My go-to 72-hour pizza dough recipe uses a slow, cold fermentation method to yield a flavorful dough with a chewy, crispy crust. Plus, it's easy enough to use for both home ovens and outdoor pizza ovens.
In 2020, I took up pizza making as a hobby during the pandemic. Along the way, I tested several different recipes many, many times (read:100+ times) across the Internet before creating my own.
My homemade pizza dough uses the magic (or science!) of a slower rise in the fridge for better flavor and texture, yielding a bubbly, crispy crust and a soft and chewy interior. It's my go-to recipe and versatile enough for both my indoor home oven and my outdoor oven (Ooni).
Journey to a Better Home Pizza
A few crucial factors can transform your homemade pizza from good to great. Proper technique is critical, from kneading to stretching to baking. The dough is equally important, including the ingredients used and the ratio of ingredients. Finally, there's a lot of science and experimentation in making great pizza dough.
But don't worry. I've done all this research for you and laid it out throughout the post below. The ultimate goal of this cold fermented pizza dough recipe is to provide you with the tips, techniques, and fundamentals you need to make an awesome pizza at home.
There's a lot of valuable information here, and I've tried to make it as exciting and digestible as possible; definitely feel free to bookmark this page and come back to it as a reference.
Why You'll Love This Dough
- Slow fermentation equals better flavor: It's all about the long fermentation time here. Allowing the dough to sit in the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours allows a better flavor and texture to develop over time.
- It's highly flexible: This recipe works with different flours and times in the fridge, from 24 hours to 72 hours. Use it to your advantage to play around and experiment and see what you like best. The end result is a cross between a Neapolitan and a NY-style pizza — slightly crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
Note: This pizza dough recipe is for intermediate pizza bakers (that is, you’ve made pizza in your home oven at least a few times and are familiar with kneading, balling, and hand-stretching your dough). For beginner pizza bakers, please consult my Pizza Guide, easy Roberta's Pizza Dough Recipe, or sign up for one of my online cooking workshops!
What is Cold Fermented Dough?
Let's start at the beginning. Fermentation is a metabolic process that chemically breaks down a substance through the use of bacteria, yeast, or other microorganisms.
For example, in pizza dough, yeast breaks down the sugars from the flour, which facilitates the dough's rise in the oven. Additionally, when feeding on the sugars, yeast produces carbon dioxide that develops air bubbles and helps maintain structure.
The Role of Temperature
Temperature is hugely significant throughout the whole life cycle of pizza dough.
Before Baking
All yeast-based pizza dough undergoes some level of fermentation. In the case of cold fermentation, the fermentation occurs in, well, colder temperatures (usually the fridge). At a cooler temperature, this happens much more slowly.
From research and analysis from other pizza professionals and myself, I've determined that fermentation at cooler temperatures yields better structure, texture, and flavor.
Interestingly, I read in a pizza forum once that the most optimal temperature for the dough is actually around 50°F (10°C) to 60°F (16°C), so some avid home cooks will ferment their dough in a wine cooler. But, rest assured, since most of you likely don't have a wine cooler at home (myself included), a fridge works just as well.
During Baking
Temperature also plays an important role in the baking phase.
At a higher temperature, pizza takes less time to cook through. For example, my Ooni portable pizza oven cooks a pizza in 90 seconds at 932°F (500°C), while my home oven takes 3 - 4 minutes at 550°F (288°C).
Higher temperatures result in more exterior charring with smaller charred spots, especially leopard spotting. As an extreme example, you would never see charred spots on a pizza cooked at 200°F (93°C), while a 932°F oven is hot enough to cause charring within a minute.
The longer a pizza takes to cook, the more it "dries out." Because pizza takes less time to cook at a higher temperature, the pizza dries out less, yielding a softer crust with a doughier inside.
Below, I've compiled a few pizzas from over the years. The left-hand side shows pizzas baked in a standard oven, while the right-hand side demonstrates pizzas cooked at a higher temperature in my Ooni pizza oven.
With the help of my broiler, the pizzas on the left-hand side show some nice charring, but they are nowhere near as soft as the pizzas cooked in the Ooni.
As I said above, the Ooni pizzas take significantly less time to cook, so they're softer but still have a considerable amount of charring because of the higher temperature. Neither of these is worse or better, just different, as we will see below.
Summary
Pizza cooked in a pizza oven / wood-fired oven usually has plenty of charring, often with smaller charred spots and a softer, doughier interior.
If you've ever had Neapolitan pizza, you might know it's usually eaten with a fork and knife because the interior is quite soft and wet. If you put a boatload of toppings on your dough and baked it Neapolitan-style, they would weigh it down, maybe even enough to tear the crust. And at a shorter baking time, the interior toppings don't cook as much. As a result, the sauce stays saucy, the mozzarella melts without crisping up, and the basil won't char.
On the other hand, pizza baked at a lower temperature, say 500°F (260°C) to 600°F (316°C), requires a longer time to cook through and achieve browning. A NY-style pizza is an example of this; it has a sturdier crust, does not require a fork and knife, and can hold plenty more toppings.
Conclusion: Temperature, both in fermenting the dough and baking the dough, plays a huge role in the resulting crust.
The Importance of Time
You've heard me say this several times now. Colder temperatures = slower fermentation = more complex flavors and better structure.
But how much slower is this fermentation? How long are you supposed to keep the dough in the fridge? And what exactly is the relationship between temperature and time when it comes to bread?
This is where yeast comes back into the picture. The more yeast you put into your dough, the faster the fermentation process occurs (more yeast leads to more carbon dioxide leading to more air bubbles).
Why Wouldn't I Want to Speed Up Fermentation?
It's a great question. I've told you that a slower fermentation at a colder temperature yields a better pizza...but what does that really mean? Why wouldn't you just speed things up? It would be a lot easier.
I don't disagree with you. Unfortunately, a speedier process doesn't mean a better result. For example, you could put in more yeast and let your dough rise at room temperature for a couple of hours until it doubles in size. Then it would be very quickly ready to ball and bake. Let's review the potential differences:
Speedier vs. Slower Fermentation| Dough Type | Speedier fermentation at room temperature | Slower, cold fermentation |
|---|---|---|
| Total Time | 1 ½ hours to 24 hours | 24 hours to 72 hours |
| Fermentation Temp | 72°F (22°C) | 40°F (4°C) |
| Yeast | Recipes typically call for more yeast | Recipes typically call for less yeast given a longer period of fermentation |
| Structure | Paler, tougher crusts and less bubbling | Typically better browning, improved structure, more bubbling and softer, chewier crusts |
| Flavor | Less complex, sometimes unpleasantly "yeastier" flavor | More complex, "aged" flavor |
Keep in mind that different recipes might yield different outcomes, but these are the results I've seen, from research online and my own experimentation.
Benefits of Cold Fermentation
Let's summarize what we've learned so far. Slow, cold fermentation leads to better browning, improved structure, and bubblier, softer, and chewier crusts with more complex flavor.
On top of that, cold fermentation, when done properly, makes the dough easier to work with and stretch...meaning more circular pizzas and minimal tearing.
Finally, there is much more flexibility in timing. 24 hours is the minimum I like to keep my dough in the fridge, but the crust gets better and better up to 72 hours.
That leaves a 2 day window in which you can use the dough at any point. With a faster, room temperature dough, there is less room for error. If a recipe has you proof the dough for 2 hours, it might be over-proofed if you accidentally leave it out for an extra hour.
Ingredient Notes
In addition to the style of fermentation, ingredients can greatly affect the resulting pizza.
Flour: The two best flours to use for pizza are either 00 flour/pizza flour or regular bread flour. Both flours have high protein content (12%+) which is ideal for gluten formation. The “00” annotation refers to the fineness of the flour when it’s milled — 00 is the most finely milled flour in Italy.
I recommend Antimo Caputo brand 00 flour: For standard home ovens, buy the "Chef's Flour" (usually in a red bag). For high-temperature pizza ovens (900°F or 482°C), buy the "Pizzeria Flour" (usually in a blue bag).
Note: A thorough review of pizza flours can be found on my post covering bread flour vs. 00 flour vs. all-purpose flour. There aren’t significant differences between 00 and regular bread flour, but you’ll likely find that pizza made with 00 comes out slightly airier than bread flour which is chewier. As a result, bread flour is more often used for NY style doughs and 00 for Neapolitan style.
Water: Water is necessary for gluten formation. Different ratios of water to flour can absolutely change the final crust.
Ratio of Flour to Water
The higher the ratio of water to flour, the more difficult (and stickier) the dough will be to handle. In the case of a Sicilian style thick-crust pizza, it's more similar to a focaccia-like process where you're not really hand stretching and tossing the dough so it matters less that it's sticky.
A Neapolitan dough, however, requires a lot of technique to stretch properly, so a stickier product will be a big pain. And as you might expect, there is a balance here. You want enough water to create steam in the oven so that the pizza puffs up nicely and the crust doesn't dry out too much without it being too sticky.
There's also a peak absorption rate for each type of flour brand. Bakerpedia defines peak water absorption as "the water taken up by flour to achieve the desired consistency and create a quality end-product. It is the optimal amount of water you can add to a dough before it becomes too sticky to process."
King Arthur bread flour, for example, has an estimated 62% absorption rate while Caputo 00 flours have a lower rate at 55% to 57%. In my recipe, I use a 62% ratio of water to flour to accommodate both types of flours, and I haven't noticed too much stickiness with the Caputo flours at that level.
Salt: Salt is another critical ingredient in pizzamaking. It plays many roles, from strengthening gluten to creating better elasticity and lowering stickiness. And there's the obvious one: providing flavor!
Salt also slows down fermentation, which is super important as we mentioned in helping develop flavor. Typically, salt % in doughs range from 2% to 3%; I lean towards 2.5% to 3%, but if you prefer less salt, you could definitely get away with just 2.5%. Keep in mind, that decrease in salt might speed up fermentation slightly.
Yeast: Both active dry yeast and instant yeast are commonly used in pizza making, though I prefer instant yeast. Unlike active dry yeast, instant yeast can be added directly to dry ingredients; active dry yeast traditionally needs to be "activated" in water to dissolve (in the last few years, commercially available active yeast allegedly does not need activation, but I recommend doing it to confirm the yeast is actually still alive). My favorite brand is SAF Instant Yeast.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: This is typically not used in true Neapolitan dough, but it’s commonly found in many home oven pizza recipes as it slightly increases moisture levels without creating stickiness and can improve browning. You can omit this if using an outdoor pizza oven.
Best Equipment
For the best homemade pizza, a little bit of equipment can go a long way.
- Kitchen scale: Kitchen scales are incredibly useful and important in baking. Measuring cups just don't cut it when it comes to accuracy and ease. Plus, kitchen scales can be super cheap! You can easily find one on Amazon for $10.
- Baking steel: As Cook’s Illustrated points out, a baking steel cooks 30% faster than a stone. They even recommend the stone + steel combination as optimal, where you put the baking steel on top of the stone to retain heat longer. One other note about stones to keep in mind is that it’s more prevalent to cracking and as a result, doesn’t last as long as the steel.
- Bench scraper: This is really great for getting any sticky bits of the dough off a cutting board or workspace.
- Pizza peel: A pizza peel is very helpful for launching the dough into the oven. It takes a bit of practice, but once you’ve gotten used to it, it’s hard to use anything else.
How to Make Cold-Fermented Pizza Dough
Let's walk through the process of making this pizza dough, step-by-step.
Make the Dough:
Step 1 - Mix Dry Ingredients: In a mixing bowl, stir all dry ingredients together until combined.
Step 2 - Add Wet Ingredients: Make a well in the center of the bowl and slowly add in the water and olive oil. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with your hands or a wooden spoon and knead for 2 to 3 minutes until no dry bits remain; the dough will have a shaggier texture and won't be a smooth ball yet. That is perfectly okay.
Step 3 - Autolyse: Let the dough rest, covered with plastic wrap, for 20 minutes at room temperature. This step is called autolyse — it helps hydrate the dough, kickstarts gluten formation, and makes kneading much easier.
Step 4 - Knead: Knead the dough for 5 minutes to begin building strength in your crust. It should look smoother than before, but it's okay if it's not completely smooth yet.
Step 5 - Stretch and Fold: Perform 3 sets of stretch and folds to strengthen the dough, each spaced apart by a 30 minute rest period.
What is a Stretch and Fold?
A stretch and fold is a gluten strengthening technique in breadmaking where you pick up and stretch your dough and fold it onto the other side. It helps strengthen your dough without as much kneading — it’s a much more lax way to create gluten.
If you imagine your dough as having four corners, one “set” of a stretch and fold means picking up the dough from one corner, stretching it upwards until it feels taut, then folding it onto the opposite corner. Rotate the bowl 180 degrees and stretch and fold the dough again. Next, rotate the bowl 90 degrees and stretch the dough on top of itself, then turn the bowl 180 degrees and stretch again onto the other side.
In total, each “set” involves rotating, stretching, and folding 3 times. Therefore, 3 sets means you’re stretching and folding twelve times over the span of 1 ½ hours. It sounds much more complicated than you might think – just take a look at the video below.
Timeline below:
- Stretch and Fold #1: Perform 30 minutes after kneading, then let rest for 30 minutes covered
- Stretch and Fold #2: Perform 30 minutes after stretch and fold #1, then let rest for 30 minutes covered
- Stretch and Fold #3: Perform 30 minutes after stretch and fold #2, then let rest for 30 minutes covered.
After the first stretch and fold, the dough will still be somewhat shaggy.
After the last stretch and fold, the dough should be quite strong (when you stretch it, it should resist quite a bit) and show visible gas bubbling. If you’re not seeing this gas bubbling, let the dough sit out for another hour or so until you observe this.
Step 6 - Ferment: Cover dough and let sit in the fridge for 24 hours to 72 hours.
Ball and Proof:
Step 7 - Ball: After 24 - 72 hours, take the dough out of the fridge. If your dough feels very cold to touch, let sit out for an hour to warm up slightly (it should still feel cold — i.e. 45°F/7°C degrees is fine — but not frigid).
On a work surface, divide dough into 5 equal portions. Form each piece of dough into a ball, then place each ball in a large pizza container; generously dust the container and the dough balls with flour if using an outdoor pizza oven or oil if using an indoor pizza oven. Alternatively, you can place each ball into an individual container.
The more tension you create in forming the pizza dough ball (i.e. the tighter the ball), the more gas you’ll trap leading to a bubblier, more circular pizza. When you loosely ball the pizza, you’ll lose that shape and the trapped gas.
How to Ball Pizza Dough
There are many different ways to ball pizza dough, but here's the method that I find easiest. Take your dough and tightly pull all of the corners to the center of the ball, forming and sealing a pouch, almost as if you were making a ball of mozzarella. This step not only helps create a spherical shape, but also it builds tension in the dough.
Place the dough on a wooden surface (seam-side down, dusted with flour if needed) and lightly cup both hands around the dough ball. Keeping your hands cupped, rotate the dough ball, sliding your fingers firmly under the dough while rotating to tighten the ball.
Step 8 - Proof: Let the dough balls proof 3 - 5 hours in advance until they expand and reach room temperature.
Your dough is ready when it doesn’t feel cool to the touch and has spread out from a spherical ball into a flatter circle but still has some structure to it. If your dough sits out too long, it can overproof, making it more difficult to handle — you will likely see that it’s extremely bubbly and flattened.
Step 9a - Preheat (Standard Home Oven): There are two main methods of baking your pizza in a home oven. I recommend trying both and seeing which method produces the best pizza for you.
Regardless of which method you choose, place your baking tool of choice inside the oven. At least 45 minutes before baking, preheat to the hottest temperature possible (my oven goes to 550°F/288°C). This step is critical as it ensures the oven stays as hot as possible so that the pizza cooks faster and doesn’t dry out.
Top rack method: For this method, put your baking steel on the top rack of your oven. The top rack should be about 5 - 6 inches from the broiler. Once you’re ready to form your pizza, switch the oven to the broil setting to preheat the broiler. When you’re ready to launch your pizza, you’ll broil it for 2 minutes, then turn off the broiler but keep the oven on at the hottest temperature until the pizza is finished cooking (an additional 1 - 2 minutes).
Switching racks method: Put your pizza steel in the middle rack of your oven, and arrange your top rack so that it is 5 - 6 inches from the broiler. When you’re ready to launch your pizza, cook on the middle rack at the oven’s hottest temperature for 3 - 4 minutes until the bottom is browned. Then, turn the broiler on and transfer the pizza to the top rack to finish cooking the top for ~1-2 minutes.
Step 9b - Preheat Portable Outdoor Oven: Have an Ooni, Roccbox, or other outdoor portable pizza oven? Refer to your instruction manual and make sure to preheat the oven at least 30 minutes before the pizza is fully proofed. For my gas-powered Ooni Koda 16, I typically preheat until the center stone reaches 900°F/482°C.
Step 10 - Flour the Dough: I like to use a 50/50 mix of semolina flour (or cornmeal) and 00 flour to flour the dough and peel.
Flour your pizza peel. Carefully pick up the dough from its container and place onto the pizza peel (avoid degassing the dough as much as possible). You can use your hands or a bench scraper to carefully transfer the dough. The gentler you are with picking up the dough, the less likely you will have uneven spots creating tears when stretching, so try your best not to squish the dough in any way.
You don’t want the dough to stick to the peel. You can check that it’s not sticking by sliding the dough around the peel. If it is sticking, add a bit more flour to the bottom. I like to do this every minute or so to ensure my dough is not sticking, especially once I start adding the sauce and toppings. The faster you're able to form and top the dough, the less sticking that will occur (and the less flour you'll need to add).
Stretch and Bake:
Step 11 - Create Rim: Form a rim for the crust by gently pressing your index finger around the perimeter of the dough, about ⅔-inch from the edge. Once the rim has been formed, be careful not to deflate the outer edges, as this helps create the characteristic risen crust in the oven.
Step 12 - Stretch: To stretch the dough, there are two methods I recommend:
- Lift and stretch. Lift the dough and place your knuckles on the inside rim of the dough. Let the dough gently stretch by rotating your knuckles in a circle until it reaches the desired diameter.
- Triangle stretch. With the dough on the peel or parchment, make a triangle with both your index fingers and your thumbs and gently push outwards. Keep turning the dough and pushing outwards until you’ve stretched the whole dough.
Step 13 - Sauce: Add your base sauce (San Marzano pizza sauce, olive oil, cream) using a ladle or spoon. Top the pizza with desired toppings.
Step 14 - Launch and Bake: If using a pizza peel, make sure the pizza is not sticking to the peel before launching. If it is, add a bit more flour, then hold the handle of the peel and gently and carefully slide the dough around to ensure it’s not sticking at all.
To launch, hold the peel parallel to your baking sheet/stone/steel and firmly slide the pizza onto it. There’s no need to rush it; you can do this slowly to get the hang of it. Immediately close the oven and bake according to your desired method.
Step 15 - Serve: Remove the cooked pizza from the oven, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to prevent the bottom of the crust from getting soggy. Allow pizza to cool for about 30 seconds to a minute, then transfer to a large cutting board, cut into slices and serve.
Example Timeline
See below for an example timeline of how you can make this pizza dough and bake it during the weekend.
- Friday, 9:00am - 9:15am: Mix dough ingredients
- Friday, 9:15am - 9:45am: Let rest in autolyse
- Friday, 9:45am - 10:20am: Knead dough for 5 minutes, then let rest for 30 minutes
- Friday, 10:20am - 10:50am: Perform the first stretch and fold and rest 30 minutes
- Friday, 10:50am - 11:20am: Perform second stretch and fold and rest 30 minutes
- Friday, 11:20am - 11:50am: Perform last stretch and fold and rest 30 minutes
- Friday, 11:50am: Cover and place dough in fridge for 24 - 72 hours
- Sunday, 7:40am: Remove dough from fridge and form into dough balls. Let sit for 5 - 6 hours until they reach room temp
- Sunday, 12:00pm: Preheat oven
- Sunday, 12:45pm: Stretch, top, and bake pizzas
Storage Instructions
Bulk Pizza Dough: Store in the refrigerator for cold fermentation for up to 72 hours. After 72 hours, the dough may begin to over ferment/overproof, though I typically haven't had issues within the first 96 hours in the fridge.
Leftover Dough Balls: Extra balls of dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 72 hours.
Overproofing Fix: If I accidentally leave the dough in the fridge for too long (i.e. 5 to 6 days), I will turn it into a quick focaccia bread instead. I'll place the dough in a rectangular sheet pan or tray coated with lots of olive oil and let it proof at room temperature for a couple of hours, gently stretching until it reaches the sides of the pan. I'll then bake it using my fluffy focaccia as a guide.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, it can. While cold fermented pizza doughs are more forgiving, a dough that's sat in the fridge for over a week is going to have a sour smell, and likely be overproofed while losing some of its structure. I typically start seeing issues after 4 days (96 hours) in the fridge, so the 24-72 hours is really the sweet spot.
Pizza dough straight from the fridge will be nearly impossible to stretch. It will also need to sit at room temperature for its second rise, so that it can proof and rise.
Instead of using a pizza peel, you can build your pizza on a sheet of parchment paper set on top of a thin cutting board or a baking sheet (placed upside down). Carefully slide the parchment paper off the board/baking sheet onto your pizza stone/baking steel in the oven.
Keep in mind that parchment paper can and will burn under the broiler (and it will definitely burn in an Ooni or other outdoor pizza oven), so it's definitely not an ideal option in all cases.
Pizza stones make great pizza, but are susceptible to cracking. A full list of notes on taking care of your stone are listed on the Baking Steel blog. The most important takeaways are:
1) Pizza stones cannot handle quick changes in temperature, meaning, you should never add a cold pizza stone to a hot oven. Preheat the oven with the stone in it. After making your pizza and turning your oven off, let the pizza stone come back to room temperature in the oven as the oven cools (do not take it out of a hot oven).
2) Finally, I’ve heard anecdotal experiences of people whose pizza stones crack because they use the broiler. For some stones, a higher heat (via the broiler) can also cause it to crack. I typically prefer using the broiler in baking pizza as I think it helps give a nice crust, but if you have a pizza stone I would proceed with caution.
3) Moisture can also crack a pizza stone. Do not wash your pizza stone. Do not put anything wet on the pizza stone. Keep it in the oven and scrape off any food bits with a knife or bench scraper. The heat of the oven will naturally self-clean the stone.
This can happen if you use too much flour. If you're new to pizzamaking, this is a common struggle, as you'll likely need to use more flour to handle the dough. The more practice you have, and the faster you shape the dough, the less flour you'll need to use.
For any other troubleshooting questions, make sure to check out my Pizza Guide which includes a number of FAQ, or leave a comment below.
Note: I updated this blog post with a lot of additional information on 8/28/22 and 6/3/23. I also streamlined the method for more clarity. If you have any questions about the changes, please leave a comment below.
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Happy eating! Love, Karishma72 Hour Pizza Dough
Equipment
- Scale, highly recommended
- Baking Steel, or pizza stone
Ingredients
- 686 g 00 High-Protein Flour, like Antimo Caputo | 100%
- 20 g Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, if using any other brand of salt, use 20g or 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon in volume | 2.9%
- 0.8 g Instant yeast, 0.12% | ¼ teaspoon
- 425 g Lukewarm water, make sure to use lukewarm but not hot water as it will kill the yeast | 62%
- 8 g Extra-virgin olive oil, optional (omit for outdoor pizza ovens*) | 1.2%
- Semolina or 00 Flour, for dusting
Instructions
Prepare the Dough:
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, combine 686 g 00 High-Protein Flour, 20 g Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, and 0.8 g Instant yeast with a wooden spoon.
- Add the wet ingredients: Form a shallow well with your fist in the center of the bowl. Slowly pour in 425 g Lukewarm water and 8 g Extra-virgin olive oil (if using). Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with your hands or the spoon until just combined. Continue kneading until the dough is lumpy and shaggy, but no dry bits remain, about 1 - 2 minutes.
- Autolyse: Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Knead: Knead dough for 5 minutes. At this point, it should look significantly smoother and feel less sticky.
- Stretch and fold: Perform three sets of stretch and folds, each separated by a 30-minute rest period. For more details, please check out the How To section of my post.Stretch and Fold #1: Perform 30 minutes after kneading, then rest, covered, for 30 minutes.Stretch and Fold #2: Perform 30 minutes after stretch and fold #1, then rest, covered, for 30 minutes.Stretch and Fold #3: Perform 30 minutes after stretch and fold #2, then rest, covered, for 30 minutes. Note: After the final fold, the dough should feel quite strong (it will resist stretching slightly) and show visible gas bubbling. If you’re not seeing this gas bubbling, let sit out for another hour or so until you observe this.
- Chill: Cover dough and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours (up to 72 hours).
- Divide and Proof: On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the dough from the fridge.Divide dough into 5 equal sections. Form each piece of dough into a ball, then place in a large container generously dusted with flour or oil. Alternatively, you can place each ball into an individual container (sometimes I use deli containers or a plate).Proof for at least 3 - 5 hours until the dough has reached room temperature, expanded in size, and appears bubbly and soft.
Prep the Oven (Standard Home Oven Method):
- 45 minutes before pizza dough is at room temperature, arrange oven racks to prepare for baking and preheat your oven to the highest temperature. For me, this temperature is 600℉ / 315℃.There are two main methods of cooking your pizza in the oven. I recommend trying both and seeing which method produces the best pizza for you (see 'Launch and Bake' section for full details on each method):1 - Top rack method: For this method, place your baking tool of choice (steel or stone) on the top rack of the oven, about 5 - 6 inches from the broiler. 2 - Switching racks method: Place your baking tool of choice over a rack set on the bottom-third of the oven. Place the top rack 5 - 6 inches from the broiler.
Prep the Oven (Portable Outdoor Oven Method):
- For a portable outdoor pizza oven (Ooni or Roccbox), preheat the oven at least 30 minutes prior to baking the pizzas. I typically preheat my oven to 900℉ / 482℃.
Stretching and Topping:
- Transfer: Once dough has come to room temperature, you’re ready to make the pizza.Flour your pizza peel with semolina flour or 00 flour. Carefully and gently pick up the dough from the container and transfer to the peel. Dust the dough with flour as needed to prevent sticking. Note: You can check that it’s not sticking by sliding the dough around the peel. If it is sticking, add a bit more flour to the bottom. I like to do this every minute or so to ensure my dough is not sticking, especially once I start adding the sauce and toppings.
- Stretch: Form a rim for the crust by gently pressing your index finger all around the perimeter of the dough, about ⅔” from the edge. Stretch the dough as desired. Pizza should stretch to at least a 10-inch diameter.
- Top: Ladle or spoon the sauce on top of the dough. You will likely need less sauce than you think (and too much sauce can weigh down the pizza), about 3 - 4 tablespoons of tomato sauce max. Top the pizza with desired toppings.
- Check Sticking: Make sure the pizza is not sticking to the peel before launching. If it is, add a bit more flour, then hold the handle of the peel and slide the dough around to ensure it’s not sticking at all.
Launch and Bake
- Standard Home Oven:Launching Tip: Launch the pizza in the oven by holding the peel parallel to your baking sheet/stone/steel and gently sliding the pizza onto it. There’s no need to rush it; you can do this slowly to get the hang of it. Immediately close the oven and bake according to your desired method.1 - Top rack method: Once ready to form the pizza, turn the oven to the broiler setting on high. Launch and broil for 2 minutes, then turn off the broiler but keep the oven on at the hottest temperature until the pizza is finished cooking (about 1 - 2 additional minutes). 2 - Switching racks method: When ready to launch the pizza, bake for 3 - 4 minutes on the bottom rack until the bottom is nicely browned. Then, turn the broiler setting on high and transfer the pizza to the top rack to finish cooking for 1 - 2 minutes.Repeat the process with the next pizzas.
- Portable Pizza Oven:For my Ooni Koda 16, I typically launch the pizza at the highest temperature setting, then lower the knob to about ⅔ of the max heat right after launching for the rest of the baking. I cook the pizza for 30 seconds, then rotate every 15 seconds until cooked through (about 2 minutes). If I find I want a crispier bottom crust, I will turn the heat down fully to low and cook for an additional 30 seconds or so. I'll then crank the oven temperature back to the max in preparation for the next pizza. Repeat the process with the next pizzas.
Video
Notes
- For standard home ovens: Buy the "Chef's Flour" (usually in a red bag).
- For high-temperature pizza ovens (900°F or 482°C): Buy the "Pizzeria Flour" (usually in a blue bag).
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
References
- https://www.stadlermade.com/pizza-calculator/
- https://www.theperfectloaf.com/sourdough-pizza-dough-and-recipes/
- https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-science-of-kneading-dough-1328690
- https://www.seriouseats.com/all-about-dry-yeast-instant-active-dry-fast-acting-and-more
- https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2017/09/29/using-the-autolyse-method
- https://www.slowrisepizza.com/
- https://bakingsteel.com/blogs/news/72-hour-pizza-dough
- https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough
- https://bakerpedia.com/processes/water-absorption/
- https://thepizzaheaven.com/salt-in-neapolitan-pizza-dough/
- https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/09/25/active-dry-yeast
- https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=4646.0
- https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/10432-the-ultimate-pizza-setup-baking-stone-plus-baking-steel
David
Can I substitute instant with active dry yeast?
Karishma
Hi David,
Yes you can do that, but you'll need to make a few changes: 1) Use 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast instead of 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast; 2) Active dry yeast needs to be "activated"; to do so, mix the yeast into the water and allow it to hydrate for 5 - 10 minutes until dissolved and foamy. Then, proceed with the rest of the recipe, mixing the dry ingredients into the wet. Hope that helps!
Sarah Cook
Hello, I have been on a journey of making the perfect home pizza. I didn’t read through all of the comments to see if this has already been asked/answered but have you made this recipe with sourdough starter? In your professional opinion, how do you think it would be/how much. Last night I made sourdough pizza with 00 flour and, though delicious, I’m still working on the best ratios. Just curious.
Karishma
Hi Sarah,
That's a great question, and unfortunately I haven't made it with starter yet so I don't want to give you the wrong measurements! I am curious though, so I might try it this week and I can let you know. If you'd like to take a stab at it yourself, this guide shows you how to replace yeast with sourdough.
I have also tried sourdough pizza recipes from The Perfect Loaf and Ooni and I like them both if you'd just prefer a finalized recipe!
Best,
Karishma
NA
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Tricia
Hi Karishma, I made pizzas today in my Ooni oven using your cold proving recipe and I'm here to let you know that it really is the best 😍 Everyone loved them 😋 I have ordered the baking steel from Ooni and I can't wait to use it. I'm hoping it will take my pizzas to a whole new level 😃 Thank you so very much 😊
Karishma
Hi Tricia, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I've never tried the Ooni steel but that sounds like a great investment - hope you love it!
Heidi
First time making a cold ferment pizza and it turned out great. Thank you for such clear directions and explanations along with the videos. I baked it in the oven on a pizza stone for 2 min on broil and 3-3.5 min on convection bake. I am looking forward to trying a full 72 hr ferment (this was just 48). Do you have any recommendations or would do anything different if trying to make larger pizzas (like 3 dough balls instead of 5)? thanks again for making such a helpful resource!
Karishma
Hi Heidi,
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I would suggest stretching and handling the stretching dough a bit more carefully since it will be larger (and slightly more difficult to maneuver with the pizza peel). It' s possible that they may also take a bit longer to come to room temperature (but I'm not 100% sure on how much longer, so just keep an eye on things). And based on your previous success, it sounds like you should be fine!
Michael
I have been learning the art of pizza making for a couple years, I have tried many dough recipes, this is a game changer! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.
Karishma
Hi Michael,
I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that! I am so glad you love this recipe as much as I do. Thanks so much for leaving a comment!
Mike
I live in Montana, my favorite pizza place is a 3 1/2 hour drive, this just as good as the dough they make! They have been voted best pizza in Montana, so that says it all. Thanks again!
Karishma
I'm so honored! And I'm so glad you're able to make something as good as your favorite pizza place (without the long drive!)
Scott Thibodeau
First time using this recipe, but it wont be the last! I did make the 1/2 sized version so I did have some “leftover” dough. I wanted to keep the dough balls around the 220 mg size. I made sure to give the dough plenty of time on pizza day, so I did give it almost 5 hours before stretching. A couple of notes: I’m not sure if all ovens let you turn on the broiler while it’s in bake mode, but ours didnt. We do however have an LG model that has the “split design” with two smaller ovens, so we put the pizza steel in the bake level, and I had a pizza stone, which we put in the lower oven on broil and they came out great! Also, I happened to use the Caputo blue bag flower vs. the red and all went well. Thanks for the great recipe.
Karishma
Scot, thank you for keeping me updated and so happy it worked out! And thank you for that note on broiling - what I typically do is turn the oven off, turn broil on, broil the pizza, then turn the broil off and switch back to the oven. So it's totally fine if you have to do that, but I'm glad you were able to find a workaround! I will make sure I add a note to the recipe so it's super clear for others as well.
Scot
Tried this dough this weekend - was super excited (and agree the front-end effort level is super minimal). Two things: 1) the 2nd and 3rd stretch and fold became very difficult - dough was super stiff and could barely get it to stretch at all; 2) after taking the dough out of the refrigerator, I let it sit for quite a while to get back to room temp. By the time I divided them into balls, the dough was still fairly cool. Was hard to work with, but kept my fingers crossed that another hour or so would solve the issue. Unfortunately, when I went to stretch the dough, it quickly tore in several places - which I assume means somehow the gluten didn't strengthen enough? Any suggestions/ideas as to what would cause this and how to resolve?
Karishma
Hi Scot,
Sorry to hear the dough didn't work for you! I'd love to help you get to the bottom of this. Can you confirm what flour you used for the dough? Also, how long did you let it sit out at room temperature before stretching? You said the dough was hard to work with, right? Were the dough balls nicely formed, or were they already kind of misshapen due to the difficulty of shaping them that you mentioned? And finally, I know it's a silly question, but the dough definitely rose right (i.e. the yeast was not dead?)
Thanks,
Karishma
Scot
I used the blue bag of the 00; dough sat out for at least 90 minutes - maybe two hours as it just wasn't warming up.
I'd love to figure it out too!
During that time, the dough did rise a bit - it wasn't a dramatic rise as you see with a normal 3-5 hour room-temp ferment, but it definitely increased in volume from when I took it out of the fridge.
The dough balls weren't perfect but I worked them pretty good to get them in as good of shape and texture as possible. Only one kept "breaking" (skin kept tearing), but the other three ended up looking ok. Stretching them was the bigger challenge, hard to work with but not really strong, as I had tearing on the edges and some holes developed on the inside.
Karishma
Thanks for that info! To confirm, the dough balls only sat out for 90 minutes to 2 hours total before stretching? I typically recommend a 3 - 5 hour time window (closer to 5 hours when it's chillier outside), so I want to make sure I understand correctly! And what size did you try stretching them to?
Scot
Usually try to stretch to about 10" from a 280-285g doughball. And I think your recommended rest time post-refrigeration is the key. Have read thru comments on several other refrigerator ferment dough and they all look for a lot more time than I gave it to warm and rise. Will be giving it another go soon...thanks for your help!
Karishma
Sounds good - let me know how it goes!
Mon
At what point would you be able to freeze any dough you’re not planning to use? Is that a possibility?
Karishma
Hi! Yes, I haven't tried this myself but another reader has suggested the following: "I have also found it freezes well. After I ball it I use individual containers that I coat lightly with olive oil. Once the dough is almost frozen I wrap each dough ball in plastic wrap and put them in ziplock bags and put them back in the freezer. Before using I put them in the fridge overnight to defrost and leave them a few hours at room temp before stretching to allow them to come to room temperature. They stretch beautifully."
So it sounds like she lets the dough cold ferment in bulk for 24 - 72 hours, then balls them, freezes them in individual containers until almost frozen, then wraps each in plastic wrap and places in a ziploc bag to freeze. I think you should be able to freeze them for 1 - 2 months. Hope that helps!