it was a crazy weird uneven shape). and the dough never tasted like it was fully cooked because it was so, as you describe, soggy and chewy. The taste was alright, but the texture didn't really workout. Making pizza is usually matt's department, and I think he's sticking with the boboli :) thanks for sharing tho! Glad it was just me who screwed it up.
ReplyDeleteThat is so funny that you guys had the same experience--I am also glad to know that it wasn't just me!
ReplyDeleteI have also used the Trader Joe's pizza dough. And yes it is difficult to work with, but eventually it will spread (maybe as it gets to room temp) My suggestion is to try to spread it out thinly on unheated pizza stone, brush on olive oil and crushed garlic, and then bake this for about 15 minutes at 400*. Then when it seems crusty, add all toppings and bake again for another 10 minutes or so (depends on oven)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ideas, Bev!
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