Dana's Pizza Dough

I spent a lot of time trying to perfect this recipe.  I mostly followed the instructions on the internet by Jeff Varasano, with a few adjustments.  I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied with it yet.  I'm still working on it.  But I've had a few people say I make the best pizza they've ever had.

Recipe:

2-3 C bread flour (380 g)
1 C hard whole wheat flour (120 g)
2 Tbs raw wheat germ
1 tsp salt
45 g 100% hydration sourdough starter (optional)
1 scant 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 C plus 2 Tbs (360 g) filtered ice- water

Stir together whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 C (200 g) bread flour, wheat germ, salt and instant yeast in bowl. Add starter and cold water and mix until the flour is all absorbed, about 1 minute. Scrape sides, cover and let rest 20 minutes. Continue mixing on a low speed for 10-20 minutes. After 5 minutes increase speed and start adding more flour a little at a time. After you've added enough flour, knead for 1-2 more minutes. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl and the bottom but stick slightly to the bottom center of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom center of the bowl, dribble in a tsp or two of cold water. Adjust water and flour so the dough is being kneaded by the dough hook and not just spinning. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky. Let rest 20 minutes and try the windowpane test. It should be able to spread very thin and be very soft.  Because my recipe is part whole wheat the dough breaks easier when doing the window pane test because of the bran from the whole wheat and the germ that is added, but as you can see in the picture, it still spreads pretty thin without breaking.


Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and hands and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead a few times and shape into ball. Prepare containers for the dough by brushing a drop or two of oil in the container. Cut the dough into 4-6 equal pieces. Sprinkle a little flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the containers. Let rest 10 minutes.
           
Put the containers into the refrigerator for 4 hours to 6 days.  I think it tastes best on day 5 so that's when I usually use it.  (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Spray the dough balls with oil and put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)

This is what it looks like on day three.  It's just spread out on the bottom.

This is what it looks like from the bottom of the container after it's been out of the fridge for awhile.

When you are ready to assemble the pizza, you carefully let the dough fall out of the container, helping it with your hands and trying to keep it in it's round shape without popping the bubbles. Let it drop onto a well floured counter.  Carefully turn it around to flour it on both sides.  Start tapping the dough with your fingers like you're playing the piano, just to pop some of the bubbles, not all of them, like in the picture above.

 

This is what the crust looks like after the pizza is baked.

For instructions on actually assembling and baking the pizza go to Dana's Pizza post.


Here's a quicker pizza dough recipe but it's not quite as flavorful and spongy:

Recipe:

2 tsp instant yeast
1 C warm water
2-2½ C 00 pizza or bread flour (or part hard whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbs olive oil

Mix all together, let rest 20 minutes.  Knead for 10 minutes or more. Dough will be very soft. Put in generously oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise 1-4 hours.

Naples Dough:
Same as above except use only 1¼ C water and reduce flour by 1 C and add 1 C cake flour (or soft whole wheat).