gistfile1.txt

BAKER'S FORMULA 
(by WEIGHT... eg. for 100g flour, use 62g water... for 50oz flour, use 31oz water, etc) 

100 unbleached all-purpose flour 
2.5 kosher salt 
1 bread machine yeast (comes in a small jar on the baking aisle near the chocolate chips. I recommend Red Star) 

3 sugar or honey 

62 water, slightly warm (100 degrees) 

2 olive oil (regular or extra virgin) 
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TOTAL 170.5 

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STANDARD HOME-SIZED BATCH 
(weights are best, approximate volume measurements are also given, but will be less reliable/consistent to reproduce) 

600g / 21oz (approx 4 2/3 cups) unbleached AP flour 
15g (approx 1 TBsp) kosher salt 
6g (approx 1 1/2 tsp) bread machine yeast 

18g (approx 1 1/2 TBsp) sugar or honey 

372g (approx 1 2/3 cups) water, slightly warm 

12g (approx 1 TBsp) olive oil 
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TOTAL WEIGHT 1023g 


YIELDS: 
Three (3) 14- to 15-inch pizzas (divide into ~330 gram rounds) OR 
Four (4) 11- to 12-inch pizzas (divide into ~250 gram rounds) OR 
Five (5) 9- to 10- inch pizzas (divide into ~190 gram rounds) 

*I make 16- to 17-inch pizzas in 420 gram rounds, but this batch does not cleanly divide into that

PROCEDURE 
(*If you knead the dough by hand, add 2-minutes to each kneading cycle unless you have Popeye arms) 

1. Place flour, yeast, and salt into the bowl of your stand mixer (or another large mixing bowl) and whisk together thoroughly to distribute the ingredients throughout the flour 

2a. IF using sugar, add that to the bowl and whisk again to combine 
2b. IF using honey, add that to the bowl, but do not mix it in until you add the water (honey is easier to use if you microwave for 5 seconds before adding) 
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3. Add the water to the mix and fold mixture together until it combines to form a shaggy ball (the dough will look dusty and like it is going to fall apart, but there won't be any unincorporated flour sitting in the bottom of the bowl) 

4. let dough rest in the bowl for 5 minutes 

5. knead with the dough hook on low/med speed (speeds 2-3 on a Kitchenaid) for 4 minutes. The dough will suddenly come together into a sticky blob before your eyes. 

6. let dough rest in the bowl for 5 more minutes (I'll spare you the explanation of why this is necessary. If you care see Peter Reinhart's 'The Bread Baker's Apprentice') 

7. add the olive oil to the dough and knead on medium (speeds 4-6 on a Kitchenaid) for 4 more minutes. The dough will be sticky. This is okay. A good thing, even. 

8. TEST THE DOUGH TO SEE IF IT WINDOWPANES. The windwpane test is as follows: Dust your hands in flour so that they don't stick to the dough. Tear off a small (approx 1-inch ball) chunk of the dough, and flatten it into a thin rectangle (1/8" thick or so) with your forefinger and thumb (use more flour on your hands as needed to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers). Then, Hold the corners of the rectangle each with your thumb or forefinger and slowly stretch the dough apart, and hold it up to the light. The dough should stretch to be translucent so you can see the light through it WITHOUT TEARING OR DEVELOPING LITTLE HOLES. If the dough DOES NOT windowpane, let it rest for 5 minutes, and then knead on medium for 2 more minutes, and try again. Repeat as needed (honestly though, if you have to do this more than once you probably messed up somewhere else up the line) 

Basically, you DO want to see something like this:  http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/kitchen/2008_12_1-WindowpaneTest.jpg -- See how uniform and taut it is? If you rub your finger over the pane it should feel smooth like the skin of a drum. 

You DO NOT want this:  http://www.brewandbake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/dsc08464.jpg -- the dough stretches unevenly giving a chunky appearance and shows a lack of gluten development (which equates to stretchability), so it just tears before it can make a nice pane.

9. If the dough windowpanes, it is ready for a first rise. Turn the dough out onto a floured-counter and form it into a big ball shape (keep your hands dusted in flour, and add more if the dough begins to stick - the easiest way is to have a small bowl filled with flour near you that you can just reach into as-needed). Dust the top with flour, cover with either a (flour sack) OR (cling wrap that is then covered with a dish towel) and let rise for 30 minutes. 

10. FINAL DOUGH PREP. Gently deflate the dough, and divide into pieces for the size pizza you want (suggestions given above) and form those each into balls the same way you did to the big batch in step 9. Then prepare and store according to how you want to consume them: 

*OH CRAP I WANT TO EAT NOW(ish) --> cover the rounds just like in step 9 and let rise for 1-hour (or until their size is approximately doubled). You can then stretch and prepare the dough that same day. 

*I HAVE TIME, LET'S DO THIS THE BEST WAY --> place the rounds on a baking sheet (or some other container) and cover like you did in the steps above (or use proofing bowls if you have them). Place the tray in the refrigerator and let the dough chill for AT LEAST 2 hours, but *preferably* a full 24 hours. The cold will slow the yeast's growth and allow them to create more complex flavors (this is called "retarding" the dough, just thought you'd like to know). 60 TO 90 MINUTES BEFORE you want to use the dough, take it out of the refrigerator and place it on the counter so that it can warm up to room temperature before you work it. 

*THIS WAS A LOT OF WORK YOU JERK, CAN I STORE THIS STUFF FOR LATER? --> Yes. Take small plastic sandwich bags and put 1/2 tsp canola or vegetable oil in the bag and then swoosh it around (or cheat like me and give two quick spritzes of PAM nonstick spray) and then put the dough rounds into the baggies and freeze them for up to 3 months. TO THAW - it is *best* to take the dough from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge for 24 hours (at which point you treat it like above for the fridge dough), but you can also take it right from the freezer to your counter to thaw, which takes about 2 hrs. HOWEVER, if you do this, after the dough has thawed, you will want to knead it for about 10 turns (30 seconds) to help redistribute and wake up the yeast, and then cover and let rise for 60-90 minutes.

SO HOW DO I COOK THIS THING? 

Cooking the pizza take some finesse, and no two ovens are the same. I suggest you start with the following guidelines, based on the pizza sizes I gave above: 

1. If you have a pizza stone and peel, use that for the best product. If you don't have a stone, but do have a peel (paddle to move the dough into and out of the oven), put a sturdy baking sheet that is big enough to handle the pizza on the lowest rack of your oven near the heating element. If you don't have either of those you can use one of those pizza tray things (preferably the two-layer ones with the top layer that has perforations), but don't put that in the oven since you need to make the pizza on it. 

2. Preheat oven for 45-60 minutes at 500 degrees. Yes, it really takes this long for the oven to reach an even temperature at this level. As a general rule, if I'm using refrigerated dough, I turn on the oven to preheat when I take it out of the fridge, and if I'm using frozen dough, after it thaws and I knead it, that's when I turn on the oven. If I'm using just-made dough, as soon as I cover it for that 1-hr rise is when I turn on the oven. Utilize that time! 

3. Once the oven is ready, stretch the dough. This WILL take practice. Go to Youtube and search for videos on "stretch pizza dough" since showing is WAY easier than telling here. Generally speaking, you wan to push the heel of your palm down into the center of the dough, and then lightly pat with your fingers to the edges so that the dough is SLIGHTLY thinner in the center than at the edges (for crust reasons) before you being stretching. After the initial flattening, you want to pick it up and "walk" it over. the backs of your knuckles (DO NOT use your fingers or you will tear the dough), crossing one arm under the other to rotate the dough as it stretches to the size you want. You can also stretch it on the counter if you're paranoid, but that's for punk bitches. They do this hold-it-in-the-middle-with-your-palm and pull-the-bottom-edge-toward-you and rotate-1/4-turn-and-repeat thing that is just lame and makes for a crooked pizza, imo. Ultimately just do what works for you (and if being a punk bitch works for you, so be it). In my experience, first-time pizza makers have a hard time getting the right feel to make the dough get as thin as they want. It just takes practice. 

4. Once the dough is stretched to the size you want, either put a shit-ton (technical term) of cornmeal on the surface of your peel and put the dough on that (then give the peel a shake to make sure the dough is not stuck to the peel and add more cornmeal in the spots it sticks) OR put it on one of those pizza pans. THEN you want to use a fork to "dock" the dough. Punch little holes around the dough with the fork, just inside the crust-line, and then do another few docks on the interior of the dough to make sure it doesn't form any huge bubbles when you cook it (obviously don't puncture where the crust part is or it won't puff up). 

5. Apply the sauce of your choice. USE LESS SAUCE THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED. Trust me on this. The sauce layer should be so thin that you can actually see the dough from under it. If you add any more than this, you will create a toppings-slide. You'll be able to taste it still, I promise. 

6. CHEESE AND TOPPINGS! Whatever you like here. Go crazy. Just remember that if you use food that needs to be cooked (chicken, beef, etc), you MUST cook it before putting it on the pizza. You want enough cheese to cover the sauce, but you should be able to see a little bit of the sauce peeking out from under the cheese. If I'm making a cheese pizza with mozarella, I find 8 ounces (one of those small bricks or small bags of shredded) of grated mozarella to be a good amount of cheese for a 15" pizza. I also like to top my pizzas with shredded parmesan cheese because it helps make those delicious crispy brown spots form on the top. 

7. Transfer the pizza to the hot oven. The following are suggested starting cook times for the pizza sizes I mention above, but you will probably have to tweak them depending on your oven and how "done" you like your pizza: 

ALL of these times are for cooking directly on a stone, so you will have to add another minute (or two) if you use a pizza tray. 

14- to 15-inch pizza -- 6:00 mins @ 500 degrees 
11- to 12-inch pizza -- 5:30 mins @ 500 degrees 
9- to 10- inch pizza -- 5:15 mins @ 500 degrees 

8. Remove the pizza from the oven when it's done to your liking (try not to open the door during cooking because you will let out too much heat. If you have an oven window, look through that) and let cool for 3-5 minutes before cutting and serving. Don't burn your tongue. 

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That looks like a lot, I know. I got very specific to help minimize your confusion and chance of failure. The whole of the dough prep can be done in 30-45 minutes (including cleanup!) once you get the hang of it. And with some practice you can get a REALLY good product in a relatively short time. As for cooking -- If the dough is made and the oven is hot, I can make a fresh pizza in 10-15 minutes of active work, and that includes cook time. 

Good luck and enjoy!