Recipe Overview
64% Hydration at a Glance
Baker’s Percentages
Dough Formula
| Ingredient | Weight | Baker’s % |
|---|---|---|
| King Arthur Sir Lancelot Flour | 568 g | 100% |
| Cold Water | 364 g | 64% |
| Salt | 14 g | 2.5% |
| Olive Oil | 19 g | 3.3% |
| Diastatic Malt Powder | 11 g | 1.9% |
| Instant Dry Yeast | 2.3 g | 0.4% |
Total dough weight: Approximately 978g
Yield: Two approximately 489g dough balls
Why This Hydration?
What to Expect From 64% Hydration
At 64% hydration, the dough remains manageable while offering a slightly lighter and more open interior than the 62% version.
This is my preferred balance of handling, crispness, chew, and extensibility for home-oven New York-style pizza.
The additional water makes the dough softer and more extensible, but it also requires slightly more confidence during balling, stretching, and launching.
When baked on a properly preheated pizza steel, the formula produces a crisp underside with a tender, chewy interior.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Mixing and Fermentation Process
- Combine the initial ingredients. Add the flour, cold water, instant dry yeast, and diastatic malt powder to the mixer.
- Begin mixing. Mix on low speed until the flour is hydrated and the dough begins to form.
- Add the salt. Add the salt after the initial ingredients have combined and continue mixing until it is evenly distributed.
- Add the olive oil. Add the olive oil gradually after the flour has absorbed the water. Continue mixing until the oil is fully incorporated.
- Develop the dough. Continue mixing until the dough becomes smooth, cohesive, and moderately elastic.
- Check the dough temperature. Aim for a finished dough temperature of approximately 72–75°F.
- Rest the dough. Cover the dough and allow it to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
- Perform one stretch and fold. Perform one stretch and fold to strengthen and organize the gluten structure.
- Begin the bulk fermentation. Cover the dough and allow it to ferment at room temperature for approximately one hour.
- Divide the dough. Divide the dough into two approximately 489g portions. For exact 480g dough balls, remove approximately 18g from the finished batch before dividing.
- Form the dough balls. Shape each portion into a smooth dough ball with enough surface tension to hold its shape without tearing.
- Refrigerate. Place the dough balls into lightly oiled, covered containers and refrigerate for approximately 72 hours.
- Temper before baking. Remove the dough from the refrigerator approximately two to four hours before baking.
- Stretch and bake. Stretch each dough ball into a 16-inch pizza and bake on a thoroughly preheated pizza steel at 550°F.
Home Oven Method
Baking Notes
Preheat the pizza steel for approximately one hour or until it has fully absorbed the oven's heat.
Use flour or a small amount of semolina on the peel as needed, but avoid using more than necessary.
Work efficiently after placing the stretched dough on the peel because a 64% hydration dough can begin sticking if it sits too long.
Rotate the pizza as needed to account for uneven heat inside the oven.
If the bottom is finished before the top, transfer the pizza to one or two pizza screens and continue baking.
After cutting, allow the pizza to cool briefly on a pizza screen so steam can escape from underneath.
Troubleshooting
Common Questions
Is 64% hydration difficult to handle?
It is slightly softer and stickier than a 62% dough, but it should remain manageable with strong flour, sufficient gluten development, proper fermentation, and confident handling.
Why does the dough stick to my peel?
Common causes include allowing the topped pizza to sit on the peel too long, using a damp dough surface, insufficient bench flour, overproofing, or building the pizza too slowly.
Why is my crust dense?
Dense crust can result from underproofing, excessive degassing during stretching, a dough that is still too cold, insufficient gluten development, or an inadequately preheated baking surface.
Can I reduce the diastatic malt?
Yes. The ideal amount depends on your flour, fermentation, oven temperature, and desired browning. Reduce or omit it if the crust colors too quickly or if your flour already contains malted barley flour.
Can I scale this recipe to exactly two 480g dough balls?
Yes. Use the Pizza Dough Calculator to produce exactly 960g of finished dough while preserving the same baker's percentages.
Scale the Formula
Need a Different Amount of Dough?
Use the Pizza Dough Calculator to adjust the number of pizzas, diameter, dough-ball weight, hydration, flour, and fermentation schedule.
Open the Dough Calculator →What I Use