Pizza dough for Never Summer

Hey Patty!

Didn't want to crowd BubbaTim's baguette thread.

Here's my current pizza dough recipe (I'd just had another request for this via e-mail, so I'll just cut and paste):

The recipe comes from the pizzamaking.com forum. It's a cool rise version of a NY Style dough that poster JerryMac developed. Poster/moderator Pete-zaa experimented with a cool rise (2 day in the fridge) version of Jerry's dough and posted his results. I've been using this for a couple of months - it's my go-to dough and the best I've ever used. It also scales up great if you want to make more than one pizza's dough.

Here's the message http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6515.msg62814.html#msg62814

And here's the recipe as calculated for a 14" BGE pizza stone (I do my doughs mostly by weight rather than volume so that I get consistent results). While it seems involved, it's really just 15 or so total minutes effort 2 days before you want to make pizza:

JerryMac's NY Dough, cool rise

Pete-zaa's cool rise version of the JerryMac NY Style dough

For Sponge Preferment:

147 grams bread flour
123 grams room temp water
1 1/3 tsp active dry yeast (use only 1 tsp. if you're using instant dry yeast)

For dough:

All the preferment.
98 grams bread flour
44 grams water
3/4 tsp kosher salt, plus a little
1 1/2 tsp honey or barley malt syrup (doesn't have to be accurate, just eyeball it. I use honey)

For sponge preferment:

1. Mix flour and yeast together in bowl, add water, mix well, cover with plastic and let ferment at room temp for 3 hours (I just do this in my little 3 quart KitchenAid stand mixer bowl - so only one bowl to clean).

For the dough

1. Put preferment in mixer bowl (unless you have the 3 qt KA bowl and used that for your preferment - they you can just start with step 2).

2. Add barley malt syrup or honey.

3. Add remaining water.

4. Mix till blended well.

5. Add remaining flour and salt with mixer (dough hook) running at stir for 2 minutes or so. Increase mixer speed to 2 and knead for 4 minutes. What you are looking for is for your dough to clear the sides of the bowl, but not the bottom. Add more flour a little at a time if needed. What you want is about a silver-dollar-sized spot at the bottom of the dough where the dough ball is still "attached".

6. Put dough into an oiled bowl (I just spray the dough in its 3 qt bowl with olive oil spray, then flip the dough ball over and spray again), cover with plastic and let rise 2 days in refrigerator.

7. 2 1/2 hours before needed, take dough out of refrigerator, knead a few times with a little flour until smooth. Pat into disk, cover with plastic, and let rise on counter for 2 hours.

8. Form into pizza dough by hand (don't use a rolling pin, it will push too much air out of the dough). Top and bake 450°-500° until golden brown and delicious (GB&D).

Yield: This dough makes 1 14 inch pie

This is an extremely extensible (soft, easily shaped) dough. It's easiest (for me) to shape the pizza skin quickly until it's almost the right size and get it onto a semolina coated silicone pizza mat or parchment paper and from there pat or stretch a little more as needed. .


I will soon be experimenting with another dough, Canadave's, which has a longer cool rise. It uses less yeast and a little less sweetener but is otherwise very similar to the recipe above. I want to try it to see what difference the extra days make in the flavor of the dough.

Have fun!

Michelle