New York style pizza dough
A moderate-hydration dough with a touch of oil and sugar, built for large slices with a crisp rim and a chewy center. This makes four 280 g balls for 14-inch pizzas.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Weight | Baker's % |
|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | 667 g | 100% |
| Water | 420 g | 63% |
| Fine sea salt | 17 g | 2.5% |
| Instant dry yeast | 3.3 g | 0.5% |
| Olive oil | 7 g | 1% |
| Sugar | 7 g | 1% |
Total dough weight is about 1,121 g, which divides into four 280 g balls.
Method
- Mix. Combine flour, water, yeast and sugar. Rest 20 minutes.
- Add salt and oil. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8–10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in a stand mixer.
- Bulk ferment. Cover and rest 1 hour at room temperature.
- Ball and chill. Divide into four 280 g balls, place in oiled containers and refrigerate 24–48 hours.
- Warm up. Remove from the fridge 1–2 hours before baking.
- Stretch. Stretch to 14 inches on a floured peel. Keep the rim slightly thicker.
- Bake. Bake on a preheated steel or stone at 550°F for 6–8 minutes, until the rim is browned and the bottom is crisp.
Why oil and sugar?
A small amount of oil makes the crumb softer and helps the dough stretch. Sugar feeds the yeast and encourages browning in a home oven. Neither is required, but both are part of the classic New York profile.
If you want a crisper slice, reduce the oil to 0.5%. If you want a softer slice, increase it to 2%. Keep the total dough weight the same by adjusting flour slightly.
Common problems
The slice is pale
Your oven may be running cooler than the dial says. Use an oven thermometer and preheat the steel for at least 45 minutes.
The rim is too thick
Leave only a 1-inch border when stretching. Press the center down firmly and push the gas toward the edge.
The dough is hard to stretch
Let it warm up longer. Cold dough fights back. If it still tears, rest 15 minutes and try again.
Related tools
Use the pizza dough calculator to scale the recipe, or the hydration calculator to adjust the water.