Pizza Dough

Ingredients (Baker's Percent)

Makes 3 dough balls

Instructions

Combine everything and knead until smooth (no need to knead until gluten is fully developed). Divide into three balls, roll tightly, and refrigerate in a greased airtight container for anywhere from 24-72 hours. Take the dough out 3-4 hours before you want to make pizza, depending on the surrounding temperature. Turn out the dough on a floured surface, stretch using your preferred stretching method, dress, and bake on a pizza stone or steel at your oven's maximum temperature.

This is a very basic recipe, but it hits all the marks. The most important hallmarks of a good New York-style (or as it should be known, New Jersey-style) pizza are the charring on the bottom and a blistery, airy crust, both of which require at least a day's proof in the fridge. This dough is a super tiny bit more hydrated than a standard pizza dough, so a moderate dusting of flour is a good idea if you want to toss it and impress your friends. These dough balls are sized for a 14" pizza peel you might get at the store, but can of course be scaled up. If you want some old school pizza wisdom, I recommend YouTube videos of Frank Giaquinto; he can explain the non-bread steps better than I can, and in a slightly better accent than mine.