General preparation of pizza dough and pizza

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 kg flour, type 405 (or type 00)
• 550 ml water, lukewarm
• 25 g salt
• 3 g yeast (brewer’s yeast) or 10 g baker’s yeast per 1 kg flour)

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest time approx. 8 hours; Total time approx. 8 hours 20 minutes

based on the EU standard for pizza

Pour warm water into the bowl of a kneading machine and dissolve the yeast. Add the salt and approximately 100 g of flour and start the kneading machine (we advise against kneading by hand, as it requires considerable effort to achieve a satisfactory result). Gradually add the remaining flour, taking care not to rush (standard practice suggests this step should take 10 minutes). Then let the kneading machine work at low speed for another 20 minutes. The dough should no longer be sticky and should be soft and elastic. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 2 hours at room temperature. Then separate the dough into small balls (e.g., 6 balls for 6 30 cm diameter pizzas) and let them rise in a bowl covered with a damp cloth at room temperature for another 4 to 6 hours. Place each ball of dough on a thin layer of flour (wheat flour). Using a rolling pin or by hand, form a thin disc of dough (standard thickness 0.4 cm ± 10% in the center and 1-2 cm thick around the edges). Depending on the preparation, place the disc of dough either on a pizza peel (when baking with a pizza stone) or on a baking sheet. First, spread the tomato sauce in a spiral pattern on the disc of dough. Then sprinkle with gratin cheese, not too much (50-80 g). Only then add the remaining toppings as desired. Important: Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the topping. Baking with a pizza stone: Preheat the oven with the pizza stone inserted to maximum oven temperature (standard 485°C), place the pizza in the oven, and test the pizza for sliding. Make sure it doesn’t stick and ruin the stone! At this high temperature, which is usually unattainable in a home, the pizza will be done in about 2 minutes; at lower temperatures, it will take correspondingly longer. The crust should be light brown and crispy. Baking on a tray: Preheat the oven to maximum temperature, insert the tray and at 485° the pizza will be ready after about 4 minutes. At a lower temperature it will of course take longer on the tray.