Pizza Dough Breakthrough!

I have been making my own pizza dough for several years now and had a very good recipe in the sense that the final product tasted very good. It was time consuming and somewhat difficult, though. I heard a recipe on a recent podcast of The Spledid Table and decided to try it. Works wonderfully! This is nice because there is no kneeding. It is a very wet dough that requires a really long rise. The idea is for the dough to be loose enough that the gluten strands will align themselves without kneeding. I have had a lot of success with it. Given its ease and its ability to keep in the fridge, I think it will be a staple from now on. This recipe comes from the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

I did a couple things different from the recipe. One is, I squirted a little honey into it. Just about a half teaspoon. I also allowed the water and yeast to bloom for five minutes or so before mixing the salt and flour in. I used a combo of mostly bread flour and a little cake flour. I didn't want as much as it makes, so I halved the proportions and had no problems. It was not salty enough for me, so I would up the salt a bit. Lastely, I was afraid it would dry in the fridge and I put a moistened paper towel in the tupperware with the dough.

The recipe is:

1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast
1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached flour + some for dusting
cornmeal

Mix yeast and salt into 3 cps warm water (100 degrees). Mix flour in with a wooden spoon until well blended. Cover with a damp towel and sit in a warm place to rise for five hours. Refridgerate for up to two weeks. Use as needed.

It was pretty elastic and sticky to work with, so I needed quite a bit of flour to handle it for a pizza. Also, I rubbed the edge with some olive oil before baking to conduct a little more heat and get a char on the crust.