Mastering the crust (Nov. 15, 2007)

It's probably just that I'm a slow learner, but getting a great crust took me a few years. A good crust is fairly easily in reach and a good crust alone is worth the effort, but stepping it up a notch requires finding the right balance of temperature, tools and ingredients.

Temperature: While the dough is rising, pre-heat your oven with the pizza stone inside it. Here's one of the big challenges. Of course you'd prefer a wood-fired pizza oven, but that's not gonna happen for most of us. You'll want an oven that holds a very high temperature and keeps fairly even heat. I tend to run our electric convection oven at about 530°. This allows the crust to brown nicely in a very short period of time and avoids drying out the crust. Although putting the pizza stone at the top of the oven will make sure it's in the hottest part of the oven, if you're able to get the temp up that high, it won't really matter, and having a few extra inches of working space in sliding the pizza off the peel can be helpful; put the stone on a middle rack with lots of room above.

Tools: In addition to the oven, you'll want a few things like a nice pizza stone (a good, heavy one will hold the heat better) and a decent peel. It also helps to have a brush (to brush oil on the dough).

Dough: Getting a good dough is about balance. If your water is too hot, it'll kill the yeast; too cold, and the yeast won't become active enough. In my opinion, ditto on the flours: too much white flour, you'll lose out on texture and taste; and, for my approach, too much whole wheat and semolina, you'll miss out on the delicate flavors that balance against everything else. All that said, I've found that the preparation of the sponge is one of the most forgiving parts of making a good dough.
Yeast "sponge"
   approx. 2t active dry yeast
   a little less than 2/3c of warm water (about 105°)
   1T whole wheat flour
   1T honey
   about 2T white wine
   about 1t olive oil
Combine these ingredients, minus the white wine, and let sit for about 5 minutes. The yeast should begin to foam. (If the yeast doesn't foam, it may be because the yeast was too old or because the water temperature wasn't right. If you suspect the culprit was the yeast, the only solution is to toss the sponge and the yeast and start all over.) After the yeast begins to foam, add the wine and mix well.
Flour
While the yeast is activating, combine the following dry ingredients in a bowl:
   1/2c semolina
   1/3c fresh organic whole wheat flour (it'll give your dough a nice, almost nutty flavor)
   about 1/2c unbleached white flour, preferably organic
   1-2t sea salt
Mix the sponge into the flour mixture and turn out onto a floured surface. Knead 5-10 minutes, until the dough has a springy, resilient feel. In addition to the unbleached white flour you mixed in at the outset, as you're kneading, add as much additional flour as you need to have the dough be just a tad less than sticky. When you've kneaded enough, you'll be able to push the dough down with your hand and it'll rebound in a few seconds. Drizzle a small amount (1/2t) of oil in a bowl, roll the ball of dough around the inside of the bowl, and let rise for an hour in a slightly warm, draft-free place. I place a slightly damp towel over the bowl and put the bowl in the unused side oven in our two-oven range. After the dough has risen to about 1.5-2 times its original size, put it out on the counter with a bit of flour and knead it down so that the air is out of the dough--about two minutes.

Rolling out the dough
You'll want to avoid using a rolling pin to roll out the dough, as a rolling pin is likely to take too much of the air out of the dough and give you a harder, less flavorful dough. Start by pressing the ball of dough out with the heel of your hand until it begins to form a flatish circle, and then continue to press the dough from the inside out, again, with the heel of your hand. Rotate the ball around as you press outward. Occasionally sprinkle the ball with a small amount of flour and flip it over, using the flour on the bottom to keep the dough from sticking to your surface. Once it reaches roughly half the size of your pizza, tossing the dough (spinning it as it goes up) in the air actually helps to stretch the dough without taking more air out of the dough. Continue to rotate the crust on your surface, pushing outward with the heel of your hand, until it's reached the size you'd like for your pizza, about 14" in diameter.

Finishing up
Put a liberal amount of rough cornmeal on a pizza peel and the toss the dough onto the peel.
Brush a thin coat of olive oil on the dough, particularly the outside eadges.
When you top it, avoid being overgenerous with the toppings, particularly the cheese. A thinner layer is better for the flavor of the dough and the toppings.
Especially if you've been able to get 530° for your oven, cook for about 10-12 minutes. I try to turn the pizza from back to front about halfway through, even though the convection oven evenly distributes the heat, as the back of the oven still cooks more quickly.