It's good practice to have the ingredients measured and ready before you start mixing them.
| Ingredient | Baker's % | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 100 | 400 |
| Water | 68 | 272 |
| Salt | 3 | 12 |
| IDY | 1.5 | 4 |
| Olive oil * | 2 | 8 |
| Sugar * | 1 | 4 |
| Amounts for 2 pizzas |
Olive oil and sugar are optional: helps browning in home ovens. You can skip these for a more "purist" approach
Put the water in a big bowl, add the yeast, mix and let it hydrate for a minute while you set up and measure the other ingredients. Add salt, mix, add flour, mix by hand until incorporated. Use the pincer method. If you'll use oil, make sure to add it last, otherwise it might hinder the flour from absorving the water properly. Let it rest for about 20min.
Lightly flour a (disinfected) work surface, take the dough out of the bowl and knead for a few minutes, don't over do it. Lightly flour the bowl, put the dough back in and cover it with a plate or celofan. Let rise for about 2 hours.
Lightly flour 2 plates or bowls and half of the work surface (marble or metal countertops are best) and take the dough out. Divide in two. Shape one of the halves using this method. After it's nicely shaped put it in the plate/bowl, sprinkle some flour on the top and cover with seran wrap tightly. Repeat with the other half and put them in the fridge, ideally for at least 24h or more. The ideal rising point is something you'll have to determine based on your temperatures and yeast. Higher temperatures make the rise faster, while less yeast and more salt delays it.
Take the ball out of the fridge around 1.5 hours before you're gonna bake it. Preheat the oven on max for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Have all the toppings prepared, sliced, cooked if needed. Shred or cut the cheese into somewhat thin slices. Around 200-250g of mozzarella should be good for one small-medium pizza. I recommend making your own sauce, it's very quick and simple.
Taking the ball out of the plate might be one of the hardest steps because you need to try to preserve the shape and structure of the ball, that is try not to fold it or have it stick to itself, so flour your hands, the counter, and the ball generously, and work the flour between the ball and the plate with your fingers. Make sure both sides are floured and start pressing on the center of the ball to stretch it out. It should be relatively easy due to the high hydration. If it's tough and you can feel it's still a bit cold, let it rest until it warms up more and that will make it easier to handle. This video shows the process in detail
If at any point you get a hole in the dough try to pinch it to patch it up. If it doesn't turn out round don't worry, it will still taste amazing.
Now comes the last step, placing the pizza on the peel and sliding it on the stone/steel, or if you don't have that, on the pizza pan. To transfer to either, I usually stretch the dough a fair bit, fold it in half and move it to the peel/pan. You need to make sure the top is floured enough that it won't stick to itself, but not too floured.
You'll need to work quick once the pie is on the peel. Flour the peel and run your hand over it so it's spread evenly. Transfer the dough to the peel and give it a little shake to ensure it's not sticking. Now spread the sauce with the back of a spoon, avoid putting pressure down. Put a thin coat of sauce, even if you want more, you can add it later. Once it's spread out evenly give the peel another shake. If it's sticking, try to put some flour under that bit. Now open the oven and place the back of the peel at the far end of the stone/steel and you can either give the peel little shakes as you drop it on the surface, or try to do one quick swift motion. Video instructions here
Now this is easier. If you want a crispy, almost fried taste you can spread some oil evenly on the pan. If not, use a mix of flour and cornmeal/semolina to avoid sticking. Place the pie on the pan as described above, stretch it to the edges of the pan, spread the sauce and put it on the floor of the oven.
Now that the pie it's in the oven you'll need to wait a few minutes and check how it's going, which will depend highly on your oven. If it's starting to get brown at the bottom after just a few minutes that's good, you can take it out and add the cheese and whatever other toppings you might want cooked with the pizza. If it's still white wait a bit more. Rotate the pie at this point.
Getting the ideal melting state and browning of the cheese depends on the type of cheese and your oven. In traditional brick ovens you put the whole pizza, topped, from the start, and it bakes fully in 50 to 90 seconds. A home oven takes more, and the cheese reaches its boiling point well before the rest of the pizza is fully cooked, so that's why we add it in later. Exactly when will take some practice, but after 3 to 4 minutes is usually a good rule. When the bottom is browned (even charred if your oven is hot enough) take it out, put the toppings that you want slightly but not too cooked, and place the pizza under the broiler until the top is brown or charred. If you used a stone/steel you might need a pan for this step. Or you can place the stone/steel on the rack nearest to the broiler and set the oven to broiler at the end. I'm not sure how ovens with broiler at the top work because mine has it at the bottom.
Lastly, I like to let it rest for around 5 minutes. I know the temptation is strong to dig right in but when the cheese settles it's much easier and cleaner to cut and eat.