Pizza in a Home Oven: Dough and Bake for 250-300 °C

A home oven tops out around 250 to 300 °C. That's not a reason to give up on great pizza, it's a reason to make a different dough.

Home baking

Why a Neapolitan dough disappoints indoors

A Neapolitan dough is built for 60 to 90 seconds at 430 °C and more. In a kitchen oven the same pizza needs 6 to 10 minutes: the crust dries out before it browns, and without sugar or oil it stays pale. The fix isn't more heat you don't have, it's a dough designed for the heat you do have.

Adjust the dough

• Oil (about 2 to 3%): keeps the crumb tender over a long bake and helps browning.
• A little sugar or malt (about 1 to 2%): browning at lower temperatures. This is exactly why New York style suits home ovens so well.
• Hydration around 62 to 68%: enough to stay moist through a longer bake without turning the dough unmanageable.
• A cold ferment of 24 to 48 hours: more flavour and better browning, from sugars the long ferment releases.

Get the most out of the oven

• Steel or stone, preheated 45 to 60 minutes at the highest setting. A baking steel transfers heat faster than a stone and gives a better bottom.
• Top rack position, close to the upper element, then the broiler for the last 1 to 2 minutes to colour the top and rim.
• Launch from a peel straight onto the hot surface; a pizza baked on a cold tray never gets a crisp bottom.

Which style to choose

New York style is the natural fit: oil, a touch of sugar, a thinner and crisper result. Roman teglia and focaccia, baked in a pan, also work very well at home temperatures. Neapolitan and its contemporary cousin really want a pizza oven.