Jim Lahey's No Knead Pizza Dough Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to tell if pizza dough is kneaded enough? ›

If your dough holds it shape and doesn't ooze or sag when you hold it up, that's another good sign that your dough is well kneaded. It signals that the gluten chains have formed, and your dough is strong and tight.

1) There simply isn't enough yeast in your formula. Trying increasing your yeast by 10% increments in future batches to see if you get the proper rise. 2) The dough is too cold coming off the mixer. Targeting an 80F dough temperature for overnight, refrigerated dough is a good starting point.

A failure to knead dough (unless you're working with a no-knead recipe) can lead to: Poor gluten development: When you don't knead bread, the gluten won't form properly. This can result in a lack of elasticity and strength, meaning your final product is likely to come out of the oven dense and heavy.

Sometimes when too much flour is added, dough will come out hard and stiff. This can be caused by overworking the dough either by hand or with a roller. Overworking dough will pop all the tiny bubbles that make pizza crust so airy and fluffy once cooked. The hard crust can also be caused by the type of flour you use.

The best approach to achieve a light, airy crust is to stretch the dough. Yeast produces gas bubbles, which increase volume and fluffiness. Those air pockets in the dough won't disappear no matter how much you knead it. It will shuffle them about, merging smaller air pockets into larger ones.

Pizza dough that has been left to rise for too long, or has been over-proofed, can potentially collapse. The gluten becomes overly relaxed, and the end product will be gummy or crumbly instead of crisp and fluffy.

For Crispy and Chewy Pizza Crust, Use 00 Flour

00 flour is finely ground Italian flour that contains about 12% protein, or 12% gluten. It's the traditional flour used to make Neapolitan-style pizza. Since its gluten content is similar to bread flour, it also produces a pizza crust with chew.

If your pizza dough is quickly snapping back or difficult to stretch, your dough is too tight. Cover your dough with plastic wrap and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. After a bit of rest, the gluten in the dough will relax, making the process of stretching much easier.

If you're planning to make pizza today, then give the dough a rise. Clean out the mixing bowl, coat it with a little oil, and transfer the dough back inside. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let the dough rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Option 3 — Store the dough in the fridge.

What temperature to bake pizza? ›

The best oven temperature for pizza is between 450 and 500 degrees F (250 to 260 degrees C). Pizza ovens cook at temperatures between 800 and 900 degrees F. You can't get that hot in your home oven, but the higher you can go, the better.

Though it's important to knead your dough thoroughly, it's not necessary to knead your dough for long. We recommended kneading your dough for about 4 to 6 minutes! Over-kneading your dough will create a fine, crumb-like texture, giving your dough a bready texture rather than a light and airy pizza crust.

1. Smooth Dough – The dough will start out looking like a shaggy, lumpy mass and will gradually smooth out as you knead. By the time you finish, it should be completely smooth and slightly tacky to the touch.

The ideal pizza dough should be a little sticky and while a sticky dough isn't bad, it can be tricky if you're new to baking. Lets look at the reasons why it happens and ways to help. Higher hydration means there is more water in your dough, which naturally will make it sticker and can make it difficult to handle.

You can knead your dough a bit after the first bulk rise, if you want. It's only necessary to knock some of the air out of it, but if you feel the need to knead it a bit, go ahead. However, don't knead it much. The real kneading happens before the first bulk rise.