Description
This Artisan Pizza Dough recipe yields a crispy, chewy, and bubbly crust perfect for homemade pizzas. It features a simple dough made with bread flour, water, salt, and instant yeast, incorporating techniques like autolyse, stretch and fold, cold fermentation, and high-temperature baking on a pizza stone or steel for the best texture and flavor.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 500 grams (about 4 cups) bread flour
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 grams (1/2 teaspoon) instant yeast
Wet Ingredients
- 375 grams (1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon) water, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (for coating)
Instructions
- Mix the Dough: In a large bowl, combine the bread flour and instant yeast. Gradually add the room temperature water while mixing until there is no dry flour left, forming a sticky and shaggy dough.
- Autolyse: Cover the dough with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes to allow the flour to hydrate fully, which helps develop gluten and improves dough extensibility.
- Add Salt: Sprinkle the fine sea salt evenly over the dough. Fold the dough over itself repeatedly until the salt is incorporated and the dough becomes smooth.
- First Rise: Cover the dough and let it rise at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours until it doubles in size.
- Stretch and Fold: During the first rise, perform a series of stretch and folds every 30 minutes by stretching the dough and folding it onto itself. This strengthens the gluten network and improves dough structure.
- Cold Fermentation: After the first rise, cover the dough tightly and refrigerate it for 24 to 72 hours. This slow fermentation develops complex flavors and improves texture.
- Shape the Dough: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. Divide it into portions and shape each into tight balls. Let the balls rest for 30 minutes to relax the gluten before stretching.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C) or higher, with a pizza stone or steel inside to ensure a hot baking surface for optimal crust development.
- Stretch and Bake: Stretch the rested dough balls into pizza shapes, add your favorite toppings, and bake on the preheated stone or steel for 7 to 10 minutes until the crust is bubbly and golden brown.
Notes
- Using a pizza stone or steel significantly improves crust texture by simulating a brick oven environment.
- Cold fermentation is key for flavor development; you can refrigerate dough up to 72 hours, but even 24 hours will improve taste and texture.
- If you don’t have instant yeast, you can substitute with active dry yeast, but activate it in water before mixing.
- Allowing the dough to come to room temperature before shaping makes it easier to stretch without tearing.
- For an even crisper crust, bake on the lowest rack of your oven.
