New York Style Pizza Dough
February 10th, 2020
This Recipe creates 8 servings
Prep Time: 24 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Generally, Pizza Dough is best cooked at high temperatures, like 800° to 1500° F. However, most in-home ovens can only reach temperatures of 500° or 550° F. Although a Pizza Stone or a Cast Iron Pan does not increase the heat levels in your oven, it will hold the heat within your oven longer, allowing the dough to cook into a perfect crust. Add sauce to this dough, some meat and vegetable toppings, and a freshly shredded Mozzarella. 10 minutes later, it is Pizza time! Sugar is a commonly used to help yeast growth. Diastatic Malt Powder (NOT malted milk powder) is modified flour that can replace the sugar (3:1) and produce more active yeast with a higher rise and a finer crumb.
Ingredients:
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Hydration 60%; 1.5% ADY; 1.35% Diastatic Malt or 4.5% Sugar; 1.5% Salt
18 Ounces (1 lbs 2 oz) (500 grams) King Arthur Bread Flour
18 Ounces (1 lbs 2 oz) (500 grams) Type Double Zero (00) Bread Flour
Note: If you do not have 00 Flour, you can replace it with equal amounts of King Arthur Bread Flour
2 Teaspoons (15 grams) Active Dry Yeast
2 Teaspoons (12 grams) Diastatic Malt Powder or 2 Tablespoons (45 grams) Sugar
2 Teaspoons (15 grams) Table Salt
20.5 Ounces (1 pint 4.5 oz) (600 grams) milk, whey, or water chilled below 40° Fahrenheit
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil (to grease the refrigerator dish)
Directions:
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Add all the dry ingredients into a mixer. Mix thoroughly with the whisk attachment on the lowest setting or alternatively, mix by hand using a wire whisk.
DO NOT CONTINUE UNTIL THE DRY INGREDIENTS ARE FULLY MIXED.
Replace the whisk with the hook attachment and run again on low.
Slowly add the liquid. Continue to mix at low speed until the dough is fully mixed.
Increase the speed a few clicks and run until you have a single ball of dough. The sides of the bowl should be relatively clear of dough.
NOTE: If the dough is too shaggy to get it to clump into a single ball, add another ounce of cold water while continuing to mix.
Use the mixer to knead the dough for a few minutes.
Cold-Ferment the Dough
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Coat the inside of a large bowl with Olive Oil.
Turn out the dough into the oiled bowl, covering loosely with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in the refrigerator (cold-ferment) for at least 24 hours and up to 5 days. This long, slow rise will actually accomplish two things:
1. The flour will become fully saturated with the water (called autolyse).
2. The ultra slow yeast growth, facilitated by the refrigeration, will provide a more mature flavor in the finished product.
I prefer to cold-ferment my Pizza Dough for 3-5 days.
After the Cold-Ferment
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Remove the dough from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature for about 2 hours.
Sanitize a table or counter surface for your working area.
Use a knife or scraper to separate the dough into 4 equal balls, each dough ball should weigh just under 15 ounces (424 grams).
Flatten each ball by hand into a disc. Do not use a rolling pin to roll-out the dough. Do not knead the dough.
Rotate and stretch the dough, trying to keep it to a generally circular shape.
Continue to stretch and turn each disc until each dough has been stretched to pizza size, about 12 to 14 inches across.
Set each pizza crust on a sheet of parchment paper.
Cover the dough and allow to rise again for about an hour.
After that, gently spread Pesto sauce, simple Marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, or something more creative.
Add your desired toppings, being careful not to overload the pizza.
Cheese
Pre-grated mozzarella cheese typically includes corn starch to prevent it from clumping together in the bag. However, this additional starch will effect the way the cheese melts.
Instead, buy block Mozzarella cheese and grate it fresh.
Each Pizza should hold about 4 ounces of Mozzarella Cheese.
Cooking the Pizza
Note that your oven temperature and cooking times may vary.
Move the highest oven rack so that it is about 6 inches below the heating element.
Place your Pizza Stone or Cast Iron pan into a cold oven, then preheat the oven to 550° Fahrenheit.
Allow the oven to reach temperature, then continue to heat the Stone or Pan for about another 30 minutes.
Using a Pizza peel, slide the Pizza, parchment paper and all, onto the Pizza Stone.
Immediately set the Broiler to High.
Cook for about 4 minutes or until the the top of the crust begins to get darker spots (called "leoparding").
Use the Pizza peel to remove the Pizza. Set the oven back to 'Bake" at 550° F. Wait until the oven has preheated again before adding the next Pizza.
Repeat.
This is what a finished crust should look like:
