Many years ago I made my own pizza dough at home. I was trying to re-create the dough we used at the pizza shop I worked at as a student, but I never really found what I was looking for and consequently when I discovered I could buy pizza dough balls at the grocery store I had to try them. It turns out they were pretty good and a whole lot less trouble too. But, I can't really take the complete home pizza journey unless I make my own dough. So, after all these years I finally found what I was looking for and I got a little help from an unexpected source. I knew what ingredients I wanted to use and I knew some of the relative amounts, but we used to make 45 doughs at a time at the pizza shop and scaling that down to 1 pizza dough was the real challenge I was facing. Thats where the unexpected help comes in: introducing ..... the Lehmann Pizza Dough Calculator (insert angelic voices here). This tool allowed me to quantify and tweak those ingredients and ratios until I finally found the dough of my dreams. :-)
Now, having said all that, I am fairly old school when it comes to cooking and baking. I learned to cook using volumetric ratios (ya know, measuring cups and the like), but when it comes to dough, I think a scale is the only way to go (at least for the flour and water). If you want that extra measure of success, you really need to use a scale when it comes to bread and pizza dough.
Pizzeria Pizza Dough
12.82 oz ap flour (100%) (approximately 2 3/4 c)
7.82 oz water (61%)
.03 oz/ 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast (.21%)
.17 oz/ 1 tsp sea salt (1.32%)
.28 oz/ 2 tsp sugar (2.19%)
I throw all these ingredients into my Kitchenaid mixer and combine with a dough hook for about 5 minutes. I then dump it on to my floured counter top and let it rest for 5 minutes. You should end up with a dough ball around 1.3 lbs that is soft and slightly tacky. This is adequate for a 16 or 18 inch pizza. For a 14 inch pizza you may want to try 1 lb dough balls. You could triple this recipe and cut the resulting mass into 4 pieces or you could use the Lehmann Pizza Dough Calculator (LPDC) to back calculate a 1 lb dough ball from the ratios listed above. Below is a shot of the LPDC in action:
Ok, so you have a hunk of dough ... now what. This next piece is fairly important if you want to make a round pizza without any holes in it when you stretch it. Hold the dough with both hands and curl your fingers in toward the center of the dough ball while stretching the other side of the dough ball with your palms. Turn the dough a quarter turn and do the same curling motion again. Do this 3 or 4 times. If done correctly you should have a dough ball that is nice and smooth and tight on one side and messy and ragged with a hole in the middle on the other side. Pinch and twist all the ragged parts together in the center closing the hole. This ragged side will be the bottom of your dough ball. Place the dough ball (bottom side down) in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with saran wrap for a few hours to proof at room temperature. You can tell when the dough is done proofing because the dough will have relaxed significantly and it will have a bit of a sheen to it (see pics below). If you want to freeze the dough, stick it in a lightly oiled quart freezer bag to proof for a few hours and then stick it in the freezer in such a way as to preserve the shape of the ball until it is frozen.
I am not a big fan of the 'faster is better' philosophy, but sometimes you need to get things done a little quicker than normal. I have proofed this dough in as little as 45 minutes and had good results. For the fast proof method, use warm water when you make the dough and proof the dough in your oven that has been pre-heated to 100 degrees F (turn the oven off after pre-heating). Place the saran covered bowl (and dough) in the oven for 45-60 minutes.
If you need a little help on stretching the dough to make a round pizza, I discuss this technique here.
Enjoy!
TTFN
B
Now, having said all that, I am fairly old school when it comes to cooking and baking. I learned to cook using volumetric ratios (ya know, measuring cups and the like), but when it comes to dough, I think a scale is the only way to go (at least for the flour and water). If you want that extra measure of success, you really need to use a scale when it comes to bread and pizza dough.
Pizzeria Pizza Dough
12.82 oz ap flour (100%) (approximately 2 3/4 c)
7.82 oz water (61%)
.03 oz/ 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast (.21%)
.17 oz/ 1 tsp sea salt (1.32%)
.28 oz/ 2 tsp sugar (2.19%)
I throw all these ingredients into my Kitchenaid mixer and combine with a dough hook for about 5 minutes. I then dump it on to my floured counter top and let it rest for 5 minutes. You should end up with a dough ball around 1.3 lbs that is soft and slightly tacky. This is adequate for a 16 or 18 inch pizza. For a 14 inch pizza you may want to try 1 lb dough balls. You could triple this recipe and cut the resulting mass into 4 pieces or you could use the Lehmann Pizza Dough Calculator (LPDC) to back calculate a 1 lb dough ball from the ratios listed above. Below is a shot of the LPDC in action:
Ok, so you have a hunk of dough ... now what. This next piece is fairly important if you want to make a round pizza without any holes in it when you stretch it. Hold the dough with both hands and curl your fingers in toward the center of the dough ball while stretching the other side of the dough ball with your palms. Turn the dough a quarter turn and do the same curling motion again. Do this 3 or 4 times. If done correctly you should have a dough ball that is nice and smooth and tight on one side and messy and ragged with a hole in the middle on the other side. Pinch and twist all the ragged parts together in the center closing the hole. This ragged side will be the bottom of your dough ball. Place the dough ball (bottom side down) in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with saran wrap for a few hours to proof at room temperature. You can tell when the dough is done proofing because the dough will have relaxed significantly and it will have a bit of a sheen to it (see pics below). If you want to freeze the dough, stick it in a lightly oiled quart freezer bag to proof for a few hours and then stick it in the freezer in such a way as to preserve the shape of the ball until it is frozen.
 |
| Before proofing. Dough is semi-tight with no sheen. |
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| After proofing. Dough has relaxed and has a bit of a sheen to it. |
I am not a big fan of the 'faster is better' philosophy, but sometimes you need to get things done a little quicker than normal. I have proofed this dough in as little as 45 minutes and had good results. For the fast proof method, use warm water when you make the dough and proof the dough in your oven that has been pre-heated to 100 degrees F (turn the oven off after pre-heating). Place the saran covered bowl (and dough) in the oven for 45-60 minutes.
If you need a little help on stretching the dough to make a round pizza, I discuss this technique here.
Enjoy!
TTFN
B
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