Style
New York-style pizza.
A wide, foldable slice from bread flour, a little oil and sugar, and a day in the refrigerator. Two pizzas, about 14 inches each.
New York-style pizza is defined more by the slice than by a single topping. The crust is thin through the middle, chewy at the rim, and strong enough to fold. The sauce is cooked, the cheese is the low-moisture kind that browns, and the oven is hot without being a pizza oven. This recipe follows that pattern at home.
It is not the Neapolitan dough with extra cheese. The flour is bread flour, the hydration is 62 percent, and sugar and oil are part of the formula so the crust colors at 500°F (260°C). The photograph shows the slice being lifted. The method makes the whole round.
Recipe
Two New York-style pizzas with a cold-fermented bread-flour dough, a simmered sauce, and low-moisture mozzarella.
Dough
- 500 g bread flour
- 310 g water, cool
- 10 g fine sea salt
- 10 g sugar
- 15 g olive oil
- 2 g instant yeast
Sauce
Simmer 20 minutes. Use 130 g on each pizza and refrigerate what is left.
- 400 g crushed whole peeled tomatoes
- 15 g olive oil
- 8 g garlic (about 2 cloves), minced
- 2 g dried oregano
- 4 g fine sea salt
Cheese
- 280 g low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, shredded (140 g on each pizza)
Equipment
- Digital scale
- Saucepan
- Baking steel or stone
- Peel or parchment
Method
- Stir 10 g salt, 10 g sugar, and 2 g instant yeast into 500 g bread flour. Add 310 g cool water and 15 g olive oil. Mix until no dry flour remains.
- Cover 20 minutes. Fold once from all four sides. Divide into two balls of about 423 g each.
- Refrigerate the covered, lightly oiled balls for 24 hours. They can stay cold up to 72 hours. The timing below assumes 24 hours.
- Remove the dough 60 minutes before shaping. Simmer 400 g crushed tomatoes with 15 g olive oil, 8 g garlic, 2 g oregano, and 4 g salt for 20 minutes.
- Heat a steel for 45 minutes at 500°F (260°C), or a stone for 60 minutes.
- Shape one ball to about 14 inches. Spread 130 g sauce and 140 g mozzarella, leaving a narrow rim. Bake about 9 minutes. On parchment, bake 4 minutes, remove the parchment, and bake about 5 minutes more.
- Rest 2 minutes, then slice. Repeat with the second ball.
Fold, sauce, and cheese
A fold fails when the tip is wet or the dough is under-fermented and brittle. Use 130 grams of the simmered sauce, not the whole pot. Shred the mozzarella and keep it at 140 grams per pizza. A heavier blanket of cheese protects the center from the heat and leaves the slice floppy for the wrong reason.
Sugar is 2 percent, 10 grams. It is there for browning in a home oven, not to make a sweet sauce. If you omit it, expect a paler rim at the same 9 minutes. Oil is 3 percent, 15 grams. It shortens the crumb slightly so the large slice bends.
Storage
Dough held past 72 hours in the refrigerator is usually past its best: the balls slump and the flavor turns sharp. Freeze balls you will not bake, using the method on the dough guide. U.S. food-safety guidance is to refrigerate perishable cooked pizza, sauce, and cheese within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if the room is warmer than 90°F (32°C). Reheat leftovers until they reach 165°F (74°C). Raw flour is not a ready-to-eat food, so do not taste unbaked dough. Baked slices keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated. Reheat at 375°F (190°C) or in a dry skillet to 165°F (74°C).
Common questions
Why is the hydration lower than the other doughs?
This dough is 62 percent water, 310 grams on 500 grams of flour. The lower water, plus oil and sugar, makes a slice that can be larger and still hold a fold. The same-day dough on the dough guide is 65 percent and is written for a smaller, slightly puffier round.
Where does the pepperoni go?
This recipe is the cheese pie. For pepperoni, use 55 g on one of these pizzas in a single layer on top of the cheese, or bake the same-day pepperoni recipe if you are not fermenting overnight.
Can I skip the refrigerator?
You can bake the dough after about 2 hours at room temperature, but it will taste younger and the slice will be less extensible. The 24-hour cold ferment is the method this page is built around. The same-day pepperoni page is the short version of the same dough family.