Two doughs — pick one based on your timeline. All quantities scale to your pizza count.
2
1 dough ball = 1 × 12-inch pizza
Active dry yeast (from freezer): Always bloom it first — dissolve in warm water (38–42°C) for 5–10 min until foamy. If it doesn't foam after 10 min, the yeast is dead; don't proceed. No need to thaw before using.
Same-Day Dough
Mix in morning · Cook tonight
00 flour (or bread flour)
320g
Water (38–42°C)
208ml
Fine sea salt
9g
Active dry yeast
4g
Olive oil
8ml
Method
Bloom: Stir yeast into the warm water with a pinch of sugar. Wait 5–10 min until foamy.
Mix flour + salt. Add the bloomed yeast water and oil. Mix into a rough dough.
Knead 10 min until smooth and elastic.
Cover and rest at room temp 4–6 hours.
Divide into balls, rest 30–60 min more before stretching.
Pros
Mix morning, cook tonight
No planning needed
Good workable dough
Cons
Less flavour than cold ferment
Slightly harder to stretch thin
Less crust blistering
Cold Ferment Dough
Mix today · Cook tomorrow or day after
00 flour (or bread flour)
320g
Water (38–42°C for bloom, rest room temp)
208ml
Fine sea salt
9g
Active dry yeast
0.8g
Olive oil (optional)
6ml
Method
Bloom: Use a small splash of the warm water to dissolve the yeast. Wait 5–10 min until foamy. Use the remaining water at room temp when mixing.
Mix flour + salt. Add bloomed yeast, remaining water, and oil. Mix into a rough dough.
Knead 8–10 min until smooth.
Bulk ferment at room temp 2 hours, then ball up.
Refrigerate in covered containers 24–48 hours.
Pull from fridge 2 hours before cooking.
Pros
Better flavour — complex, slightly tangy
Better leopard spotting at 500°C
Easier to stretch thin
Keeps in fridge up to 3 days
Cons
Needs 24–48 hrs planning
Arc Lite 62% · Same-Day
Tested 6 Sep 26 · Mulino Perfetto · 400°C
Mulino Perfetto Tipo 00
320g
Water — 62% (splash warm for bloom, rest room temp)
198ml
Fine sea salt (2.8%)
9g
Active dry yeast
2g
Olive oil
8ml
Ball weight
536g
Method — knead, rest, knead
Bloom: small splash of 38–42°C water, 5–10 min until foamy.
Mix flour + salt, add bloomed yeast, remaining water at room temp, and oil.
Knead 6–8 min on speed 2. It clears the bowl inside 2 min — that's absorption, not development. Keep going.
Rest 10 min covered, then 1–2 min more on speed 2. This flour develops through rest, not hook time.
Shape into a ball, oiled container, bulk 6 hours at ~18°C.
Divide and ball. Two or three passes only — don't over-tighten.
Ball rest 2 hours minimum, 3 is better.
Stone 400°C, bake ~2 min, rotate twice. 2 min full flame between pizzas.
Result: open even crumb, crisp set base, no gummy layer. Full 12 inches without tearing. Real char and some spotting on the rim despite the short ferment. Easy to fold and eat.
Pros
Base sets properly at 400°C — no moist interior
Fine tender crumb, folds cleanly
27c a ball vs 72c for Caputo
Works in cold/windy conditions
Cons
Stretches harder than 65% — warm the balls first
Rim runs thick at 268g; try 275g and push the stretch further
No leoparding — that needs a long ferment, not more heat
Arc Lite 62% · Overnight Cold
Not yet run · next cook
Mulino Perfetto Tipo 00
320g
Water — 62% (splash warm for bloom, rest room temp)
9:00pm — divide and ball, straight into the fridge. Two or three passes only.
3:00pm — out of the fridge. Three hours, not two — cold dough tears and won't puff.
6:00pm — stone 400°C, bake ~2 min, rotate twice.
Why cold, not room temp: 22 hours at room temperature is a legitimate method, but Melbourne nights drop and the aircon runs, so the dough would ferment unpredictably. The fridge holds 4°C and makes the timing reliable. Bloom in warm water but add the rest at room temp, so it goes in cool rather than fermenting hard for the first two hours.
What should improve
Easier stretch — the long ferment relaxes gluten in a way 6 hours can't
More flavour, complex and slightly tangy
A real chance at leoparding — 18h develops the sugars a same-day dough never gets
Watch for
Untested with this flour beyond a 6-hour bulk
If it's slack and tearing at 3pm, the flour couldn't hold 18h — go back to same-day
Cook notes, 6 Sep 26: pre-cook mushrooms before topping — untreated they pooled liquid on the plate. Semolina on the peel rather than flour, so nothing burns off mid-cook. Cheese to 2cm from the edge, don't pile the centre.
Cold ferment bloom tip: Only use a small splash of warm water to activate the yeast — add the rest at room temp so the dough stays cool going into the fridge and doesn't over-ferment overnight.
What it actually costs
Scales with the pizza count above. Green = verified from a receipt. Amber = still an estimate.
Where the money actually goes: cheese is the dominant line, not flour. At the standing mozzarella price it's roughly 60% of a margherita. Catching a $5 temporary price discount on the 2kg bag saves about as much per pizza as the entire Caputo-to-Mulino flour swap.