Beer Crust Pizza

I'm trying to master the pizza dough thing and it is a work in progress. Having a difficult time getting the dough just right. I believe it is a combination of not enough kneading, incorrect ingredients and pizza maker issues.

This weekend tried a couple different recipes. First one was a 3 day cold ferment, the next one was a beer dough and the last was an emergency dough.
Here's the recipes:
100 %, Bread flour, 7.15 oz. (202.03 g.), (1 1/2 c. plus 2 T. plus 5/8 t.)*
63 %, Water (at around 100 degrees F), 4.50 oz. (127.65 g.), (1/2 c. plus 2 t.)
1 %, Oil, 0.07 oz. (2.03 g.), (a bit less than 1/2 t.)
1.75 %, Salt (table salt), 0.13 oz. (3.55 g.), (a bit over 5/8 t.)
0.4 %, IDY (instant dry yeast), 0.03 oz. (0.81 g.), (a bit over 1/4 t.)
Total dough weight = 11.88 oz. (336.66 g.)
Thickness factor (TF) = 0.105
The Beer Crust made with Landshark Lager. 1 Day cold ferment
Flour (100%): 206.63 g | 7.29 oz | 0.46 lbs
Beer(60%): 123.98 g | 4.37 oz | 0.27 lbs
IDY (.3%): 0.62 g | 0.02 oz | 0 lbs | 0.21 tsp | 0.07 tbsp
Salt (1.75%): 3.62 g | 0.13 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.65 tsp | 0.22 tbsp
Oil (.5%): 1.03 g | 0.04 oz | 0 lbs | 0.23 tsp | 0.08 tbsp
Sugar (.5%): 1.03 g | 0.04 oz | 0 lbs | 0.26 tsp | 0.09 tbsp
Total (163.05%): 336.91 g | 11.88 oz | 0.74 lbs | TF = 0.0772

And the Emergency Dough
High-gluten flour, 11.80 oz. (about 2 1/2 c.) FABF
Water, 7.70 oz. (about 1 c.) (about 65% hydration)
IDY, 0.20 oz. (1 1/2 t.)
Salt, 0.20 oz. (3/4 t.)
Olive oil (light), 0.12 oz. (3/4 t.)
Thickness factor (TF) = 0.10
I used ADY in place of the IDY.

Results:
Dough#1 flavor of the dough was good. Kind of hard to work with and would not stretch. Under crust was hard and too crispy. Probably due to the CI pizza pan I used.

Dough#2 Much better crust. Great flavor. Under crust not crispy enough due to cooking on a regular pizza pan. Need to get a pizza stone.

Dough#3. Terrible. too dry and flaky. could not work with it. Into the trash.

Burgers and bacon wrapped corn

Did a quick cook tonight on the KEG. Burgers made with 80/20 and seasoned with Mad Hunky rub and tiger sauce. Corn brushed with EVOO, wrapped in bacon and sprinkled with some of my special rub.
All turned out great. The corn was a first and it was pretty darn amazing.

on the grill.


close up of corn.


had to have some suds.

Beef Jerky #2

Did a small batch of jerky yesterday. My first try was leathery. The second attempt much better, however the taste was good but not exactly what I'm looking for. Anyways, I guess I will keep trying until I get it right.

Beef Jerky

Did a batch of jerky this past weekend. Still trying to get consistent results in taste and texture. This one came close in the taste catagory but some of the meat was tough. Here's the recipe and a couple of pictures.

2 lbs sirloin or flank steak (using sirloin)
4 tablespoons black pepper ( i reduced to 3)
1 cup soy sauce (i used low sodium soy)
1 tablespoon tony chachere's
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon tiger sauce (hot pepper sauce)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Placed the meat on the smoker at a temp of 155* using a mix of pecan and hickory woods. It took about three hours.

Christmas Brisket

Since I received my new smoker, I wanted to try it out. I've been holding off smoking a brisket until my baby was finished. It was a long 2 mths but I finally received it.
Purchased an 11 lb brisket. trimmed all the hard fat and injected with beef broth, apple juice and some spices. Wrapped in saran wrap and in the fridge over-night.

At 10:00 pm on Christmas eve, I started the smoker and when the temps reached 225 (approx 10:30), I placed the brisket on the smoker. Held somewhat steady the entire cook with only a slight flucuation in temp. When the internal temp reached 200, I pulled, wrapped in foil and in the cooler for a 1 hr rest. By noon, I was carving the brisket for lunch. It turned out well. Tender and juicy. Nice smoke ring.
Here's a couple of pictures.

New Years

It's been a busy start to the new year which is why I have not been able to post to my blog.
Finally received my new smoker. I was able to smoke a brisket for Christmas and have done about 4 cooks. Everything has turned out great. Retains heat very well. The best part is the charcoal chute. Just add fuel and let it go. It's pretty much set and forget it. I am also running the BBQ Guru power draft comtroller. It gets the smoker to temp within 30 minutes and it stays at the set temp for the duration of the cook.

Here's a picture.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is officially over. Didn't get to smoke anything as the wife wanted the typical turkey cooked in the oven. It was ok as it lacks the flavor of a smoked turkey.

 Still patiently awaiting the arrival of my new baby. A Stumps smoker that is. I am guestimating that it will arrive sometime towards the middle to end of next week. Can't wait to make that first smoke. Not sure what it will be, but a whole chicken will probably be on the menu due to the fat content. It will help season the new metal to prevent rusting.