Brian’s Pizza Dough Recipe
Great pizza starts with the right dough. Brian, our wholesale manager, has spent countless hours developing his special dough recipe and has been kind enough to share his secrets. Featuring Caputo 00 Flour, Brian’s dough provides the perfect canvas for any pizza.
From the dough, to the sauce and the toppings, shop all of Ditalia's Pizza Essentials Here!
INGREDIENTS
250 grams Caputo 00 Flour (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup cool water
1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Granulated Sugar
PREPARATION
Dissolve the yeast in warm water with the sugar. In a standing mixer bowl, add the cool water and dissolved yeast.
With the mixer on slow speed, using the paddle blade, add about 1/3 or so of the Caputo 00 flour and mix (increasing the speed) for a minute or two, until a smooth “batter” forms. This helps to develop the gluten in the dough.
Add remaining Caputo 00 flour and salt. Once the dough comes together, switch to a dough hook and use a slow/med speed to kneed the dough for 8-10 minutes.
First Proofing
Form dough into a ball and transfer to a bowl lightly oiled with extra virgin olive oil and cover with plastic wrap until rested and has slightly grown in size (approx 1.5 hours). Since very little yeast is used, the dough shouldn’t double in size, as is common for bread recipes.
Second Proofing
Remove dough from bowl and portion into two dough balls. Place on floured sheet pan, cover well with plastic wrap and a towel to make a tight seal, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Remove dough balls from fridge 1.5 hours prior to making pizza. This allows the dough to reach room temperature, making it more workable.
HELPFUL TIPS
An alternative / quicker method is to forgo the 2nd long proof in the fridge and instead proof the dough the 2nd time at room temp (approximately 4 hours) Care must be taken so that the dough balls do not over proof (ie more than double in size). If it appears the dough would be ready too soon, it can simply be put in fridge to slow down the growing dough a bit. The goal is to have the dough “rise” in the oven – and making sure the dough doesn’t “over proof” is key!
The longer (refrigerated) second proofing yields a more favorable crust that tastes less “yeasty” & is definitely worth the extra preparation day.
The sugar simply helps with the browning of the crust in a conventional oven that tops out at about 500 degrees.
Use a baking stone or baking steel. Preheat oven for an hour at the maximum temperature prior making pizzas.
PIZZA ESSENTIALS
From the dough, to the sauce and the toppings, shop all of Ditalia's Pizza Essentials Here!
46 comments
I like a thicker crust, and I only have have a 550 degrees F maximum oven. I think I have perfected (at least for my raised-on-mom&pop-pizzeria-pizza in NY State taste) a thicker crust based on Brian’s recipe.
Ingredient changes
- Instead of a level 1/4 tsp of yeast, a slightly heaping 1/4 tsp.
- Instead of a level 1/2 tsp of sugar, a slightly heaping 1/2 tsp.
- Add 1 tbsp of good olive oil.
Cooking/handling changes
- Make one ball instead of two for an 11” – 12” pie. I double or triple the recipe and make extra pies.
- Use slices of fontina or fresh mozzarella to cover the pie except for the edges, and put the sauce and toppings on top of that. This way the top of the crust doesn’t come out soggy and the cheese stays creamier. I like to use good homemade or Rao’s jarred pizza sauce and heat it slowly to thicken it a little.
- Start the oven at 550 to get it and the stone good and hot, but turn it down to about 450 when you put the pizza in. Bake for about 8 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Turn it around halfway through if needed to even out the browning. I also turn the broiler on for a minute or so.
- Let the pie cool to room temperature. When you’re ready to eat it, preheat the oven and stone again to 550 then turn it off. Put the pie in for about 2 1/2 minutes to add a thin layer of nice crispiness to the bottom.
I am looking how to freeze Capto “00” pizza dough with toppings for later cooking.
Any body doing this?
All my Capto (Blue) “00” dough balls are refrigerated for at least 3-4 days.
Thanks,
PeteW
Some of the problems people are experiencing with wet dough probably comes about by different ‘cup’ sizes – a cup is 236ml not the averaged cup of 250ml used in many recipes and indeed on the internet when searching for MLS in a cup!
My dough came out delightfully easy and now in the fridge awaiting……
By far my favorite recipe so far for household oven cooking! Delicious flavor and restaurant quality presentation.
This recipe as written is far too sticky. Needed to add much more flour than originally weighed. Perhaps recipe needs water weights and not cup measurements
Perfection!! This recipe yields the most fantastic pizza I’ve tried. I use it for both home oven @ 550 degrees as well as w my Gozney dome @ 950 degrees.
Both come out beautiful, and literally everyone who tries it says it’s the Best they ever had. Awesome thanks a million
I made two batches back to back and they were both very wet, but one was more so than the other and required much more flour. I used Tipo 00 and Active Dry Yeast. Used a scale to measure the flour (tested it by measure the Tipo 1kg bag first), glass measuring cup for the liquids. Can’t explain the differences. Should the dough be easy to handle, or is it suppose to come out very sticky?
What a perfect recipe. I cook in a conventional oven at 550 w a really nice pizza stone. Cooks in about 3 and half minutes to a perfectly cooked pizza. Up there w the very best!! Love it. Friends are amazed at the pizza.
I’ve been a Sous – Chef for quite some time and having traveled all over the world especially Italy I found a restaurant that only uses Caputo pizza flour or 00! I’ve purchased and sent this to my home back in the states! It’s the finest flours I’ve ever known and/or used! The yeast you use needs to have every part involved to make the most amazing pizza you will ever eat!!! Amazing
How do I find the answers to these comments?
This is the best recipe I’ve tried. Others have come out too chewy or dense but this is perfect. I’ve used it with both blue and purple Caputo…both are fine but the purple yields lighter and more airy crust. Definitely my husband favourite crust that I’ve tried (I’ve tried 5-6 different recipes before this one). He took one bite and said “that’s a keeper”. Comes out good in both my 550 home oven and my high heat pizza oven but it’s better in the higher temp. I love a bubbled, blistered crust. I use only San Mazanos, a little garlic, mozzarella, basil (after baking) and a little olive oil around the crust edge.
I’ve tried several Neopolitan dough recipes and this was the best. So easy to work with…doesnt shrink back at all so easy to stretch and shape. Could use a little more salt. I think I’ll try an extra 1/4 tsp next time.
Tried this recipe and Caputo 00 for the first time. AWESOME! Especially cooked on a pellet grill that does 600 degrees. Great crisp, chew, and a touch of smoke. Caputo 00 makes the difference.
Made my first pizza dough with Caputo 00 chefs flour and cooked the pizza tonight. Turned out amazing and better than any of my previous. I could tell when making the dough that it was going to be a different ballgame.
Why is it neccesary to sit the dough after the first proofing?
Do I bake it at 500 degrees?
This is my to go recipe for Neapolitan pizza. I cook it on my Ooni pizza oven that reaches 930 degrees. It is done in less than a minute, and it is crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle of the crust. Thanks so much
Can you freeze the dough once it proofed the first time for later use? If so,what’s the time period to make pizza with it after taking from freezer?
I followed the recipe 100% My end result was a fantastic thin crust, that bubbled beautifully in my oven(500 with standard pizza pan. I used corn meal to coat the hot pan right before I slid the pizza on it). I was skeptical until I started rolling it out an finished with some tosses. I could not be happier with my end result.
Good morning,
Thanks for sharing your very tasty pizza dough method.
After following your recipe using Caputo Blue Flour, can you recommend cooking temp and time using the Kamado Joe Classic oven.
I had my first attempt yesterday baking 4 pizzas for my family, they came out ok but the base was a little Crunchy/Chewey but still very tasty, I used the Pizza stone at approx 500f and baked for approx 12mins. Would you recommend a higher Grill temp and less cooking time etc.
Thank you
Fantastic! I finally get restaurant quality pizza at home!!!
I tried this last night in a regular oven and it came out crispy like a saltine cracker. Kind of heavy and dense.
I made it again it tonight but n a convection oven tonight and came out absolutely perfect! I think that had so much to do with the consistency of the finished product. It was awesome tonight! I will make this my go to recipe going forward. Thank you!
Hello!!! I just did this dough recipe.
It turned out great, but It lacks a little flavor.
Can I put more salt in it?
Can I prepare the Caputo Chef’s flour Tipo ‘00’ in a bread machine. If so, will be recipe be the same.
Followed directions to a tee the crust was dry after second proof but held together when I formed it. crust was tough didn’t rise during the baking. What happened?
