SINGLE NAPLES DOUGH BALL AT 60% HYDRATION (for 700 deg or more)
Need just 1 dough ball? This down-and-dirty dough is mixed in a mixer and ferments at room temperature so you can have pizza tonight. The fermentation time is short, so you don’t get complex flavor, but it works great if you’re in a hurry. It’s at 60% hydration here, which I like best for baking at 700°F (371°C) or higher.
MAKES 1 DOUGH BALL, ABOUT 270 GRAMS/9.5 OUNCES
INGREDIENTS
100 grams (⅓ cup plus 1½ tablespoons) water at 55°F (13°C)
0.1 grams (1⁄64 teaspoon) fresh yeast or 0.03 grams (1⁄128 teaspoon) active dry yeast
166 grams (1¼ cups) King Arthur bread flour
4 grams (⅔ teaspoon) fine sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS
TO MIX AND KNEAD: Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the dry yeast over the water and mix with the flat beater on speed 2, about 30 seconds. With this small volume, it’s easiest to mix with the flat beater at first. Add all the flour and mix on low speed until everything is combined, and the dough comes together, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the salt and mix until it disperses, another 30 seconds. Switch to the dough hook and continue mixing on low speed for 12 to 15 minutes. The dough should look smoother and feel somewhat resilient when poked.
TO FERMENT: Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature (about 70°F/21°C) for 2 hours.
TO BALL UP AND FERMENT AGAIN: At this point, the dough should feel somewhat plump and resilient. Make a tight ball out of the dough using your dry hands and a dry work surface: pick up the dough and make the smooth side the top, tucking the rough bottom side into itself to swell up the top. It’s like stuffing a sock into itself (see the photos on this page). When all the loose dough is tucked into the ball, firmly squeeze the ball near the bottom to get out any big air pockets. The top should swell up like a balloon and be smooth like a baby’s bottom. Gently roll the bottom under your palm on a dry work surface, using a circular motion to close the bottom and smooth it out. Ideally, the dough ball will be tight and smooth all over.
Place the dough back in the bowl or in a proofing box or on a tray, cover and let rest at room temperature for 6 to 12 hours. Use the dough within that time window or see the options below. Complete shaping and baking directions appear in each pizza recipe.
OPTIONS You can easily double or triple this recipe to make dough for 2 or 3 pizzas. To hold the dough longer and get more flavor, you can ferment it in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature. For instance, you can ferment the bulk dough in the fridge for up to 24 hours (instead of 2 hours at room temp) and then hold the dough ball in the fridge for 8 hours (instead of 6 hours at room temp). Or if you’ve fermented it all day at room temperature but then decided you want pizza the next night instead, stick the dough ball in the fridge for 24 hours. Adjust the time and temperature to suit your schedule.
Vetri, Marc; Joachim, David. Mastering Pizza: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pizza, Focaccia, and Calzone [A Cookbook] (p. 72). Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed. Kindle Edition.