Rye Pizza Dough

My wife brought home some amazing pastrami for me and of course I thought of making a pastrami pizza! But while I thought about it, I decided this should have a unique pizza crust too – using rye pizza dough! This was a fun experiment and a delicious dough, so let’s explore a rye pizza together!

Why Rye? And Why Rye Flour Pizza Dough?

Although I was first inspired by the idea of a pastrami-on-rye type of pizza, there are actually a lot of good reasons to use rye flour. Like wheat, rye is a cereal grain used to make flour (and thus bread, beer, whiskey, and even some vodkas). It is an extremely popular crop in Europe (particularly Germany, Poland, and Russia because of its higher tolerance for cold weather), but is grown across much of the world where cereal crops are cultivated.

Rye also has a distinct and delicious flavor, which is why it is used in several breads and in rye whiskey, where that flavor can shine. Rye also has a good amount of dietary fiber, iron, and other nutrients like phosphorous, magnesium, copper, zinc, and selenium.

All in all, rye flour pizza dough offers a more flavorful and healthy crust – who can argue with that?

Why To Think Twice About Making a Rye Pizza Crust?

There’s also a particularly good reason not to make a rye pizza crust – gluten formed from rye (called secalin) is not particularly strong, meaning it won’t have a very workable, airy structure. Think of pumpernickel bread, which is 100% rye: dark, dense texture (but very flavorful).

So using 100% rye flour is going to make for a challenging pizza to shape, handle, and very dense.

To make for a better all-around rye pizza crust, we’re going to blend the rye with a high-protein wheat flour. Off the shelf at your local grocery store, your best bet is probably Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour, King Arthur Bread Flour, or Central Milling Organic Bread Flour (which you can get from Amazon), any of which will produce about 13% gluten. Tony Gemignani’s pizza flour is even higher (15% protein), so you can use even more rye if you want!

Ingredients for Rye Flour Pizza Dough

I readily found a great option at the local grocery store for my rye flour pizza dough – Bob’s Red Mill makes an organic, stone-ground whole grain dark rye flour, which I’ve used.

But because of the low gluten content, we need to blend the rye with a flour that can provide a high gluten content. And that comes from a high protein content wheat flour (such as bread flour). Although you can find artisan flours that will form even more gluten, for this recipe I’m sticking with bread flour you can find in the grocery store.

Since most pizza flours have a protein content of 12% or more, rye flour is going to “dilute” the gluten significantly. Therefore, I’m using a ratio of 1 part rye to 2 parts bread flour. I recommend you don’t go higher than this with bread flour (at least not the first time).

We’re also going to cold ferment the dough for 24 hours to give it more time to develop strength (that basically means it will sit in the fridge overnight). The next day, you’ll need to pull it out of the fridge at least 1 hour before cooking.

Rye Pizza Dough Recipe

Our rye pizza dough recipe is largely made from bread flour (and of course rye flour), so I’ve found this cooks best between 450°F and 700°F – which is still a pretty wide range. You can use your indoor pizza oven or an outdoor high-temperature pizza oven.

• Warm the water to up to no more than 110°F. This is the highest safe temperature for yeast. While the yeast isn’t going to be added directly to the water, it’s still safe. Using warm water will also help the salt dissolve.
• Pour the water into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Pour the salt into the water and whisk (or stir) until the salt is dissolved.
• Add the 1 cup of rye flour into the water.
• Start your stand mixer using the hook attachment on its slowest setting for 2 minutes, then stop the mixer.
• Add the yeast to the dough.
• Add just a pinch of sugar to the dough.
• Restart the mixer for 1 minute then stop it.
• Add the olive oil to the dough.
• Start the mixer again and slowly add the bread flour. Not all flour hydrates the same, so it may be that you’ll need a little less or a little more flour.
• If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can do this all by hand. Just make a “volcano” of all of the flour on your work surface and pour half of the water into the middle. Slowly move and mix the “volcano” walls into the water. Keep the volcano walls intact and add the rest of the water and continue to mix. Then knead the dough by hand.

Checking the Dough

The dough will form into a single compact ball. When this happens, stop the mixer and check the texture by dusting your hands with flour and pulling the dough off of the hook. The texture and moistness should be consistent throughout; it should be slightly tacky and smooth but should not be sticking to your hands so much that pieces of dough are sticking to your fingers. If it is, return it to the mixer and continue adding flour – slowly. The final dough ball should be “fat” in appearance and sticky, soft, elastic, but unlike regular flour dough, it will not be smooth to the touch.

First Fermentation

• Place the dough on a clean surface and cover with a damp cloth for one hour. The damp cloth is important to keep the outer surface from drying out.

Second Fermentation

• Remove the damp cloth and separate the dough into two balls of equal size (this recipe will make two dough balls each approximately 13 ounces, which will each make a 14″ pizza).
• Work the two halves into balls (the traditional technique is to shape them the same way Italians prepare fresh mozzarella balls).

• Place the two balls into one or two sealed containers – the dough balls will double in size, so make sure they have enough room.
• Put the dough in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Stretching the Dough

With this recipe (which makes two 13 ounce pizza dough balls), each dough ball should be able to a 14″ pizza.

• Remove the dough from the fridge 1 hour before you plan to bake the pizza. This will allow the dough to come up to room temperature.
• Preheat your oven to either 700°F for an outdoor oven or 450°F for an indoor oven.
• After the second fermentation, the dough will have become extensible (meaning you can stretch it) but not very elastic (meaning it should mostly stay in the shape you stretch it into).
• Put about 1 tablespoon of bread flour on your work surface
• Remove one dough ball from its container onto the floured work surface.
• Stretch the dough by hand from the center to the edge. Create a round shape but be careful not to tear the dough – the rye flour will make this dough feel strong, but the lower gluten content means it can tear easier than you’d think. (If needed, add more flour to the work surface so the pizza does not stick, but do not use more than you need).
• You can also use a rolling pin on this dough, but it will get quite dense and almost like a cracker texture.

Outdoor Pizza Oven (or Pizza Stone) Cooking Instructions

• Ensure your oven is up to 700°F. Higher temperatures will not be ideal for this pizza, causing it to char on the bottom before it is cooked through.
• Put 1 tablespoon of bread flour on your pizza peel (so the dough will not stick when launched into the oven).
• Transfer your dough to the pizza peel.
• Top with your favorite toppings (why not try pastrami pizza?). You will want to quickly apply your toppings and get the pizza into the oven before the dough sticks to the peel.
• Launch the pizza into the oven on the hottest part of the stone without being in the flames.
• Before rotating the pizza, make sure that Rotate the pizza one quarter turn every 45 seconds. Generally, the pizza will be done in 6 minutes or less. So watch it closely!
• Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest for about 3 minutes.
• Cut and serve immediately.

Indoor Oven Instructions

• Ensure your oven is up to 450°F
• Lightly oil your pizza pan to help avoid the dough sticking.
• Lightly oil your hands and transfer the dough onto a pizza pan. Use your fingers to gently shape it as needed.
• Top with your favorite toppings (why not try pastrami pizza?).
• Bake for 7 minutes.
• Rotate the pizza in the oven and cook for another 7 minutes.
• Turn off the oven and finish for another 5 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and place on a cutting board.
• Allow the pizza to rest for 5 minutes.
• Cut and serve immediately.

Variations on Rye Pizza

If you find that the 1:2 ratio of rye to wheat flour is not enough rye flavor for you, here are a couple other variations you can try for your own rye pizza recipe:

• Use an even higher protein with exceptional strength like Tony Gemignani’s pizza flour. With a flour like this, you can probably go 1:1.
• Autolyse your dough to give it extra time to develop gluten.
• Cold-fermenting your dough longer (48 or even 72 hours) will also provide more time for gluten to develop.
• Create a pizza starter (biga, poolish, or sourdough) using the same ratio of rye and wheat flour. I’d suggest about 20% of your dough be the starter while you get the hang of it.

In Closing: Rye Pizza Crust

Incorporating rye flour into your pizza dough recipe introduces a delicious twist to our favorite food. Whether you’re using it in a pastrami pizza or just to add some flair to your favorite dough, rye is sure to bring something unique to your ‘zza.

March 30, 2024