pizza dough recipe

Greetings!

Well, if there is one thing I can write about, it's pizza. I used to own a pizzaria and took my pizza making very serious.

There is more to pizza dough than just the ingredients... prep time and cooking materials play a vital role in good pizza. The quality of the dough is not really that big a thing. I have used bleached white flour, I have used organic whole wheat, they all make a good slice (if done correctly). High gluten flour is best though.

When you make the dough, it is important to make it the day before you are gonna build/cook the pizza.

The recipe I use is:

6 cups of High gluten white flour
2.5 teaspoons instant yeast
2.25 cups COLD water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

In a large bowl mix the salt, Sugar and yeast together. Add water and whisk until blended.

Add three cups of flour and whisk until blended. For the first rising, cover and place in a warm oven (no warmer than 150 degrees) for one hour.

remove from oven and mix in the remainder flour, one cup at a time. IF the dough is too sticky, add 1/4 cup of flour.

I use a machine to knead it, for about ten minutes. You can knead it by hand for about 15 min.

make a "ball" out of the dough and give it a light coating of olive oil. wrap in plastic and place in a large bowl and let rest in the frig overnight (at least twelve hours).

This amount of dough makes about 3 12" pies and 2 16" pies, depending on how thin you like your crust (i like mine thin)

OK, here is the important part.

You need to bake the pies on one of two things...

1) a pizza stone
2) a pizza grid.

IF you can find a piece of untreated 1" slate, that is the perfect stone. A pizza grid can be purchased at a restaurant supply store; they come in many sizes from 6' to 22".

Baking a pizza on anything else will cause the dough to be doughy and chewy, rather than crunchy.

The oven should be set at 550 degrees farehiet, with the rack set on the lowest level. If you oven can be set higher, preheat at the highest temp then lower it to 500 degrees. Pizza should be cooked in 8-10 min.

That is how I make my dough...(we just had homemade pizza last night YUMMY!)

Warmest Love,

F.B.

P.S. the cheese I use is whole milk wisconsin....nothing else compares.