How to make perfect pizza dough with the best yeast

Important points in making pizza dough

Contrary to many people’s perception, making pizza dough will not be difficult at all, and it only needs us to follow the cooking instructions more carefully. Whether you want American-style pizza (thick crust) or Italian-style pizza (thin crust), if you properly and precisely observe the ingredient measurements and know the principles, you can bake the best, crispiest and fluffiest dough with appetizing flavor at home just like a professional chef. Here we review the important points for making pizza dough with sourdough:

• If you want fresh, crispy and fluffy dough, use milk or high-fat yogurt instead of water.
• Remember that good pizza requires good dough, and good dough needs healthy and fresh yeast.
• Always check the expiration date of the bread yeast. Or do a sourdough health test. (Refer to the article for better understanding)
• Never use baking soda instead of sourdough as it is dangerously unhealthy.
• You can keep your pizza dough in the freezer and use it daily for up to three months. However, be sure to take it out of the freezer 24 hours before use so that the ice slowly thaws and its properties and qualities are retained.

Important points in making crispy and salty pizza dough

Do you like crispy or chewy pizza cheese? If you are a fan of crispy pizzas, you should refrigerate the dough to let it slowly proof. This is the standard method used by famous restaurants as well. They prepare the pizza dough with sourdough and put it in the fridge overnight to slowly get crispy.

What is the best flour for making pizza dough with sourdough?

Bread flour is considered the best flour for homemade pizza. Bread flour can be easily found in fancy bakeries or bread shops. All-purpose flour is also a good option. Compared to all-purpose flour, bread flour has more gluten which makes your pizza crust crisper and tastier.

Ingredients needed for homemade pizza dough (for 4 people or two 30cm diameter pizzas)

Steps for Making Pizza Dough with Yeast

Below are the steps for making pizza dough with yeast. Following these tips will help achieve the desired result when baking pizza.

Step 1: Preparing the Dry Ingredients

First, sift the flour once or twice so that it becomes completely smooth and soft. We add salt to the flour so that the yeast can be active.

Step 2: Preparing the Yeast

To make pizza dough with yeast, first mix the instant yeast powder with 1 cup of warm water and sugar thoroughly. Allow time for it to rise and “bloom”, as we say.

Step 3: Preparing the Pizza Dough

Open the sifted flour from the middle and mix the bloomed yeast and olive oil, then knead until the dough becomes “soft”, so to speak.

Then pour some flour on a flat surface like a kitchen counter and place the dough on the surface again and knead it. Be careful not to add too much extra flour to the pizza dough so that it does not become stiff.

After thoroughly kneading the dough, place it in a small pot greased with oil and cover the dough with a clean cloth. Allow the pizza dough with yeast to rest in a warm environment.

If the dough has risen a lot in volume, about twice its original size, it indicates the dough is ready. Then you can divide the dough into 4 equal parts and proceed with the baking process.

Step 4: Baking the Pizza

Knead each of the 4 parts separately and preheat the oven to 200°C so that it gets hot. Place a bowl of water in the oven so that the dough softens during baking.

Grease the special pizza baking pans with kitchen oil and a small amount of liquid oil. Flatten the dough balls in the bottom of the pans and let the pizza dough rest for 15 minutes.

Then, with the water evaporating in the oven, place the dough pans inside for 10 minutes to parbake and initially cook the dough. Then remove the pans – you can use the breads right away or freeze them to make fresh, aromatic pizza any time you want.

Finally, Why Don’t My Pizza Toppings Stick to the Dough?

To get the toppings to stick to the dough, you should spread an appropriate amount of sauce on the dough first. Then cover the sauce surface with a thin layer of cheese before adding other pizza toppings.

Of course, keep in mind that if you have baked or fried the pizza crust, wait for the toppings to cool before adding them to the dough. Because this will prevent the toppings from sticking to the pizza bread.