Credit where credit is due: I got this from Ken Forkish of Ken’s Artisan Pizza in Portland. It’s one of my favorite pizza places. Sadly I don’t have a wood-burning oven at home. But at least I can use the same dough.
When I make this, I do use the Caputo 00 flour that good Neapolitan pizza places tend to use. Though in my informal testing, it’s very difficult to perceive the difference between it and my usual King Arthur all-purpose flour.
The relatively tiny amount of yeast isn’t a mistake. You really just need enough to get the process going, since the dough gets such a long time to ferment. I usually eyeball a really tiny amount with a demitasse spoon, and it works well.
Ingredients
- 350 g tepid water (ca. 30 °C)
- 0.3 g (ca. 1/8 teaspoon) active dry yeast
- 500 g 00 pizza flour (such as Caputo brand)
- 15 g salt
Method
Fit a stand mixer with its dough hook attachment. Pour the water into the mixer’s bowl. Then add the yeast and stir to dissolve it into the water. Add the flour and salt. Then mix the dough on the lowest speed until it’s just combined and homogeneous.
Cover the bowl with plastic, and let it rise for 4 hours at room temperature. Then portion the dough into three, which works out to portions of roughly 285 g each. Form each portion into a rough ball and place it in a container with a lid or bowl covered with plastic.
Allow the dough portions to develop in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before using them. Up to 72 hours should be fine. Beyond that, they freeze very nicely for longer term storage. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature before making pizza.