Pizza dough is one of the most important parts of the pizza and also the one thing that is unforgiving on your bake night. You can have a problem with almost anything and a little improvisation and luck will get you out of trouble. Dough that hasn't risen however, well...there's nothing you can do. Except get it right the first time.

I should mention that there are some styles of dough that are more forgiving, but since I primarily bake Neapolitan pies, that's really what this post is about. The ideal Neapolitan pizza crust is chewy with a nice Cornicione or cornice - an airy puffy rim, that has just a bit of crispness to it. The hot oven will give it some nice leoparding - or char if you will. In a 1000° oven, the pie will puff up and char in just about a minute.

For Pizza Napoletana, there are a few absolutes. The dough consists of Type 00 flour, water, yeast, and salt. No olive oil, cornmeal, or anything else - this much is absolute.

The flour is usually Antimo Caputo 00 tipo from Naples. The Blu is best as it is intended for high heat, but the standard works as well. The 00 flour is super-fine with almost a consistency of corn starch. I use spring water when I can or at the very least filtered.

There are three types of yeast you can use: natural (sourdough), active or dry yeast, cake or fresh yeast. As I don't have a source for fresh yeast, I only work with either the sourdough or dry yeast. It should be mentioned though that most pizza chefs in Naples will use either the fresh yeast or sourdough.

As I had gotten into sourdough years before I started making pizza, it was my go-to once I did start. It's not a path I would recommend to someone starting out as so many conditions affect the dough. However, since it is superior in flavor and texture (IMO) it remains my preferred dough. I will use active dry yeast when I want fool-proof though.

The sourdough I currently use came from a Camaldoli strain sold by Sourdough International which I have been working with for several years. Sourdough takes a lot of time and effort to maintain and while worth it in the long run, is not for the faint of heart. It requires a commitment to ensure the starter remains vital and active. I plan on doing a post just on sourdough since I'm only skimming the surface here.

So, for the purposes of this particular post, I will just concentrate on the dry yeast and a short fermentation since it is the most predictable route. Also, I've spent a great deal of time tweaking recipes: more/less water, salt, yeast. Again, I will just cover what I've been using currently as I'm pretty happy with the recipe and it eliminates a lot of the guesswork. My recommendation is if you are starting out, find a recipe that works for you and is consistent and once you develop your skills, then experiment away to see what YOU like better.

For pizza Napoletana, your dough should be well-hydrated. So when you launch your pizza in the 1000° oven, the moisture in the dough makes steam and creates a light fluffy crust that is lightly crisp on the outside. Over the years, I have had hydration up to 70% and as low as 58%. What is working best for me right now is 62%. This is a nice balance of hydration and dough workability.

So, what's this 58%, 62%, 70%?

Most pizzaiolo's have adopted the baker's method for recipes through weight percentages. You start with the weight of your flour and that becomes the base measurement for 100%. Then all other ingredients are a percentage of the base flour weight. This is easier to explain with my actual dough recipe:

• 1 kg (1000 gram) Antimo Caputo 00 Blu [100%]
• 620 gram Spring Water [62%]
• 32 gram Fine Sea Salt [3.2%]
• 2.1 gram SAF-Instant Dry Yeast [.210%]

Based on this formula, I can increase/decrease my recipes by first adjusting the flour weight and modifying the remaining ingredients so their percentage is always the specified recipe amount. So, I can halve the flour to 500g and the water remains at 62% or 310 grams and so on. Everything is done by weight and I don't have to bother with cups, tablespoons, etc.

The above recipe is for my standard batch which yields about six 270g dough balls. There are two ways to initially mix the dough: mixer or by hand. There are two different camps on which is better. Some believe a mixer will get the dough too warm and potentially kill yeast. I've done both and have not noticed a discernable difference, but I'm only doing small batches. For the last year, I have been mixing by hand and appreciate the process. Once the dough ball is thoroughly mixed and become less sticky, I transfer to the counter and start kneading.

I typically use little to no flour. The hydration of this recipe is wet enough for a good Neopolitan crust, but not so wet that it sticks to hands, counter, dog, etc. It's still sticky and will take 5-10 minutes of kneading before the stickiness is reduced and the surface of the ball is smoother.

At this point, I lay some plastic wrap over the top of the dough ball and let it rest for 20 -30 minutes. The ball will have relaxed and spread out a bit. I knead it again for another few minutes and then let it sit for 5 - 10 minutes. At this point, it's time to make dough balls.

It's taken me a while to come up with the best size (for me) dough ball. Many will say 250g is the right size and I won't say that's wrong. Since I will at times struggle with opening a dough ball, I find the 250g size doesn't give me enough dough to make a pie when it isn't cooperating. Some day when I grow up, I will make 250g balls, but until then the 270g works well.

Making the dough ball is an art and the pizzaiolo's in Napoli make it look easy. Grab the side of dough and squeeze out perfect size and shaped dough balls repeatedly. Not me. I lay plastic wrap over my scale and measure out 270g lumps of dough and then form balls. The trick is really to create a uniform surface so forget perfect round, but make sure you shape, then form the ball, eliminating seams.

I purchased these Doughmate Artisan trays from Amazon. They are a bit expensive, but easier to work with. I've used in the past individual Rubbermaid containers but you end up having to scoop the dough out of them which can have adverse effects when you go to open up the dough ball. These trays are easier to work with and are stackable. While you can find much cheaper restaurant quality pans, they are much bigger and won't fit into a residential refrigerator. Starting out, you won't need to refrigerate the dough, but when you get into longer fermentations, then it becomes a factor.

You could also use something along the lines like a couple casserole pans - just make sure you leave a lot of room around the dough balls to allow for the spread.

The other nice thing about these pans (just go on Amazon and search for 'doughmate artisan') is they are naturally nonstick, so you don't need to oil or flour the pans. Sometime you may need to toss a little flour on top of the fermented balls to prevent them from sticking to each other when removing.

Anyway, I shoot for six balls at 270g each and usually end up with the last one at 280g. Not the end of the world. At this point, I place the lid on the dough pan and put it in a location where the temperature is fairly stable. The ideal temperature is 68° - the yeast amount is specific to a seven hour rise at that temp.

IDEAL is an ugly word. Life seldom delivers IDEAL. It's hotter than you expect or someone leaves the door open in January and your warm kitchen turns into an icebox. While this can throw some chaos into your perfectly planned pizza dinner, here the dry yeast route really comes to the rescue. You can warm/cool the dough in brief periods to adjust to any emergency. There have been times where A/C was running and the dough was really slow to rise. I brought the tray outside the last couple hours to warm up. Knowing that ideal is 68 for seven hours, I can warm or cool to adjust as needed.

When you lift the lid and see the dough balls have grown up and out, you are ready to go. The beauty of the dry yeast is that the fermentation is pretty predictable, For a number of reasons the fermentation could be off, one way or the other, by an hour or so.

It's not the end of the world.

If it's been a little slow, you can stall a bit. Ply your guests with more wine, appetizers, until the dough is ready. Or just start in. The first ones would benefit from another hour, but will still make a good pie. By the time you are cooking the last ones, they are perfect. And being a little past that sweet spot just means a little more relaxed dough. Give them a little more flour and take the time to open them up.

For this post, for this dough recipe, the last most important piece has nothing to do with the actual dough.

No matter what the dough is doing, if your oven isn't hot enough, the crust will suffer. A well hydrated dough is made for launching into a hot oven and cooked in 60 - 90 seconds. You can be a little off on your dough, but if you launch into a 800° oven or cooler, then the crust doesn't puff almost immediately. It becomes harder, crunchier.

I mention this because I've rushed a bake and started cooking when the oven hadn't warmed up enough or I was having difficulty maintaining the high temp. While dough can be finicky, it is the one thing that is more forgiving from a time standpoint and also one aspect that even when it doesn't go as planned, it's still likely better than the neighborhood pizza parlor.