Home Made Pizza Americana

I have had quite a while to perfect pizza cooking and dough's which in my opinion is the most important thing about a pizza if the dough isn't good then the rest of the pizza won't be.  This pizza dough is a very basic pizza dough that can be compared to most pizza restaurants normal type of pizza and in my opinion tastes just as good as theirs or even better especially when it's a chain using frozen dough.  This pizza is also good if you wish to prepare it then chill it in the refrigerator until you are ready for it for example cooking a bunch of pizzas at the same time for a party.

Ingredients:

1. 5 Cups Unbleached High-Gluten or Bread Flour
2. 3 TBSP Honey or Sugar
3. 2 TSP Salt
4. 2 TSP Instant Yeast
5. 1/4 Cup Olive or Vegetable Oil
6. 1 Cup Milk (Low Fat or Whole)
7. 3/4 Cup Room Temperature Water

Directions:

1. Place all the ingredients into the electric stand mixer and set the mixer on a low speed for about 4 minutes.  After this allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes then on a medium low setting allow the mixer to mix to dough for another 2 minutes.  If you are doing this by hand then use a metal spoon and a metal mixing bowl and mix together into a coarse ball as you rotate the bowl with one hand and the other mix the dough with the spoon like a dough hook for the same duration.
   
2. Once the dough is done test the dough to make sure it's the right consistency by touching the dough if the dough sticks to your hands then it needs more flour so keep adding flour to the dough by the Tablespoon full till the dough no longer sticks to your hands.  The dough will be too dry if the dough does not attempt to stick to the sides or the bottom of the bowl in this case add water by the Tablespoon full till the dough slightly sticks to the sides and bottom of the bowl but comes off clean.
   
3. After the dough is to the right consistency take a small piece of the dough either by tearing or cutting it off and then stretch it evenly if thin translucent membranes appear in the dough then the dough is mixed thoroughly and is ready for the next step.
   
4. Take the dough and roll it out into a ball then take it and cut it into 4 10 oz sections and then roll these into balls making sure there are no air pockets in the dough.
   
5. Brush or lightly rub olive oil to the outside of the balls and place them in freezer bags and set in the refrigerator for 2 hours minimum (Over night if possible) to allow the dough to rise.  Extra portions can be placed into the freezer for up to 3 months for later use after being chilled in the refrigerator.
   
6. 2 hours before needed take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to get to room temperature.  After this flour your work area and then work the dough out into the desired shape by stretching it or tossing the dough if you know how.
   
7. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (~204 °C).  If cooking on a stone allow this to heat in the oven while it's preheating.
8. After the dough is to the desired size perforate the dough to allow the air to escape during cooking and to prevent bubbles in the pizza.  You can use a fork if you don't have a perforator.
   
9. Place the sauce from the previous recipe onto the dough and spread it around leaving the outside edge free of sauce to allow the crust to rise and not to burn the exposed sauce.
   
10. Next place down a layer of cheese for this I used a pre packaged pizza blend but just mozzarella will work just fine.
    
11. Next place the meats on top of the cheese.  If you are doing just pepperoni or Canadian bacon then just place more cheese down before adding the meat since these meats will slide off should there be cheese on top of the meats alone sausage or other ground meats don't need this treatment.
    
12. Next place your vegetables onto the pizza. then top with more cheese if you are using precooked bacon add this on top of the layer of cheese covering the vegetables.
    
13. Place the pizza on a pan or a peel and slide the pizza into the oven or onto the stone and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes or the crust becomes a golden brown and remove from the oven.
14. Allow the pizza to cool then cut and serve.