Pizza al taglio (Roman-style) in a home oven

Dough spec

Flour

Bread flour

Hydration

80%

Salt

2.2%

Oil

3%

Scale this guide

This dough is sized to the tray, not a per-pizza ball weight — use the pan/tray dough calculator with your tray's dimensions and the medium_pan loading band for a different tray size. 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 to a very wet, slack dough — expect it to look closer to a thick batter than a typical pizza dough at this hydration.
2. Bulk fermentBulk ferment at room temperature for 2-6 hours with a few gentle folds to build structure without deflating the dough.
3. Final proofCold-ferment for 24-72 hours — this is what develops the very open, irregular crumb.
4. ShapeTurn the dough out onto a heavily oiled tray and dimple it out to the edges with oiled fingertips rather than stretching or rolling, which would knock out the structure the long ferment built.
5. Final proofLet the shaped dough relax and puff for 30-60 minutes at room temperature before topping.
6. TopTop with sauce and toppings suited to the tray format — heavier, sliceable toppings generally work better than very delicate ones.
7. BakeBake at the oven's maximum temperature until well browned and crisp at the edges, typically 15-20 minutes.
8. RestCool briefly on a wire rack so the base doesn't steam and soften, then cut into portions.

Bake notes

Some bakeries par-bake the base before topping and finish with a second bake — this guide covers the simpler single-bake home version.