1. Add the warm water to a large mixing bowl, then the salt. Whisk the water to dissolve the salt. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water, leave for 1 minute to hydrate, then whisk again to dissolve.
2. Add the flour to the mixing bowl, combine it with the liquid using a dough whisk or your hand. Wet your hands and dig down under the dough, folding it back onto itself four or five times. 
3. Then using a pincer-like grip with your thumb and forefinger, squeeze big chunks of dough, tightening your grip to cut through the dough. Do this repeatedly, working through the entire mass of dough. Then stretch and fold the dough onto itself six to eight times, re-wetting your hands if necessary to form a unified mass. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
4. Oil a large bowl; set aside. 
5. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and gently turn the dough out of the bowl onto it. Stretch and knead the dough for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until it starts to resist. Add a little more flour if the dough begins to stick. The stickier the dough, the better the texture of the pizza crust. The skin of the dough should be very smooth. 
6. Form the dough into a single ball and place seam side down in the bowl. Turn over the dough to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest it for 2 hours at room temperature.
7. Moderately dust a work surface with flour, turn the risen dough onto it. Dust the entire top of the dough with flour. Divide the dough evenly into the portion sizes needed. Use a scale if you want to be exact. 
8. For each portion, stretch and fold the dough back onto itself 4–5 times without tearing the dough, and then form a dough ball.
9. Place each dough ball seam side down on an individual, large floured dinner plate or a baking sheet, leaving space between them to allow for expansion. Sprinkle flour on top of the balls. Loosely cover with plastic wrap.
10. For baking the same day, leave the dough until it has doubled in size, 3–4 hours, depending on room temperature. It’s important, especially on a warm day, not to let the dough go beyond doubling in size. Leaving it any longer than this can cause the dough to collapse.
11. For baking the next day or two, refrigerate the dough balls after rising until ready to use. Let the dough come to room temperature for at least one hour before shaping the pizza crust.
12. If using, place a pizza stone, pizza steel, or inverted rimmed baking sheet in the oven. Heat the oven to its highest setting 500°F–550°F. During this time, prep the pizza toppings.
13. Line a pizza peel, rimless cookie sheet, or the back of an inverted sheet pan with parchment paper or sprinkle it with cornmeal; set aside.
14. Rub a work surface and hands with a little olive oil. The olive oil keeps the dough from sticking and also encourages a golden and crispy crust.
15. On the work surface, press the dough down into a large flat disc using the palm of your hand. Next, use the middle three fingers on each of your hands (not a rolling pin) to press the dough out from the center, widening the flat disc into a large circle about ½-inch thick. 
16. To stretch, carefully pick up the dough and hold it with both hands on one edge of the dough, letting the rest of the dough hang down. Keep the top of the pizza dough facing toward you to keep an eye on thickness. Gravity is going to do some of the stretching work as you gently rotate the dough in one direction, like turning a wheel. Slowly pull the dough from hand to hand as the dough hangs down. Working quickly, stretch the pizza until it’s about 1/3 of an inch thick.
17. Carefully move the stretched pizza dough to the prepared pizza peel, cookie sheet, or sheet pan. Pinch thin or torn areas closed by pressing around them to bring the dough together to cover the area. 
18. Top pizza with sauce and desired toppings. Brush the crust with olive oil right before it goes in the oven, and if desired, as soon as it comes out.
19. Transfer pizza to the preheated pizza steel, stone, or pan and bake for 6–12 minutes, depending on the oven temperature, until the crust is golden brown. When the pizza is done, transfer it to a baking rack, rather than a flat surface, to prevent steaming and keep the crust crisp.
20. Wrap cooled pizza tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. 

Sample schedule: Mix the dough at 11:30 a.m., knead at 12 p.m., rest dough for 2 hours, shape dough into balls at 2 p.m., let dough rise 3 to 4 hours, shape and bake pizza between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.