Grilled Pizza: Dough Recipe

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Want to make amazing pizza at home? No need for a backyard brick oven. Grilled Pizza is where its at.

 

Here’s a simple formula for grilled pizza.  This dough formula call for 70% hydration, which can be challenging to manage for new pizza makers.  You can reduce the hydration down to 66% and still get good results. I did this last month for my in laws.  They loved it.  You will too.

 

1000g King Arthur All Purpose Flour

700g  Water (preferably 90º)

20g Sea Salt

6g Instant Dry Yeast

10g Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

1. In a large bowl combine yeast and water.  Mix for 20 seconds with a whisk.  Add flour and salt.  Mix by hand or with a wooden paddle until combined.  Do not over mix or knead.  Dough should be shaggy but fully combined.  Cover with a damp towel and let sit for 30 minutes in a warm spot (70º-74º)

 

2. Perform your first fold.  A fold is a simple technique for mixing dough which relies more on time than physical effort.   To perform a fold pick a corner of the dough.   Lift the corner of the dough in the air and then “fold” it into the middle.  Here is a video.  Once you’ve done one fold, turn the bowl 90 degrees and do your next fold.  Do this for a total of four times until you are back to the corner where you started.  You have just completed one “turn” of your dough.  Four folds = one turn.  Let dough rest for 30 minutes.

 

3. Perform two turns (8 folds).  Let dough rest for 30 minutes.

 

4. Perform two more turns.  Let dough rest for 30 minutes.

 

5. Dough should be smooth by this point and pass both the “poke” and “window pane” test.  If not, perform two more turn and let dough rest another 30 minutes.  Otherwise, cut the dough into clumps weighing 250-300g each.   Shape each clump into smooth dough balls.  Place the dough balls in a dough proofing box and apply a light coating of olive oil.  Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

 

6. 2-3 hours before you want to use the dough remove the dough proofing box from the refrigerator and let it sit in a warm place in your kitchen. Dough is ready when it’s expanded slightly in volume, is close to room temperature and pliable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When to close a business

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Four things to consider before closing your doors for good.

Recently, a friend of mine, let’s call him Mike, had one of his worst fears come true.  His business had run out of money.

This was strange.

Mike owned a deli with a cult following.  Every week customers waited in long lines to buy one of his sandwiches.  Anyone familiar with Mike’s deli assumed he was “killing it.”

Instead he was broke.  How could this be?

Was someone stealing money? Were his books being “cooked”?

Nobody knew.  So, Mike started to investigate.

It didn’t take long to figure out what was wrong.

The first problem was bookkeeping.  Yes, he had professional looking financial statements.  But they didn’t match reality.  Invoices were missing.  Statements weren’t reconciled.  Deposits were off.

Not only did Mike lack a strong grasp of his business’ finances, he was making decisions based on numbers that didn’t exist.  It was a recipe for disaster.

The second problem was debt.  Six months earlier Mike borrowed money to expand his business.  But he didn’t borrow enough.  His bookkeeper should have sounded alarm bells.  Instead she played “whack-a-mole” with outstanding bills.  Whichever vendor complained the most got paid with the limited cash on hand.  Bills kept piling up until the finances were swamped.

Lastly, payroll was bloated.  Some of this was intentional.  Mike was training additional staff to further expand his business.  This was a good idea, but you need to have spare cash to do it.  It was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

Once Mike knew the causes of his problems, he felt overwhelmed.  He asked me a simple question.  “Am I done?”

The answer was clear to me.   “Absolutely, not”

Here’s why:

1. Sales are half the battle.

Mike had done an awesome job of building sales.   This is hard to do.  If your business has no sales, it’s a legit reason to close.  But this wasn’t his case.   The problem was bad financial management.  For the past several years Mike was so focused on operations he had taken his eye off of the numbers.  This was on him and he knew it.  Although the situation wasn’t good, its easier to fix a bookkeeping problem than building sales.

2. Popularity contest.

When my bakery first opened our sales were terrible.  On our six month anniversary the business was barely surviving financially.  What our bank statements didn’t show was how much our customers loved us.  We just didn’t have enough of them.  We soldiered on, word spread and sales grew.  Two years later, things were going so well, we moved to a larger location.

Mike’s business has a cult like following.   Some of his customers buy from his multiple times per week.  Its easy to assume if sales are strong your customers love you.  Not true.  My local Walgreens is always busy.   When was the last time you heard someone say they love Walgreens?

A customer base that loves your business is a big asset.  Their loyalty can be the foundation of long term success.  This is something that shouldn’t be disregarded.

3. Cash poor, asset rich.

Mike was broke but he wasn’t poor.  His business had a great brand and sales were strong.  He also owned 100% of his company.

If you’re in Mike’s shoes and you need cash, there’s two options:  Borrow money or sell equity in your business.

Because Mike’s financial problems are fixable he shouldn’t have a hard time getting capital.  Even if a bank isn’t willing to lend him money, I bet he could find an investor in his community.  Best of all he doesn’t need to sell a huge stake of equity to solve his financial problems.  In other words, he could still be the majority owner.

4. Do you want to keep going?

When things are tough, you have to make a simple decision:  Keep going or go home.

Mike didn’t want to give up.  He loved running his deli.  But he didn’t want to make his situation worse.  Once he understood how to overcome his challenges he was excited to get to work.

That was a few months ago.  Today things are getting better.  In a few years I’m sure he will be doing great.

 

Have you closed a business? Are you struggling to keep on going? Send me an email with you experiences.