75-Minute Pizza Dough
By America's Test KitchenPublished on March 6, 2011
Time
35 minutes, plus 40 minutes rising
Yield
2 large, 4 medium or 8 individual pizzas
Ingredients
Before You Begin
This dough can be used for any size pizza with thick or thin crust; simply adjust the cooking time to fit the pizza. Make sure you heat the oven to 500 degrees for thirty minutes before you start cooking. Your tiles or stone need at least that long to heat up; if they're not properly heated, your pizza crust will be thin, blond, and limp. Once the dough for the crust has been topped, use a quick jerking action to slide it off the peel and onto the hot tiles or stone; make sure that the pizza lands far enough back so that its front edge does not hang off. For a cornmeal-flavored dough, substitute three-quarters cup of cornmeal for three-quarters cup of the flour. Editor's Note: This recipe was updated in 1997, when we found that adding more water resulted in a tastier pizza. This recipe contains a total of 1 3/4 cups water, while the original that appeared in the magazine in 1995 contains 1 1/2 cups.
Instructions
- Set oven to 200 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn oven off.
- Meanwhile, in bowl of food processor fitted with either metal or plastic blade, add water and sprinkle in yeast and sugar. Pulse twice to dissolve yeast. Add all remaining ingredients and process until mixture forms cohesive mass. Dough should not be sticky (if it is, add 2 more tablespoons flour and pulse briefly) nor should it be dry and crumbly (if it is, add 1 more tablespoons water and pulse briefly). Let rest for 2 minutes. Process for another 30 seconds.
- Remove dough from food processor and knead by hand on floured work surface for 1 minute or until dough is smooth and satiny (dough will feel a bit tough at this point).
- Very lightly oil large bowl with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Place dough in bowl (do not coat dough with oil) and cover with plastic wrap. Place in warm oven. Let rise for 40 minutes or until doubled. Remove from bowl, punch down, and separate into two round pieces. Let rest for 10 minutes under damp dish towel, then shape according to illustrations below, and add toppings.
- Proceed to cook topped pizza in preheated 500-degree oven using the following guide to determine cooking time for pizza crust with topping but without cheese. All pizzas need to be cooked an additional two or three minutes after adding cheese, or until cheese is completely melted. 14-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 2) - 7 to 8 minutes 12-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 4) - 5 minutes 8-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 8)- 3 minutes. MEDIUM-THICK CRUST: 12-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 2) - 9 to 10 minutes 8-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 4) - 5 minutes 6-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 8) - 4 minutes.
thin crust
Time
35 minutes, plus 40 minutes risingYield
2 large, 4 medium or 8 individual pizzasIngredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
For our pizza dough recipe we found that using rapid-rise yeast proofed in warm water cuts the rising time down to a mere 40 minutes. We also found that the dough could simply be stretched to the desired thickness, whether you want a medium-thick pizza or a thin and crispy one. To get the crispiest, most evenly browned crust, we liked using quarry tiles over a pan, pizza screen, or pizza stone in our pizza dough recipe.
Before You Begin
This dough can be used for any size pizza with thick or thin crust; simply adjust the cooking time to fit the pizza. Make sure you heat the oven to 500 degrees for thirty minutes before you start cooking. Your tiles or stone need at least that long to heat up; if they're not properly heated, your pizza crust will be thin, blond, and limp. Once the dough for the crust has been topped, use a quick jerking action to slide it off the peel and onto the hot tiles or stone; make sure that the pizza lands far enough back so that its front edge does not hang off. For a cornmeal-flavored dough, substitute three-quarters cup of cornmeal for three-quarters cup of the flour. Editor's Note: This recipe was updated in 1997, when we found that adding more water resulted in a tastier pizza. This recipe contains a total of 1 3/4 cups water, while the original that appeared in the magazine in 1995 contains 1 1/2 cups.
Instructions
- Set oven to 200 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn oven off.
- Meanwhile, in bowl of food processor fitted with either metal or plastic blade, add water and sprinkle in yeast and sugar. Pulse twice to dissolve yeast. Add all remaining ingredients and process until mixture forms cohesive mass. Dough should not be sticky (if it is, add 2 more tablespoons flour and pulse briefly) nor should it be dry and crumbly (if it is, add 1 more tablespoons water and pulse briefly). Let rest for 2 minutes. Process for another 30 seconds.
- Remove dough from food processor and knead by hand on floured work surface for 1 minute or until dough is smooth and satiny (dough will feel a bit tough at this point).
- Very lightly oil large bowl with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Place dough in bowl (do not coat dough with oil) and cover with plastic wrap. Place in warm oven. Let rise for 40 minutes or until doubled. Remove from bowl, punch down, and separate into two round pieces. Let rest for 10 minutes under damp dish towel, then shape according to illustrations below, and add toppings.
- Proceed to cook topped pizza in preheated 500-degree oven using the following guide to determine cooking time for pizza crust with topping but without cheese. All pizzas need to be cooked an additional two or three minutes after adding cheese, or until cheese is completely melted. 14-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 2) - 7 to 8 minutes 12-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 4) - 5 minutes 8-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 8)- 3 minutes. MEDIUM-THICK CRUST: 12-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 2) - 9 to 10 minutes 8-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 4) - 5 minutes 6-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 8) - 4 minutes.
thin crust
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