The “Red October” Giant Pizza Submarine
Author: Pizza Today
Recipe type: Breads
Ingredients
- 1 32-ounce pizza dough ball 60% hydration aged for at least 1 day in the refrigerator. (Variation- you may use a 16–19-ounce dough ball for a smaller loaf using the same procedure, below.)
- 1 cup sesame seeds
Instructions
- Pre-heat your deck oven to 500 degrees with a timer at 10 minutes.
- Pull the pizza dough out of your refrigerator and place in your proofer or leave out at 70-90 degrees covered with plastic wrap.
- Once the dough has warmed down to room temperature, carefully scrape from the dough tray and dab with a cloth to remove all oil that was used to store it.
- Prepare a stainless-steel table, (I am assuming you don’t have a wooden bakers table.) by rubbing a small amount of flour onto the table, then push the flour to the side. This will ensure that the table won’t be too sticky or too flour-slick to work with.)
- Place the dough on a table and form into a lengthwise rectangle approximately 10 inches long and 5 inches high. (Shorter for less dough).
- Bring the top down to the center of the dough like an envelope and press this horizontally across the middle of the dough to create a spine. Repeat this process bringing the bottom up to the middle and pressing down on top of the spine.
- Grabbing the top again, bring the top of the dough all the way to the bottom of the log and press firmly to seal. You may have to use your turned hand in a karate chop to seal the bottom. Turn the dough over to make sure the seal is complete, and the ends are tapered. The dough will look like a log now.
- Now begin to roll the dough on the table with the ends first to a tapered finish. If the dough is too sticky, toss a little flour on it but not too much or you won’t have any friction to create a larger log. Use your floured, flattened hands to gently roll the log upward and outward. Take your time and the log will get larger. You may pick the log up and bring back toward you to roll again away from you over again.
- Once the dough is relaxed, place on a large, parchment-covered sheet pan.
- Top with a little oil and a sheet of plastic wrap then place into a steam proofer set at 70-90 degrees. You may also place the tray by your ovens or a hotter spot in your kitchen. Remember that the proofing will take longer with lower temperatures.
- After 15-25 minutes, the loaf will have grown by a third, maybe more. Take the plastic off and dab the oil off the loaf again.
- Brush or dip your hand in warm water. Slather on the loaf and massage it in with your hand. After the loaf is sufficiently wet, sprinkle the sesame seeds on the loaf. (To get the seeds on the side of the bread, sprinkle the seeds on the parchment next to the loaf and gently roll the loaf on the seeds.)
- Cut 5 diagonal slashes down the loaf making sure to overlap the slashes. This will ensure a proper oven spring and no bulging.
- Bake at 500F for 10 minutes. Check the bread for an even golden-brown bake and use oven gloves to turn the tray if you have an uneven bake. Bake for 2-10 more minutes to ensure the loaf is baked to an internal temperature of 200F and the crust and seeds are golden brown.
- Set aside bread to cool before cutting.
