Best-Ever Pizza Dough Recipe (No Knead) - Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking (2024)

FAQs

What does too much yeast do to pizza dough? ›

Too little yeast and your dough won't rise enough, and the pizza base will taste bland. Use too much yeast and your dough may over-ferment. Tell-tale signs are your dough expanding too much or tasting and smelling a bit sour, with an almost alcoholic aftertaste (the yeast produces alcohol as it ferments).

Molasses is a popular dough sweetener, adding a deeper and complex flavor. Honey is also a good option, though its antibacterial properties may have an adverse affect on the yeast.

The Secret Ingredient to the Perfect Pizza: Fresh and Never Frozen Dough. Pizza is one of the most beloved foods in the world. It's hard to resist the lure of a crispy crust, gooey cheese, and savory toppings. But what many people don't realize is that the dough is the foundation of any great pizza.

Not Letting the Dough Rest

Proofing – which is the process of putting the dough aside and allowing it to rise – enables the yeast to leaven through fermentation, making the dough rise. Not allowing your dough to proof for long enough will result in a hard, dense and just plain gross pizza base.

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.

Yeast: The Essential Component

Yeast is a critical ingredient in pizza dough. It is a living organism that ferments sugar and releases carbon dioxide gas, making the dough rise. The yeast's activity creates a light, airy texture and adds flavor to the dough.

In dough, salt slows down the activity of yeast somewhat by messing with a key enzyme. But, if salt as a dry ingredient contacts yeast as a dry ingredient, then salt can kill yeast. Other bone-dry ingredients like sugar can do the same.

No matter the form it's in, any yeast can work well for making pizza dough. It all depends on how much time you want to spend making it, and what kind of flavor you want. For example, sourdough starter will produce a much different-tasking crust than other yeast types.

Don't let it rise for too long, though.

“A few days' rise is fine and will enhance the taste of the crust, but any more than three days and the yeast will start to eat up all the sugar in the dough and convert it into alcohol, which will adversely affect crust flavor,” Schwartz said.

The secret to great dough isn't kneading or throwing . . .

It's good old-fashioned H20. “Water, water, water,” says Falco. “Pizza dough made at home should be 50 percent water. Pizza needs to cook longer in a home oven, which means the dough needs to be more hydrated.”

Should you prebake pizza dough? ›

Of course you do. Parbaking, or partially baking the dough to its halfway point in advance can save you a ton of time on pizza party day. You just have to top it and toss it back in the oven before you want to sit down and eat. This is also a great way to get everyone involved in the pizza-making experience.

Pick up the dough with your hands, make fists, and drape the dough over your knuckles. Gently and slowly, pull your hands apart to stretch the dough.

If you're in a hurry, there are a few tricks you can use to speed up the process. One way to make pizza dough rise faster is to place it in a warm oven. The heat will help activate the yeast, causing the dough to expand more quickly.

Docking the dough gives this air room to escape and so, it doesn't stay in the crust. Many restaurant owners think they can't dock their frozen pizza dough, since it is frozen. However, you'll still be able to pierce this dough slightly and even those very tiny holes will be enough to make a difference.