I brought the book American Pie last year and just havent got my hands dirty yet. But somehow I found time tonight after my evening grand round at the hospital. I made the dough last night and kept it slowly fermenting in the fridge. According to Peter Reinhart, bakers often use this technique to allow time for the natural enzymes to break the complex sugars in the flour. The cold environment slows fermentation so less of the sugar is converted to carbon dioxide and alcohol. The result is more flavour in the dough but not too much air. The result was an excellent pizza base (crisp and snaps gently) but the crust needs a bit of improving as it was a bit hard. The pizza stone was purchased for $10 and I believe it has made the base more crispy. Peter’s book is full of details and obsessive observations on the art of pizza making. From enzymes and yeast to pizza base spinning to just smiling at a wonderfully fresh pizza base – the book is a good read for those what want to understand why rather than just how.