October 1, 2025 • 47 mins
The single source provides a comprehensive guide on how to make restaurant-quality homemade pizza dough, emphasizing that crafting your own crust offers superior quality, customization, and flavor compared to takeout options. The episode thoroughly breaks down the science of great pizza dough, detailing the critical roles of ingredients like flour and yeast, the impact of hydration levels, and the flavor development achieved through slow fermentation. It includes a detailed, step-by-step recipe utilizing a 65% hydration dough, alongside essential tips for achieving professional results, such as measuring ingredients by weight and baking at the highest possible temperature. Finally, the guide covers troubleshooting common issues, suggestions for dough variations, and advice on storing and freezing the finished product.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the deep dive. Today. We're diving into something
I think a lot of us aspire to but maybe
find a bit intimidating. That's making truly great, like restaurant
style pizza dough right in our own kitchens.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
The fantastic goal.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah, we want to completely leave behind those you know, weak,
kind of pale, sometimes depressingly soggy crusts that can happen
at home.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely, we're aiming for that ideal, aren't we. Yeah, the
crust that's crispy, maybe a little blistered on the outside.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Exactly, but still light and airy inside, chewy and with
a real depth of flavor, the kind that tastes like
it came from a pro kitchen.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's a great mission. And you know, our listener actually
sent over a really impressive set of sources, very detail
they really did.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It treats pizza dough almost like a science project, doesn't it?
Not just a simple recipe.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
That's right. The sources recognize that going from just an
okay crust to something truly superior it takes precision, It
takes understanding what's actually happening chemically precisely.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
So that's our job today. We're going to take all
that great information you sent, pull out the absolute must
knows the chemistry bits, the pro techniques, the timing, all
of it, and will synthesize it down into something really
actionable for you, the listener, a kind of a blueprint.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Maybe a blueprint sounds good, so you can confidently make
a dough that honestly rivals those amazing artisanal pizzas you
pay good money for.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
We're trying to move past the guesswork stage here.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, getting into the why why does bread flour give
you you? Why is letting dough sit for days actually
a good thing?
Speaker 1 (01:33):
And why cranking your home of and up as high
as it goes is so important?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Exactly? Those details make all the difference.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And before we really jump into the science, let's just
touch on the payoff, Like why put in this effort?
Good question, because honestly, making dough from scratch it's more
than just cooking, isn't it? It feels kind of empowering.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It really does. You get total control, You.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Control the texture, the flavor, you can tweak it however
you want, and let's be honest, the cost is amazing.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Oh yeah, pennies, Really you're.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Using basic pantry stuff flour, water, yeast versus what a
thirty dollars pizza delivery and the quality you can get
at home. It's often just.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Way better, no comparison sometimes. Plus there's just that satisfaction
seeing your own dough puff up beautifully in the oven.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
That oven spring moment ah, yes, dove in spring free.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
To rewarding, take something simple and makes it feel kind
of special.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Okay, So let's get into the foundations. The sources you
sent lay out this whole idea around the science of
great pizza dough. They say success really hinges on four
key pillars.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
That's the framework. They build on four pillars, and they're
all linked. Get one wrong and the whole thing can
kind of stumble.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And those are.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Ingredients, hydration, fermentation, and technique. You need to understand and
control each one, right.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So let's start with pillar one. Ingredients seems simple, usually
just five things, right, flour, water, yeast, salt, maybe oil
or sugar exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
But we need to dig a bit deeper than just
listing them. Each one has a very specific job to do,
especially the flour.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Flour. Okay, that's the structure provider, isn't it the backbone
of the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
It absolutely is. Flour is the skeleton, and the key
thing within the flower is its protein content, specifically those
proteins that form gluten, glutenin and.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Gladin gluten the magic network.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Pretty much, and the amount of protein dictates the kind
of crust you'll get. There are basically three main choices.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
You'll encounter, and those define the final texture hugely.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So if you want a crust that's really chewy, sturdy, elastic,
you know, the kind you can stretch super thin for
a New York slice or that holds up in a pan, Yeah,
then you really need bread flour or what's called high
gluten flour. These have a higher protein percentage, usually somewhere
between twelve and fourteen percent.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Okay, twelve to fourteen percent protein.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Right, And when that protein gets wet and you need it,
it forms this strong, interconnected web, the gluten matrix. That's
what traps the gas from the yeast and gives you
that structure and chew.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So high protein equals strong chwo. Got it. But then
there's that fancy Italian flower, the zero zero flower. People
rate about that one for pizza.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Ah, yes, dopeio zero. It's definitely popular, especially for Neopolitan style.
The deo zero actually refers to how finely it's milk.
It's like powder, superfine, superfine. Its protein content is often
a bit lower, maybe more than ten to twelve percent range.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So less protein than bread flour typically.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yes, and that difference, while it sounds small, is significant.
Bread flour gives you that robust chewiness. Zero zero flower,
because it's finer and slightly lower in protein, gives you
a crust that's noticeably softer, more tender, but also really crisp.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Softer and crisp beer. Interesting. That's the Neapolitan goal, right, exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
That delicate quick bake style. Now the sources do mention
all purpose flour. It works, you can make pizza with it,
but its protein content is usually lower, and more importantly,
it could be really inconsistent from brand to brand. You'll
generally end up with a much softer, less structured crust.
It might be fine for some things, but maybe not
that classic restaurant chew or Christmas.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Okay, so flower choice is crucial for texture. What's next?
You need to activate that flower? Right?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Water, Water is absolutely essential. It does a few key things. First,
it hydrates those flour proteins, allowing gluten development to even
start kicks things off. Second, it dissolves the salt and
any sugar you might add, distributing them evenly. And Third,
really importantly, it wakes up the yeast. Ah.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
The yeast activation temperature matters here, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Critically, especially if you're using active dry yeast, the kind
that often comes in little packets. That type needs to
be proofed or activated in water.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
First, and the water needs to be lukewarm.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
The sweet spot is generally around one hundred degrees fahrenheit,
maybe up to one hundred and ten think comfortable bath
water temperature.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Not too hot, not too cold, exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Too cold, and the yeast just stays sleepy. It won't
activate properly. Too hot, say over one hundred and twenty
or one hundred and thirty degrees, and you'll actually kill
the yeast game over before you start right.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
So lukewarm is key for active dry What about instant yeast?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Inst the yeast is a bit more forgiving. It's designed
so you can often mix it straight in with the
dry ingredients, though some people still like to give it
a quick bloom in the water just to be sure
it's active.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Okay, so water activates. Then we have the yeast itself,
the engine.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
You called it, engine of lightness. Yeah, yeast is fascinating.
It's a living, single celled fungus.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
A fungus making our pizza delicious.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Pretty much. What it does is eat the sugars naturally
present in the flour, and as it metabolizes them, it
produces two main things we care about, which are carbon
dioxide CO. Two. Those are the bubbles that make the
dough rise and give it that airy texture the lift,
and ethanol, which is an alcohol That might sound weird,
but the ethanol and other compounds produced during fermentation are
(06:51):
huge contributors to the final flavor of the crust.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Ah, So, yeast isn't just about bubbles. It's flavor too.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Big time. And as you mentioned, the main types are
active dry yeast, which needs that careful proving, and instant yeast,
which is generally easier to use for home baking. Instant
is often preferred for its reliability.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Okay, flour water yeast. Then we have the sporting cast salt, maybe,
olive oil, maybe sugar. Let's start with salt. Is it
really necessary?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Oh? Absolutely? Non negotiable. Salt does way more than just
make the dough taste good, although that's important too. Without it,
dough tastes incredibly flat, almost metallic.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Okay, flavor enhancer, what else?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Structure salt actually pays a crucial role in controlling the
yeast activity and strengthening the gluten network. How does it
do that It slightly slows down the fermentation rate. This
might seem counterintuitive, but by gently moderating the yeast, salt
allows the gluten structure to develop more fully and evenly,
especially during long cold proofs. It creates a tighter, more
(07:52):
stable dough.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Interesting. So salt is key for both taste and texture.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Fundamental, don't skip it or reduce it too much.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Got it? Now? The optionals olive oil and sugar. What
do they bring to the party.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Olive oil primarily adds richness and tenderness. The fat molecules
kind of coat the gluten strands slightly, inhibiting them from
linking up too tightly.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
So it makes the crust softer.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, softer crom or richer flavor. It's really nice in
pan pizzas or thicker styles where you want that richness.
Maybe less traditional for a super crisp lean Neapolitan style
but great elsewhere makes sense.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
And sugar is that just to feed the yeast.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
It does give the yeast a little quick boost, yeah,
which can speed up the initial rise slightly. But arguably
it's more important role comes during baking.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
How so, sugar contributes significantly to browning. It participates in
both caramelization and the Maillard reaction when heated.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Ah, the Maillard reaction, we'll come back to that. But basically,
sugar helps the crust get that nice golden brown color
and savory flavor exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Just a little bit can make a noticeable difference in
the final color and taste complexity.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Okay, ingredients covered, rolls understood. Now for what the sources
call a really defining concept, hydration.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
This sounds technical, It sounds technical, but the concept is simple,
though its impact is huge. Hydration is just the ratio
of water to flour by.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Weight, by weight, not by cups.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Absolutely critical by weight. So if your recipe calls for
one thousand grams of flour and you add six hundred
and fifty grams of water, that's sixty five percent hydration.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Six hundred and fifty divide by a thousand, Okay, and.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
That percentage is probably the single biggest dial you can
turn to control the final texture of your crust.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Really, just the water amount makes that much.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Difference, oh completely, Even a change of say five percent
hydration can radically alter how the dough feels, how easy
it is to work with, and how it bakes.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Wow. So what are the typical ranges and what do
they do?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Okay, think about the extremes. Low hydration, maybe down around
fifty five to sixty percent. That dough feels quite stiff, dense,
not very sticky. It's easy to handle, and the result
usually a denser, tighter crumb. Good for really sturdy crusts,
maybe some cracker thin styles or certain types of pan pizza.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Okay, low hydration, dense crust. What about the other end?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
For that lighter areer, crispy but chewy texture that we
often associate with restaurant pizza, especially Neapolitan or good New
York slices, we need high hydration. We're tyking typically sixty
five percent, up to maybe seventy five percent, sometimes even
higher for specific styles like Roman pizza.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I'll tell you sixty five to seventy five percent. That
sounds like a lot of water. Relative to the flower.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
It is, and that means the dough will be much wetter,
much stickier, and frankly more challenging to handle, especially for beginners.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
So why bother with the sticky mess? What's the payoff
for high hydration?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Two main things incredible chew and amazing oven spring.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Oven spring again explain that connection.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
When you put that high hydration dough into a very
hot oven, all that extra water trapped inside the gluten
network instantly converts to.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Steam, a mini explosion exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
A powerful rapid expansion. That steam inflates the existing air
bottles created by the east, causing the dough to puff
up dramatically. That's oven spring. It's what creates those beautiful, large,
irregular holes inside the crust, the cornisione, the edge, and
contributes to that light, airy texture. Ah.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
So the water literally inflates the dough.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
With steam precisely. Low hydration dough just doesn't have enough
free water to create that same effect.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
I'm picturing trying to eat seventy five percent hydration dough.
It sounds sloppy, It can be.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
It often feels really shaggy, almost like thick porridge. At first.
The sources point out that working with really high hydration
doughs often requires different techniques, not necessarily vigorous kneading on
a flowered counter, like what things like using wet hands
to handle it, doing stretches and folds right in the
mixing bowl, or using methods like the slap and fold
(11:45):
technique where you're literally slapping the dough onto the counter
and folding it over itself. It stcks less that way.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Okay, different handling for wet dough. Now. The sources also
mentioned something practical about hydration adjusting for your environment.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yes, that's a really important point. Flour is hygroscopic, meaning
meaning it absorbs moisture from the surrounding air. So if
you live somewhere really humid, your flower might already contain
a bit more moisture than flower stored in a very
dry climate.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
So the same weight of flour might act differently depending
on the weather.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
It can subtly, so on a very humid day you
might find you need to reduce the water in your
recipe by just a tiny amount, maybe five or ten grams,
to get the dough to feel right.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And the opposite, if it's super dry exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Your flour might be extra thirsty, and you might need
to add a few extra grams of water to reach
that target.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Consistency, which highlights again why measuring by weight is so crucial.
A cup of flour is even more variable in humidity.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Absolutely weight gives you control. Volume is just too inconsistent
for precise results, especially when hydration is so key.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Okay, Pillar one ingredients and pillar two hydration are down.
Let's move to pillar three time, or more specifically, fermentation.
You called this the flavor engine.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I really think it is. Once you've mixed your ingredients
and the yeast is active, the clock starts ticking on fermentation,
and this process is where the real deep, complex flavors
of great pizza crust orre born.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
So it's not just about letting the dough rise.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Rising is part of it, that's the CO two production,
but fermentation is the entire metabolic process. The yeast is
consuming sugars from the flour, and besides CO two, it's
producing a whole cocktail of other organic compounds, things like
ethanol which we mentioned, but also various acids mainly lactic
acid and acetic galid acids.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
In pizza dough.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Absolutely yea and they were huge flavor contributors. Lactic acid
tends to give a milder, sometimes slightly tangy, creamy almost
sweet note think yogurt. Acetic acid, on the other hand,
provides a sharper, more pronounced tanginess. That's the flavor you
strongly associate with sour dough bread.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Ah. So the balance of these acids creates the flavor profile.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Exactly, and the conditions of fermentation heavily influence which compounds
are produced and in amounts.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Which brings us to the big comparison. The sources make
a quick warm rise versus a long cold one.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Yes, this is probably the most significant choice you make
regarding flavor development. You can just let your dough double
at room temperature for an hour or two. It's convenient,
it works. You'll get pizza, but the flavor will be
relatively simple, mostly just yeasty. To get that really complex, nuanced,
slightly tangy flavor you find in the best pizzaia crusts,
(14:27):
you need slow cold fermentation.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
The gold standard they called it.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
It really is. This means putting your dough in the refrigerator,
typically after kneading and maybe a short initial rest, for
an extended period.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
How long are we talking?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
The optimal window seems to be somewhere between twelve hours
on the very short end up to seventy two hours.
That's three days on the long end. Many sources lean
towards twenty four to forty eight hours as a fantastic
sweet spot.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Wow, three days in the fridge. What is happening during
that time that makes the flavor so much better?
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Well? Two main things. First, the cold temperature dramatically slows
down the yeast's activity. It doesn't kill it, just puts
it in slow motion. In this slower state, the yeast
metabolism shifts. It still produces CO two, but much more slowly. Crucially,
it tends to produce a higher proportion of those desirable
flavor compounds, including more of that tangy acetic acid, relative
(15:17):
to just alcohol and CO two.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
So slowing it down changes what.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It makes to some extent. Yes. But secondly, and perhaps
just as importantly, that long slow ferment gives the natural
enzymes already present in the flower time.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
To work enzymes. What are they doing?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Flour contains enzymes like amlase and protease. Over that long
cold period, amiase breaks down complex starches in the flour
into simpler sugars.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Making more food available for the use later exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And also contributing to better browning during baking. Protease enzymes
meanwhile start to break down some of the proteins, including gluten.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Wait isn't breaking down gluten bad.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
A little bit of breakdown over a long ferment is
actually good. It helps make the dough more extensible, easier
to stretch, and contributes to a more tender final crumb.
It's all about balance. But mostly this enzymatic activity, combined
with the yeast slow production of acids and other compounds,
creates a depth and complexity of flavor that subtle tang
(16:15):
those nutty notes that you simply cannot replicate with a
quick one hour rise.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
So time equals flavor. It's like aging wine or cheese.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
That's a perfect analogy. You're letting time do the work
to develop complexity.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Okay, the magic of time is clear. Now for Pillar
four technique, this seems to cover two main areas, how
we handle the dough physically kneading and how we bake it.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
The heat right technique is about optimizing the physical structure.
We started building with the writ ingredients and hydration, and
then finishing it correctly in the oven. Let's start with
kneading kneading.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
We do this to develop the gluten right Precisely.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
When you first mix flour and water, the gluten proteins
glutenin and gliadin are just randomly jumbled up. Kneading is
the physical work stretching, fold compressing that encourages these proteins
to link up and align into long, elastic strands and sheets.
That forms the gluten network.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And getting this network right is crucial. The source is mentioned.
It's a balancing act.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
It really is. You can definitely underdo it or overdo it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
What happens if you undernead?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
If you don't need enough, the gluten network remains weak
and underdeveloped. The strands are short, disorganized. This weak structure
can't effectively trap the gas produced by the yeast during
fermentation and proofing, so the result is a dense, heavy crust.
It won't rise well. The texture will be tight, maybe
even gummy. Not pleasant.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Okay, avoid underkneading. What about the other extreme? Can you
actually need too much?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yes, you absolutely can, especially if you're using a powerful
stand mixer. Overkneading does two bad things. First, the friction
can generate too much heat, which can negatively affect the
yeast and the dose flavor development.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Didnt think about friction heat?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah? Second, you can actually start to break down those
long gluten chains you just work so hard to build.
If you overknead, the dough can become overly sticky again,
or paradoxically, it can become tough and rubbery, making it
difficult to stretch later.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
So what's the goal? How do you know when to
stop kneading.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You're looking for a transformation. The dough should go from
being a shaggy, maybe sticky mass to becoming smooth, supple,
and elastic. It should feel slightly tacky, but not stick
excessively to your hands.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Is there a definitive test, Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
The classic window pain test. We'll talk more about how
to do that when we get to the recipe steps,
but it's the best way to visually confirm that the
gluten is fully developed.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Okay, window pain tests for perfect kneeding. Once the structure
is built through kneading and fermentation, we get to the
final technique baking, And the sources were emphatic here, high
heat non negotiable.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Absolutely, This is probably the biggest difference between home pizza
attempts and pizzer rear results. Professional pizza ovens are incredibly hot,
often running between seven hundred and nine hundred degrees fahrenheit,
sometimes even higher for specific CIS styles.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Nine hundred degrees. Why is that extreme heat so important?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
It drives several crucial things simultaneously and very quickly. First,
as we discussed, it, triggers that massive instantaneous oven spring
by turning the dose internal water into.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Scheme puff, creates the airy structure.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Second, the intense heat rapidly sets the exterior of the crust,
creating that crisp outer layer before the inside gets a
chance to dry out completely.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Crisp outside, moist inside exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
And Third, and vitally, for flavor and appearance, that high
heat dramatically accelerates the Mallard reaction in caramelization on the
crust surface.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Okay, Maillard reaction, let's define that quickly for everyone.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Sure, it's a complex series of chemical reactions that happen
between amino acids from the protein the flour and reducing
sugars either naturally present, added or created by enzymes when
they're heated, and it's responsible for it it's responsible for
the browning of food, but more importantly, it creates hundreds
of different aroma and flavor compounds. That deeply savory, roasted,
(20:02):
almost meaty flavor you get on a perfectly browned pizza
crust or the crust of bread or seared steak, that's
largely the Mailard reaction.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So low heat won't trigger it properly.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Right, if you bake your pizza at say, three hundred
and fifty degrees fahrenheit, the dough will eventually cook through,
but you'll mostly just be dehydrating it. You won't get
that intense browning or the complex flavors the Mayard reaction provides.
Picking at five hundred or five hundred and fifty degrees,
now you're getting that rapid transformation, that flavor development. It's
the hallmark of a great crust.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Okay, but obviously my home oven doesn't go to nine
hundred degrees. What's the realistic target for us at home?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
You want to go as high as your oven can
safely go. For most home movens, that's usually somewhere between
four hundred and fifty and five hundred fifty because crease
fahrenheit max.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
It out set it to the highest temperature.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yes, and as the source of stress, just reaching that
temperature isn't enough. You need to ensure that heat is
effectively stored and transferred to the pizza. Which brings us
neatly onto the topic of tools.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Right in precision, this almost feels like a fifth pillar,
doesn't it getting the execution right? And the sources were
incredibly clear about one tool being absolutely essential, non negotiable.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
They said they did, and they're right. It's the digital scale. Seriously,
if you take only one piece of advice away from
this whole deep dive, let it be this. Ditch the
measuring cups for your flour and water, start weighing them.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Why such a strong stance against cups, We've all.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Used them for years because volume measurements for compressible solids
like flour are just wildly inconsistent. How much flower fits
in a cup depends entirely on how you fill it.
Did you scoop it directly from the bag and lever it.
Did you spoon it lightly into the cup? Is the
flour sifted?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Ah? I see the density changes massively.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
A single cup of all purpose flour can easily weigh
anywhere from one hundred and twenty grams to over one
hundred and fifty grams depending on how packed it is.
That's a huge.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Variance, and that throws your hydration percentage completely off completely.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
If you're aiming for a specific sixty five hydration but
your flour measurement is off by twenty or thirty grams,
your dough could end up way too dry or impossibly sticky.
You lose all control, all consistency. Weighing your ingredients, especially
flour and water, is the only way to guarantee you're
hitting your target ratios every single time.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Okay message received. Digital scale is mandatory for consistency. What
other tools are really helpful for mimicking that high heat
pizzeria environment?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You need something in your oven that can absorb and
hold a massive amount of heat and then transfer it
very quickly to the bottom of your pizza. The two
main options are a piece of stone or a baking steel.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Stone or steel. They sit in the oven while it preheats.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Exactly They soak up the heat like a battery. Then
when you slide your pizza onto that scorching hot surface,
it immediately dumps that intense heat.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Into the dell, searing the bottom crusts instantly.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
That's crucial for getting a crispy bottom and maximizing that
oven spring we keep talking about. Without one, the bottom
of your pizza often stays pale and soft while the
top burns now.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
The sources seem to lean towards the baking steel being
superior to the stone.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yes, based on the physics, steel generally has the edge
seal is a much better conductor of heat than ceramic
or cordierte stone. It also has a higher thermal mass,
meaning it can store more heat.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Energy, so it gets hotter and transfers heat faster.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Essentially, yes, steel heats up faster, it holds more heat,
and it transfers that heat to the dough much more
efficiently than stone. This typically results in an even crispier
bottom crust and potentially even better oven spring. It mimics
a professional deck even more.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Closely, so if you're investing, steel might be the better choice.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
It often is, though a good thick stone is still
miles better than just baking on a regular sheet.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Pan okay, scale for precisions, stone or steel for heat transfer.
What about actually handling the dough and getting it into the.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Oven A couple of simple tools help here. A dough scraper,
usually a metal or plastic bench scraper is really useful
for dividing the balk dough cleanly into portions and for
helping lift and handle sticky dough. And then you need
a way to get the shaped pizza onto that blazing
hot stone or steel. That's where pizza peel comes in.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
The big flat paddle thing exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
You build your pizza on the peel, which you've lightly
dusted with something to prevent sticking. Coarse corn meal or
semolina flour works great. They act like little ball bearings.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Or parchment paper.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Parchment paper is also a great option, especially for beginners.
You can build the pizza on the parchment, slide the
whole thing onto the peel, and then slide the parchment
and pizza onto the stone steel. It makes the transfer foolproof.
You might want to pull the parchment out from under
the pizza after a few minutes of baking to get
maximum bottom crisping.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Though. Good tip. Okay, we have the science, we have
the tools. Let's put it all together with the recipe
framework provided in the sources. They focused on a sixty
five percent hydration dough. Why that specific level.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Sixty five percent hydration is a really fa fantastic starting
point for home baker's aiming for restaurant quality. It's high
enough to give you good ovenspring, a nice open crumb,
and that desirable chew.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
But not so high that it's impossible to handle.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
It's exactly. It's wet, it'll feel stickier than standard bread dough,
but it's generally manageable with a bit of practice and
proper technique. It hits a great balance for a versatile,
medium thickness crust that's both crispy and chewy, perfect for
New York style for example.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Okay, so the specific ingredients for this sixty five percent
framework row five hundred grams of either bread flour or
zero zero.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Flour, depending on whether you want more chew red flour
or more cris tenderness.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Also right, three hundred and twenty five grams of lukewarm water.
That's sixty five percent of five hundred.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Grams perfect measured by weight.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Ten grams of salt about two percent of the flour.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Weight, which is standard YEP essential for flavor and structure.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Seven grams of yeast that's typically one standard packet of instant.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeast correct or about two and fourteen teaspoons if measuring.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Active dryms of olive oil, plus maybe a tea spoon
of sugar if you want that extra browning and tenderness like.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
A solid base recipe.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
So let's walk through the steps as outlined, hitting the
key techniques. Step one the mix. This is where yeast
activation happens if needed.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Right, if you're using active dry yeast, you dissolve it
in that three hundred and twenty five tree of lukewarm
water first, maybe with a pinch of the optional sugar,
and let it sit for five to ten minutes until
it gets filmy. That proves it's a live and kicking.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
And if using instant yeast, you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Can generally just whisk the instant YaST right into the
flour along with the salt. Then you combine the dry
ingredients with water and olive oil. Mix it all together
using your hands or a stand mixer with a dough hook,
just until it forms a shaggy rough dough where no
dry flour remains.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Okay, just combined. Then comes an interesting technique mentioned the
autol eyes a rest before kneading.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Yes, autoies pronounced auto les is simply letting that freshly
mixed shaggy dough sit covered for about twenty to thirty
minutes before you start the main needing process.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Why do that? What's happening during that rest?
Speaker 2 (27:04):
During that rest, the flower fully hydrates water penetrates the
flower particles completely. More importantly, the gluten forming proteins start
linking up on their own, beginning to form the network
without any mechanical work from you.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
So it kickstarts the gluten development passively, exactly.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
And the benefit is that when you do start kneading,
the dough is already partly developed. It makes the kneeding
process more efficient. Often reducing the total needing time required
can also lead to a dough that's more extensible, meaning
easier to stretch later on. It's a simple step with
real benefits.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Okay, autolized done, Now we move to step three kneading.
The recipe suggests eight ten minutes by hand, or maybe
five seven minutes in a mixer on low speed.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Those are good bullpark figures. The time isn't as important
as the result, though. You're looking for that transformation we
talked about from rough to smooth and elastic, and the
definitive check the window pane test. This is how you
know for sure that your gluten network is properly developed.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Okay, talk us through performing the window pain test.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
After you think the dough is sufficiently needed, pinch off
a small piece, maybe the size of a golf ball.
Gently using the fingertips of both hands, start stretching that
piece of dough outwards, rotating it as you go, stretching
it thin, very thin. You're trying to stretch it until
the center becomes translucent, thin enough that you could theoretically
read text through it, or at least see light pass
(28:24):
through easily, like looking through an old window pane. And
the key is the key is whether you can stretch
it that thin without it tearing. If the gluten is
well developed, the dough will have the strength and elasticity
to stretch into a thin membrane. If it tears easily
before becoming translucent, the gluten network isn't strong enough yet.
You need to need it for a few more minutes
(28:45):
and test again.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
That's a great visual confirmation. Okay, window Paine tests passed.
Gluten is perfect. Now. Step four bulk fermentation. This is
where we choose speed or flavor precisely.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Option one the quick route. Let the dough rise in
a covered, lightly oiled bowl at warm room temperature for
about one to two hours, or until it's roughly doubled
in size. Convenient, fast, decent pizza.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Option two the flavor route.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
The flavor route is the cold fermentation. After kneading, you
typically divide the dough into individual pizza sized balls, place
them in lightly oiled containers or bags, and put them
straight into a refrigerator for how long? For at least
twelve hours, but ideally twenty four, forty eight or even
up to seventy two hours. As we discussed, this slow
(29:32):
cold ferment is where that amazing flavor complexity develops.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
And if we go the cold route, there's a crucial
step before shaping, right.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Absolutely vital. You must take the cold dough balls out
of the refrigerator and let them sit covered at room
temperature for at least an hour, maybe even ninety minutes
before you try to shape them.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Why is that rest so important?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Coldbo is stiff, tight and lacks extensibility. The gluten is contracted.
If you try to stretch fridge cold dough, it will
just resist you constantly, probably tear and you won't be
able to shape it properly. Letting it come back to
room temperature allows the gluten to relax, making the dough
pliable and easy to stretch. Don't skip this tempering step.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Okay, dough is fermented. Tempered if needed now steps five
and six shaping technique. The source is warned. This is
where people can undo all their good work.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
It's true, after days of patient fermentation building up all
those lovely gas bubbles, you don't want to just mash
them all out. Gentleness is key.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Here, So how do you shape it? Gently? Start with
the dough ball.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Place the tempered dough ball on a lightly flowered surface,
using your fingertips, gently pressed down in the center of
the ball, working outwards in a spiral pattern, but leaving
about a one inch rim around the edge untouched.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Leave the edge puffy exactly.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
That untouched rim is your future corniceione the puffy crust
edge you want to preserve the air bubbles trapped there.
Keep pressing and gently stretching the center outwards, rotating the
dough until it reaches roughly the desired eyes and thickness.
You can also lift the dough and use gravity to
help stretch it, letting it drape over your knuckles.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
What's the absolute golden rule here?
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Avoid guessing the rim. Be gentle with that edge, and
work the dough just enough to get it stretched. Don't
overwork it.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
What if the dough starts resisting, it keeps snapping back
like a rubber band, that's.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
The gluten tightening up again, telling you it needs another break.
If the dough fights back and won't stretch easily, don't
force it.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Just let it rest.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Yes, simply lay the dough down, maybe cover it with
a cloth or bowl to prevent drawing, and walk away
for five or ten minutes. This lets the gluten relax again.
When you come back, you'll almost certainly find it stretches
much more easily. Patience pays off.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Okay, we've needed fermented and shaped. Now for those extra
pro tips that really elevate the final pizza.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Tip.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Number one seems to be all about maximizing that heat
we keep talking about the biggest home baking hurdle.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
According to the sources, it really is the game changer
and the single biggest mistake people may related to heat
is not preheating their oven and their stone or steel
for long enough.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
How long is long enough? The recipe mentioned a minimum
of forty five minutes.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Yes, minimum forty five minutes, but honestly a full hour
is even better. And that's at the absolute highest temperature
Your oven can reach.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
An hour, But my oven indicator light says it reached
five hundred degrees in like fifteen minutes.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
That light is measuring the air temperature inside the oven cavity.
It is not measuring the temperature of that thick slab
of stone or steel you have in there.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Ah, the thermal mass takes much longer.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
To heat up, much much longer. That stone or steel
needs that full hour to become thoroughly saturated with heat.
To reach its maximum thermal potential, you need it to
be radiating intense stored heat, not just sitting in hot air.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
And if you don't preheat long.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Enough, if you launch your pizza onto a stone that's
only been heating for fifteen to twenty minutes, you won't
have enough stored energy. It will transfer some heat initially,
but then its temperature will drop significantly under the cool dough.
The result a pale, potentially soft or even soggy bottom crust,
even if the top looks cooked. You need that sustained
intense bottom heat for crispiness and spring.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
So rule one pre heat thoroughly at least forty five
sixty minutes non negotiable.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
And we already mentioned the advantage of using a baking
steel if possible, as it stores and transfers heat even
more effectively than stone.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Right any other heat tips? Convection ovens.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Yes, if your oven has a convection setting, the one
with the fan, definitely use it for pizza. The fan
circulates the hot air rapidly and evenly throughout the oven.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
What does that do for the pizza?
Speaker 2 (33:32):
It leads to faster cooking and importantly promotes more even
and intense browning all over the crust, top, sides, and bottom.
It really helps maximize that Maillard reaction we discussed, giving
you better color and flavor.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Okay, max heat long preheat plus steel plus convection if possible.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Got it.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Pro Tip number two is about restraint, specifically with toppings.
The topping trap.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Ah, yes, the topping trap. You spent me days creating
this beautiful airy dough you've preheated perfectly, and then you
kill it by piling on way too many toppings.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Guilty is charged sometimes. Why is it so bad for
the crust?
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Two main reasons. First, wait, lots of heavy toppings literally
pressed down on the dough, compressing that beautiful airy structure
you work so hard to create. It physically inhibits the oven.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Spring crushes the bubbles exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Second, moisture, Many toppings, especially lots of sauce, certain vegetables
or fresh mozzarella, released a significant amount of water during baking.
This excess moisture sits on top of the dough, creating
steam right where you don't want.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
It, preventing the crust from crisping up, leading to sogginess.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Precisely, it guarantees a soggy center. If you want a
truly crisp, well risen restaurant style crust, you must be
judicious with your toppings.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
So what's the guideline? How much is too much?
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Think minimalist. For a typical twelve inch pizza, the sources
strongly recommend sticking to just two to three tablespoons of sauce,
spread very thinly.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Two to three tablespoons. That sounds like hard anything.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
It feels like it, but trust the process. Then a light,
even layer of cheese, don't bury it and keep the
other topping sparse. Aim for quality over sheer quantity. Let
the crust be the star.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Okay, less is more for toppings. Resist the urge to overload.
It's tough, but noted.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
One of the chefs quoted in the sources admitted his
biggest early failure was trying to make a garbage pizza
with like five pounds of wet ingredients on a delicate,
high hydration dough. He said it turned into a functionally
disastrous suit bowl. Hah.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Okay, that paints a picture. Right. Let's run through some
common troubleshooting scenarios, linking the problems back to the science.
First up, the dough is just uncontrollably sticky during kneading.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Okay, super sticky dough usually means the hydration is a
bit too high for the flour you're using, or maybe
you measured slightly inaccurately. The fix is simple, Add more flour,
Just dump more in No, add it very sparingly, dust
your hands in the work surface. Lightly, add maybe one
tablespoon of flour to the dough at a time, incorporated,
(36:03):
and see how it feels. Keep adding tiny amounts only
until the dough becomes manageable, smooth and tacky, but not
glued to everything. Don't overdo it and make the dough
too dry.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Got it? Add flour slowly. Next problem shaping the pizza,
and the dough just will not stretch. It keeps snapping back.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
That's the gluten being too tense. Either the dough is
still too cold, didn't temper long enough after the fridge,
or you've worked it a bit and the gluten network
is tightened up. It needs to relax.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
And the solution is patience.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Stop fighting it. Immediately, lay the dough down, cover it
lightly with plastic wrap or a towel, and just let
it rest at room temperature for five, ten, even fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Let the gluten chill out exactly.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
That rest time allows the gluten strands to loosen up.
When you go back to it, it should stretch much
more willingly.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Okay, simple fix. What if the final big pizza crust
is really dense and heavy, with hardly any air pockets.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Inside A dense crust usually points to one of three
things or a domination one insufficient gluten development, did you
need it long enough? Did it pass the window pane test?
If the structure wasn't built properly. It can't hold a gas.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Okay, check meeting.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
What else? Two? Insufficient fermentation or proofing. Did the dough
actually rise enough? Did you give the yeast enough time
to produce the CO two needed for lyft, especially relevant
for cold fermentation. Maybe it needed more time or a
longer warm up period.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Check the rise time and the third three.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Poor shaping technique. Were you too aggressive when stretching it?
Did you press down hard on the rim, effectively degassing
all those precious bubbles the yeast worked so hard to create.
Remember gentleness is key during shaping.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Right, protect the bubbles. Now for the arch nemesis, the
soggy bottom or center, ah.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
The dreaded soggy crust. This is almost always related to
heat transfer and moisture management, so the fixes are first
and foremost. Check your preheating. Did you really preheat that
stone or steel for a full forty five sixty minutes
at max temp? That intense bottom heat is critical, Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Preheat is number one suspect.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Second, radically, assess your topping load or using too much sauce, ye,
too many wet ingredients. Remember the less is more rule.
Try cutting back.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Significantly reduce the moisture on top.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Third, consider the type of cheese. Using fresh mozzirella packed
in water, it releases a lot of moisture. Switching to
a low moisture mozzirella the firmer block kind can make
a big difference.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Good point low moisture cheese, anything else for sogginess.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Ensure your oven temperature is truly maxed out. Sometimes ovens
aren't calibrated correctly and don't get as hot as the
dial says. An oven thermometer can help check that, okay.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Last common issue, the pizza browns unevenly, some parts dark,
some pale.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Uneven browning is usually caused by hot spots in your ebbon,
or uneven heat distribution across your stone. Steel or sometimes
uneven application of toppings can shield parts of the crust.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
How to fix it?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
The easiest fix is simply to rotate the pizza halfway
through its baking time. If it bakes for or say,
eight minutes total, quickly open the oven at the four
minute mark and turn the pizza one hundred and eighty degrees.
This exposes all signs to different heat zones and usually
results in much more even color. Also double check that
your toppings, especially sauce and cheese, are spread reasonably evenly.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
We've really nailed down the science and technique for this
core sixty five percent hydration dough. Now let's talk about
how tweaking that fundamental science, specially hydration, leads to different
classic pizza styles.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
It's a beautiful illustration of how the principles work. The
base ingredients are largely the same, but changing the water
ratio and maybe the baking environment totally transforms a result.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
So let's take that super high hydration dough we mentioned,
maybe seventy seventy five percent. What style does that create?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
That extremely high hydration often combined with zero zero flour
and a super hot fast bake idealing ninety seconds to
two minutes at over eight hundredgrees or as hot as
you can get at home, maybe five hundred plus for
five seven minutes, is the key to authentic Neapolitan style pizza.
And the characteristics very soft, tender, almost cloud like interior crumb,
(40:04):
a thin base in the center, and that very puffy, airy,
often leopard spotted charred cornicioni around the edge. It's delicate,
meant to be eaten.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Quickly okay, high hydration fast top bake equals neapolitan. Our
sixty five percent framework recipe fits were that's.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Sixty sixty five percent hydration range, often with bread flour
or a mix, maybe a touch of oil and sugar.
Baked it a slightly lower but still high temp, say
four hundred and fifty five hundred and fifty degrees up
for maybe eight twelve minutes. That's classic New York style territory.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Ah, the foldable flice.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Exactly, It's got more structure than Neapolitan. It's chewy, it's foldable,
but still has a crisp bottom. It's probably the most
versatile style for home ovens and a great all around
crowd pleaser. Our sixty five percent recipe is perfect for this.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
And if someone loves those thick, buttery, crispy edged pan
pizzas like Detroit style or Sicilian, for those.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
You generally drop the hydration down, maybe into the low
hydration range fifty five to sixty percent. It's a tighter,
denser dough that holds it shape well in.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
A pan, and often more oil right yes.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Pan pizza recipes often call for a significant amount of
olive oil both in the dough itself for richness and tenderness,
and generously coating the pan often a cast iron skillet
or a special deep dishpan to essentially fry the bottom
in size of the crust to an amazing crispness during baking.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
So hydration really dictates the style. Cool. Now, what about
flavoring the dough itself? The sources had some ideas beyond
just fermentation.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Yeah, you can definitely customize the base flavor. A simple
way is to play with the flower bland, like adding
whole wheat exactly. Substituting maybe twenty five percent or even
up to fifty percent of the white flour with whole
wheat flour adds a noticeable nutty, earthy flavor and boosts
the fiber content.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Does it change the handling?
Speaker 2 (41:49):
It does. Whole wheat flour absorbs more water, so you
might need to increase the hydration slightly. Also, the sharp
brand particles in whole week can slightly interfere with gluten development,
so the dough might feel a bit different or require
gendler hand, but the flava payoff can be great.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
What about quicker flavor additions?
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Super easy make an urban fuse dough just add about
one to two teaspoons of your favorite dried herbs regano, basil, thyme,
garlic powder, onion powder directly into the dry flour mixture
before you add the water.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Instant flavor boost.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Instant flavor boost that permeates the whole crust really nice
with simple toppings like a margarita or just cheese.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
And for the adventurous baker, the ultimate flavor challenge.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
That would be transitioning to a sour dough crust. This
means ditching the commercial yeast entirely and using an active
sour dough starter as your leven.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
This sounds complicated.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
It requires maintaining a starter, which is a commitment, and
you have to adjust the recipe. Typically you'd substitute about
one hundred grams or so of active starter for some
of the flour and water in the main recipe.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Recalculating your hydration and the fermentation is different.
Speaker 2 (42:53):
Oh yes, sour dough fermentation relies on wild yeast and bacteria,
which work much more slowly than commercial yeth. You need
a much longer fermentation time, often forty eight hours minimum
for good flavor, sometimes up to three or four days.
Mostly cold fermentation, but the flavor reward potentially immense. Sour
dough pizza crust can have an incredible tangy depth and
(43:14):
complexity that's very different from commercially yeasted dough. It's a
whole other level for those willing to put in the effort.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
Okay, lots of options. Since long fermentation is key for
the best flavor making, go ahead seems like a good idea.
How long does it keep?
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Pizza dough stores beautifully, which is great for planning. After
kneading and dividing into balls, you can store them tightly covered,
individually wrapped in plastic or in airtight containers in the refrigerator,
fro up.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
To three days and the flavor keeps developing.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Yes, that cold fermentation continues deepening the flavor right up
until you use it. Just remember that crucial step. Always
let the cold dough balls sit at room temperature for
about an hour to relax before you try to shape them.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Three days in the fridge, What about longer storage? Can
you freeze it?
Speaker 2 (44:00):
Absolutely? Pizza dough freeze is exceptionally well. Place the individual
dough balls in freezer safe bags, squeeze out as much
air as possible, and they'll keep in the freezer for
up to three months.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
How do you use it from frozen?
Speaker 2 (44:13):
The best way is to thaw it slowly. Transfer the
frozen dough ball from the freezer to the refrigerator the
night before you plan to use it, Let it thaw
overnight in the fridge, and then then about an hour
or ninety minutes before you want to shape it, take
it out of the fridge and let it do that
final rest at room temperature, just like you would with
refrigerated dough.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
Fall slow, then temper perfect for making big batches.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
Finally, we have this amazing crust. The sources suggested some
classic pairings. The theme seem to be simplicity.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Definitely, when you've put this much effort into the dough,
you want to let it shine. The absolute classic test
is the margarita. Just simple tomato, sauce, San Marzano, ideally
fresh mozzarella you sparingly, maybe torn fresh basil leaves added
after baking, and a drizzle of good olive oil. It's
all about the crust, sauce and cheese balance.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Can't beat a good margarita or.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
The perennial favorite pepperoni. Quality pepperoni maybe some dried oregano,
simple delicious.
Speaker 2 (45:12):
What about non tomato options? The white pizza Pizza Bianca
is fantastic, no tomato sauce. Instead, you might use a
base of ricotta cheese mixed with garlic and herbs, topped
with mozzarella, maybe some spinach or other greens. It really
lets the dough's flavor come through and removes one source
of potential sogginess.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
Great ideas to get started hashtag tag outro. Wow, this
has been quite the deep dive. It really hammers home
that making truly great pizza dough isn't magic, is it.
It's this fascinating blend of art. You know, the feel,
the technique of handling the dough, the craft of it,
and science, the hard numbers of hydration, the chemistry of
yeast and fermentation, the physics of heat transfer in the oven.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Absolutely, and hopefully you the listener, now feel like you
have that blueprint we talked about the knowledge to move
beyond just ok us to something genuinely special, crispy chewy, complex,
artisanal quality right at home.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
The key takeaways seem pretty clear. Weigh your ingredients religiously,
especially flour and water. Use a good quality high protein
flower if you want, you don't underestimate the power of time.
That long cold fermentation is where the magic happens for flavor.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
And respect the heat, preheat that evidence stone or stealed properly.
It makes such a huge difference.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
I think part of the reward, too, is just the
process itself, isn't it. There's something uniquely satisfying about taking
those simple ingredients and meeting the dough, watching it transform
over days, and then finally achieving that perfectly blistered, flavorful
crust you made entirely yourself.
Speaker 2 (46:40):
Couldn't agree more. It connects you to the food in
a really fundamental way. And so thinking about that journey
and the power of fermentation, we explored here's a final
thought for you, the listener, to maybe explore on your own.
We established that the twelve to seventy two hour cold
fermentation window is optimal. You'll definitely notice a difference between
a twelve hour and a twenty four hour four or
(47:00):
more tang more complexity at twenty four hours. But what
happens when you really push it? What new layers have profound, nuanced,
maybe deeply savor you mommy flavors? Can you unlock when
you let that dough mature for the full seventy two
hours in the cold. That extended time allows for some
truly incredible enzymatic activity in microbial development. The difference between
(47:21):
forty eight and seventy two hours can be subtle but significant.
That's a level of flavor complexity that's definitely worth experimenting
with on your own. Now that you have the foundation,
something to think about for your next patch.
Welcome to the deep dive. Today. We're diving into something
I think a lot of us aspire to but maybe
find a bit intimidating. That's making truly great, like restaurant
style pizza dough right in our own kitchens.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
The fantastic goal.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah, we want to completely leave behind those you know, weak,
kind of pale, sometimes depressingly soggy crusts that can happen
at home.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely, we're aiming for that ideal, aren't we. Yeah, the
crust that's crispy, maybe a little blistered on the outside.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Exactly, but still light and airy inside, chewy and with
a real depth of flavor, the kind that tastes like
it came from a pro kitchen.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's a great mission. And you know, our listener actually
sent over a really impressive set of sources, very detail
they really did.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It treats pizza dough almost like a science project, doesn't it?
Not just a simple recipe.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
That's right. The sources recognize that going from just an
okay crust to something truly superior it takes precision, It
takes understanding what's actually happening chemically precisely.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
So that's our job today. We're going to take all
that great information you sent, pull out the absolute must
knows the chemistry bits, the pro techniques, the timing, all
of it, and will synthesize it down into something really
actionable for you, the listener, a kind of a blueprint.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Maybe a blueprint sounds good, so you can confidently make
a dough that honestly rivals those amazing artisanal pizzas you
pay good money for.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
We're trying to move past the guesswork stage here.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, getting into the why why does bread flour give
you you? Why is letting dough sit for days actually
a good thing?
Speaker 1 (01:33):
And why cranking your home of and up as high
as it goes is so important?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Exactly? Those details make all the difference.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And before we really jump into the science, let's just
touch on the payoff, Like why put in this effort?
Good question, because honestly, making dough from scratch it's more
than just cooking, isn't it? It feels kind of empowering.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It really does. You get total control, You.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Control the texture, the flavor, you can tweak it however
you want, and let's be honest, the cost is amazing.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Oh yeah, pennies, Really you're.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Using basic pantry stuff flour, water, yeast versus what a
thirty dollars pizza delivery and the quality you can get
at home. It's often just.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Way better, no comparison sometimes. Plus there's just that satisfaction
seeing your own dough puff up beautifully in the oven.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
That oven spring moment ah, yes, dove in spring free.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
To rewarding, take something simple and makes it feel kind
of special.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Okay, So let's get into the foundations. The sources you
sent lay out this whole idea around the science of
great pizza dough. They say success really hinges on four
key pillars.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
That's the framework. They build on four pillars, and they're
all linked. Get one wrong and the whole thing can
kind of stumble.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And those are.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Ingredients, hydration, fermentation, and technique. You need to understand and
control each one, right.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So let's start with pillar one. Ingredients seems simple, usually
just five things, right, flour, water, yeast, salt, maybe oil
or sugar exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
But we need to dig a bit deeper than just
listing them. Each one has a very specific job to do,
especially the flour.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Flour. Okay, that's the structure provider, isn't it the backbone
of the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
It absolutely is. Flour is the skeleton, and the key
thing within the flower is its protein content, specifically those
proteins that form gluten, glutenin and.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Gladin gluten the magic network.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Pretty much, and the amount of protein dictates the kind
of crust you'll get. There are basically three main choices.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
You'll encounter, and those define the final texture hugely.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So if you want a crust that's really chewy, sturdy, elastic,
you know, the kind you can stretch super thin for
a New York slice or that holds up in a pan, Yeah,
then you really need bread flour or what's called high
gluten flour. These have a higher protein percentage, usually somewhere
between twelve and fourteen percent.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Okay, twelve to fourteen percent protein.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Right, And when that protein gets wet and you need it,
it forms this strong, interconnected web, the gluten matrix. That's
what traps the gas from the yeast and gives you
that structure and chew.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So high protein equals strong chwo. Got it. But then
there's that fancy Italian flower, the zero zero flower. People
rate about that one for pizza.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Ah, yes, dopeio zero. It's definitely popular, especially for Neopolitan style.
The deo zero actually refers to how finely it's milk.
It's like powder, superfine, superfine. Its protein content is often
a bit lower, maybe more than ten to twelve percent range.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So less protein than bread flour typically.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yes, and that difference, while it sounds small, is significant.
Bread flour gives you that robust chewiness. Zero zero flower,
because it's finer and slightly lower in protein, gives you
a crust that's noticeably softer, more tender, but also really crisp.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Softer and crisp beer. Interesting. That's the Neapolitan goal, right, exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
That delicate quick bake style. Now the sources do mention
all purpose flour. It works, you can make pizza with it,
but its protein content is usually lower, and more importantly,
it could be really inconsistent from brand to brand. You'll
generally end up with a much softer, less structured crust.
It might be fine for some things, but maybe not
that classic restaurant chew or Christmas.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Okay, so flower choice is crucial for texture. What's next?
You need to activate that flower? Right?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Water, Water is absolutely essential. It does a few key things. First,
it hydrates those flour proteins, allowing gluten development to even
start kicks things off. Second, it dissolves the salt and
any sugar you might add, distributing them evenly. And Third,
really importantly, it wakes up the yeast. Ah.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
The yeast activation temperature matters here, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Critically, especially if you're using active dry yeast, the kind
that often comes in little packets. That type needs to
be proofed or activated in water.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
First, and the water needs to be lukewarm.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
The sweet spot is generally around one hundred degrees fahrenheit,
maybe up to one hundred and ten think comfortable bath
water temperature.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Not too hot, not too cold, exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Too cold, and the yeast just stays sleepy. It won't
activate properly. Too hot, say over one hundred and twenty
or one hundred and thirty degrees, and you'll actually kill
the yeast game over before you start right.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
So lukewarm is key for active dry What about instant yeast?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Inst the yeast is a bit more forgiving. It's designed
so you can often mix it straight in with the
dry ingredients, though some people still like to give it
a quick bloom in the water just to be sure
it's active.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Okay, so water activates. Then we have the yeast itself,
the engine.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
You called it, engine of lightness. Yeah, yeast is fascinating.
It's a living, single celled fungus.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
A fungus making our pizza delicious.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Pretty much. What it does is eat the sugars naturally
present in the flour, and as it metabolizes them, it
produces two main things we care about, which are carbon
dioxide CO. Two. Those are the bubbles that make the
dough rise and give it that airy texture the lift,
and ethanol, which is an alcohol That might sound weird,
but the ethanol and other compounds produced during fermentation are
(06:51):
huge contributors to the final flavor of the crust.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Ah, So, yeast isn't just about bubbles. It's flavor too.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Big time. And as you mentioned, the main types are
active dry yeast, which needs that careful proving, and instant yeast,
which is generally easier to use for home baking. Instant
is often preferred for its reliability.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Okay, flour water yeast. Then we have the sporting cast salt, maybe,
olive oil, maybe sugar. Let's start with salt. Is it
really necessary?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Oh? Absolutely? Non negotiable. Salt does way more than just
make the dough taste good, although that's important too. Without it,
dough tastes incredibly flat, almost metallic.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Okay, flavor enhancer, what else?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Structure salt actually pays a crucial role in controlling the
yeast activity and strengthening the gluten network. How does it
do that It slightly slows down the fermentation rate. This
might seem counterintuitive, but by gently moderating the yeast, salt
allows the gluten structure to develop more fully and evenly,
especially during long cold proofs. It creates a tighter, more
(07:52):
stable dough.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Interesting. So salt is key for both taste and texture.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Fundamental, don't skip it or reduce it too much.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Got it? Now? The optionals olive oil and sugar. What
do they bring to the party.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Olive oil primarily adds richness and tenderness. The fat molecules
kind of coat the gluten strands slightly, inhibiting them from
linking up too tightly.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
So it makes the crust softer.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, softer crom or richer flavor. It's really nice in
pan pizzas or thicker styles where you want that richness.
Maybe less traditional for a super crisp lean Neapolitan style
but great elsewhere makes sense.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
And sugar is that just to feed the yeast.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
It does give the yeast a little quick boost, yeah,
which can speed up the initial rise slightly. But arguably
it's more important role comes during baking.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
How so, sugar contributes significantly to browning. It participates in
both caramelization and the Maillard reaction when heated.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Ah, the Maillard reaction, we'll come back to that. But basically,
sugar helps the crust get that nice golden brown color
and savory flavor exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Just a little bit can make a noticeable difference in
the final color and taste complexity.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Okay, ingredients covered, rolls understood. Now for what the sources
call a really defining concept, hydration.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
This sounds technical, It sounds technical, but the concept is simple,
though its impact is huge. Hydration is just the ratio
of water to flour by.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Weight, by weight, not by cups.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Absolutely critical by weight. So if your recipe calls for
one thousand grams of flour and you add six hundred
and fifty grams of water, that's sixty five percent hydration.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Six hundred and fifty divide by a thousand, Okay, and.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
That percentage is probably the single biggest dial you can
turn to control the final texture of your crust.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Really, just the water amount makes that much.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Difference, oh completely, Even a change of say five percent
hydration can radically alter how the dough feels, how easy
it is to work with, and how it bakes.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Wow. So what are the typical ranges and what do
they do?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Okay, think about the extremes. Low hydration, maybe down around
fifty five to sixty percent. That dough feels quite stiff, dense,
not very sticky. It's easy to handle, and the result
usually a denser, tighter crumb. Good for really sturdy crusts,
maybe some cracker thin styles or certain types of pan pizza.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Okay, low hydration, dense crust. What about the other end?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
For that lighter areer, crispy but chewy texture that we
often associate with restaurant pizza, especially Neapolitan or good New
York slices, we need high hydration. We're tyking typically sixty
five percent, up to maybe seventy five percent, sometimes even
higher for specific styles like Roman pizza.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I'll tell you sixty five to seventy five percent. That
sounds like a lot of water. Relative to the flower.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
It is, and that means the dough will be much wetter,
much stickier, and frankly more challenging to handle, especially for beginners.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
So why bother with the sticky mess? What's the payoff
for high hydration?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Two main things incredible chew and amazing oven spring.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Oven spring again explain that connection.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
When you put that high hydration dough into a very
hot oven, all that extra water trapped inside the gluten
network instantly converts to.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Steam, a mini explosion exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
A powerful rapid expansion. That steam inflates the existing air
bottles created by the east, causing the dough to puff
up dramatically. That's oven spring. It's what creates those beautiful, large,
irregular holes inside the crust, the cornisione, the edge, and
contributes to that light, airy texture. Ah.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
So the water literally inflates the dough.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
With steam precisely. Low hydration dough just doesn't have enough
free water to create that same effect.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
I'm picturing trying to eat seventy five percent hydration dough.
It sounds sloppy, It can be.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
It often feels really shaggy, almost like thick porridge. At first.
The sources point out that working with really high hydration
doughs often requires different techniques, not necessarily vigorous kneading on
a flowered counter, like what things like using wet hands
to handle it, doing stretches and folds right in the
mixing bowl, or using methods like the slap and fold
(11:45):
technique where you're literally slapping the dough onto the counter
and folding it over itself. It stcks less that way.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Okay, different handling for wet dough. Now. The sources also
mentioned something practical about hydration adjusting for your environment.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yes, that's a really important point. Flour is hygroscopic, meaning
meaning it absorbs moisture from the surrounding air. So if
you live somewhere really humid, your flower might already contain
a bit more moisture than flower stored in a very
dry climate.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
So the same weight of flour might act differently depending
on the weather.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
It can subtly, so on a very humid day you
might find you need to reduce the water in your
recipe by just a tiny amount, maybe five or ten grams,
to get the dough to feel right.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And the opposite, if it's super dry exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Your flour might be extra thirsty, and you might need
to add a few extra grams of water to reach
that target.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Consistency, which highlights again why measuring by weight is so crucial.
A cup of flour is even more variable in humidity.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Absolutely weight gives you control. Volume is just too inconsistent
for precise results, especially when hydration is so key.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Okay, Pillar one ingredients and pillar two hydration are down.
Let's move to pillar three time, or more specifically, fermentation.
You called this the flavor engine.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I really think it is. Once you've mixed your ingredients
and the yeast is active, the clock starts ticking on fermentation,
and this process is where the real deep, complex flavors
of great pizza crust orre born.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
So it's not just about letting the dough rise.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Rising is part of it, that's the CO two production,
but fermentation is the entire metabolic process. The yeast is
consuming sugars from the flour, and besides CO two, it's
producing a whole cocktail of other organic compounds, things like
ethanol which we mentioned, but also various acids mainly lactic
acid and acetic galid acids.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
In pizza dough.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Absolutely yea and they were huge flavor contributors. Lactic acid
tends to give a milder, sometimes slightly tangy, creamy almost
sweet note think yogurt. Acetic acid, on the other hand,
provides a sharper, more pronounced tanginess. That's the flavor you
strongly associate with sour dough bread.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Ah. So the balance of these acids creates the flavor profile.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Exactly, and the conditions of fermentation heavily influence which compounds
are produced and in amounts.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Which brings us to the big comparison. The sources make
a quick warm rise versus a long cold one.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Yes, this is probably the most significant choice you make
regarding flavor development. You can just let your dough double
at room temperature for an hour or two. It's convenient,
it works. You'll get pizza, but the flavor will be
relatively simple, mostly just yeasty. To get that really complex, nuanced,
slightly tangy flavor you find in the best pizzaia crusts,
(14:27):
you need slow cold fermentation.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
The gold standard they called it.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
It really is. This means putting your dough in the refrigerator,
typically after kneading and maybe a short initial rest, for
an extended period.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
How long are we talking?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
The optimal window seems to be somewhere between twelve hours
on the very short end up to seventy two hours.
That's three days on the long end. Many sources lean
towards twenty four to forty eight hours as a fantastic
sweet spot.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Wow, three days in the fridge. What is happening during
that time that makes the flavor so much better?
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Well? Two main things. First, the cold temperature dramatically slows
down the yeast's activity. It doesn't kill it, just puts
it in slow motion. In this slower state, the yeast
metabolism shifts. It still produces CO two, but much more slowly. Crucially,
it tends to produce a higher proportion of those desirable
flavor compounds, including more of that tangy acetic acid, relative
(15:17):
to just alcohol and CO two.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
So slowing it down changes what.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It makes to some extent. Yes. But secondly, and perhaps
just as importantly, that long slow ferment gives the natural
enzymes already present in the flower time.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
To work enzymes. What are they doing?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Flour contains enzymes like amlase and protease. Over that long
cold period, amiase breaks down complex starches in the flour
into simpler sugars.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Making more food available for the use later exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And also contributing to better browning during baking. Protease enzymes
meanwhile start to break down some of the proteins, including gluten.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Wait isn't breaking down gluten bad.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
A little bit of breakdown over a long ferment is
actually good. It helps make the dough more extensible, easier
to stretch, and contributes to a more tender final crumb.
It's all about balance. But mostly this enzymatic activity, combined
with the yeast slow production of acids and other compounds,
creates a depth and complexity of flavor that subtle tang
(16:15):
those nutty notes that you simply cannot replicate with a
quick one hour rise.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
So time equals flavor. It's like aging wine or cheese.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
That's a perfect analogy. You're letting time do the work
to develop complexity.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Okay, the magic of time is clear. Now for Pillar
four technique, this seems to cover two main areas, how
we handle the dough physically kneading and how we bake it.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
The heat right technique is about optimizing the physical structure.
We started building with the writ ingredients and hydration, and
then finishing it correctly in the oven. Let's start with
kneading kneading.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
We do this to develop the gluten right Precisely.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
When you first mix flour and water, the gluten proteins
glutenin and gliadin are just randomly jumbled up. Kneading is
the physical work stretching, fold compressing that encourages these proteins
to link up and align into long, elastic strands and sheets.
That forms the gluten network.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And getting this network right is crucial. The source is mentioned.
It's a balancing act.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
It really is. You can definitely underdo it or overdo it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
What happens if you undernead?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
If you don't need enough, the gluten network remains weak
and underdeveloped. The strands are short, disorganized. This weak structure
can't effectively trap the gas produced by the yeast during
fermentation and proofing, so the result is a dense, heavy crust.
It won't rise well. The texture will be tight, maybe
even gummy. Not pleasant.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Okay, avoid underkneading. What about the other extreme? Can you
actually need too much?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yes, you absolutely can, especially if you're using a powerful
stand mixer. Overkneading does two bad things. First, the friction
can generate too much heat, which can negatively affect the
yeast and the dose flavor development.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Didnt think about friction heat?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah? Second, you can actually start to break down those
long gluten chains you just work so hard to build.
If you overknead, the dough can become overly sticky again,
or paradoxically, it can become tough and rubbery, making it
difficult to stretch later.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
So what's the goal? How do you know when to
stop kneading.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You're looking for a transformation. The dough should go from
being a shaggy, maybe sticky mass to becoming smooth, supple,
and elastic. It should feel slightly tacky, but not stick
excessively to your hands.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Is there a definitive test, Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
The classic window pain test. We'll talk more about how
to do that when we get to the recipe steps,
but it's the best way to visually confirm that the
gluten is fully developed.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Okay, window pain tests for perfect kneeding. Once the structure
is built through kneading and fermentation, we get to the
final technique baking, And the sources were emphatic here, high
heat non negotiable.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Absolutely, This is probably the biggest difference between home pizza
attempts and pizzer rear results. Professional pizza ovens are incredibly hot,
often running between seven hundred and nine hundred degrees fahrenheit,
sometimes even higher for specific CIS styles.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Nine hundred degrees. Why is that extreme heat so important?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
It drives several crucial things simultaneously and very quickly. First,
as we discussed, it, triggers that massive instantaneous oven spring
by turning the dose internal water into.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Scheme puff, creates the airy structure.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Second, the intense heat rapidly sets the exterior of the crust,
creating that crisp outer layer before the inside gets a
chance to dry out completely.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Crisp outside, moist inside exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
And Third, and vitally, for flavor and appearance, that high
heat dramatically accelerates the Mallard reaction in caramelization on the
crust surface.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Okay, Maillard reaction, let's define that quickly for everyone.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Sure, it's a complex series of chemical reactions that happen
between amino acids from the protein the flour and reducing
sugars either naturally present, added or created by enzymes when
they're heated, and it's responsible for it it's responsible for
the browning of food, but more importantly, it creates hundreds
of different aroma and flavor compounds. That deeply savory, roasted,
(20:02):
almost meaty flavor you get on a perfectly browned pizza
crust or the crust of bread or seared steak, that's
largely the Mailard reaction.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So low heat won't trigger it properly.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Right, if you bake your pizza at say, three hundred
and fifty degrees fahrenheit, the dough will eventually cook through,
but you'll mostly just be dehydrating it. You won't get
that intense browning or the complex flavors the Mayard reaction provides.
Picking at five hundred or five hundred and fifty degrees,
now you're getting that rapid transformation, that flavor development. It's
the hallmark of a great crust.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Okay, but obviously my home oven doesn't go to nine
hundred degrees. What's the realistic target for us at home?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
You want to go as high as your oven can
safely go. For most home movens, that's usually somewhere between
four hundred and fifty and five hundred fifty because crease
fahrenheit max.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
It out set it to the highest temperature.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yes, and as the source of stress, just reaching that
temperature isn't enough. You need to ensure that heat is
effectively stored and transferred to the pizza. Which brings us
neatly onto the topic of tools.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Right in precision, this almost feels like a fifth pillar,
doesn't it getting the execution right? And the sources were
incredibly clear about one tool being absolutely essential, non negotiable.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
They said they did, and they're right. It's the digital scale. Seriously,
if you take only one piece of advice away from
this whole deep dive, let it be this. Ditch the
measuring cups for your flour and water, start weighing them.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Why such a strong stance against cups, We've all.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Used them for years because volume measurements for compressible solids
like flour are just wildly inconsistent. How much flower fits
in a cup depends entirely on how you fill it.
Did you scoop it directly from the bag and lever it.
Did you spoon it lightly into the cup? Is the
flour sifted?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Ah? I see the density changes massively.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
A single cup of all purpose flour can easily weigh
anywhere from one hundred and twenty grams to over one
hundred and fifty grams depending on how packed it is.
That's a huge.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Variance, and that throws your hydration percentage completely off completely.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
If you're aiming for a specific sixty five hydration but
your flour measurement is off by twenty or thirty grams,
your dough could end up way too dry or impossibly sticky.
You lose all control, all consistency. Weighing your ingredients, especially
flour and water, is the only way to guarantee you're
hitting your target ratios every single time.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Okay message received. Digital scale is mandatory for consistency. What
other tools are really helpful for mimicking that high heat
pizzeria environment?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You need something in your oven that can absorb and
hold a massive amount of heat and then transfer it
very quickly to the bottom of your pizza. The two
main options are a piece of stone or a baking steel.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Stone or steel. They sit in the oven while it preheats.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Exactly They soak up the heat like a battery. Then
when you slide your pizza onto that scorching hot surface,
it immediately dumps that intense heat.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Into the dell, searing the bottom crusts instantly.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
That's crucial for getting a crispy bottom and maximizing that
oven spring we keep talking about. Without one, the bottom
of your pizza often stays pale and soft while the
top burns now.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
The sources seem to lean towards the baking steel being
superior to the stone.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yes, based on the physics, steel generally has the edge
seal is a much better conductor of heat than ceramic
or cordierte stone. It also has a higher thermal mass,
meaning it can store more heat.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Energy, so it gets hotter and transfers heat faster.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Essentially, yes, steel heats up faster, it holds more heat,
and it transfers that heat to the dough much more
efficiently than stone. This typically results in an even crispier
bottom crust and potentially even better oven spring. It mimics
a professional deck even more.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Closely, so if you're investing, steel might be the better choice.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
It often is, though a good thick stone is still
miles better than just baking on a regular sheet.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Pan okay, scale for precisions, stone or steel for heat transfer.
What about actually handling the dough and getting it into the.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Oven A couple of simple tools help here. A dough scraper,
usually a metal or plastic bench scraper is really useful
for dividing the balk dough cleanly into portions and for
helping lift and handle sticky dough. And then you need
a way to get the shaped pizza onto that blazing
hot stone or steel. That's where pizza peel comes in.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
The big flat paddle thing exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
You build your pizza on the peel, which you've lightly
dusted with something to prevent sticking. Coarse corn meal or
semolina flour works great. They act like little ball bearings.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Or parchment paper.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Parchment paper is also a great option, especially for beginners.
You can build the pizza on the parchment, slide the
whole thing onto the peel, and then slide the parchment
and pizza onto the stone steel. It makes the transfer foolproof.
You might want to pull the parchment out from under
the pizza after a few minutes of baking to get
maximum bottom crisping.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Though. Good tip. Okay, we have the science, we have
the tools. Let's put it all together with the recipe
framework provided in the sources. They focused on a sixty
five percent hydration dough. Why that specific level.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Sixty five percent hydration is a really fa fantastic starting
point for home baker's aiming for restaurant quality. It's high
enough to give you good ovenspring, a nice open crumb,
and that desirable chew.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
But not so high that it's impossible to handle.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
It's exactly. It's wet, it'll feel stickier than standard bread dough,
but it's generally manageable with a bit of practice and
proper technique. It hits a great balance for a versatile,
medium thickness crust that's both crispy and chewy, perfect for
New York style for example.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Okay, so the specific ingredients for this sixty five percent
framework row five hundred grams of either bread flour or
zero zero.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Flour, depending on whether you want more chew red flour
or more cris tenderness.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Also right, three hundred and twenty five grams of lukewarm water.
That's sixty five percent of five hundred.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Grams perfect measured by weight.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Ten grams of salt about two percent of the flour.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Weight, which is standard YEP essential for flavor and structure.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Seven grams of yeast that's typically one standard packet of instant.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeast correct or about two and fourteen teaspoons if measuring.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Active dryms of olive oil, plus maybe a tea spoon
of sugar if you want that extra browning and tenderness like.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
A solid base recipe.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
So let's walk through the steps as outlined, hitting the
key techniques. Step one the mix. This is where yeast
activation happens if needed.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Right, if you're using active dry yeast, you dissolve it
in that three hundred and twenty five tree of lukewarm
water first, maybe with a pinch of the optional sugar,
and let it sit for five to ten minutes until
it gets filmy. That proves it's a live and kicking.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
And if using instant yeast, you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Can generally just whisk the instant YaST right into the
flour along with the salt. Then you combine the dry
ingredients with water and olive oil. Mix it all together
using your hands or a stand mixer with a dough hook,
just until it forms a shaggy rough dough where no
dry flour remains.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Okay, just combined. Then comes an interesting technique mentioned the
autol eyes a rest before kneading.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Yes, autoies pronounced auto les is simply letting that freshly
mixed shaggy dough sit covered for about twenty to thirty
minutes before you start the main needing process.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Why do that? What's happening during that rest?
Speaker 2 (27:04):
During that rest, the flower fully hydrates water penetrates the
flower particles completely. More importantly, the gluten forming proteins start
linking up on their own, beginning to form the network
without any mechanical work from you.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
So it kickstarts the gluten development passively, exactly.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
And the benefit is that when you do start kneading,
the dough is already partly developed. It makes the kneeding
process more efficient. Often reducing the total needing time required
can also lead to a dough that's more extensible, meaning
easier to stretch later on. It's a simple step with
real benefits.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Okay, autolized done, Now we move to step three kneading.
The recipe suggests eight ten minutes by hand, or maybe
five seven minutes in a mixer on low speed.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Those are good bullpark figures. The time isn't as important
as the result, though. You're looking for that transformation we
talked about from rough to smooth and elastic, and the
definitive check the window pane test. This is how you
know for sure that your gluten network is properly developed.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Okay, talk us through performing the window pain test.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
After you think the dough is sufficiently needed, pinch off
a small piece, maybe the size of a golf ball.
Gently using the fingertips of both hands, start stretching that
piece of dough outwards, rotating it as you go, stretching
it thin, very thin. You're trying to stretch it until
the center becomes translucent, thin enough that you could theoretically
read text through it, or at least see light pass
(28:24):
through easily, like looking through an old window pane. And
the key is the key is whether you can stretch
it that thin without it tearing. If the gluten is
well developed, the dough will have the strength and elasticity
to stretch into a thin membrane. If it tears easily
before becoming translucent, the gluten network isn't strong enough yet.
You need to need it for a few more minutes
(28:45):
and test again.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
That's a great visual confirmation. Okay, window Paine tests passed.
Gluten is perfect. Now. Step four bulk fermentation. This is
where we choose speed or flavor precisely.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Option one the quick route. Let the dough rise in
a covered, lightly oiled bowl at warm room temperature for
about one to two hours, or until it's roughly doubled
in size. Convenient, fast, decent pizza.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Option two the flavor route.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
The flavor route is the cold fermentation. After kneading, you
typically divide the dough into individual pizza sized balls, place
them in lightly oiled containers or bags, and put them
straight into a refrigerator for how long? For at least
twelve hours, but ideally twenty four, forty eight or even
up to seventy two hours. As we discussed, this slow
(29:32):
cold ferment is where that amazing flavor complexity develops.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
And if we go the cold route, there's a crucial
step before shaping, right.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Absolutely vital. You must take the cold dough balls out
of the refrigerator and let them sit covered at room
temperature for at least an hour, maybe even ninety minutes
before you try to shape them.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Why is that rest so important?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Coldbo is stiff, tight and lacks extensibility. The gluten is contracted.
If you try to stretch fridge cold dough, it will
just resist you constantly, probably tear and you won't be
able to shape it properly. Letting it come back to
room temperature allows the gluten to relax, making the dough
pliable and easy to stretch. Don't skip this tempering step.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Okay, dough is fermented. Tempered if needed now steps five
and six shaping technique. The source is warned. This is
where people can undo all their good work.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
It's true, after days of patient fermentation building up all
those lovely gas bubbles, you don't want to just mash
them all out. Gentleness is key.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Here, So how do you shape it? Gently? Start with
the dough ball.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Place the tempered dough ball on a lightly flowered surface,
using your fingertips, gently pressed down in the center of
the ball, working outwards in a spiral pattern, but leaving
about a one inch rim around the edge untouched.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Leave the edge puffy exactly.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
That untouched rim is your future corniceione the puffy crust
edge you want to preserve the air bubbles trapped there.
Keep pressing and gently stretching the center outwards, rotating the
dough until it reaches roughly the desired eyes and thickness.
You can also lift the dough and use gravity to
help stretch it, letting it drape over your knuckles.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
What's the absolute golden rule here?
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Avoid guessing the rim. Be gentle with that edge, and
work the dough just enough to get it stretched. Don't
overwork it.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
What if the dough starts resisting, it keeps snapping back
like a rubber band, that's.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
The gluten tightening up again, telling you it needs another break.
If the dough fights back and won't stretch easily, don't
force it.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Just let it rest.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Yes, simply lay the dough down, maybe cover it with
a cloth or bowl to prevent drawing, and walk away
for five or ten minutes. This lets the gluten relax again.
When you come back, you'll almost certainly find it stretches
much more easily. Patience pays off.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Okay, we've needed fermented and shaped. Now for those extra
pro tips that really elevate the final pizza.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Tip.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Number one seems to be all about maximizing that heat
we keep talking about the biggest home baking hurdle.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
According to the sources, it really is the game changer
and the single biggest mistake people may related to heat
is not preheating their oven and their stone or steel
for long enough.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
How long is long enough? The recipe mentioned a minimum
of forty five minutes.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Yes, minimum forty five minutes, but honestly a full hour
is even better. And that's at the absolute highest temperature
Your oven can reach.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
An hour, But my oven indicator light says it reached
five hundred degrees in like fifteen minutes.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
That light is measuring the air temperature inside the oven cavity.
It is not measuring the temperature of that thick slab
of stone or steel you have in there.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Ah, the thermal mass takes much longer.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
To heat up, much much longer. That stone or steel
needs that full hour to become thoroughly saturated with heat.
To reach its maximum thermal potential, you need it to
be radiating intense stored heat, not just sitting in hot air.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
And if you don't preheat long.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Enough, if you launch your pizza onto a stone that's
only been heating for fifteen to twenty minutes, you won't
have enough stored energy. It will transfer some heat initially,
but then its temperature will drop significantly under the cool dough.
The result a pale, potentially soft or even soggy bottom crust,
even if the top looks cooked. You need that sustained
intense bottom heat for crispiness and spring.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
So rule one pre heat thoroughly at least forty five
sixty minutes non negotiable.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
And we already mentioned the advantage of using a baking
steel if possible, as it stores and transfers heat even
more effectively than stone.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Right any other heat tips? Convection ovens.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Yes, if your oven has a convection setting, the one
with the fan, definitely use it for pizza. The fan
circulates the hot air rapidly and evenly throughout the oven.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
What does that do for the pizza?
Speaker 2 (33:32):
It leads to faster cooking and importantly promotes more even
and intense browning all over the crust, top, sides, and bottom.
It really helps maximize that Maillard reaction we discussed, giving
you better color and flavor.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Okay, max heat long preheat plus steel plus convection if possible.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Got it.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Pro Tip number two is about restraint, specifically with toppings.
The topping trap.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Ah, yes, the topping trap. You spent me days creating
this beautiful airy dough you've preheated perfectly, and then you
kill it by piling on way too many toppings.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Guilty is charged sometimes. Why is it so bad for
the crust?
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Two main reasons. First, wait, lots of heavy toppings literally
pressed down on the dough, compressing that beautiful airy structure
you work so hard to create. It physically inhibits the oven.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Spring crushes the bubbles exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Second, moisture, Many toppings, especially lots of sauce, certain vegetables
or fresh mozzarella, released a significant amount of water during baking.
This excess moisture sits on top of the dough, creating
steam right where you don't want.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
It, preventing the crust from crisping up, leading to sogginess.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Precisely, it guarantees a soggy center. If you want a
truly crisp, well risen restaurant style crust, you must be
judicious with your toppings.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
So what's the guideline? How much is too much?
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Think minimalist. For a typical twelve inch pizza, the sources
strongly recommend sticking to just two to three tablespoons of sauce,
spread very thinly.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Two to three tablespoons. That sounds like hard anything.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
It feels like it, but trust the process. Then a light,
even layer of cheese, don't bury it and keep the
other topping sparse. Aim for quality over sheer quantity. Let
the crust be the star.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Okay, less is more for toppings. Resist the urge to overload.
It's tough, but noted.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
One of the chefs quoted in the sources admitted his
biggest early failure was trying to make a garbage pizza
with like five pounds of wet ingredients on a delicate,
high hydration dough. He said it turned into a functionally
disastrous suit bowl. Hah.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Okay, that paints a picture. Right. Let's run through some
common troubleshooting scenarios, linking the problems back to the science.
First up, the dough is just uncontrollably sticky during kneading.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Okay, super sticky dough usually means the hydration is a
bit too high for the flour you're using, or maybe
you measured slightly inaccurately. The fix is simple, Add more flour,
Just dump more in No, add it very sparingly, dust
your hands in the work surface. Lightly, add maybe one
tablespoon of flour to the dough at a time, incorporated,
(36:03):
and see how it feels. Keep adding tiny amounts only
until the dough becomes manageable, smooth and tacky, but not
glued to everything. Don't overdo it and make the dough
too dry.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Got it? Add flour slowly. Next problem shaping the pizza,
and the dough just will not stretch. It keeps snapping back.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
That's the gluten being too tense. Either the dough is
still too cold, didn't temper long enough after the fridge,
or you've worked it a bit and the gluten network
is tightened up. It needs to relax.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
And the solution is patience.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Stop fighting it. Immediately, lay the dough down, cover it
lightly with plastic wrap or a towel, and just let
it rest at room temperature for five, ten, even fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Let the gluten chill out exactly.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
That rest time allows the gluten strands to loosen up.
When you go back to it, it should stretch much
more willingly.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Okay, simple fix. What if the final big pizza crust
is really dense and heavy, with hardly any air pockets.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Inside A dense crust usually points to one of three
things or a domination one insufficient gluten development, did you
need it long enough? Did it pass the window pane test?
If the structure wasn't built properly. It can't hold a gas.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Okay, check meeting.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
What else? Two? Insufficient fermentation or proofing. Did the dough
actually rise enough? Did you give the yeast enough time
to produce the CO two needed for lyft, especially relevant
for cold fermentation. Maybe it needed more time or a
longer warm up period.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Check the rise time and the third three.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Poor shaping technique. Were you too aggressive when stretching it?
Did you press down hard on the rim, effectively degassing
all those precious bubbles the yeast worked so hard to create.
Remember gentleness is key during shaping.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Right, protect the bubbles. Now for the arch nemesis, the
soggy bottom or center, ah.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
The dreaded soggy crust. This is almost always related to
heat transfer and moisture management, so the fixes are first
and foremost. Check your preheating. Did you really preheat that
stone or steel for a full forty five sixty minutes
at max temp? That intense bottom heat is critical, Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Preheat is number one suspect.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Second, radically, assess your topping load or using too much sauce, ye,
too many wet ingredients. Remember the less is more rule.
Try cutting back.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Significantly reduce the moisture on top.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Third, consider the type of cheese. Using fresh mozzirella packed
in water, it releases a lot of moisture. Switching to
a low moisture mozzirella the firmer block kind can make
a big difference.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Good point low moisture cheese, anything else for sogginess.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Ensure your oven temperature is truly maxed out. Sometimes ovens
aren't calibrated correctly and don't get as hot as the
dial says. An oven thermometer can help check that, okay.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Last common issue, the pizza browns unevenly, some parts dark,
some pale.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Uneven browning is usually caused by hot spots in your ebbon,
or uneven heat distribution across your stone. Steel or sometimes
uneven application of toppings can shield parts of the crust.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
How to fix it?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
The easiest fix is simply to rotate the pizza halfway
through its baking time. If it bakes for or say,
eight minutes total, quickly open the oven at the four
minute mark and turn the pizza one hundred and eighty degrees.
This exposes all signs to different heat zones and usually
results in much more even color. Also double check that
your toppings, especially sauce and cheese, are spread reasonably evenly.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
We've really nailed down the science and technique for this
core sixty five percent hydration dough. Now let's talk about
how tweaking that fundamental science, specially hydration, leads to different
classic pizza styles.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
It's a beautiful illustration of how the principles work. The
base ingredients are largely the same, but changing the water
ratio and maybe the baking environment totally transforms a result.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
So let's take that super high hydration dough we mentioned,
maybe seventy seventy five percent. What style does that create?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
That extremely high hydration often combined with zero zero flour
and a super hot fast bake idealing ninety seconds to
two minutes at over eight hundredgrees or as hot as
you can get at home, maybe five hundred plus for
five seven minutes, is the key to authentic Neapolitan style pizza.
And the characteristics very soft, tender, almost cloud like interior crumb,
(40:04):
a thin base in the center, and that very puffy, airy,
often leopard spotted charred cornicioni around the edge. It's delicate,
meant to be eaten.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Quickly okay, high hydration fast top bake equals neapolitan. Our
sixty five percent framework recipe fits were that's.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Sixty sixty five percent hydration range, often with bread flour
or a mix, maybe a touch of oil and sugar.
Baked it a slightly lower but still high temp, say
four hundred and fifty five hundred and fifty degrees up
for maybe eight twelve minutes. That's classic New York style territory.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Ah, the foldable flice.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Exactly, It's got more structure than Neapolitan. It's chewy, it's foldable,
but still has a crisp bottom. It's probably the most
versatile style for home ovens and a great all around
crowd pleaser. Our sixty five percent recipe is perfect for this.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
And if someone loves those thick, buttery, crispy edged pan
pizzas like Detroit style or Sicilian, for those.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
You generally drop the hydration down, maybe into the low
hydration range fifty five to sixty percent. It's a tighter,
denser dough that holds it shape well in.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
A pan, and often more oil right yes.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Pan pizza recipes often call for a significant amount of
olive oil both in the dough itself for richness and tenderness,
and generously coating the pan often a cast iron skillet
or a special deep dishpan to essentially fry the bottom
in size of the crust to an amazing crispness during baking.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
So hydration really dictates the style. Cool. Now, what about
flavoring the dough itself? The sources had some ideas beyond
just fermentation.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Yeah, you can definitely customize the base flavor. A simple
way is to play with the flower bland, like adding
whole wheat exactly. Substituting maybe twenty five percent or even
up to fifty percent of the white flour with whole
wheat flour adds a noticeable nutty, earthy flavor and boosts
the fiber content.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Does it change the handling?
Speaker 2 (41:49):
It does. Whole wheat flour absorbs more water, so you
might need to increase the hydration slightly. Also, the sharp
brand particles in whole week can slightly interfere with gluten development,
so the dough might feel a bit different or require
gendler hand, but the flava payoff can be great.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
What about quicker flavor additions?
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Super easy make an urban fuse dough just add about
one to two teaspoons of your favorite dried herbs regano, basil, thyme,
garlic powder, onion powder directly into the dry flour mixture
before you add the water.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Instant flavor boost.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Instant flavor boost that permeates the whole crust really nice
with simple toppings like a margarita or just cheese.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
And for the adventurous baker, the ultimate flavor challenge.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
That would be transitioning to a sour dough crust. This
means ditching the commercial yeast entirely and using an active
sour dough starter as your leven.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
This sounds complicated.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
It requires maintaining a starter, which is a commitment, and
you have to adjust the recipe. Typically you'd substitute about
one hundred grams or so of active starter for some
of the flour and water in the main recipe.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Recalculating your hydration and the fermentation is different.
Speaker 2 (42:53):
Oh yes, sour dough fermentation relies on wild yeast and bacteria,
which work much more slowly than commercial yeth. You need
a much longer fermentation time, often forty eight hours minimum
for good flavor, sometimes up to three or four days.
Mostly cold fermentation, but the flavor reward potentially immense. Sour
dough pizza crust can have an incredible tangy depth and
(43:14):
complexity that's very different from commercially yeasted dough. It's a
whole other level for those willing to put in the effort.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
Okay, lots of options. Since long fermentation is key for
the best flavor making, go ahead seems like a good idea.
How long does it keep?
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Pizza dough stores beautifully, which is great for planning. After
kneading and dividing into balls, you can store them tightly covered,
individually wrapped in plastic or in airtight containers in the refrigerator,
fro up.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
To three days and the flavor keeps developing.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Yes, that cold fermentation continues deepening the flavor right up
until you use it. Just remember that crucial step. Always
let the cold dough balls sit at room temperature for
about an hour to relax before you try to shape them.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Three days in the fridge, What about longer storage? Can
you freeze it?
Speaker 2 (44:00):
Absolutely? Pizza dough freeze is exceptionally well. Place the individual
dough balls in freezer safe bags, squeeze out as much
air as possible, and they'll keep in the freezer for
up to three months.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
How do you use it from frozen?
Speaker 2 (44:13):
The best way is to thaw it slowly. Transfer the
frozen dough ball from the freezer to the refrigerator the
night before you plan to use it, Let it thaw
overnight in the fridge, and then then about an hour
or ninety minutes before you want to shape it, take
it out of the fridge and let it do that
final rest at room temperature, just like you would with
refrigerated dough.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
Fall slow, then temper perfect for making big batches.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
Finally, we have this amazing crust. The sources suggested some
classic pairings. The theme seem to be simplicity.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Definitely, when you've put this much effort into the dough,
you want to let it shine. The absolute classic test
is the margarita. Just simple tomato, sauce, San Marzano, ideally
fresh mozzarella you sparingly, maybe torn fresh basil leaves added
after baking, and a drizzle of good olive oil. It's
all about the crust, sauce and cheese balance.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Can't beat a good margarita or.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
The perennial favorite pepperoni. Quality pepperoni maybe some dried oregano,
simple delicious.
Speaker 2 (45:12):
What about non tomato options? The white pizza Pizza Bianca
is fantastic, no tomato sauce. Instead, you might use a
base of ricotta cheese mixed with garlic and herbs, topped
with mozzarella, maybe some spinach or other greens. It really
lets the dough's flavor come through and removes one source
of potential sogginess.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
Great ideas to get started hashtag tag outro. Wow, this
has been quite the deep dive. It really hammers home
that making truly great pizza dough isn't magic, is it.
It's this fascinating blend of art. You know, the feel,
the technique of handling the dough, the craft of it,
and science, the hard numbers of hydration, the chemistry of
yeast and fermentation, the physics of heat transfer in the oven.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Absolutely, and hopefully you the listener, now feel like you
have that blueprint we talked about the knowledge to move
beyond just ok us to something genuinely special, crispy chewy, complex,
artisanal quality right at home.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
The key takeaways seem pretty clear. Weigh your ingredients religiously,
especially flour and water. Use a good quality high protein
flower if you want, you don't underestimate the power of time.
That long cold fermentation is where the magic happens for flavor.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
And respect the heat, preheat that evidence stone or stealed properly.
It makes such a huge difference.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
I think part of the reward, too, is just the
process itself, isn't it. There's something uniquely satisfying about taking
those simple ingredients and meeting the dough, watching it transform
over days, and then finally achieving that perfectly blistered, flavorful
crust you made entirely yourself.
Speaker 2 (46:40):
Couldn't agree more. It connects you to the food in
a really fundamental way. And so thinking about that journey
and the power of fermentation, we explored here's a final
thought for you, the listener, to maybe explore on your own.
We established that the twelve to seventy two hour cold
fermentation window is optimal. You'll definitely notice a difference between
a twelve hour and a twenty four hour four or
(47:00):
more tang more complexity at twenty four hours. But what
happens when you really push it? What new layers have profound, nuanced,
maybe deeply savor you mommy flavors? Can you unlock when
you let that dough mature for the full seventy two
hours in the cold. That extended time allows for some
truly incredible enzymatic activity in microbial development. The difference between
(47:21):
forty eight and seventy two hours can be subtle but significant.
That's a level of flavor complexity that's definitely worth experimenting
with on your own. Now that you have the foundation,
something to think about for your next patch.
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