Norma:
I've never made my dough with the degree of accuracy most do here but I've been making it so long I just know when to stop adding flour and when to stop mixing. As such, next time I'll try to keep accurate measurements. For now, Looking at your dough and mine, it appears your hydration has to be pretty close to mine. I have that larger size Kitchenaid mixer (the one with the handle on the side that cranks up and down to raise and lower the bowl).
Right now I am using KABF as I am out of GMFS. To make 4 doughs, to the mixer with the standard dough hook attached I add:
About 2 1/2 cups of luke warm water I have a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup that I just fill all the way to the top before it spills over so I figure that's about 2 1/2 cups. (I don't measure the temperature.. it's not hot, not cold - just luke warm).
About 2 1/2 tsp of white table sugar (I used to use honey but can't tell any difference so I use sugar these days)
2 tsp of active dry yeast (I do measure the yeast)
I turn on the mixer on pretty high and let it splash around for maybe 30 seconds until the sugar has dissolved. I doubt this is necessary but I do it.
For 2 1/2 cups of water I am guessing I use about 5 1/2 cups of KABF.
I first add about 2 1/2 cups of flour to the water/yeast/Sugar and I turn the mixer on to a low speed and start mixing. I probably let it mix this way with this (2 1/2 cups) for about 7-8 minutes. I then shut off the mixer and let it sit for about 15 minutes. The mix looks like a "porridge" at this point or really soupy mashed potatoes. During the rest time it will start to foam up and expand as the yeast starts working..
After the rest cycle I turn on the mixer probably to speed 3-4 and add about 2 1/2 tsp of Diamond brand superfine salt and about 1 1/2 TBS of oil (I use EVOO but any type of oil would work as I don't think it is enough to really add much flavor to the dough). I mix this fast for maybe a 30 seconds until I see no more olive oil on the surface or olive oil swirl marks and the oil has been fully incorporated into the "porridge".
I turn the mixer down to speed 2 and from this point on I stop "measuring" flour and just start adding it gradually starting by the 1/2 cup and then the 1/4 cup, etc. until the dough starts to cling to the hook. I keep adding gradually in smaller and smaller amounts until the dough pulls away from the sides and starts working its way up the dough hook. Sometimes the dough works its way up the hook and forms two "horns" that fly out and tall back down into the bowl. Other times I have to stop the mixer and push it back down into the bowl to keep it evenly kneeding but the dough will be sticky. I basically stop adding flour when the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl but the bottom center of the bowl will still be pretty sticky. When I've added the last of the flour I probably let it mix another 2 minutes. I'd say this entire second mixing process takes about 8 or 9 minutes. My goal is to have a dough that if I press my finger into it and leave it there for 2 seconds and pull it out quickly it comes out "relatively" clean. If I press it in and leave it for 5 seconds and pull it away there will be alot of dough stuck to it. My rule of thumb is a dough can never be too wet but get it a bit too dry and you may as well throw it away. What seems real sticky at room temperature after mixing is not going to be very sticky when you pull it from the refrige and it COLD 2-3 days later!
I remove all the dough from the mixer with my hands and kind of have to keep my hands moving so it doesn't stick to them and I ball it over so a large smooth ball is formed as best I can. I drop it into a large pre-oiled plastic bowl swish it around a bit in the lightly oiled sides and botttom and then flip the ball over so what just rubbed against the oiled bottom and sides is now what is exposed to the air on top. I seal this with the plastic lid and put it in the refrigerator. Over 2-4 hours the dough will rise and rise to the point that it can "pop" the lid off and I'll usually hear it (as will my dog who hates such sounds). I then punch it back down, cover it again. and leave it in the refridge for 48 hours. If it doesn't pop the lid I still punch it back down before I go to bed that night. After 2 days it will have risen again but not as much. I take the mass of dough, punch it down and squeeze it in half to tear it into two (as though I were wringing out a wash cloth) and then take the two 1/2's and do it again to each so I'm left with 4 roughly equal size doughs. I form these into balls tucking and pinching the bottom closed so I'm left with 4 smooth doughballs again. I take these and squish them (pinch bottoms against the sides) of the big bowl but you could put them into individual containers at this point. I'll let them sit in teh fridge another 24 hours now as individual balls to be used. While I let my this dough sit in the fridge for 72 hours, I believe this to be the MINIMUM... I'll use it 3-4-5 even 6 days later but I think 3-5 is best. I do like separating the dough into the 4 balls at least 24 hours before I am going to be making pizzas for NY Style.
When it's time to bake I preheat the stone on the bottom rack at 550 for probably 45 minutes (sometimes an hour but my stone is pretty thick... probably 5/8" thick). I'll take 2 of the dough balls out when I'm turning on the oven and flatten them into plastic wrap on teh counter and then cover with plastic wrap while they warm up a bit. I never re-ball, re-kneeding, etc. or stretching them into a skin will be difficult. I never use a rolling pin... only press it flat with my fingers and stretch to a skin with my fists. All here already know all this. I will say I had a wooden pizza peel that broke and in a pinch I found a piece of heavy cardboard. I took my pizza stone, layed it on the cardboard, and drew a circle around it with a black magic marker to use the circle as a guide when stretching. That was 3 years ago! Still using the same piece of cardboard!... Pizzas slide off onto the stone in the oven just as easy as it did the pizza peel! However, when retreiving pizzas from the stone I use a cookie sheet.
I will say I am not sure how the Detroit Style pizza would turn out if I were using the Gold Medal Full Strength flour in this recipe... probably not as good but the NY Style would be a bit better. Overall, I prefer GMFS for NY style but when I don't have it, I'm not at all bummed out using KABF. KABF does a great job in my opinion and I don't have to travel and hour to get it and buy 50 lbs of it at a time!
