Make sure your dough ingredients are kept at room temperature; anything too hot could kill the yeast, while too little warmth could prevent proper rise.
Stir yeast into warm water with sugar to proof it; the mixture should become foamy and active within 10 minutes.
Prepare your workstation by dusting a large baking sheet or pizza peel (or the back of a pan) with flour. Lightly oiling your hands to avoid sticking when handling dough.
Ingredients
An accurate way of measuring ingredients for pizza dough requires using a digital kitchen scale. Although measuring salt, sugar and yeast is usually too difficult, water and flour can easily be weighted.
When making dough with yeast, five minutes is all that’s required for proofing (bubbling and foaming) to take place. If the yeast doesn’t become bubbly during this period, it has likely died and won’t rise properly when mixed into dough.
Flour is used in this recipe to make the dough easier to work with and help the crust brown during baking, while oil acts as a lubricant that reduces friction in the mixing bowl and regulates temperatures.
Preparation
When making pizza it is essential that the dough has enough time to rest before pulling and stretching it too much; otherwise it will create an uneven crust. Pulling, pushing, stretching or pulling too often will lead to tough and sticky dough which results in heavy crusts.
Combine warm water, yeast and sugar. Next add salt, oil and flour until a smooth dough forms (you can either use your stand mixer with its dough hook or manually).
Start by placing the dough in a greased bowl, covering with plastic wrap or toweling and leaving in a warm draft-free environment for around an hour until doubled in size. Punch down to deflate and move onto lightly floured work surface.
Mixing
Utilizing a mixer makes pizza dough quicker, as well as provide you with an understanding of its behavior; however, mixing by hand can be very therapeutic and an invaluable way to refine your dough skills.
If mixing by hand, start by stirring yeast and sugar into warm water and set it aside for five minutes to proof (it should start to foam – otherwise it isn’t active). Mix in salt, vinegar and oil before gradually adding flour – mix until everything is thoroughly mixed before shaping into a round shape and leaving to rise until doubled in size.
Kneading
Most pizza dough recipes call for kneading as part of the process to get the gluten, the protein strand that allows dough to snap back when stretched too far, to become smooth and elastic.
Knead properly when making bread (this is why I suggest using your hands over a mixer), as otherwise the protein strings won’t have enough time to combine and form long chains that provide structure. Imagine rubber bands: when they’re loose they won’t do much good but when tightly bound they provide great strength.
Your dough should be finished when it looks smooth and feels only slightly sticky, or when you can see light through a piece stretched thin enough. Another method for testing it may be called the windowpane test: tear off a small piece and stretch it until light can pass through it.
Rising
Before it can be kneaded, pizza dough must first rise and develop its flavor. This process could take as little as half an hour at room temperature; for optimal results allow it to rise for at least an hour before refrigerating or baking it.
Warm conditions are crucial for dough to rise successfully, which is why bakeries utilize proofing boxes heated to 85 degrees. You can create the same effect at home by filling a Mason jar halfway with water, microwaving for two minutes, then placing your bowl of dough inside it.
Many recipes include sugar in their doughs to assist the yeast’s rising, but sugar should actually be avoided in favor of Maillard reactions that contribute to browning and flavor.
Cooking
Add yeast and warm water and mix (or use your bread machine’s dough cycle) until soft dough forms. Next, mix in salt and oil – I prefer extra virgin olive oil as its delicious taste helps ensure the crust won’t dry out too quickly.
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Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead, either by hand or using your mixer with its kneading attachment, until firm and stretchy. Grease a large bowl with oil before placing the dough inside; cover and set somewhere warm where it will rise for approximately one hour until doubled in size.