How to make pizza Dough

Sourdough Pizza Dough And Recipes

• Pos

I’m a serious pizza eater. There were stretches of time back when I lived near my Dad’s restaurant where I’d eat fresh pizza almost every other day; I’d stop in for a slice (or a whole pie) on my way home from work to sort out dinner. This was not because I was lazy and didn’t cook, but because I loved pizza and I simply wanted some. I’ve had tons of different topping combinations but always fall back on classics: sometimes I think the simplest of things really are the best. But one of the most amazing things about pizza is that it can take on so many different toppings and taste fantastic. I know hardcore pizzaiolo will take issue with that statement but it’s pretty awesome to experiment with new flavors and see what we can come up with. Even in Italy I’ve seen some crazy pizza toppings (French fries? Yes, I’ve seen it) and as long as everything is in balance it usually works out. But for me, a good margherita pizza bares all and tells the story of how good a pizzeria is.

Pizza is a food I can eat at every single meal given the chance and when visiting a new restaurant I always struggle internally when I spot it on the menu. You see, I always want to order the pizza. It’s like the entire menu fades away right in front of me and pizza is all that remains. Even if it’s at some strange fusion restaurant that has nothing to do with Italian food, I want it. My meal companions can pretty much bet I’m going to order pizza and with about 99% accuracy I’ll inevitably complain about it right after the first slice. What can I say, I’m picky.

I have this vivid memory of several buddies and I, physically exhausted and running on zero sleep, stumbling into a Peruvian restaurant in the incredibly small city Aguas Calientes right outside of Machu Picchu. We just finished the 4-day hike through the mountains and rain to the sacred site, and this was our first restaurant meal in days. As I opened the menu I saw the typical Peruvian fare and what do you know, they had pizza! Of course my buddies looked at me like I was crazy at the sacrilegious pizza selection I made right there, after that hike, in the rain, in Peru, but I honestly can’t remember another item on that menu except for the pizza I ordered. Blinders.

When you think of great pizza what comes to mind? I think the answer depends on your background, where you grew up, and just how much you’ve eaten. There’s nothing better to me than a Naples style pizza with that thin crust and that blistered and puffy cornicione but it’s incredibly difficult to get this type of crust that comes out of a blazing hot wood-fired oven, and that’s ok. Pizza at home doesn’t have to try to imitate a Naples style pizza, it can be exciting and delectable in a completely different way. One day I’ll have a wood fired oven but until then the focus here is to make naturally leavened pizza dough that’s incredibly tasty, versatile and flexible. Most of us aren’t making pizza professionally, so an adaptable dough recipe that works around your schedule — and could chill an extended period in the fridge, if necessary — is a good thing.

For me, great pizza has a thin, well-baked crust with an airy and soft cornicione (rim). When you hold a slice in the air it should sort of sag a bit, indicating the crust isn’t baked to a cracker-like consistency but rather still soft and pliable. The bottom should be well cooked with dark spots scattered about. The toppings should be a light dusting of items, especially the cheese — everything in balance.

This formula is very versatile and adaptable, though, so if you like a thicker crust up the weight for each dough ball. If you like a thin, cracker-like crust shape the dough ball out thin and cook for a few mins longer until things firm up. You can even use this dough recipe for pan pizza and focaccia. If you like a Chicago-style pizza… (gasp) I’m not sure I have any suggestions but I’m sure you can make it work.

Ok, let’s make some pizza.

Flour Selection

I would venture to say that Caputo flour from Italy is probably the most widely used flour for pizza. I’ve purchased a few sacks of Caputo 00 Pizzeria Flour on Amazon to test with and it definitely is really nice to work with. They list the protein percentage of their flour (in the blue bag) between 12-13% (12.75%), the water absorption is significantly lower than most of the flour I normally work with (meaning it cannot take on super high hydration), and the signifier tipo 00 indicates it’s milled incredibly fine (it truly feels like light powder). You can’t go wrong with this flour — it performs incredibly well and makes pizza with a thin, delicate crust that is strong enough to hang onto whatever toppings you throw at it.

However, lately I’ve been working more with Central Milling Organic Type 00 Normal flour (they also have a “strong” version with a higher protein percentage at around 13.8%!) and I’ve come to really enjoy this flour. Much like Caputo 00 it is milled incredibly fine and feels smooth as can be when mixing. I like that it’s a closer option for me, in terms of geographic distance, and I can order large quantities without too much of a hit to the bank. When using this flour my resulting pizza has had a really nice thin crust and a very tender interior, I’m very happy with it. Central Milling indicates their flour has around 11.2% protein and is a hard red winter wheat blend.

I know not everyone has a sack of tipo 00 flour in their pantry, heck I didn’t until recently, so you can definitely swap these flours out for a regular “all-purpose” flour (or even better, a mix of bread flour and all-purpose) with the expectation that the end the result might stray a bit from what you see here — and that’s just fine! The pizza will still be naturally leavened, flexible, delicious and made at home. You can’t go wrong with that.

The next frontier for me with this pizza dough recipe will be to explore more fresh milled grains as a larger portion of the flour percentage. My sourdough pizza formula below is a great place to start and the 10% whole grains I call for can easily be a springboard for experimentation: swap the whole wheat out for spelt or even Kamut to play with the texture and taste. I think there’s an equilibrium to find: you don’t want the flavor of the grain to completely overpower the toppings you’re using, but rather be a balanced contributor to the overall concert.

In the end, I’m looking to go even higher and you can count on an updated recipe as I venture down that path.

Sourdough Pizza Dough Formula

First, a little discussion on why I chose the percentages, numbers, and ingredients in the formula below.

I like to think of pizza and bread as siblings separated in childhood.

Why 290g dough balls? In experimenting with varying dough weights for each pizza I ranged everywhere from a 180g ball to a 300g ball, finally settling on 290g. This is a personal thing but I found 290g to be the sweet spot for a 12″ personal pizza (I can easily eat a single pizza solo) with a thin bottom crust and larger, puffy rim. if you go up on the weight of each ball you can increase the crust thickness at the bottom or increase the size of the pie. Conversely, if you go down on the weight you can make a less pronounced rim or smaller pizza.

Why 69% hydration? One of the fantastic things about a super blazing hot wood-fired oven is you can bake a pizza in around 90 seconds. Because it takes longer than that in a home oven you’ll end up baking off a lot of the moisture in the dough which means your pizza will turn out to be quite firm like a cracker. With a higher hydration, this can be countered a little, give the dough a little extra time in the oven, and generally prevent a sad cracker pizza from happening. I don’t think 69% is a set-in-stone number, feel free to go up or down on this depending on how things turn out in the oven, and most importantly: to adjust for the flour used! Additionally, because I advise using parchment paper to launch your pizza into the oven (more on this below) increasing the hydration into the 70’s is totally possible (as you increase hydration it becomes harder and harder to shape and transfer the pizza from your peel to the oven deck).