Digital scale: This is the best way to guarantee consistency and great results. Everyone scoops flour differently, and flour itself varies enough to throw off volume measurement quite a bit. I’ve approximated volume measurements, but it’s really just an estimate when it comes to baking.
6-quart polycarbonate tub: I love this tub. Six quarts might seem a bit large, but it’s the perfect size for a double batch of the pizza dough. Once you’d tasted this crispy pizza dough, you’ll know why doubling is a good idea. Just freeze the extra dough balls and stash them away for a rainy day. The process is the same, why not?
Pizza peel: My favorite part of this pizza peel is the thinness of the paddle. I can easily slide it under a molten hot pizza and scoop it out of the oven. It’s also 16-inches wide, which is perfect for a dough ball. If you’ve gotten good at shaping the dough, you’ll need more space than a 12-inch paddle can provide. Finally, the handle can be removed so you can store it in a normal cabinet!
Baking steel: Simple, effective, low maintenance, and basically indestructible. This steel soaks up so much heat from the oven, so you get a super crispy crust. It’s so much thinner and less obtrusive than a pizza stone– I just leave it in the bottom of the oven!
ingredients
500g (3 ¾ cups plus 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
375g (1 ½ cups water plus 2 tbsp) warm water, divided
1g (¼ tsp) active dry yeast
10g (1 ½ tsp) fine salt
instructions
Mix flour and all but 1 tablespoon of the water in a large bowl until just combined, then cover and set aside for 20 minutes to rest. Sprinkle yeast over remaining warm water and set aside to dissolve.
Sprinkle salt over the surface of the dough. Stir yeast mixture and pour over dough. Fold the dough: lightly wet your hand, reach under the dough, and stretch a section of it over the top. Repeat until the center of the dough is covered. Then, using your thumb and fingers as pincers, squeeze and pinch off 5- 6 chunks of dough. Wet your hand to minimize sticking. Fold the dough over itself a few times. Repeat pinching and folding until the yeast and salt are fully mixed and a shaggy dough is formed. Cover the bowl and lest rest about an hour.
Fold the dough one time to develop the gluten: lightly wet your hand, reach underneath the dough and stretch up a section of the dough, then fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl and fold four to five more times, or until the dough has tightened into a ball. Take the entire ball of dough and invert it into a clean, lightly greased bowl, so the seam is down and the top is smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, 5- 6 hours.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut in half. Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape into a ball as follows. Stretch out a quarter of the dough just until you feel resistance, then fold it back over the center. Repeat stretching and folding the remaining three edges until the center is covered and a loose ball is formed. Turn the ball over so the seam is down and place it on an un-floured area. Cup your hands around the dough and gently pull it towards you, dragging the bottom along the counter to create a bit of tension. Rotate the ball 90 degrees and drag it a few inches towards you again. Repeat rotating and gently dragging until the top of the dough tightens up and the ball is round.
Transfer to a greased plate and repeat with remaining dough. Lightly oil the tops, cover and let rest at room temperature for about an hour. Preheat oven at this time. If not using right away, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready (for up to 2 days).
to make pizza:
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