Neapolitan pizza vs New York-style pizza
The fuller page on this is Compare any two styles.
| Field | Neapolitan pizza | New York-style pizza |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Italy, Naples | United States, New York City |
| Form | round | round, large format |
| Thickness | thin | thin |
| Rim / edge | High, soft, airy raised rim with a blistered, leoparded surface | Moderate, slightly raised rim, less pronounced than Neapolitan |
| Base texture | Thin, soft, and pliable, never crisp throughout | Thin, foldable, with a firmer crumb than Neapolitan |
| Crumb | Open, irregular, large-holed crumb in the rim; thin and minimal in the centre | Moderately open, chewier and less irregular than Neapolitan |
| Hydration | 58–65% (typically 60%) | 60–65% (typically 62%) |
| Fermentation | room temperature long fermentation, cold fermentation | cold fermentation |
| Shaping | Hand-opened from the centre outward, preserving the untouched rim (stesura); the AVPN does not permit a rolling pin or press | Hand-tossed or hand-stretched to a large, thin round |
| Flour | Type 00 flour (traditional) | Bread flour (traditional) |
| Preferment | Poolish (optional flavour or scheduling choice) | Direct dough method (common modern approach) |
| Topping load | light | moderate |
| Bake temperature | 380–430 °C (typically 410 °C) | 290–320 °C (typically 300 °C) |
| Bake time | 60–90 s (typically 75 s) | 5–8 min (typically 6.5 min) |
| Oven | Wood-fired pizza oven, Gas-fired pizza oven, Electric pizza oven | Commercial deck oven, Domestic fan (convection) oven, Gas-fired pizza oven |
| Flavour | clean, savoury, milky | savoury, rich |
| Texture | airy, soft, charred, tender | chewy, foldable, crisp |
| Difficulty | advanced | intermediate |
| Domestic suitability | difficult | good |
| Serving | Served whole, uncut, traditionally eaten folded (a portafoglio) or with a knife and fork | Sold by the slice or whole pie, folded lengthwise to eat ('the New York fold') |
Key similarities
- Thickness
Key differences
- Origin
- Form
- Rim / edge
- Base texture
- Crumb
- Hydration
- Fermentation
- Shaping
- Flour
- Preferment
- Topping load
- Bake temperature
- Bake time
- Oven
- Flavour
- Texture
- Difficulty
- Domestic suitability
- Serving
Editorial notes
New York-style pizza descends directly from Neapolitan pizza brought by Italian immigrants, adapted to American flour and commercial deck ovens.