1. Mix all of the water, yeast, salt and sugar in a stand mixer with 2 cups of the bread flour and mix the ingredients for 1 or 2 minutes or until they have totally mixed and the dough looks like a batter. Allow dough (batter) to sit covered with a towel for 20 minutes to autolyse. 2. Once the 20 minutes are up add a dough hook onto the mixer and kneed for 5 minutes on med-low. This will not look like its doing much but it is agitating the hydrated flour and will help form gluten. 3. Add in another cup of flour and kneed again for five minutes. 4. Once the five miuntes are up check the dough if it is pulling away from the sides or has formed a ball on the hook your done, but if it is still clinging to the bowl slowly add the remaining cup of flour till it totally pulls away but is still a little sticky to the touch. 5. Once it has formed a ball cover and let sit for another 20 minutes. 6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured bench roll into 3 balls. You might have to dust the tops with flour because the dough will probably be sticky to the touch. 7. Put the dough balls into a flat gallon zip top sprayed with no stick spray and leave in the refridgerator for at least 12 hours for up to 6 days but the longer the better. You can also freeze the dough for longterm storage. 8. Baking. 9. When ready to bake let your refridgerated dough sit out on floured surface for at least 30 minutes. 10. Place a pizza stone or unglazed quarry tile in the oven on the middle rack and preheat at 550 degrees for at least 45 minutes 11. Take the pizza dough and press in about a half of an inch to form the lip then spread pizza dough on a very lightly floured peel or lipless cookie sheet into a 12 inch round. 12. Before you add toppings make sure your pizza slides well on the peel if not, remove and lightly add more flour. 13. Add a light layer of sauce and then add your toppings, basil, and lastly the cheese. 14. Slide your pizza off the peel onto the stone and bake for 5 to 7 minutes depending on how crisp you like the crust. 15. Remove from the oven and lest it sit on a cooling rack for 3 minutes to let the cheese set. 16. Garlic crust topping *Optional*. 17. In a small pan heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil with one smashed clove of garlic and cook until the garlic just starts to brown, then remove the clove and turn off the heat. 18. Brush oil on baked pizza lip and sprinkle on a few flakes of kosher salt to taste. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Ingredients
