Published January 1, 2001.
When developing our thin-crust pizza recipes, we were aiming for a slice of postmodern minimalism: a shatteringly crisp, wafer-thin crust with a deeply caramelized flavor that bore no trace of raw yeast or flour. For ease, we used a food processor to mix the dough in seconds. Then we let it rest overnight in the refrigerator, which made it easy to handle and flavorful. For the thinnest crust possible, we used a rolling pin. While Americans have a propensity for using high-protein flour in their pizza recipes, our research indicated that Italians use fairly soft flour. We produced good crusts using all-purpose flour with 11.7 percent protein, but found that unbleached all-purpose flour with 10.5 percent protein yielded uniformly light, full-flavored doughs.
All-purpose unbleached flour with a protein percentage no higher than 10.5, such as Gold Medal, makes the lightest, crispiest pizzas. We recommend weighing the flour and water, but because many factors affect the flour’s capacity to absorb water, heed visual and tactile clues to achieve a dough with the proper consistency. For rolling out the dough, we prefer commercial-sized parchment paper sheets, though parchment sold in rolls 14 inches wide also works. Keep in mind that it is more important for the rolled dough to be of even thinness than to be a perfect circle. For topping the pizzas, we recommend buying whole milk mozzarella and shredding it by hand with a box grater; do not use fresh or prepackaged shredded mozzarella, and resist the temptation to sprinkle on more cheese than is recommended. Between baking pizzas, allow the baking stone to reheat for 15 minutes.
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