Basic Pizza Dough

* Exported from MasterCook *

BASIC PIZZA DOUGH

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Pizza

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 c Warm tap water(110-115F)
1 pk Active dry yeast
3 c (to 3.5) All purpose white
Flour
1/2 ts Salt

1. Pour the water into a medium size mixing bowl and
sprinkle in the
yeast. Stir gently with a fork until the yeast
has dissolved and the
liquid turns light beige in color.
2. Add 1 cup of the flour and the salt. Mix
thoroughly with a wooden
spoon. Add a second cup of flour and mix well.
After the second
cup of flour has been mixed in, the dough should
start coming away
from the sides of the bwl and should begin to form
a soft, sticky
mass. It is now ready to be kneaded.
3. Measure out the third cup of flour. Sprinkle some
over the work
surface and flour your hands generously. Remove
all the dough from
the bowl and begin to work the mass by kneading
the additional flour
in a bit at a time.
4. To knead the dough, use the heel of your hand (or
both hands, if you
wish) to push the dough across the floured work
surface in one
sweep. Clench the dough in your fist and twist
and fold it over.
Use the dough scraper to help gather the wet dough
that sticks to
the work surface into a ball while kneading.
Repeat this action
over and over again, adding only as much flour as
it takes to keep
the dough from sticking to your hands. Work
quickly and don't be
delicate. Slap and push the dough around to
develop its gluten and
to facilitate its rolling out (note: kneading
pizza dough is a good
way to relieve pent-up aggression).
5. When the dough no longer feels sticky, push the
heel of your hand
down into it and hold it there for 10 seconds.
This will best its
readiness; if you hand comes up clean, the dough
is done. If it
sticks, a bit more kneading will be necessary.
Once the dough is no
longer sticky, do not overwork it by adding more
flour. Continue
kneading only until the dough is smooth and
elastic (it should
spring back when pressed) and no lines of raw
white flour show.
The whole process should take 5-10 minutes. Now
it's time to let
the dough rise.
6. Lightly oil a 2 quart bowl with vegetable oil.
Roll the ball of dough
around in the bowl to coat it with a thin film of
oil. Tightly seal
the bowl with plastic wrap to trap in the moisture
and heat from the
yeast's carbon dioxide gases. This will help the
dough rise faster. 7. Place the bowl in a warm,
draft-free place, preferably in a gas oven
with a pilot light. For electric ovens, set the
thermostat at 200F
for 10 minutes and then turn the oven off; this
should provide
enough warmth to raise the dough. Be sure the
oven is OFF before you
put the doughinside, or it will begin to cook.
Let the dough rise
for 30-45 minutes.
8. Once the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down
by pushing your
fist into it. All of the gases will quickly
escape, and the dough
will collapse. Remove the dough from the bowl and
knead it again
for about 1 minute.
9. The dough is now ready to be patted or rolled into
a pizza (or to
undergo additional rising. All doughs made with
bread, high-gluten,
of semolina flour really need a second rising
time, anywhere from
15 minutes to 1 hour, to develop their gluent
potential. Added
rising times and further kneading produce a more
refined, even crumb
structure in pizza crust and create
lighter-textured foccace. 10. To raise dough a second
time, add a bit more oil to the bowl and
repeat the procedure indicated for the first
rising. The dough is
now ready to be shaped.
Pan rising: For a slightly thicker crust, let the
dough rise again in
the pan for 10-20 minutes before baking.
Refrigerated Rising: If you wish to have pizza the
next day or evening,
prepare the dough through step 6 and refrigerate
it overnight. The
next morning it will have doubled; punch it down,
knead it for
about 1 minute, and return it to the bowl. Let
the dough rise again
until you are ready to use it that night. Take
the dough out of the
refrigerator 30 minutes before you want to stretch
it out, or it will
be stiff and difficult to handle.



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