I am trying to make New York style pizza at home. I have tried many different recipes and different types of flours. I live in India, so I don't have access to bread flour brands like King Arthur etc, but I have managed to find high quality bread flour that are high gluten.
I have tried to lower or increasing the moisture in the dough by the amount of water in the recipe but I am having the same problem. The pizza dough is very dense or heavy and does not rise when cooked. Also, the pizza crust (edge) is more dense and often time it stays raw.
I am trying to get a pizza crust that is light, airy and many air pockets just like you find in a very good New York style pizza. My dough is good and soft after kneading it by hand; my proofing time is 4-6 hours in which the size of the dough doubles in size. Finally, I shape and stretch the dough by hand and put it in preheated oven at the very bottom level to get maximum heat.
Below is the recipe that I use (I have also tried baker's formula). For a 200g dough ball I use the following recipe:
- High gluten bread flour 120g
- Water 76g
- Salt 0.42 tsp
- Oil 0.24 tsp
- Yeast 0.3 tsp
- Sugar 0.24 tsp
I use a home oven that is able to reach a maximum temperature of 450 Fahrenheit. Can someone please tell me what my problem might be? I am thinking my problem is with the temperature of the oven. I am going to try to use a pizza stone to see if a get better results.
Baker's formula (proportions) I have used:
NY Style Pizza Dough Formula
- Flour 100%
- Water 63%
- Salt 1.75%
- Oil 1%
- Yeast 0.25%