Easy Recipe for Pizza Dough

By Jim Hingst

The price of pizza has become ridiculously high. So why not
make your own and save some dough for other purchases? If you follow this
recipe, your family can have pizza several times a week.

Ingredients

3 cups of 00 flour or bread flour, plus more for kneading

½ cup of cornmeal or coarse semolina flour

1 teaspoon sugar

3½ teaspoons active dry yeast

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 cups water, 110 degrees

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions

The first step in making pizza dough is to “proof” the
yeast. Proofing is a test that tells you if the yeast is alive and will do its
thing. If the yeast is inactive, your dough will not rise. To do this you will
need 1-½ cups of warm water and the sugar. Heat the water in the microwave
until it reaches 110ºF. This takes 45 seconds to a minute, depending on the
power of the microwave oven. The temperature of the water is critical.
Excessive heat will kill the yeast.

To the heated water mix in 3-½ teaspoons of dry active
yeast. The yeast will feed on sugar in the fermentation process. The rule of
thumb is to use 1 teaspoon per each cup of flour. After stirring the
mixture and wait 15 minutes for it to become frothy. If the mixture does not
become bubbly, it is inactive, in which case you should discard it and start
again with fresh yeast.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients. You
will note that I am specifying 00 flour. This grade of flour is mixed more
finely than any other an will help create a crispy crust. Is it absolutely
necessary? Of course, not! you can get away with using a bread flour or even an
all-purpose flour.

After mixing the dry ingredients, form a well in the
middle of the flour mixture at the bottom of the bowl. Add your wet ingredients
(water and yeast along with the olive oil…you can also add in some melted
butter). Using your hands, which you have greased with a little olive oil, fold
in the ingredients until you create a ball of dough. You can also use a Danish
dough whisk to initially mix the dough. It’s a nice convenience but it is not
necessary to achieve great results. Your hands will work just fine.

Transfer the ball of dough onto a lightly floured work
surface. Knead the dough for about 15 minutes. (This amounts to 100 kneading
strokes in which you push the dough with the heels of your hands, folding and
turning the dough ¼ turn, after each stroke.) Kneading the dough is an
important step in making pizza dough because it builds gluten which makes it stronger,
holding it together as you stretch it. If you have worked the dough the proper
amount, you should be able to stretch it so thin that you can see light through
it without it coming apart.

After kneading the dough, form it into a ball and place
it in your mixing bowl which is lightly greased with olive oil. Cover the bowl
with plastic wrap and put it in a warm part of your kitchen for about 4 hours
to allow the dough to rise.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface again and knead
it for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Before working with the dough, remember
to oil your hands.

After kneading the dough the second time, allow it to
rise again for a minimum of 1 hour. Better still divide the dough into four
sections. Dividing the dough is easily accomplished if you have a bench
scraper. Oil the bench scraper or knife with olive oil so the dough doesn’t
stick to it.

Form each section into a ball and put them into a large
floured container. Each ball is large enough to make a 12 to 14-inch pizza.
Refrigerate the dough for 24 hours before using.

If you are making a thin crust pizza, use a rolling pin
to form the dough into a 12” circle. In making a Chicago-style thin crust pizza, the dough should not be thicker than 1/4″. If you are using a cast iron pizza stone, it should be well-seasoned so the crust doesn’t stick to it. Lightly oil the stone and then sprinkle it with cornmeal before transferring the dough onto it. You can also use a cast
iron skillet for a thicker crust pizza.

Lightly coat the dough with pizza sauce and add your
toppings.

Many factors affect
cooking time. These include the size of the pizza, the thickness of the crush
and the amount of toppings. Generally cooking time is between 8 and 12 minutes.
Larger pizza could take 15 minutes.

You certainly don’t want
one that is undercooked and soggy. That’s why you want to check the bottom of
the crust making sure that it has properly browned.

Be sure to preheat your
oven at 500⁰F for about 30 minutes. Many home
cooks start baking their pizza on the lower rack and then move it to the top
rack to brown the cheese.

About Jim Hingst: Sign business authority on vehicle wraps, vinyl graphics, screen printing, marketing, sales, gold leaf, woodcarving and painting.

After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer. Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 190 articles for publications, such as Signs Canada, SignCraft, Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 500 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published. Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon.