Flour protein and browning
I use the following recipe (based on this Serious eats article) for a sicilian style pizza:
500 g All Purpose Flour
2 tbsp oil
10 g kosher salt
5 g rapid rise yeast
347 g water
Mix in food processor til dough comes together then another 40 seconds.
Then, I turn it out on a half sheet pan with 6 tbsp oil, let it sit for ~3 hours, top with a can of Muir Glenn pizza sauce, some shredded cheese and some lunch meats. Bake at 550 F for about 16 minutes.
When I used Pillsbury/Gold Medal all purpose flour, I got better browning (and flavor) than compared to King Arthur all purpose flour. On the other hand, King Arthur gave better bubbles (I'm guessing due to the higher protein content).
I know King Arthur has more protein, so how does that affect browning? And can I do something to the recipe to increase my browning? I've played with the oven racks to bottom and middle, but not much luck (it's a relatively small oven, so it might not have as much effect as I'd like).
Note: I tested about 5 times with each Pillsbury, Gold Medal and King Arthur.
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Changing the protein content affects the dough and the eventual crumb (when cooked). So the question shouldn't exactly be how does protein more protein/gluten affect browning, apart from the increased gluten will give you are more flexible dough which you work with more (ie thinner).
The two ways you can increase the crisping/browning of your pizza is:
Roll/stretch out your dough thinner
Placing your pizza on a pre-heated skillet before either placing into a hot oven, or better still using a broiler to apply a high heat from above. This will increase temperature on the base and topping.
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