How to Keep Pizza Dough Flat

"New York" or "Brooklyn" style pizza is flat, chewy and crispy.

Pizza dough is a very glutinous yeast dough, kneaded more than the typical dough in order to be stretched thin and baked under high temperatures. This produces a chewy interior and a crispy exterior that is desirable in a New York-style pizza. Yeasty doughs must be handled carefully so that they don't rise too much while cooking, except in the crust.

Instructions

1. Carefully measure the ingredients for the pizza dough, paying special attention to the ratio of flour, liquid and yeast. Using too much yeast can cause the dough to over-rise. When the dough is mixed, store it between 68 and 72 degrees F (room temperature) for no more than six to eight hours. Higher temperatures and long fermentation times will also cause the dough to over-rise.

2. Turn out the dough, knead it (but don't overknead) and allow it to rest. This is the bench proofing stage in which the dough rises for the second time. This step is crucial, as punching down the dough flattens out the risen dough by incorporating the air bubbles back into the dough.

3. Lay your pizza dough out on your peel, and make sure that you dock the dough before you put down sauce and cheese. "Docking" involves poking the bottom of a flat dough with a knife all over in order to allow vents for steam to escape so that the bottom of the crust won't rise too much when cooking.

References

• Pizza Crust and Pizza Dough Troubleshooting