- 14 hours ago
In this edition of Epicurious 101, learn how to make restaurant-quality pizza dough at home with Chef Dan Richer. From cold-fermented pizza dough and dough temperature calculations to stretching, baking, and achieving a crispy crust in a home oven, this step-by-step guide breaks down the science of artisan pizza.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00The key to success with pizza is looking at it like it's bread.
00:03Pizza is a flat bread. Our dough is everything.
00:07Each step of the process is so important from selecting the right flour
00:11to managing the temperatures of all of our ingredients
00:15and managing fermentation, which is what makes bread so incredibly wonderful.
00:23You can buy store-bought dough, but this is better.
00:26The overall quality of your pizza is determined by the dough.
00:30This dough takes a few days to make, so you really need to plan ahead.
00:34Before we start making pizza, we actually have to do a little bit of math.
00:38The warmer our dough is, the faster it's going to rise.
00:41The colder it is, the slower it's going to rise.
00:45By doing the temperature calculation, you'll be guaranteed success
00:48and predictable, reliable results.
00:51So if you don't want to do the temperature calculation,
00:53just use a water temperature between 60 and 70 degrees.
00:58We want our dough to start fermentation at 80 degrees.
01:01That's our desired dough temperature.
01:04Multiply that by three.
01:06From that 240, we're going to subtract the temperature of our room, which is 67.
01:11Subtract the temperature of the flour, which should be about room temperature.
01:14Then we're going to subtract out the amount of heat generated
01:17through friction of mixing.
01:20If you're mixing by hand, you can skip this altogether.
01:22Most mixers generate about 40 degrees of friction.
01:27So 65 degrees is our water temperature.
01:30Now, if I use exactly 65 degree water today in this room,
01:36our dough is going to finish mixing at exactly 80 degrees.
01:39And so it'll begin fermentation at the right temperature.
01:4365 degrees.
01:45I've spent years testing this recipe.
01:47It works.
01:48We're using 660 grams of water, and then we're going to add an additional 100 grams
01:54at the end of the mixing process.
01:56We're using 1,000 grams of King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour.
02:00It's a great artisan bread flour.
02:03We're ready to mix.
02:04We're using a spiral dough mixer.
02:07You can use any mixer that you have.
02:09You can also do this recipe with a bowl and a spoon.
02:12It's totally workable.
02:14So we're using 3 grams of instant dry yeast.
02:17And the great thing about instant dry yeast is it can go right into the flour.
02:21It doesn't need to be activated first.
02:23We're going to turn on the mixer to low speed,
02:25and we're going to mix until there's no dry bits of flour.
02:28Now, depending on the type of mixer you use,
02:30it could take three minutes to anywhere to six minutes.
02:33Now we're going to shut the mixer off, and we're going to wait 20 minutes
02:37because there's a lot happening in that dough right now.
02:40Gluten is beginning to form naturally.
02:42There's also an enzymatic reaction that's happening
02:46where starch is being broken down into simple sugars that the yeast can then consume.
02:54If you don't have 20 minutes to wait, it's okay,
02:57but the pizza might not have the level of caramelization that we're looking for once it's done baking.
03:02It's these little techniques that separate exceptional pizza from mediocre pizza.
03:08We've waited 20 minutes to let our dough hydrate.
03:10We have 20 grams of salt that we're going to add.
03:13Salt actually slows down the development of our dough.
03:16That's why we delay the addition of it.
03:19We're still going to use that slow speed,
03:21and we're going to set a timer for four minutes.
03:25You can see the dough is super sticky.
03:29There's no gluten.
03:31It's just shaggy.
03:32This is not finished.
03:36Okay, and we're going to mix this for two minutes on high speed.
03:41What I'm looking for is this dough to be dull or matte in appearance rather than shiny.
03:49So you see this has completely transformed.
03:52We're going to continue to mix it,
03:54but this is what you should be able to do at this stage of the mixing.
03:59You should be able to pull it so thin that it's translucent and you can see through it.
04:03This is still tearing a little bit,
04:05which is perfect because we're going to continue to mix it for a little bit.
04:09So you remember that water that we held back?
04:11Now it's time to add it.
04:13Turn the mixer on to that higher speed.
04:15We're going to slowly drizzle in the water.
04:18The dough is pulling away from the bowl, which is good,
04:21but we still have that shiny, glossy appearance.
04:24We want to keep mixing until it goes back to matte, dull looking.
04:29So this part takes about six to eight minutes, depending on the day.
04:35So now our dough is nicely developed.
04:39It's still pretty sticky at this point,
04:41but I can get it pretty translucent without it tearing.
04:45Matte in appearance.
04:46It's not glossy or shiny.
04:47And now begins bulk fermentation.
04:50We're going to take a glass or stainless steel bowl.
04:54We're just going to lightly oil it.
04:56And with my oiled fingers, I'm going to scoop the dough out and into the bowl.
05:03Our dough is fully mixed.
05:04Put a clean kitchen towel on and let it sit for one hour.
05:08You can see it's smooth.
05:10It's increased in volume and it's ready for this fold.
05:13I'm digging my fingers under, grabbing the dough,
05:15pulling it as far as it'll go, and then folding it over itself.
05:19Give the bowl a quarter turn and do the same thing.
05:22We're doing this to strengthen the dough a little bit more
05:27and to equalize the temperature of the dough
05:29and get it ready for its long night of rest in the refrigerator.
05:34Our dough has been refrigerated at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.
05:38The dough is nice and bubbly.
05:40It's risen by about 50%.
05:44Lightly dust the top of the dough ball.
05:46See all these great bubbles?
05:48Nice and gassy, jiggly.
05:50Sign of good fermentation.
05:53Cut the dough into 250 gram dough balls.
05:59Plus or minus five grams is all good.
06:01It's very important to weigh your dough balls
06:03because we want to make sure every pizza is exactly the same size.
06:07This dough recipe makes seven 12-inch pizzas.
06:10So now that we have our doughs portioned out,
06:13make sure your work surface is nice and dry.
06:16We're going to take one end of the dough
06:18and fold it into the center and gently pat it.
06:21Do that from the opposite side and then from the sides,
06:25pulling it without tearing it
06:28and then folding it right into the center.
06:31Do the corners.
06:32Make sure that the seams are very tight and closed.
06:36If you don't close the seams when you stretch out the pizza dough,
06:39you'll have holes in it.
06:40The dough should definitely not stick to your fingers or the board.
06:45It's really important not to put too much flour on the dough or the board
06:50because as you're folding it,
06:52you don't want to incorporate any additional flour into the dough.
06:56Gently pat.
06:57We spend so much time building up these gases.
07:00We want to keep most of those gases on the inside.
07:03Then we can do the sides and the corners.
07:07Flip it over.
07:09If it feels very sticky at this point,
07:11you need to develop a little bit more strength in the dough.
07:14Put it off to the side.
07:16Wait about 15 minutes
07:18and then do the same process.
07:20We've divided and rounded our dough balls.
07:23Cover it with plastic wrap
07:24so that the dough doesn't dry out.
07:26We're going to place it into the refrigerator
07:28for at least 12 hours.
07:30And that's day two.
07:35When it comes to toppings,
07:36that's where you get to let your creativity shine.
07:39I love a margarita pizza
07:40because it's kind of the gold standard.
07:42It's how you measure your pizza against everybody else's.
07:46When it comes to our pizza sauce,
07:48we're using organic tomatoes,
07:52Bianco Di Napoli,
07:53the can of tomatoes into the food mill.
07:56This is going to push the tomatoes through a plate.
08:00It's going to catch a lot of the skins and seeds of these tomatoes,
08:05if there are any.
08:06It's going to lead to a very lovely texture.
08:09The texture of your tomato sauce is really determined by you.
08:13For my pizza, I love this texture.
08:16But if you like a chunky sauce,
08:18squeeze it with your hands.
08:19It's all good.
08:20It all boils down to personal preference.
08:24Forward and then a little bit backwards
08:26and then keep going.
08:27Don't forget to scrape the bottom of the food mill.
08:29Add just a pinch of salt.
08:31That's it.
08:32You'll feel like you want to do more to it,
08:35but if you buy good tomatoes,
08:37you don't have to do anything to them.
08:40Let them shine.
08:41Mozzarella cheese is one of the things about pizza
08:44that we love so much.
08:46I'm tearing it into irregular pieces
08:49that are approximately three quarters to one inch big.
08:54There's actually a huge difference in the finished pizza
08:57if you tear the mozzarella.
09:00It actually melts and flows a little bit better
09:03than if you use a knife.
09:05Some smaller, some bigger.
09:07It's all good.
09:08Fresh basil.
09:09We have all of our ingredients we need for the pizza.
09:11It's time to move on to the bake.
09:15So our oven's been preheating for about an hour
09:19at the hottest setting
09:20with a pizza stone in the oven.
09:23One of the biggest mistakes people make
09:25when they're making their own pizza
09:26is not preheating their oven long enough.
09:29Turn it on to 500 or 550,
09:31as hot as your oven goes.
09:33We also want to have either a pizza stone
09:36or a pizza steel in the oven
09:39when you're preheating the oven
09:41because we have to build heat into that pizza stone.
09:45Pizza cooks from the top down,
09:46but also from the bottom up.
09:48And we need enough heat
09:50to get the bottom of our pizza nice and crispy.
09:53We took our dough out of the refrigerator
09:55about an hour ago to come to room temperature.
09:57We're going to use a semolina to dust our pizza peel.
10:00It's nice and coarse.
10:02The dough should slide right off.
10:03Flour the top of the pizza dough ball.
10:06We're going to flour the bottom.
10:08Start at 10 and 2.
10:09Press down and out.
10:11If there's any big bubbles, you can definitely pop.
10:14So we're about 10 inches, which is great.
10:17Pick it up on the back of our hands
10:19and just shake a little bit.
10:21And that's going to get all that extra flour off.
10:24I'm also feeling for any moisture.
10:26If there's any moisture,
10:27I put it back down into the flour
10:29and then pick it back up.
10:31It's nice and dry.
10:32Then we move the pizza dough to our pizza peel.
10:36We're using two ounces of the tomato sauce.
10:39Less is more here.
10:42And then we have our mozzarella.
10:44Tiny drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
10:47And just a few grains of some coarse salt.
10:51I love that pop-up salinity in every few bites.
10:55I'm going to dry my hands to get all that moisture off.
10:58And then I'm going to gently re-stretch the pizza to 12 inches.
11:03A quick little shake to make sure that it's not sticking at all.
11:07We're going to open the oven door quickly.
11:09We're going to carefully slide the pizza onto the pizza stone
11:13and then quickly close the oven door.
11:16Now we're going to set a timer for four minutes.
11:18And we'll check the pizza at that point.
11:21Really important that you don't open the oven door.
11:24The oven temperature is just going to drop
11:26and your pizza will not bake properly.
11:28Oven spring happens in the first minute or so in the oven.
11:31It's the rapid activity of yeast
11:34and the water in the dough turning to steam,
11:37making it rise before our eyes.
11:39It's been four minutes.
11:41So we're going to quickly open the oven door,
11:43spin the pizza 180 degrees,
11:45and then close the oven door.
11:47The front of the oven is always just a little bit colder
11:50than the back of the oven.
11:51So in order for the pizza to bake properly,
11:54we really need to give it a spin.
11:55First pizza of the day is always the test.
11:58We're testing out the oven.
12:00We're testing out our dough.
12:01We're testing out how well the cheese is melting.
12:04Every day, these things are going to be
12:05just a little bit different.
12:07And that's okay.
12:07We just make adjustments after the first pie.
12:10And you can see the bottom of the crust is pretty pale.
12:14We don't like that.
12:15No good.
12:16So we're going to make one more pizza.
12:18Our oven temperature could be a little bit hotter.
12:21So we're going to give it a couple minutes to recharge
12:23and regenerate the heat in that stone.
12:26I also flipped on the broiler,
12:28and that should get the bottom of the crust
12:31a little bit more caramelization.
12:32We bake five or six pizzas every day
12:34before any guests even arrive at the restaurant
12:37just to calibrate how much cheese we're adding,
12:40the bake time, get the oven ready.
12:42It's just part of the process.
12:48There we go.
12:49There's some caramelization.
12:51Basil, olive oil.
12:54Do you hear that?
12:55Do you hear that crispiness?
12:57Uh-huh.
12:59And that is a pizza.
13:03It's light.
13:05It's airy.
13:05It's crispy.
13:07Flavors of fermentation.
13:09With cheese is melted beautifully.
13:10Sauce is bright but sweet.
13:13We're looking for an eggshell-like outer crust
13:16and then inside we want big open holes
13:19separated by thin cell walls.
13:21With a few simple techniques,
13:24lots of patience,
13:25and practice,
13:26you can make great pizza in your home oven.
13:29It's perfect.
13:31I like that every day.
13:32I like that every day.
13:33I like that every day.
13:33I like that.
13:34I like that LISA.
13:34There you go.
Comments