There’s nothing quite like a good homemade pizza, and the key to a great pizza is the sauce and a perfect crust. Making your own pizza dough can be easy and rewarding, and once you get the hang of it, you’ll never go back to store-bought dough. 

A huge thanks goes to a collaboration with Eric Mendel of https://thebbqproject.com and @slowporkinbbq on Instagram (he has some great pizzas posted there). He provided me his base recipe which got me started to where I ended up. My recipe ended up with exactly 70% hydration (water to flour ratio), but can be any variation you find works for you.

After trying multiple recipes and not being happy, Eric’s base is where I kept coming back to and really appreciate his input on the dough process. As someone learning dough, there is much to learn and experiment with. If you get frustrated with failed attempts, don’t go down the pizza dough rabbit hole! 😉

Ingredients:

• 250g 00 high-quality flour
• 250g high quality bread flour
• 350g water
• 5g active dry yeast
• 8g honey
• 12g olive oil
• 15g salt

Mixing:

To begin, mix the yeast and honey in 90ºF water and stir until fully dissolved. In a separate mixing bowl, add the 00 flour, bread flour, and salt. Use a mixing machine on low and slowly add the liquid mixture into the flour. Mix for no more than 5 minutes or until the dough balls up.

Proofing and Rising:

Cover the dough with a towel and leave it out at room temperature (approximately 70-72ºF) for 1 hour. After an hour, remove the dough, make your large dough ball, and place it back on the counter covered with cellophane in your proofing bowl for 1 hour. You will see gas bubbles on the surface of the dough, indicating that the yeast is alive and working as expected.

Fermentation:

After the second rise, start the fermentation process in the refrigerator. Put the entire dough ball in the refrigerator for 48 hours before you create your smaller dough balls for pizzas. This fermentation process will give the dough a complex flavor.

Dough Balls: After 48 hours, remove the dough from the refrigerator, divide it into smaller dough balls, and shape them. You can then freeze the dough balls for later use or allow them to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before shaping them into pizza crusts.

Cooking: 

To cook your pizza, preheat your pizza stone to 650ºF, but no lower than 600ºF, so you can leave the pizza on the stone for at least 4-5 minutes in total. Turn the pizza using a pizza peel every 60 seconds in quarters to ensure that you get an even crust all the way around. The crust facing the direct flame needs to be turned, or else it will burn. Times and temperatures will vary, so make sure to watch the pizza every 30 seconds carefully.

Final Thoughts:

By following these instructions and paying attention to your dough and cooking, you’ll end up with a delicious pizza that has a chewy outer crust with a little crunch. The fermentation and rising process will give the dough a complex flavor that will satisfy even the harshest pizza critic. Experiment with different toppings and sauces to make the perfect pizza for you. With a little practice and patience, you’ll be able to make a pizza that’s even better than the ones you get at your favorite pizzeria!

BONUS: I have a full YouTube video on this recipe you won’t want to miss from start to finish at https://youtube.com/ukulelejaybbq in my Pizza Playlist along with many other pizza videos.