SHAPING YOUR BASES...
SHAPING BASIC DOUGH
INTO BALLS
- Once the dough is ready to be shaped, it will will feel soft, airy
and malleable. Take the piece of dough at one end and, using
both hands, form a ball about 200 to 250 grams in size. Work
by tucking the folds under the ball so that the top surface is taut
and smooth. - Pinch the dough underneath the formed ball to separate it from
the long piece of dough. - Repeat this procedure to make more balls.
- Roll each ball gently on the work surface to make it even
and round. - Place the balls on a covered non-stick tray. Make sure there is at
least one ball width between each ball and the edges of the tray
and that the balls don’t touch the cover. Use a fine mist water
spray to hydrate the surface of the balls once they are on the
tray. Let rise for 1 hour at 20 to 24°C. After resting, place in a
refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 18 hours. The balls can
sit in the refrigerator at around 4–5°C for up to 3 days.
SHAPING BASIC DOUGH
INTO BASES- Once the dough has matured and tripled in size, remove from the
refrigerator and leave at ambient temperature for 3 to 4 hours
(less in summer and more in winter) before forming the bases. - Use the bench scraper or knife to separate the dough ball from its
neighbours and lift the dough ball from the tray and turn bottom
side up, revealing the bubbles. - Place the dough ball, still bottom side up, on a small mound of
flour and turn it over in the flour so that both sides are covered. - Begin by using your fingers to form the cornice (border) and
push the dough out, making the circle larger. Once it has doubled
in circumference, remove from the flour and place on the
work surface. - Keeping one hand on one side of the base, gently stretch the
opposite side with the other hand and lift and slap the dough
circle from side to side. This will stretch the gluten in the dough
and the base will get larger and larger. - Once stretched to the desired size (our pizze are around 30 in
diameter), place the base back on the work surface and neaten
into a circle. The pizza base is now ready to dress with the
toppings and then bake.