Making Pizza Dough

Ingredients for dough:

• 1000g flour (Caputo Pizza Flour) - reserve a handful or 2 for dusting your pizza peel when cooking
• 555g water (cold water if hot out or room temp, never hot)
• 27g salt (salt and yeast should never be in direct contact)
• Salt gives the pizza color/flavor and reinforces the gluten
• 1.11g fresh yeast or .55g dry yeast

Making the dough:

1. Get out large bowl and add 555g water
   

1. Mix 27g of salt into the water
   
2. Place three handfuls of flour onto your kneading surface (about 100g)
   
3. Place three handfuls of flour into the bowl of water (about 100g)
   
4. Break up the lumps of dough until the flour is mixed in with the water
   
5. Mix yeast into a small amount of flour and then mix that flour into your remaining flour (about 800g)
   
6. Add all remaining flour (with the added yeast) into your bowl of water
   
7. Start a 20 minute timer (timing mixing/kneading dough). With a wooden spoon mix the ingredients together until they are combined.
   
8. With the ingredients combined in the bowl, use your hand like spoon to pick up the flour and then squash it with an open palm
   
9. Continue this process until the flour from the sides of the bowls is all scraped off (As the dough sticks to your hands, add dry flour from your kneading surface to remove it) After the dough gets some structure (while still in the bowl) fold from back to front and then punch. Use the punches to add dry flour into the middle of the dough.
   
10. When the dough is homogenous, take it out the bowl and place on your kneading surface.
    
11. Use your palms to push from the bottom of the dough to top 3 times, then twist the dough 90 degrees. Fold the dough down from the top to the bottom and again use your palms to push from bottom to the top 3 times before rotating 90 degrees (dough will look like a sausage before you rotate it). Dough should always be soft, but not sticky (keep adding flour as it gets sticky).
    
12. Continue kneading until your 20 minute timer goes off. You know your dough is ready when you start to hear a little squeak and pop in the dough as you are kneading it. Your dough should feel elastic and smooth, not sticky. After your timer goes off, form your dough into a ball. Using flat hands under the dough, compress and turn to seal the bottom.
13. 
14. Once the dough is sealed on the bottom (use a bit of pinching if you need in order to complete the seal), flip the bowl upside down on top of the dough and rest for 20-30 minutes
    
15. After 30 minutes fold your dough one time. To fold, push the dough from the sides towards the bottom to form a log, then fold it in half. Seal off the bottom using the same technique as above. Rest the dough for another 20-30 minutes.
    
16. Form the dough into a sausage loaf again (using your hands to press on the sides towards the bottom of dough) and stretch into a long log. Cut into desired pizza size (use a knife of bench scraper)
1. Dough for 12 inch pizza should be 180g-225g
17. Dough for 16 inch pizza should be 250g-280g
18. Fold pieces with ragged edges into the middle of the dough. Using your left hand, make a “C” shape with your thumb and forefinger and use this to pinch and twist the bottom ⅓ of the dough to seal the bottom.
    
19. Place the dough into a proofing box (or some container with rigid sides and a top that won’t restrict the dough from rising. You can sprinkle a little bit of flour on the dough or where its touching other dough balls so they don’t stick together.
    
20. If using the dough that day, the dough needs to proof for 10 hours at 20°C (68°F) or 8 hours at 28°C (83°F) and is then ready to be used immediately. If not using the dough until the following day (can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days, let the dough proof for 4-6 hours and then place in the fridge. Take the dough out of fridge 1 hour before use (remove the lid for the first 10 minutes to let the moisture escape)