Pizza Dough Basics

Makes 6 pizzas about 12” diameter. Recipe is around 60% hydration.

Mix together to proof the yeast:

1 1/2 cup warm water (~110 F)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar

While the yeast awakens, stir together your flour mix:

Mixing herbs, salt, and sugar into flour is easiest.

4 cups flour (any combination of below)
- whole wheat flour for flavor / nutrition
- bread flour for chewiness
- all purpose when there’s no opinion
2 teaspoons salt
Herbs & seasoning
- ideas: 2 tablespoons dried oregano & 2 tablespoons onion powder
- I also add a tablespoon of sugar per cup of whole wheat flour

A paddle attachment is great to start mixing with, before moving to a dough hook.

Pour the active yeast mixture into a mixing bowl with a paddle. Mix in:

4 tablespoons olive oil

Set aside for later use:

extra flour
fine cornmeal

Mixing the dough

Dough that sticks to fingers and scrapers is still too wet; add extra flour.

Now mix in most of the flour mixture at medium speed, about a half cup at a time, changing to a dough hook when the mixer starts chugging. Let the dough hook knead the dough for a few minutes while adding flour small spoonfuls at a time, waiting until it’s well mixed in and the dough starts sticking less to the sides. Depending on measurements and chance, you may have extra flour left over, or you may need more flour. The dough is good when touching it with a finger is tacky but doesn’t let any dough come off onto your finger. Take the dough ball out of the mixer bowl; add a tablespoon of olive oil to the dirty bowl; place the dough back into the bowl and turn over a couple of times to get oil all over. Cover with plastic or a silicon pad and let rise in a warm place for a couple of hours.

Forming the dough

I’ve found that weighing the dough is worth the trouble of being able to make the pizzas about the same size, say within 10 grams of what you’re aiming for.

Dough has hopefully about doubled in size after rising. Remove dough into a clean bowl on a tared kitchen scale to get a total dough weight. Then turn onto a cutting board and shove into a rough log for ease of chopping. (Dough should be oily so no flour needed on the cutting board.) Chop into pieces, and trim off and smoosh on to desired weight, depending on what size of pizza you want:

My last batch, say, was about 1150 grams, so divided by 6 is about 190 grams
6 pieces at ~ 190 grams makes a smaller size of pizza that seems to fit most pizza stones comfortably

Once you have the dough clumps you want, roll each clump between your hands until a nice ball is formed. Smoosh the ball lightly onto a clean cookie sheet or some kitchen bowls, cover with a moist kitchen towel, and refrigerate until needed.

Rolling the dough

I’ve found using a rolling pin easiest. Be liberal with dusting flour; having a flour shaker in your kitchen is a handy tool. Always lift and turn to make sure it’s not sticking; the dough shouldn’t tear easily.

I’ve also found that using a rolling pin is the best and easiest method for making flat pizza; perhaps that’s from my apple pie crust background, but I see plenty of upsides and no downsides to this method.

When ready to assemble pizzas, take a dough ball and place on a well-floured cutting board, flouring the dough top slightly as well. Roll out the dough firmly, rotating the dough after each roll to make sure it’s not sticking to the cutting board. Roll until the dough is fairly thin and seems to be large enough (10”-12”); the thinner the dough the more it can tear; but at a good thickness it shouldn’t tear easily, and you should be able to pick it up and move it around without fear. Now transfer to your wooden pizza peal or other pizza-making station, top the pizza, and bake. Eat. Savor.

(Baking pizzas is a large topic with lots of opinions, so won’t go into much detail here.)