new york style pizza crust

To those who care, last night I finally achieved an authentic New York style crust. It even passed the acid test; Mark raved "Two wop thumbs up!" High-gluten flour and cold-rising are the keys. As a bonus, East Coast refugees can use the flour to make bagels.

The recipe for one 15" pie:

3½ cups high-gluten flour
1 cup plus 2 TB warm water
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

  1. In a stand mixer, mix everything but oil on low speed until ingredients come together and form a scrappy dough. Add oil and mix for a few seconds longer until it's incorporated into the dough.
  2. Set mixer to medium speed and knead the dough for a full 15 minutes.
  3. Place dough in a large oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
  4. Place dough in the refrigerator for 24 hours. The dough will rise only slightly, perhaps 30%.
  5. Let warm to room temperature prior to tossing or rolling. The dough will be unusually soft.
  6. If you want the traditional puffy NYC crust, roll half an inch of the edge upon itself and pinch.
  7. I'm not telling you how to make a whole freakin' pizza. Stop reading.