This recipe specifies quantities to make 2kg (4.4lbs) of dough. This
is sufficient to make 10 "standard" or 5 "thick base" pizzas. Each
"standard" pizza is 250mm (10") in diameter and the base weighs 200g
(7oz). Thick bases weigh 400g (14oz), have the same diameter, but are
twice as thick as standard bases.

Ingredients

2kg (4.4lbs) plain flour
150g (5.3oz) compressed fresh yeast
3 cups (24 fluid oz) warm water
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt

Making the Dough

Make
up liquid with luke-warm water, NOT hot and pour into a mixing bowl at
least twice the size of the total mass of the ingredients (the yeast
will cause the dough to rise to about twice its original size).

Add compressed fresh yeast.
Add extra virgin olive oil.
Add sugar.
Add salt.
Stir until all ingredients are dissolved.
Stir in the majority of 2kg (4.4lbs) of flour.
Knead for about 5 minutes, gradually adding more flour if required.
Dough should not be sticky (wet) but should be smooth and elastic.
Next, place it in a container at least twice the size of the kneaded
dough. Cover the container with a clean warm dampened hand towel. This
will assist in keeping the temperature somewhat above ambient and
activate the yeast.

HINT:

If
the ambient temperature is too low to cause the dough to rise, place
the container with dough in front of a slightly warm oven, but NOT
inside the oven. Temperatures above 30°C (86°F) will kill the yeast.

Let the dough rise for about 1 hour and use it as is. There is no need to knock down the dough as you do when making bread.

Preparing the Base

Take a good handful of dough (or measure out the exact amount using scales) and roll it out very thinly, using a rolling pin.

If
necessary, sprinkle flour on the dough to stop it sticking to the
rolling pin. Use a mixture of 50-50 plain and semolina flour for
dusting the base as this will assist in preventing the base sticking to
plates and oven floor.

COOKING HINT:

Depending on
your style of cooking, or the number of guests being catered for, you
may like to cook using a very hot oven (400°C (752°F)), or you may like
to cook slowly, using a temperature around 300°C (572°F). Obviously the
highest temperature will cook food faster, but may also burn or cook
differently on the bottom and the top. In this case, cook the pizza on
an upside-down pizza tray for 5 minutes, then (using your pizza peel)
slide it off the tray on to the brick hearth and crisp the base for 30
seconds to 1 minute.

Don't know why the pizza tray should be upside down? Try sliding a pizza off a tray that is right way up!

HELPFUL HINT:

If
you have placed some fresh timber into an existing hot oven and it is
burning with a naked flame, this naked flame could burn the top of the
pizza before the remainder is cooked properly. If you can't wait for
the flame to die back to embers, place the pizza in the oven and leave
the top cavity door open, rotating the pizza occasionally to ensure
uniform cooking.

MORE HELPFUL HINTS:

When the
fire is started, some pieces of burnt paper and ash may find their way
into the cooking cavity. Wait until the oven is up to operating
temperature, open the top oven door and vigorously beat the flat part
of your pizza peel on the base a few times. This will stir up any ash
and paper particles, which will then be sucked into the chimney by
convection currents from the heat of the fire, leaving a clean cooking
surface.