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Raw pizza dough on a pizza peel
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5 from 28 votes

Cold Fermented Pizza Dough

Learn how to make pizzeria-style pizza at home with this easy cold fermented pizza dough recipe. Very little active time is required from your side. Most of the time, the dough will rise in the refrigerator to develop a chewy, crispy, and bubbly pizza crust. The dough can be stored in the fridge for 1-5 days. All you need are 5 ingredients.
Prep Time20 minutes
Chill3 days
Total Time3 days 20 minutes
Course: Bread, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Servings: 2 10-inch (25cm) pizzas
Calories: 584kcal
Author: Sabine

Equipment

  • Large mixing bowl
  • Silicone spatula
  • Straight-sided vessel
  • Dough scraper
  • Bench knife
  • Pizza Peel
  • Pizza steel

Ingredients

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, salt, and yeast. Then add the water and stir with a spatula until it comes together and a shaggy dough forms.
  • Pour a little olive oil in the palm of your hand and knead the dough for a few minutes until it's smooth and releases from the bowl.
  • Transfer the dough to a well-oiled container, also oil the top of the dough, lightly press the dough into the bottom of the container, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Then transfer to the refrigerator until it has doubled in size.
  • Once the size has doubled, usually after about 24 hours, lightly oil your hand, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it onto itself. Turn the bowl by 90° and stretch it and fold it again. Repeat two more times. Then turn the dough upside down and lightly press the dough into the bottom of the container. Cover and chill for 2-4 days.
  • On baking day, preheat the oven and pizza steel to 482°F (250°C) for 45-60 minutes. Place the baking steel in the top third of the oven. Remove the dough 1 hour before baking from the refrigerator and let rest in the container for 30 minutes.
  • Then carefully remove the dough from the container with a dough scraper and place it on a work surface. Cut the dough in half and preshape both halves into rounds using a bench knife with as few moves as possible. Holding the bench knife at a shallow angle with the work surface, push the bench knife under the dough and from you away starting at 6 o'clock and make a fluid rotation up to 12 o'clock and push the dough back toward you to tighten the dough and shape it into a round ball. If the dough sticks to the bench knife, then flour the bench knife a little. Then flour the tops of the dough balls and cover with a dry and clean kitchen towel for 20 minutes.
  • In the meantime, cover a pizza peel with semolina flour and set aside.
  • Flour the work surface and the dough generously and turn the balls over with the bench knife. Lift one dough ball up and place it on your knuckles. Make two fists and stretch the dough and as the dough expands, gradually open your fists and sprout and stretch your fingers. Then place the dough back on the floured work surface and stretch with your fingers. Let gravity help you stretch the dough. Use enough flour to avoid sticking. Then lift the dough from two opposite sides and transfer it to the prepared pizza peel and shape it into an even round shape if necessary.
  • Top with San Marzano pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, your favorite toppings, transfer the pizza to the oven and bake for 6-7 minutes.* If your oven has a broiler setting, turn it on after 3 minutes. While the first pizza is baking, prepare the second. Then remove the baked pizza with the pizza peel and bake the second. Serve immediately and enjoy.

Video

Notes

*The baking time depends on the thickness of your pizza steel.

Freeze
After 3 days of cold fermentation, you can freeze the dough for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1pizza crust | Calories: 584kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Sodium: 1170mg | Potassium: 125mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg