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Pizza Crust YeastOctober 18, 2009 Does the world really need a special yeast for making pizza crusts? Fleischmann's seems to think so. I haven't seen it on the grocery store shelves yet, but I get the Fleischmann's e-newsletter. The newsletter's big perk is the coupons for Fleischmann's yeast, although it's true that this year nearly all the "yeast" breads I've baked have been powered by sourdough so my yeast consumption is down. I've clipped a few recipes, but the only one that's become part of my repertoire is for pizza. The now-greasy printout calls for 8 to 10 ounces of small frozen meatballs. I have never used small frozen meatballs. My current favorite toppings are linguiça, broccoli, and chopped garlic, slathered in spaghetti sauce (Classico, any variety, or whatever's been on sale at Reliable Market) and topped with shredded mozzarella. The pizza recipe calls for RapidRise yeast, which I've never used for making bread but works just fine for pizza. Make up the dough, roll it out, spread it in the pan, and by the time I finish laying on the toppings it's risen enough to bake. Maybe I'm slow, or my toppings are more labor-intensive than other people's -- the linguiça needs chopping into small pieces and the broccoli works best minus the stem and broken into mini-florets -- but I've never had to hang around waiting for the dough to rise. So why the need for Pizza Crust Yeast? Pizza Crust Yeast has its own website -- big surprise, it's www.pizzacrustyeast.com -- and there I read that with PCY "there's no rise after kneading like other yeasts." There's no rise after kneading with RapidRise yeast either, at least not the way I do it. I'm also told that "Pizza Crust Yeast is specially-formulated with dough relaxers that keep the dough from pulling or snapping back when shaping it." My dough has never pulled or snapped or tried to bite me, so again I wonder what problems others were having (and presumably complaining to Fleischmann's about). And what the hell are these "dough relaxers"? Have they added Prozac to the yeast to ensure amiable dough behavior, perhaps while slipping in some amphetamines to hasten the rise? One more thing. The pizza crust recipe I clipped from the Fleischmann's website called for two envelopes of RapidRise yeast -- last I measured, an envelope was a scant tablespoon. It also calls for 1 3/4 cups of flour and 3/4 cup of very warm water. One evening I added 1 3/4 cups of water. Oops. Removing liquid from a bowl that already holds dry ingredients is impossible, so I added enough more flour and other ingredients to absorb the water and thus wound up with a double dose of pizza dough. Did pizza dough freeze well? I had no idea. Time to find out. I split the double dough in two, kneaded one half into a ball, stuck it in a large yogurt container, and put it in the freezer. When I took it out and thawed it a week later, it worked fine. So, yes, pizza dough can be successfully frozen and thawed. And one other thing: it dawned on me that two envelopes of RapidRise yeast had managed to raise a double dose of pizza dough. Maybe a single envelope would be enough for a single dose? Yep. The proof of the pizza is in the rising, and it worked, and with no noticeable diminution of peppiness or speed. So I'm going to pass on Pizza Crust Yeast. I can just imagine my pizza crust rising toward the ceiling while I hasten to speed-chop all my toppings, and possibly add a fingertip to the mix.
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