The Dough That Loves High Heat (65% Hydration)

Dough written for a kitchen oven burns in a stone oven, and dough written for a stone oven slumps in a kitchen one. This is our house recipe for true stone heat: slightly wetter, barely any yeast, and a long cold rest that does the flavour work for you.

RECIPE · Makes 4 × 250 g dough balls · Mix 15 min · Rest 24–48 h cold

INGREDIENTS

• 610 g strong flour (00 or bread flour)
• 400 g cool water (65% hydration)
• 18 g fine sea salt
• 1 g instant yeast — about ¼ teaspoon; the long rest does the rest

METHOD

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the flour, and mix until no dry flour remains. Rest 20 minutes — this pause replaces most of the kneading.
2. Add the salt and knead 5 minutes until smooth. It should feel soft and slightly tacky, not sticky.
3. Cover and leave 1 hour at room temperature, then divide into 4 balls and seal each in its own container.
4. Refrigerate 24–48 hours. Cold and slow is where the flavour and the blister come from.
5. Pull the balls out 2 hours before baking — cold dough fights the stretch and steams instead of blistering.
6. Stretch gently from the centre out, keeping the last two centimetres of rim untouched. That rim is your leopard-spotted crust.

From the Flavor Forge Kitchen — stone heat, done right.