Video
Homemade Pizza Dough
Learn how to make perfect Homemade Pizza Dough with this recipe by a professional bread scientist. It is so easy to make and you only need a few simple ingredients. It is also very convenient as you can store the dough balls in the fridge for up to 2 days and have them ready for you. There are no fancy tricks, just good technique.
Ingredients
- 6 ⅓ cups (900g) unbleached bread flour
- 1 tablespoon (17g) fine salt
- 4 ½ tablespoon (50g) liquid oil such as vegetable, canola, sunflower or olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoon (14g) instant dry yeast
- 2 ½ cups (600g) water, plus more if needed (added in 20ml increments)
Instructions
- Make the dough. Combine dry ingredients. Place flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in yeast and salt in little piles in separate places over the flour in the bowl so that they are not touching. You do not want the salt in direct contact with the yeast for a prolonged period of time without mixing or it can inhibit its activity.
- Add wet ingredients. Add in the oil and water.
- Mix the dough. Attach the dough hook and mix on medium-low for 10-15 minutes until it the surface looks smooth. Stop after a 2 minutes to scrape down the sides of the bowl and ensure all of the flour is incorporated and the dough is a uniform mixture. It will still be wet and rather loose at this point. Continue mixing for another 2-3 minutes. The dough should start to climb up the dough hook and will still be webbing around the bottom of the bowl. (Note: if the dough seems rather dry and stiff at this point, add water at 20ml increments until you reach a softer consistency as described). Stop the mixer and scrape around the inside of the bowl to release the dough. Continue mixing for another 3 minutes. Stop again, pull the dough off of the hook and scrape around the inside of the bowl to release the dough again. Continue mixing for another 3-5 minutes. At this point the dough should start forming a mass and come away from the bowl as it is mixing. You can check the temperature of the dough now if you have a digital thermometer – it should be between 24-26 degrees C (75-80 degrees F) for optimal activity.
- Knead the dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Now you will stretch and fold the dough to help develop the gluten structure. Using both hands, grab both sides of the dough, pull it outwards (this is the “stretch”), then fold it inwards over itself. Rotate the dough and continue to stretch and fold until the dough feels very smooth. Watch my video for a full tutorial. Shape the dough into a ball by tucking the sides underneath and rolling it around the counter. The surface of the dough ball should pull smoothly without tearing.
- Bulk Fermentation. Place the ball into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic and then cover with a kitchen towel. Set it aside in a warm dark place and let it rise for 1-2 hours until nearly doubled in size. Note that the amount of time required will depend on the temperature of your kitchen.
- Divide the dough into equal portions. Lightly flour a work surface and tip the dough out onto the surface. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions (approximately 390g each) and shape into balls.
- Rest the dough. If using same day, place the dough balls onto an oiled tray and cover them. You can rest them for 20-30min if you are in a rush, but I prefer to place them in the refrigerator for 2 hours. This will allow them to stretch easier as it will provide even more time for the gluten to relax. Also, since the dough is cold it will be easier to handle as it will be less sticky. If using at a later date, place each dough ball into a tall plastic bag and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, squeezing out all the air/headspace and tying a knot really high up on the neck of the bag to allow plenty room for expansion. Resting the dough for longer will provide even more flavor and gluten relaxation.
- Stretch/roll out the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a flat circular shape on a lightly floured surface by rotating the dough by a quarter turn after each pass until it is the correct size of your pan. You can also use your hands to stretch the dough, just be careful not to tear the dough and keep the thickness as uniform as possible. I like to use a combination of rolling and hand stretching to maintain some rustic open crumb structure.
- Prepare the pans. Spray or coat each pizza pan lightly with oil and place a piece of round parchment on top. This will adhere the parchment to the pan, so it doesn't shift when you add the dough to the pan, but also help brown and crisp up the bottom of the pizza while ensuring it releases from the pan after baking. If you are using pans with a very effective non-stick coating, then you can skip the parchment and sprinkle some corn meal onto the pan.
- Prepare the pizza. Place the stretched pizza dough into the prepared pans. For a lighter and airy crust, cover them with a sheet of plastic and let them sit out at room temperature for 20-30min to rise until slightly puffy, while the oven preheats or during the preparation of the toppings. Add a layer of sauce and preferred toppings.
- Bake for 13 minutes at 230 degrees C (450 degrees F) until evenly browned. Depending on your oven you may need to rotate the pans after about 8min. Remove from oven and let them cool for a few minutes on a wire rack to maintain crispy bottoms. Once cool enough to handle, slice and dig in!
