It has been awhile since I posted. I have been working a lot and also went on vacation. But since my last post, I’ve been practicing baking at altitude and studying up. When it comes to baking, I have been struggling for an extremely long time with pizza dough. Well, I think I finally have it. I have finally found the secret — it is mandatory to test the water temperature. Too hot will ruin yeast and too tepid will not activate it.
This recipe is designed for baking at altitude. It will make enough dough for two large pizzas or four small, rustic pizzas. I have added a second recipe for high-altitude pizza dough that uses honey. Check it out!
Mile High Pizza Dough Ingredients
- 2 packages active dry yeast (1/4 oz. per package)
- 1 1/2 cups warm water, between 106 and 115 degrees Farenheit (critical!)
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 1/2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
First, activate the yeast. To do so, fill a measuring cup with 1 1/2 cups warm water. It is absolutely critical to test the temperature. It must be between about 106 and 115 degrees Farenheit. Add the active dry yeast. Add the sugar. Stir it up gently and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. You know it’s working if it starts to bubble. If you see no bubbles, then you have a problem, and it’s probably that the water is the wrong temperature. (Note: Do not substitute instant yeast.)
The surprising thing is, the right temperature water feels hotter than I ever expected. Basically, I was never using water that was hot enough. It’s not to say it would never activate the yeast, but rather that it would take much longer (like a day) at a temperature that’s too cool. Who knew? I can’t figure out why most recipes don’t mention this critical fact.
Now add the flour, salt and olive oil to your mixing bowl. A quick word about flour. Do not scoop the flour, or you will pack down your flour and ultimately be using too much. Always gently spoon flour into your measuring cup then level it off with a butter knife. If you skip this important step, you could end up with as much as 1/2 or more cups too much flour!
To mix your dough, it’s best (and easiest) to use a Kitchen Aid mixer with your dough hook (the single spiral hook), but you can use a handheld mixer if you have a dough hook for it. You can also mix by hand. It takes longer but you will get there. Pour the yeast / water / sugar mixture into your mixing bowl. Affix the dough hook and mix for about 2 minutes, until the dough is completely combined.
Depending on the humidity on the day you are making your dough, you may need to add a bit of extra water. You will know you need to add a little extra water if after about 1 1/2 minutes of mixing, you still have a lot of floury, unmixed ingredients stuck to the bottom. Be careful when adding additional water, as you don’t want to over-wet your dough. Just drizzle in the water about 1 tsp. at a time. When you’ve got the right balance of wet and dry ingredients, it will all pull together into a clump of dough that is just very slightly sticky (meaning it will feel sticky but will not stick to your hands, the dough hook or the bowl).
Once the dough is mixed, pull it out of the mixer and, on a lightly floured pastry board or large wooden cutting board, knead the dough for about 2 minutes or until it is very smooth and has a silky feel to it. To knead the dough, always use the heel of your hand and push away from you. (You get the most power this way.) Push the dough, then fold it in half and turn it 1/4 turn and continue. When the dough is smooth and silky, shape it into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. I actually use Pam olive oil spray and it seems to work well. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, so no air is touching the top of the dough. Otherwise, you will get a hard crust on the top of your dough, and you definitely don’t want this. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes in a warm, dry place.
Dough covered with plastic wrap in a lightly oiled bowl and rising for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, uncover it and punch down the dough. Cut it in half, shape each half into a round disc shape and place each piece back in the bowl. Re-cover it with plastic wrap (using some of the plastic wrap to keep the two pieces separated). Let the dough rest for about another ten minutes.
Take one piece of the dough and set it on your lightly floured pastry board. Begin rolling the dough out gently by rolling it once, fully with the rolling pin (pushing away from you, not pulling toward yourself). This is, again, because you use your strength better and have more control when you are rolling away from yourself. Turn the dough 1/4 turn and continue rolling until you have the desired thickness (or thinness!) I like my dough fairly thin. If the dough starts to stick to the board, brush a little bit of flour across it with your hand.
Place the dough on a magic pizza pan (aka, pizza screen), which vents you pizza and allows the bottom to brown and crisp up beautifully, or whatever pizza pan you have, and bake! I bake my pizzas at 500 degrees, on the convection bake setting, for about 15 minutes. However, watch it carefully to ensure it does not burn!
A delicious pizza!
oven temp and time?
Hi Bob, I cook my pizzas at 500 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes. I use the convection bake setting. Be sure to watch your pizza so it doesn’t burn. I also have to turn my pizza once, as the front seems to get a bit hotter than the back. I suspect this is a quirk with my oven.
Here are more pizza recipes if you’re interested: http://learns2cook.com/category/recipes/pizza/
Let me know if you have any to share! Happy pizza making.
Hi!
I do not have kosher salt on hand but am about to make this recipe so I am going to use just regular salt. Do you, by chance, know how much regular salt to use instead? Do you think this will effect the end result?
Great! If you substitute regular salt for the kosher salt you will be just fine.
The pizza turned out great. My husband didn’t like it because he complained it was too thick but that my fault not the recipe. Next time I am going to try and roll it out thinner. We just moved to Denver so baking at high altitude is taking some getting used to. Thanks!!
Thanks for the report. I had the same experience too. Dough does seem to puff up more at altitude, here in Denver. You are right to roll it out thinner. Good luck and let me know how the next pizzas go!
Great recipe
I would say if you like really thin crust and cooked on a stone on the grill – which i do – you can half this recipe and make two crusts. I did and it worked great. If you go that thin though use lots of corn meal on your pan or wood plank to keep it from sticking. Works great and you end up with some on the bottom of the crust which browns up great.
thanks for the details and the recipe – it’s a keeper!
Thanks so much for the suggestion, I will try it!
So good! Thanks for the tips. At 7000ft, I needed them. So very good!
So glad you enjoyed it!