Artisan Pizza Dough With Crispy Bottom and Blistered Bubbles
By Isabella Quinn
Prep
20 min
Cook
8 min
Total
480 min
Servings
4
A brief rest and one folding step give enough strength to the dough to keep gases in and the pizza crust light. The finished pizza crust is bubbly and crisp on top and bottom.
The ingredients for this recipe are all-purpose flour, warm water, dry yeast, and salt. The yeast and salt are added to the dough using pinching and folding techniques after most of the water and flour have been added. Dough with about 75% hydration is soft and slack, and pinching and folding techniques help develop the strength of the dough without kneading.
Expect a shaggy mixture after mixing and a smoother dough after the later fold. Let the dough rise until doubled, not for a fixed length of time, this is the most common issue with this bread. Flouring can be a problem when working with this dough, wet hands and a bit of oil in the bowl can prevent sticking without affecting the dough's hydration.
Gently shape portions of dough into balls. Do not try to release air bubbles from the dough. Tips for shaping pizza dough balls include preheating a steel pizza pan, baking sheet, or pizza stone upside down in an oven at 500°F or higher for 45 minutes or more before baking. Chilled dough balls can be shaped without defrosting.
Why we keep this one around
- Short soak in a flour and water solution before adding yeast and salt helps the dough retain moisture and creates a more flexible crust than dough with yeast and salt added at the same time.
- High water content produces a soft crumb with large holes but sufficient dough strength to allow the bread to be handled and transported.
- One fold incorporates gluten into the dough without mixing and helps the dough maintain a round shape and trapped gases from fermentation.
- A long cold fermentation changes the flavor and other properties of dough because there is a limited amount of yeast available to ferment the dough.
- Preheating steel or stone or inverted baking pan helps cook the food in the recipe. This can create a crisp bottom and charred spots on the food.
- Cold fermentation can benefit pizza makers by allowing unbaked dough balls to be refrigerated for up to 48 hours and used straight from the refrigerator.
Ingredients
- •500 g all-purpose flour (3 ¾ cups plus 2 tbsp)
- •375 g warm water (divided; 1 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp)
- •1 g active dry yeast (¼ tsp)
- •10 g fine salt (1 ½ tsp)
Instructions
- 1
Mix the flour and all but 1 tablespoon of the water in a large bowl until just combined. Cover and set aside to rest for 20 minutes.
- 2
Sprinkle the yeast over the remaining warm water and set aside to dissolve.
- 3
Sprinkle the salt over the surface of the dough.
- 4
Stir the yeast mixture and pour it over the dough.
- 5
Lightly wet your hand, reach under the dough, and stretch a section over the top. Repeat until the center is covered.
- 6
Using your thumb and fingers as pincers, squeeze and pinch off 5 to 6 chunks of dough.
- 7
Wet your hand to minimize sticking, then fold the dough over itself a few times.
- 8
Repeat pinching and folding until the yeast and salt are fully mixed and a shaggy dough forms.
- 9
Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for about 1 hour.
- 10
Lightly wet your hand, reach underneath the dough, stretch up a section, and fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl and repeat 4 to 5 more times, or until the dough tightens into a ball.
- 11
Invert the entire dough ball into a clean, lightly greased bowl so the seam is down and the top is smooth.
- 12
Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, 5 to 6 hours.
- 13
Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and cut it in half.
- 14
Working with one piece at a time, stretch out one quarter of the dough until you feel resistance, then fold it back over the center. Repeat with the remaining three edges until the center is covered and a loose ball forms.
- 15
Turn the ball seam-side down on an unfloured area. Cup your hands around it and gently pull it toward you, dragging the bottom along the counter to create tension.
- 16
Rotate the ball 90 degrees and drag it a few inches toward you again. Repeat rotating and gently dragging until the top tightens and the ball is round.
- 17
Transfer the dough ball to a greased plate and repeat with the remaining dough.
- 18
Lightly oil the tops, cover, and let rest at room temperature for about 1 hour. Preheat the oven during this time.
- 19
If not using right away, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- 20
To make pizza, place a pizza steel, stone, or inverted baking sheet on the middle oven rack and preheat to 500°F, or as high as the oven will go. Heat for at least 45 minutes.
- 21
Generously flour a pizza peel and set aside. Alternatively, lightly grease a cast iron pan with olive oil.
- 22
Place one dough ball on a floured surface and flatten the middle into a large disk, leaving a thick 1-inch lip.
- 23
Pick up the disk and, holding the thick edge, use gravity to gently shape the dough into a 12-inch circle.
- 24
Lay the dough on the prepared pizza peel and adjust the shape into a circle.
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