Neapolitan pizza in a high-heat pizza oven

Dough spec

Flour

Type 00 flour

Hydration

60%

Salt

2.8%

Scale this guide

To make more than one pizza, use the dough calculator with this hydration/salt and a 250g ball weight, entering however many pizzas you need — the calculator handles the ingredient-weight scaling directly. Open the full dough calculator for more control, or the fermentation schedule builder to work backwards from a target bake time using this guide’s room temperature long fermentation approach.

Related techniques

Steps

1. MixMix flour, water, and salt to a smooth, moderately developed dough. Avoid overmixing — the long fermentation does most of the structural work, not intensive kneading.
2. Bulk fermentBulk ferment at room temperature for roughly 2-6 hours, until visibly increased in volume.
3. Divide and ballDivide into 250g portions and shape into tight, smooth balls.
4. Final proofProof the balls for a further 8-24 hours, either at room temperature or refrigerated for the longer end of that range.
5. ShapeHand-open from the centre outward, pressing air to the rim while leaving the rim itself untouched (stesura) — do not use a rolling pin, which crushes the rim's structure.
6. TopTop lightly: sauce, torn mozzarella, and any pre-bake toppings. Neapolitan is a light-topping style — resist over-loading it.
7. BakeBake as hot as the oven allows (ideally 430-480C) for 60-90 seconds, turning partway through for even leoparding.
8. ServeServe immediately — the thin, soft base does not hold well and is traditionally eaten right away.

Bake notes

This bake profile assumes a dedicated high-heat pizza oven. In a standard domestic oven, expect a longer bake (5-8 minutes) at the oven's maximum temperature with a preheated steel or stone, and a noticeably less blistered result.