I have noticed a big diff in IDY measures. some recipes use less, some more. I use 1/2 tsp for bread that sits/proofs on the counter overnight covered with plastic wrap and a towel.

I use a stone for my zoids ... [pizzoids is what we call them]

I have had good luck with ABs pizza crust recipe.

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt*

1 tablespoon pure olive oil

3/4 cup warm water

2 cups bread flour (for bread machines)

1 teaspoon instant yeast

2 teaspoons olive oil

Olive oil, for the pizza crust

Flour, for dusting the pizza peel

it is my go to recipe, I use 2 and 1/4 cup flour [usually the last 1/4 C is WWF]

Dave

... it's good for focaccia bread too ...

With a long slow rise, you can use a small amount of yeast. It has plenty of time to multiply. Using too much may cause it to rise too quickly even in the fridge.

I've used two bagel recipes that are almost identical except one calls for about a tablespoon of yeast and one calls for a half teaspoon. I can't see any difference in the results.

I tried a new recipe yesterday, to bake today, which had a full packet of yeast (2.25 tsp), and it rose all over the place. Good thing my bowl has a tight lid! I have to figure that the author of the recipe had old yeast. :) I also used my new malted flour, which encourages the rise. The dough felt fab during kneading, but if it comes out well, I'm going to cut the yeast, probably by half.

My own whole wheat recipe has 2g ADY (a little more than half a tsp) to 339g wheat flour, 22g malt.and 241g water. The ratio does matter.

Thanks guys - I just stumbled upon some discussion of this on the God Grief thread, too.

I’ve got too much flour headed my way on Friday so I’ll have plenty to experiment with.

I cheat with pizzas. I prepare the pizza on a silicon mat and slide the pizza and the mat onto the stone. Much less accident prone!

Yeast grows.....the amount you add can be very variable. Don't sweat the measurements, but realize that less yeast takes more time.

Islay...Brilliant about the sil-pat!! But the dough directly on a super hot stone really makes for a crisper bottom crust....but getting it there does take practice.....and lots of cornmeal or flour.

I also cheat. I use parchment paper and slide it onto the stone. I don't have a peel but I use an upside down cookie sheet.

I always do exactly like cooper above with complete success. I always use a long preheated stone. Parchment paper is as thin as corn meal. Hard to imagine how it could have any negative effects.

Two things—paper really does burn at 451 degrees. Because of the coating, parchment singes but rarely ignites, but it and make a bad smell. If you trim it to fit the pizza, the coolth of the dough will protect the paper, but you lose the "handles" that make it easier to slide the peel under. Silicone mats also top out around there.

Also, if you have a porous stone, rather than a steel or other mass, it will absorb liquid, giving a good crunch, whereas parchment is non-absorbent and will steam your crust, for more of a hard and chewy texture. Some people are very particular about the texture, some preferring each to their tastes.

I often double cheat, using parchment on a thin aluminum pizza pan. That's just the easiest to manipulate and clean, not the best pizza. Sometimes pretty decent pizza now trumps really great pizza sometime unknown when one feels like dealing with thE bother.

BTW, the full packet pizza dough, rose and rose all over, but instantly degassed, became a nice, stretchy dough that again rose nicely, and did well in the oven. I don't know how much of this was the flour and new yeast, and how much was the quantity. The recipe also called for starting the yeast in water. Not really proofing it—no flour or sugar to grow on—but activating it first. Kind of a hybrid recipe, between the standard cold ferment with little yeast and chill before rise, and quick ferment with activating a whole lot of yeast, and letting the rise start for half an hour before chilling.

I use pizza screens even though I have two peels. If I do use peels, I use my wooden peel with semolina flour on it to put the pizza on the stone, and I use my aluminum peel to remove the pizza.

I don't have a stone here or a screen, and so I've been using a baking sheet. Yesterday I made a braided, filled focaccia, and before that I made stromboli. In both cases, I lined the baking sheet with aluminum foil, in case of leakage, which was more of a problem with the stromboli.

For 4-1/2 cups of flour, I used 1-5/8 tsp IDY.

The best pizzas I've made were on the Big Green Egg, using the BGE pizza stone and pizza screens. I did parbake the crusts with a thin layer of Mozzarella before adding the toppings and baking on the BGE. I got the crispest crusts this way.

Here's a discussion that includes information on cold ferment.

Lars, I do the opposite - use my metal peel to put the pizza in and my wood peels to take the pizza out. I feel like the smooth surface of the metal helps it slide better and I like the wood better for running the pizza cutter on.

Does anyone have a suggestion for getting better wood peels? My peels are not very smooth. Their surface isn't nearly as nice as my cutting boards.

Edited to add: I have at times used parchment paper when the pizza dough was uncooperative or when I wanted it very thin and therefore it was less strong. It browned slightly but did not burn and did not emit any smell or off flavor. Perhaps variation depending on the formulation of a particular brand of parchment paper. We get a box of 1000 parchment sheets from Costco.

I love pizza. I always get a good crust & bottom. I may buy a metal peel with offset handle for outside grill. Or, given the economy and long long haul, I might not.

ETA: I use a slow (cold) ferment. I don’t need to clean up much.

I don't mean to sound snarky, but you can easily sand and oil (with cutting board/food quality oil) your wood peels.

I actually prefer my masonite one because it has the advantages of both wood and metal (I don't have metal, myself. The others are wood).

A lot of people get into pizza and want cheap tools, and restaurants usually want cheap because they get used up no matter how fine they are. Williams-Sonoma has one that looks like better wood, but not a great shape.

The quality of the shape, balance and edge are what's really important, and the makers keep the costs down by not sanding and finishing them.

I used parchment paper under the long loaf I just made. Baked at 400° and the parchment turned brown. I wouldn't dare use it in any hotter an oven - and it's the King Arthur brand!

Plllog, I could, but I'm pretty sure that they are a soft wood so they may not be worth the effort. It isn't so much for pizza baking that I care about making them better. It is for using them when loading bread into the oven.

Will walnut do? About the hardest this side of ipe? Or maple, cherry, etc.?

https://www.etsy.com/market/wood_pizza_peel

Walnut makes a lovely peel....I have a walnut steak or roast cutting board....but pretty darned expensive! However it does sand down to a lovely surface.
My peel is a softer wood.....I have never sanded and oiled it.....I don't cut nor serve on it.
Silicone mats, at least mine are rated to 500 degrees.....and I don't think my oven will go higher than that.

maple tends to be soft [unless you get hard maple], cherry gets a fabulously nice patina over time. Oak is a hard wood, and walnut. Redwood holds up well outside. Google claims beech and teak.