Yield: Four 8- to 10-inch Neapolitan-style pizzas
| INGREDIENTS | METRIC (GRAMS) | VOLUMETRIC (APPROXIMATE) | BAKER’S % |
| All-purpose flour | 579 | 4¾ cups + 1 tablespoon | 100% |
| Water | 406 | 1¾ cups | 70% |
| Salt, fine | 12 | 1 tablespoon | 2% |
| Yeast, dry instant | 3 | 1 teaspoon | 0.60% |
| Oil, for greasing the containers | |||
| Cornmeal or semolina, for dusting the baker’s peel (optional but helpful) | |||
| Total Weight | 1,000 | 172.60% | |
| Prepared toppings, as desired |
DAY ONE
MIX
Calculate temperatures. See Setting Temperatures for instructions. Desired dough temperature: 76°F
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add the water. Mix with your hand or the handle end of a wooden spoon until the dough forms a shaggy mass. With some doughs you may have to knead for a few strokes in the bowl to incorporate everything. If you find it easier, after some stirring, scrape the dough out of the bowl with a plastic scraper onto your work surface and knead briefly with your hands just until the dough comes together. Resist the urge to add more flour. Scrape the dough off the work surface and return to the bowl for the bulk fermentation.
BULK FERMENTATION
Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and allow the dough to rise, covered, for 2 hours at room temperature, folding as directed below.
FOLD
Fold after 60 minutes, then leave untouched for the second hour. See Folding for instructions.
DIVIDE AND PRESHAPE
Divide the dough into 4 pieces weighing about 250 grams each. See Dividing for instructions.
Preshape as rounds and place in individual oiled plastic containers; recycled quart-size yogurt containers are perfect. Seal the lids and chill overnight, or up to 48 hours. See Preshaping for instructions.
DAY TWO
SHAPE
Remove the containers from the refrigerator and let them warm to room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. A good trick for this is to flour your work surface, then take off the lids and invert the containers, letting the doughs gently fall and settle as they warm.
While the doughs warm, prepare the toppings and sauce.
About an hour before you plan to bake the pizzas, preheat the oven to 500°F with a baking stone or pizza steel placed in the upper third of the oven.
After the doughs have warmed, lift the inverted containers off the dough pieces and flour the top of the dough generously.
Gently pat a piece of dough to remove any large air bubbles and stretch it into a small round, 4 to 5 inches in diameter.
Next, working with your fingertips and starting in the center of the dough, press down and move outward in concentric circles dimpling the gas from the dough, leaving an inch of rim untouched around the entire piece. Check periodically to see if additional flour is needed under the dough. If it sticks, release it gently with a bench knife and add more flour.
Holding only the outer rim of the dough and leaving the dough in contact with the bench, work around the perimeter, stretching gently, slowly coaxing the dough into a thin round 9 to 10 inches in diameter. If the dough resists being stretched, cover it and allow it to rest and relax for 20 to 30 minutes.
BAKE
Turn the preheated oven to broil.
Generously sprinkle a wooden peel with semolina or cornmeal and place the dough on it, jiggling the peel forward and backward to ensure the dough isn’t sticking.
Top the pizza with ½ cup of red sauce using a large kitchen spoon or an offset spatula. Then add a few slices of fresh mozzarella or any other topping desired, being careful to leave a ½-inch margin around the outside of the pizza with no toppings. Moisture that breaks this margin will adhere the dough to the peel every time!
If this feels daunting, try your first few pizzas on baker’s parchment paper that has been cut to a diameter slightly larger than your intended pie. The crust will be almost as good.
Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone or pizza steel and set a 3-minute timer.
When the timer goes off, rotate the pizza 180 degrees and reset for 1 minute.
Be prepared with tongs and a plate, a cooling rack, or a cutting board to take the pizza out. The toppings should be well cooked and the dough around the edges should be dark.
Before loading the next pizza, check that the stone or steel is clean of the dusting cornmeal or semolina.
