Fresh-Milled Khorasan Pizza Dough

Ingredients

Dough

Seventy percent fresh-milled khorasan, thirty percent bread flour. The bread flour adds the elasticity that lets you stretch a thin base without tearing.

• 420g (3⅓ cups) whole khorasan flour, fresh-milled (about 425g berries)
• 180g (1½ cups) bread flour
• 390g (1⅔ cups) filtered water, cool
• 20g (1½ tablespoons) filtered water, held back for adjustment
• 15g (2½ teaspoons) fine sea salt
• 2g (½ teaspoon) instant yeast
• 20g (1½ tablespoons) olive oil
• 10g (1½ teaspoons) honey

Total flour: 600g

Hydration: 68%

Pro tip: The tiny amount of yeast is deliberate. This dough does its work slowly in the fridge, and that long cold ferment is where khorasan's sweetness turns into real flavor. Do not increase the yeast to rush it.

Equipment

Method

Mill and Mix

Khorasan mills to a striking golden flour. Jade Koyle at Grand Teton describes it as grainy when milled but capable of beautiful gluten when worked properly, and that is exactly what a long cold ferment does for it.

1. Mill the berries. Mill 425g of khorasan berries at your finest setting to yield 420g of flour. Khorasan berries are notably larger than common wheat, so expect the hopper to empty faster than you think. Berry weights here are a planning estimate at 1 percent mill loss, not a calibrated figure. Machine loss varies, so weigh the finished flour and top up if you land short. The Mill will work this out for your own machine.
2. Mix everything but the oil. Combine both flours, the cool water, salt, yeast, and honey. Mix until no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
3. Add the oil. Work the olive oil into the rested dough until it disappears, about a minute. Add the held-back water only if the dough feels tight.

Wait: PT30M

Tip: Use cool water, not warm. You want fermentation slow from the start, because the fridge is doing the work.

Build Strength, Then Chill

Three folds over an hour on the counter, then straight into the cold.

1. Three folds, 20 minutes apart. Wet your hand, lift and fold the dough over the center four times around the bowl. Repeat twice more at 20-minute intervals.
2. Divide into four. Scale into four pieces of about 260g each and round each one into a tight ball.
3. Into the fridge. Put each ball in its own lightly oiled lidded container, or on an oiled tray under plastic. Refrigerate 24 to 72 hours.

Wait: P1D

Tip: Forty-eight hours is the sweet spot. Twenty-four works and tastes good. Seventy-two is the most flavor you will get before the dough starts to slacken.

Warm Up and Stretch

Cold dough will not stretch. Give it time on the counter before you fight it.

1. Rest at room temperature. Pull the containers out 2 hours before you bake. The dough needs to come fully to room temperature or it will snap back at every stretch.
2. Stretch by hand. Flour a ball generously, press from the center outward leaving a half-inch rim untouched, then lift and let gravity pull it into a 12-inch round. No rolling pin, which crushes the rim you want.
3. Work fast once it is stretched. Dress and launch quickly. A stretched round sitting on a peel will stick.

Wait: PT2H

Tip: If the dough fights you and springs back, it is still too cold. Walk away for twenty minutes. Fighting it tears the gluten.

Bake as Hot as You Can

Home ovens top out well below a pizza oven, so preheat longer than you think you need to.

1. Preheat the steel. Put a pizza steel or stone on an upper rack and preheat at your oven's maximum, usually 550F (290C), for a full hour. A steel outperforms a stone here.
2. Dress lightly. Less sauce and cheese than instinct says. A wet topping on a whole grain base gives you a soggy center.
3. Launch and bake. Slide it onto the steel and bake 6 to 8 minutes until the rim is puffed and spotted.
4. Finish under the broiler. Switch to broil for the final 60 to 90 seconds for char on the rim. Do not walk away.
5. Rest 2 minutes. Let it sit before cutting so the cheese sets and the base stays crisp.

Tip: Khorasan browns faster than white flour because of its sugars. Watch the rim, not the timer, and pull it a touch earlier than you would a white crust.

Shape the Base

Hand stretching only. A rolling pin destroys the gas in the rim, which is where all the character lives.

Round, Hand-Stretched (recommended)

The classic 12-inch round with a puffed rim. Khorasan's extensibility makes this easier than it is with plain bread flour.

1. Press from the center. Fingertips from the middle outward, leaving a half-inch rim untouched.
2. Lift and hang. Pick it up and let it stretch under its own weight, rotating as you go.
3. Final flatten. Lay it on a floured peel and nudge to 12 inches.

Pan Pizza (Sheet)

Easier and very forgiving. Press one ball into an oiled quarter-sheet pan, or two balls into a half sheet, and bake at 475F (245C) for 15 to 18 minutes.

1. Oil the pan generously. The oil fries the base and gives you a crisp bottom.
2. Press and rest. Press to the edges, rest 20 minutes if it fights you, then press again.

Proof test: There is no final proof. The dough is ready when it is fully at room temperature and stretches without snapping back.

Bake

Maximum heat, preheated steel, short bake.

Oven: 290°C / 550°F. Internal temperature when done: 99°C / 210°F.

Pizza Steel (recommended)

A steel conducts heat far faster than a stone, which is what gets you a crisp base in six minutes at home oven temperatures.

Equipment: Pizza steel on an upper rack, preheated 1 hour at maximum

1. Preheat one hour. 550F (290C) or your oven's maximum. The steel needs the full hour.
2. Bake. 6 to 8 minutes until the rim puffs and spots.
3. Broil to finish. 60 to 90 seconds for char. Stay at the door.

Grill

Excellent in summer and gets closer to real pizza-oven heat than any home oven.

Equipment: Gas or charcoal grill, lid down, indirect zone

1. Grill one side bare. Lay the stretched dough straight on the grate for 2 minutes.
2. Flip, dress, close. Flip, top the grilled side, close the lid for 3 to 4 minutes.

Note: Khorasan makes the best-looking crust in this whole collection. Deep gold, blistered rim, and it holds color under a phone camera better than any wheat here. If you are shooting content, bake this one.

Storage

• Room temperature: Dough balls: 4 hours maximum once fully warmed. Baked pizza: eat it now.
• Refrigerated: Dough keeps 24 to 72 hours cold, which is the recipe rather than storage.
• Frozen: Dough balls freeze up to 3 months after the cold ferment.
• Refresh: Reheat leftover slices in a dry skillet over medium for 3 minutes, lid on. Never the microwave.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is khorasan the same as Kamut?

Same grain. Kamut is a registered trademark for khorasan grown to a specific organic standard, so growers outside that program sell it as khorasan. Buying either, you are getting the same ancient wheat.

Can I make this 100% khorasan?

Yes, and the flavor is better. It is also less forgiving to stretch, since khorasan's gluten is extensible but not especially elastic. Use 600g khorasan, 400g water, and expect to work more slowly. Make the 70/30 first.

Why so little yeast?

Because the fridge is doing the fermenting. Half a teaspoon over 48 cold hours produces far more flavor than a full packet over two warm hours, and khorasan's natural sweetness needs that time to come forward.

Can I skip the cold ferment?

You can bake it after 4 hours at room temperature and it will be decent pizza. It will not be this recipe. The cold time is the point.

My dough tears when I stretch it.

Either it is still cold, or it was over-fermented. Cold dough is the usual culprit. Give it a full 2 hours out of the fridge. If it is slack, wet, and tearing even at room temperature, it sat too long in the cold; cut the ferment to 24 hours next time.

How many berries do I need?

About 425g of khorasan berries for 420g of flour. Khorasan berries are roughly twice the size of common wheat berries, so a cup weighs differently. Trust the scale. Treat that as a planning estimate at 1 percent mill loss, not a calibrated figure. Actual loss depends on your mill; this estimate has not been calibrated. Weigh the finished flour, top up if you land short, and use The Mill to work out the figure for your own mill.

Can I freeze the dough balls?

Yes. Freeze after the cold ferment, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then 2 hours at room temperature before stretching.

Nutrition

Per serving (¼ pizza (135g)): 215 calories, 41g carbohydrates, 8g protein, 3g fat, 5g fiber, 365mg sodium. Makes 16 servings.