How to cook an authentic crispy base pizza at home

Hands up who likes pizza. Everyone? Excellent. Now hands up who has given up cooking pizza at home because the base is either soggy or hard as a rock. Thought so. Awful isn’t it? Barbecues are just like a pizza oven with one glaring exception – the floor isn’t made of stone, which makes it hard to get that authentic base that’s crispy on the bottom but still soft enough to chew. But that’s where the BUGG Pizza Stone Set from Beefeater comes into play. It's a high quality stone set is designed to heat up to a temperature that results in a delicious crisp pizza bases that taste just like they came out of your favourite Italian restaurant. The pizza stone set is designed to fit perfectly in the Beefeater Bugg BBQ Amber or Graphite barbecues. It’s user-friendly and the accessories are tough and durable. The BUGG Pizza Stone Set includes paddle, pizza stone and cutting wheel and retails for $39.95. So now you’ve got the stone sorted, it’s time to make your own dough. This is an inescapable part of making the perfect pizza. Store bought crusts are never going to taste like the real deal. It’s also a fun thing that the kids can help with. Want to know more? Visit: www.beefeaterbbq.com/bugg-pizza-stone-set-94935/w1/i1618956/  

8 steps to delicious pizza dough

INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 cup (165ml) warm water (around 105°F/38°C)
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) yeast
• 1/2 tablespoon (7.5ml) salt
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) olive oil
• 2 cups + 1 tsp (250g) flour

  METHOD:

1. Put warm water in a pan. Add yeast and sugar. Stir lightly and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast activates by turning into a foam on top of the water. Then add the salt and oil.
2. Gradually add in the flour as you stir the mixture simultaneously. You know you have added enough flour when the mixture becomes too thick to stir.
3. Knead the dough. It is ready when it is glossy and tacky, but not sticky; a small amount pinched off can be stretched (by pinching and pulling) thin enough to let light pass through.
   • Take the dough out of the bowl and put it on a clean, well-floured surface. A wooden board or clean table is best. Make sure it is at a height where you are comfortable working. If it is very moist or sticky, sprinkle additional flour over the top.
   • Gather the dough into a pile and begin pressing it together. Press the heels of your hands firmly into the dough, pushing forward slightly.
   • Fold the far edge of the dough upwards, towards you, and press it into the middle of the ball. Rotate it slightly. Repeat this press-fold-turn sequence for the duration of the kneading process.
4. Let rise up for up to 1 hour at room temperature or 5 hours in the refrigerator.
5. Place on a floured counter and flour the top of the dough.
6. Cut the dough into two round balls and repeat the following steps for each piece.
7. Flatten one ball with your hand until about 1 or 1 1/2 inches (2cm - 4cm) thick.
8. Pick up the disk of dough, and pinch the dough about 1/2 inch (1.27cm) from the edge. Try to stretch as you pinch, repeat this all around the edge.
9. When the disk of dough has been stretched enough to start to be floppy, proceed to tossing. Make a fist and drape the dough over your fist.
   • Make a fist of the other hand and slip it under the dough next to your other fist.
   • Carefully move your fists apart stretching the dough more.
   • Shift your fists (left towards your face, right away) so the dough rotates while stretching.
   • When the dough has reached about 8 inches (20cm) in diameter, you can quickly move your left fist in an arc that goes backwards towards your face. Do this while twisting your right fist forward away from your face. If you give a a little push upwards with your right fist the dough will spin like a Frisbee. Practice how it feels to balance the force of the fist twists equally. This will keep the pizza from spinning off into the corner (or worse).
   • Be sure to catch the falling, spinning pizza as gently as you can with your two fists to avoid tearing. However, if you notice that the dough is tearing, just start over, and do the spinning process again.