Bonci’s Pizza, 24 hours fermentation pizza dough.

Preparazione

• Pour the common wheat bread flour in a bowl.
  
• Add the 3 grams of dry yeast (I personally only use 1 gram) and mix the powders
• Pour 650 g of water and start mixing, using a spoon or a stand mixer at low speed with a paddle attachment.
• Keep on mixing for a couple of minutes (about 1-2 minutes with the mixer) until the dough starts to thicken. Then let it rest for 20 minutes so that the yeast can be activated and work properly
• – If you are using the mixer, switch from the paddle attachment to the dough hook but keep it running it at low speed, add the salt and slowly pour the remainder of the water so that the flour can absorb it.
  – If you are using a spoon, make a groove and put the salt in it, then start pouring the water you have left little by little and continue mixing with your hands.
  Mix until the water is completely absorbed (the time required depends on the flour
  features).
• Once the water is fully absorbed, pour the olive oil, always little by little. If you are using the mixer, always run it at low speed.
  
• Once the oil is absorbed and the dough looks even, let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Next, oil the countertop you are working on, so that the dough does not stick on it and you are ready to start folding it.
• BONCI’S PIZZA: THE FOLDS.
• After putting the dough on the countertop, start to fold as shown in the video below. If at the beginning the dough is too soft (due to various reasons), you can do the first folds in the bowl. The first cycle of folds is completed when you have done about three folds. Then let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
• Repeat the cycle twice more. So the procedure is:
  * First 3 folds cycle * 20 minutes pause
  * Second 3 folds cycle * 20 minutes pause
  * Third 3 folds cycle * 20 minutes pause
  After these three cycles, the dough should look like the one in the picture.
• Put the dough in an oiled container and, after one hour at room temperature, move it to the fridge, where it will stay for 24 hours. During summer time, you can put the container straight into the fridge and it does not affect the final result.
• BONCI’S PIZZA: SPLITTING THE DOUGH
• After the 24 hour maturation in the fridge at 4 °C (39 °F) the dough should look as in the one in the picture. Its volume should have at least doubled. If you don’t see bubbles on the surface, do not worry.
  Now let the dough rest for 15 minutes so that it can get to the room temperature.
  
• Set up some tools before starting:
  1 A scale (to weigh the dough and the pats)
  2 An oiled dish (to place the dough)
  3 A container (to place the pats for the proof)
  4 A bench scraper to cut the dough
• Move the dough to the oiled countertop and calculate the weight of the pat according to the size of your pan. You can do your calculations using the tool in this page (Calculate how much dough to put in the pan), otherwise follow these instruction: imagine you have a pan that measures 30cm x40cm and you want a medium height pizza. You have to multiply 0,5 by the pan surface area, so 30 x 40 x 0,5 = 600. So if this was the case, you would need to cut pats that weight 600 g.
• Do some folds to give strength to each pat and give them a rounded shape. Then place the pats in a covered container and let them rise for at least two hours in summer and at most five hours in winter, depending on the temperature. However, this phase (called proof) should last until the pats double in volume.
  
• BONCI’S PIZZA: SPREADING
• After the leavening, sprinkle a lot of semolina flour onto the countertop and place the pat on it. Cover the pat with semolina flour as well and gently press the edge.
• Once the edge is pressed, open your fingers and start doing the same on the core, from top to bottom, two or three times, giving the pat a rectangular shape. If the pictures are not clear enough, you can watch the video below.
• The following step consists in placing the spread pat onto the pan. The movements must be quick. Take an edge of the pat with a hand and bring it on the back of the other hand, be careful not to pierce though the dough. Then lift the pat and put the back of the first hand below. Shake off the excess semolina flour and place the pat on the pan, making sure that the dough is evenly spread. Press with your fingers along the perimeter in order not to get a pizza crust which is too high.
• Now turn on the oven at 250 °C (about 480 °F) and let it reach the set temperature. I’d like to point out one last aspect: because everybody’s taste is different you can choose how long to wait before putting the pizza in the oven. If you wait an hour before putting the pizza into the oven, the dough will rise and you will get a focaccia-like texture. If you place the toppings and immediately put the pizza into the oven, the final result will be lower and more crunchy pizza. So go ahead and try different timing until you find the texture you prefer!
  
• BONCI’S PIZZA: BAKING TIME
• Last but not least: the baking! This is the last step but nonetheless important, so you have to be really careful and you have to know your oven really well because each one works differently. Once the oven reaches 250 °C (about 480 °F), put the pan in the lower shelf, on the bottom, for about 8 to 16 minutes. Then move it to a higher shelf for about 5 to 10 minutes.
• Alcune pizze con questa ricetta base Bonci e metodo