help me dough dr.!!!

[gchornet]

I'm going crazy trying to perfect my dough. I have a wood fired brick oven and am trying for a thin, crispy crust. Here is the latest recipe I've tried...
4 cups Caputo "00" flour
1 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
I sprinkle the yeast into 1/4 cup of warm water and let it sit 5 mins. Then I add that to the flour, salt and the rest of the water and mix for a couple minutes... add the oil and mix a couple minutes more. I then divide and roll into dough balls, cover and refigerate for 2 days. I take them out an hour or so before baking.
At this point the dough is very sticky. It tears too easily and just seems too thin or lacking in structure. The pizzas don't turn out bad, but it's chaotic working with the dough and the final result is not the type of crust I'm going for.
There's a local pizza place where the crust is very, very thin, yet light and crisp- you can lift up a slice and it holds up- doesn't droop down. THAT'S what I want. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!

[The Dough Doctor]

GC;
Your total dough absorption figures out something close to 66%, as you are trying to duplicate a commercial (pizzeria) type of pizza, I would add that very few pizzerias use an absorption much above 58 to 60%. They do this for ease of handling. Based on this, you might begin by reducing the amount of water you use to about 60%, or 10.5 to 11-ounces. This will give a less wet and sticky dough which should handle better and possibly come closer to giving the product you are looking for. Also look at your baking time and temperature as a longer bake at a lower temperature typically results in a crust that is both crispier and one that holds its crisp for a longer time after baking.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[bruno1127]

Dr.
 Do you cook with a steel plate?... If so how long and at what temp for that crust you were describing?
That crust described is my holy grail also. It has to hold up.. I get the moisture ratio...

[The Dough Doctor]

Bruno;
When baking in my conventional home oven I use my pizza stone. Thin crust pizzas are baked at approximately 550F in a center rack position, while deep-dish pizzas are baked at 450F using an aluminum screen between the stone and the pan. If I try to bake the pizza entirely on the stone I always end up with too much color on the bottom crust. Typical baking time for my pan style pizzas run about 18 to 20-minutes.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor