New York-style pizza in a domestic oven

Dough spec

Flour

Bread flour

Hydration

62%

Salt

2.2%

Oil

3%

Scale this guide

Use the dough calculator with this hydration/salt/oil and a 500g ball weight for any number of pizzas — the calculator scales flour, water, salt, and oil together. 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 cold fermentation approach.

Related techniques

Steps

1. MixMix flour, water, salt, and oil to a smooth dough with moderate gluten development.
2. Divide and ballDivide into 500g portions and ball tightly, then lightly oil each ball's surface.
3. Final proofCold-ferment in the refrigerator for 24-72 hours — this is the defining step for New York's characteristic chew and flavour.
4. Final proofRemove from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before baking so the dough isn't shaped cold, which tears rather than stretches.
5. ShapeStretch by hand to roughly 40cm, keeping a slightly thicker rim than the centre, which stays thin but sturdy enough to fold.
6. TopSauce, then a full even layer of low-moisture mozzarella, then any toppings.
7. BakePreheat a steel or stone at the oven's maximum temperature for at least 45 minutes, then bake for 6-9 minutes until the base is well browned.
8. RestRest for a minute or two before slicing so the cheese sets enough to hold a fold.

Bake notes

A steel outperforms a stone here because of its much higher thermal mass, closer to the recovery speed of the commercial deck ovens this style was developed for.