Use the ooni app or an online calculator to get the correct amounts of flour, water and yeast depending on how many dough balls you want and for how long for cold and room temp proofing.
Sample Schedule: Mix the dough at 09:00, knead for 5 minutes, rest for 15 minutes, knead again for 5 minutes, first rise for 2 hours, at 11:25 divide and shape into dough balls, make pizza at any time between 17:00 and 21:00.
For next day pizza, refrigerate the dough balls 4 hours after they are made up. Remove from the fridge one hour before making pizza.
Dough Balls: 12
Weight: 180g
Yeast: Instant
Water Hydration: 60%
Salt: 2.8%
Fermentation (Rise/Proof): Bulk: 20 minutes, Second: 10-12 hours depending on temperature
Ingredients
Flour, preferably 00: 1327g
Water (60%): 796g
Salt (2.8%) : 37g
Yeast (.1%-.2%): 1.3-2.65g – depending on room temperature (18°C: 2.6g, 21°C: 1.3g)
Measure and Combine Ingredients
Add 32°C – 35°C water and salt to the bowl and mix until dissolved.
Add yeast to the water and let it hydrate for one minute then mix it until it is dissolved
Slowing add flour and mix all ingredients until fully incorporated.
Knead and Rise
Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes.
Let dough rest in bowl for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Mix on medium speed for up to 5 minutes until the skin of the dough is very smooth.
Kneading the dough is one of the most important steps, but often a step that’s overlooked. Many people do the mistake of not kneading their dough enough leading to problems down the road, when you’re going to start rising the dough.
When you knead the pizza dough, the gluten in the flour will develop, and create a network of small walls. These walls will trap the CO2 created by the fermentation process, where yeast is eating the sugars in the flour. It’s therefore important to develop gluten properly, to create strong enough walls to hold the CO2. This is done by kneading the dough. The more you knead the dough, the stronger the gluten walls are going get. And the stronger the walls are, the more the dough will keep is structure and shape.
If you don’t knead the dough enough, it’s not going to be able to hold on to the CO2. The reason is that the walls aren’t strong enough, and the CO2 will escape. You will then end up with a dense dough that’s not great to work with. You’ll also not get the light, fluffy consistency that we’re looking for in a pizza crust.
Bulk Rise
Hold the dough for 2 hours covered, at room temperature, for the Bulk Rise. The dough should almost double in size.
In this step, you let the dough rise in one, single mass. It’s during bulk fermentation most of the increase in volume will happen. The reason is that yeast works better in one single dough, rather than individual, smaller dough balls.
Shape and Second Rise (Final Proofing)
Transfer dough to a well-floured surface and divide into 180g chunks.
Gently stretch and roll into smooth even balls being careful not to tear the dough.
Place dough balls into proofing trays and lightly flour the tops. Let the dough balls rise for 10-12 hours depending on the temperature.
The ideal time for the final proof at room temperature is between 8-12 hours as this is the time it takes for the gluten to relax.
2 Easy tests to tell if your dough is proofed and ready
Dough Volume Increased
Most doughs usually double in volume when proofed, meaning that if your dough has not grown much in volume yet it probably needs to proof longer.
The Poke Test
Press the dough gently with our knuckle or finger to determine if it is properly proofed and ready. If the dough springs back right away, it needs more proofing. But if it springs back slowly and leaves a small indent, it’s ready!
Make Pizza
Dough balls should be fine for making pizza anytime during the next 3 or 4 hours after the second rise is complete.