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It’s happened to all of us when we thought we did everything right but then the dough wouldn’t stretch. Or it might have been that the taste was very dull because of using bad pizza seasoning ingredients. Moreover, it’s also possible that your pizza may have come out a big soggy mess when it came out of the oven.
But fret not! We are here for you.
1. Slowly Proof Your Dough In The Refrigerator
This is the most important step in creating good pizza. By lowering the temperature of the dough, the fermentation process is slowed down allowing it to develop the flavor and texture it needs, without over-proofing. The minimum time the dough should ferment is 24 hours to see big benefits. It improves over the next 1-2 days, before starting to overproof.
2. Don’t Stretch Cold Dough
If you take dough straight out of the fridge its coldness makes the gluten contract and the dough tighten. This makes it very hard to stretch as it springs back to the ball every time you try. To avoid this, take the dough from the fridge and form into balls. Then leave them covered on the worktop for at least an hour.
3. Don’t Over Knead Your Dough
Knowing how long to mix or knead your pizza dough can be confusing. Everyone familiar with bread knows the ‘windowpane test’: pulling off a small chunk and stretching it thin enough to see through. Gluten makes pizza skin difficult to stretch out, and the crust has a tighter crumb, more like bread.
4. Always Preheat Your Oven Long Enough
Hotter ovens make better pizza, that’s pretty simple. Preheat the oven for long enough so that the steel or stone gets to its highest temperature. It should take at least 30 minutes, but the best pizzas are always made in ovens that have been on for at least an hour.
If you don’t heat it long enough, you get less oven “spring” – the action that happens to the dough when it hits a hot oven and puffs up before it hardens. You will probably end up with a doughy pizza base too.
5. Source Quality Ingredients
There aren’t many ingredients in making pizza, so the quality of these ingredients is very important. You can’t hide behind anything, so it’s a good idea to source some quality products and seasoning to bring out the taste you wanted.
Grab the best spices, herbs, and seasonings here.
Pizza Dough (makes four 12″ pizzas)
- 460g or 2 cups Water
- 18g or 3 tsp Salt
- 700g or 5 cups Flour (All Purpose is fine, Bread Flour is better)
- 1.5g or 0.5 tsp Solar Active Dry Yeast:
- 10g or 2 tsp Oil
- Start by filling a bowl with water. If it’s below 75 F in your kitchen, use cool tap water. If it’s above 75 F, use cold water.
- Add salt to the water. Stir to combine.
- Slowly add flour to your water, adding yeast halfway through.
- Cover the mixture and let it sit for 15-30 minutes.
- Spread half of the oil over the dough with your hand.
- Make the dough less sticky by adding oil as you knead it. Repeat the kneading process with the other half of the oil.
- Cover your dough and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth and bouncy, about 3-5 minutes.
- While lightly brushing oil on your dough storage containers, let the dough rest covered and at room temperature for several minutes.**
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and fold each into a tight, seamless ball.
- Dough balls can be stored in oiled containers inside a fridge for 1 to 4 days.
- Before using the dough, let it warm up for 2-3 hours.
**Alternatively, you can delay step 9 for 24-48 hours to enhance flavor and strength. Until you’re ready to form your dough balls, simply store your complete dough ball in the refrigerator (covered). This process is called bulk fermentation.
Conclusion
Take these tips to heart and you’ll be surprised how great your pizza will be. Within no time at all, you will be using your own pizza stone instead of ordering from takeout. Homemade pizza may take a little longer to prepare, but the results are worth the effort.
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Enjoy!
