First I turn my tap to warm.

I fill my Pyrex measuring glass full of hot water because it's

thick, cold glass that will make small amounts of warm water cold. When the glass is
warm, I dump the water out and then fill about 1!"1#! ml of water back in with a little
less than a tsp. of cane sugar stirred in. When the sugar is dissol$ed, add 1 tsp. of highly
acti$e yeast. It will take a few minutes to acti$ate so in the meantime put about a cup of
bread flour %I use &ing 'rthur, unbleached(. 'dd 1)* tsp of salt and stir in. 'dd in the
foamy yeast sugar water along with * tsp. of oli$e oil. I like to do most of the work in a
bowl with a wood spatula. +ou will be adding flour gradually until your dough is $ery
thick but still wet. ,ome people say don't o$erwork it, then they go and knead it for 1!
minutes.. I don't know, but I work the hell out of it in the bowl so I only re-uire about a
minute on the board to finish up, no sticky mess e$er. .ypical fold and press kneading.
/ery smooth ball result. Pour some oli$e oil in the palm of your hand and get it all o$er
the ball. Put back in the mixing bowl and co$er with a wet cloth, or plastic wrap, or
anything that will pre$ent drying 01. also allow somewhere for air to escape or expand.
%+ou guys know all this though, right2 3h well, co$ering e$ery angle here for my
method(. 4et that rest in a warm place to double in si5e. In winter, I put it near a heater or
put it in an o$en that is like 1!"1#!f and gradually dropping. In summer, 6ust put it in a
warm place of the house or something. 3nce it doubles, you can put some flour and
cornmeal down on your work surface...
7et your bowl of dough and slide a rubber spatula down all around the inside of the bowl,
tucking the dough in a bit, but really it's to break it loose from the bowl. .his is also part
of why I get such a round shape with no effort. Flip the bowl o$er and drop the dough
onto the surface. 8rop some of the flour 9 cornmeal ontop of that wet, now upturned side
of the dough. :ot a lot, but pat it on all around. Press it down. 't this point I use a rolling
pin strategically to achie$e a uniformly round disc shape. Pretty thin. 3nce it's about the
si5e of my 1*.#; pi55a pan %thick metal( I then rub a $ery thin layer of oli$e oil onto my
pan and sprinkle a layer of cornmeal onto that oil. +ou can either try to lift that dough up
and lay it into)onto the pan or ...well my ;surface; is a large plastic board which I lay the
pan o$er the rolled out dough, pick up e$erything together and flip it, resulting in the
dough disc now laying perfectly in the pan after the big flip. 0ut do what you can with
what you ha$e. 3nce it's in the pan, I run a line of oli$e oil around the outer edge that will
become the crust. I spread it in with a spoon. 3h, I often 6ust put a thin layer of oil down
all o$er the top of the dough because I find it can lock out the water from the tomato
sauce, which mostly 6ust matters depending on how watery your sauce is. I think no one
bothers with this so it probably doesn't matter as much as I ha$e been assuming.
't this point, if you want to sprinkle something like corn meal or Parmesan on your oiled
crust, do so. I'$e done one, the other and sometimes both. +ou should ha$e all your
toppings ready, and depending on how you want them to turn out, they should either be
cold or room temp, accordingly. I use 0el 7ioioso Fresh <o55arella because I found it to
work the best with my cooking temp and my preferences for cheese. I buy the ball, pic
related. I ha$e it at room temp. .his si5e of pi55a and the amount you saw in my photo
earlier calls for about =!> of that = 35 ball. I cut it into chunks. I keep my sauce at room
temp. %I cook it briefly and let it rest before e$erything comes together. I guess I need to
do the sauce recipe next(. 0asically if you want your toppings well done, keep them room
temp, if you want them less cooked, keep them in the fridge until you assemble the pi55a.
.he cheese will get more browning if at room temp. 0ut your o$en is not the same as
mine, so this will $ary and I can't comment much on that factor. <ine is a regular, non"
con$ection, ##!f max temp o$en, cheap"o &enmore o$en. 'ssemble your pi55a with
sauce and toppings. I like to sprinkle dry oregano both before and after baking. 4o$e that
aroma it puts in the air and also like it to be refreshed a bit by adding it onto the hot pi55a
after it's out of the o$en. 'nyway, the o$en should be heated to your max temp, and as I
said, mine is ##!f.
+ou don't need a cooking time length, you need to know that it will be in there about 1!
minutes and then you need to watch it after that point. It is done when the cheese is
bubbling up with brown spots, assuming you are using the same cheese as I do.. at room
temp. If not, it is done when your crust is 6ust about browning... 'ssuming you put the oil
on there like I do. many, many factors to consider here, friends. <any of these will be up
to your own preferences. I'$e done the pi55a stone thing, it's great, but I still like my
result that I am accustomed to with my thick metal pan. I'm in the works for a planning of
somehow building or ha$ing a wood"fired, brick o$en built here at my place. If I manage
to get that worked out, my entire current routine will $anish instantly, but it will be a fun
change, hey2