Hey everyone, I’ve been working on my New York style pizza recipe for a while and I think I’ve finally nailed a simple recipe that anyone can master at home. It took a fair amount of experimentation, learning from the generous pizza makers who post their methods and results here and online, and I’m pretty happy with the result.
You don’t need any special flour or expertise kneading or working with ultra high hydration dough and I targeted ovens that can reach 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
You do need a baking steel or a stone and a peel for launching and turning the pizza, but otherwise, it’s straightforward and you can use whatever ingredients you prefer.
Hopefully, you find it useful and it helps you get closer to making great homemade pizza if you’re not already there.
# New York Style Pizza
This recipe makes two crispy 16” New York style pizzas. I’ve included baker’s percentages if you want to scale the recipe.
If you want some extra browning, add 11 grams of sugar. If you want the dough a bit softer, you can incorporate 5-10 grams of oil (add the oil after the dough mixes for 5 minutes.
Note: You may need to adjust the yeast amount based on your room and refrigerator temperatures.
### Toppings * 5-6 ounces tomato sauce, per pizza * 7 ounces shredded low moisture mozzarella cheese, per pizza * Grated Parmesan cheese (to taste) * Crushed oregano (to taste) * Red chili flakes (to taste)
## Making the Dough
Pour the room temperature water into a mixing bowl, and incorporate the salt. Add the flour and yeast, and turn the mixer on at low speed. (If you are using an active dry yeast, you may need to bloom it in the water first.)
After 8 minutes, the mix should have formed a fairly smooth dough. Stop the mixer and hand knead for 2 minutes to ensure the dough is becoming smooth as the gluten forms.
Cover the bowl and bulk rest for 5 hours. If you don’t have a cover, turn the dough out on the counter and cover with the upside down mixing bowl.
After the bulk rest, remove the dough and divide by weight using a kitchen scale. Fold 10-15 times until the skin is very smooth and tight, sealing the bottom with a pinch.
Place each dough ball into a lightly oiled food safe container or a dough tray, and set them in the fridge where they will rest for 72 hours.
### Making the Pizza
Remove the dough from the fridge and allow to rest at room temperature for approximately 2-3 hours before stretching. The dough should be close to room temperature.
Preheat your oven for at least one hour at 500 degrees Fahrenheit with a steel or stone positioned on the middle rack or one rack up from the middle, depending on your oven. If your oven can’t achieve 500, or if it can reach higher, you’ll need to experiment a bit with your bake times.
Get all of your toppings ready. You’ll want to work quickly to stretch, top, and launch your pizza without the dough sticking to the peel. I recommend semolina flour, or better yet semola rimacinata for the stretch. It’s coarser than standard flour, so less will be incorporated into the finished pizza, it doesn’t burn as easily as bread flour, and it does a great job preventing the dough from sticking to the peel. Flour your peel before you stretch.
After stretching, lay the pizza shell on the peel and add the sauce to the center of the dough with a ladle or spoon. Gently spread the sauce outward in a spiral, leaving room at the outer edge for a 1/2- 1” crust. If you have a thinner sauce, make sure you leave room so it doesn’t spill onto the rim (or onto the steel or stone when you go to launch.
Sprinkle Parmesan Reggiano cheese over the sauce if you enjoy the added flavor, and you can add crushed dried oregano and chili flakes here if you want to.
Add the shredded mozzarella cheese, starting from the edges and working your way to the center, with less cheese coverage as you move to the middle. If you’ve stretched evenly, the cheese shouldn’t pool at the center of the pizza!
Add any other toppings you want, being careful not to overload the pizza. Pineapple is cool if you’re into it. Pickles, too. Your pizza. Your toppings.
Shuffle the pizza gently to make sure it hasn’t stuck to the peel. If it has, gently lift at the edges and blow a little air underneath.
Launch your pizza and cook it!
### Cooking the Pizza
The lower the temperature, the longer the bake time, ranging from 5 to 10 minutes. Use a timer. Don’t get distracted. If you like darker crust, or need more top heat to finish the pizza, you can use a broiler for 1-2 minutes.
For the pizza in this post, I did not use a broiler and let the pizza bake for eight minutes.
After about the halfway mark, and again once or twice throughout the bake, carefully turn the pizza in the oven using a metal peel to make sure it cooks evenly. Ovens, steels, and stones can have hot spots. Don’t turn the pizza too early, as the dough will still be raw and it might rip or shrink.
Remove the pizza when it’s finished cooking and transfer it to a wire rack to keep the base crispy and to allow it to cool before you slice it and annihilate the roof of your mouth with molten hot cheesy goodness.
If you don’t nail it the first time, don’t hang up your apron or cast your peel into the fires of Mount Doom. It takes practice to get it how you like it, and you should plan to make adjustments to the recipe and method based on your taste, your experience level, and your kitchen setup.
Worst case scenario, you get a chaos calzone, and the recipe makes two pizzas, so after some cleanup, you have a second shot at pizza perfection.
Cheers!
friendlyNYCguy
Looks great
TacoAvacadoSalsa
That looks so amazing! You nailed it!
popthetop
What are your thoughts on canned tomato brands?
TraditionalAnxiety
I’m from NJ. We take our NY pies seriously. This looks legit AF! Wish I could taste it. Congrats.
5 Comments
Hey everyone, I’ve been working on my New York style pizza recipe for a while and I think I’ve finally nailed a simple recipe that anyone can master at home. It took a fair amount of experimentation, learning from the generous pizza makers who post their methods and results here and online, and I’m pretty happy with the result.
You don’t need any special flour or expertise kneading or working with ultra high hydration dough and I targeted ovens that can reach 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
You do need a baking steel or a stone and a peel for launching and turning the pizza, but otherwise, it’s straightforward and you can use whatever ingredients you prefer.
Hopefully, you find it useful and it helps you get closer to making great homemade pizza if you’re not already there.
# New York Style Pizza
This recipe makes two crispy 16” New York style pizzas. I’ve included baker’s percentages if you want to scale the recipe.
* Pizza Size: 16”
* Dough Balls: 2
* Ball Weight: 465 grams each
For 14”, target 365 grams per dough ball. For 12”, target 265 grams.
### Ingredients
* 569 grams bread flour
* 353 grams water
* 17 grams salt
* .7 grams instant dry yeast (IDY)
If you want some extra browning, add 11 grams of sugar. If you want the dough a bit softer, you can incorporate 5-10 grams of oil (add the oil after the dough mixes for 5 minutes.
Note: You may need to adjust the yeast amount based on your room and refrigerator temperatures.
### Fermentation Schedule
* 5 hours bulk fermentation (65°F)
* 72 hours cold fermentation (35°F)
### Toppings
* 5-6 ounces tomato sauce, per pizza
* 7 ounces shredded low moisture mozzarella cheese, per pizza
* Grated Parmesan cheese (to taste)
* Crushed oregano (to taste)
* Red chili flakes (to taste)
## Making the Dough
Pour the room temperature water into a mixing bowl, and incorporate the salt. Add the flour and yeast, and turn the mixer on at low speed. (If you are using an active dry yeast, you may need to bloom it in the water first.)
After 8 minutes, the mix should have formed a fairly smooth dough. Stop the mixer and hand knead for 2 minutes to ensure the dough is becoming smooth as the gluten forms.
Cover the bowl and bulk rest for 5 hours. If you don’t have a cover, turn the dough out on the counter and cover with the upside down mixing bowl.
After the bulk rest, remove the dough and divide by weight using a kitchen scale. Fold 10-15 times until the skin is very smooth and tight, sealing the bottom with a pinch.
Place each dough ball into a lightly oiled food safe container or a dough tray, and set them in the fridge where they will rest for 72 hours.
### Making the Pizza
Remove the dough from the fridge and allow to rest at room temperature for approximately 2-3 hours before stretching. The dough should be close to room temperature.
Preheat your oven for at least one hour at 500 degrees Fahrenheit with a steel or stone positioned on the middle rack or one rack up from the middle, depending on your oven. If your oven can’t achieve 500, or if it can reach higher, you’ll need to experiment a bit with your bake times.
Get all of your toppings ready. You’ll want to work quickly to stretch, top, and launch your pizza without the dough sticking to the peel. I recommend semolina flour, or better yet semola rimacinata for the stretch. It’s coarser than standard flour, so less will be incorporated into the finished pizza, it doesn’t burn as easily as bread flour, and it does a great job preventing the dough from sticking to the peel. Flour your peel before you stretch.
[How to Stretch a Pizza Dough (YouTube)](https://youtu.be/GtAeKM_f2WU)
After stretching, lay the pizza shell on the peel and add the sauce to the center of the dough with a ladle or spoon. Gently spread the sauce outward in a spiral, leaving room at the outer edge for a 1/2- 1” crust. If you have a thinner sauce, make sure you leave room so it doesn’t spill onto the rim (or onto the steel or stone when you go to launch.
Sprinkle Parmesan Reggiano cheese over the sauce if you enjoy the added flavor, and you can add crushed dried oregano and chili flakes here if you want to.
Add the shredded mozzarella cheese, starting from the edges and working your way to the center, with less cheese coverage as you move to the middle. If you’ve stretched evenly, the cheese shouldn’t pool at the center of the pizza!
Add any other toppings you want, being careful not to overload the pizza. Pineapple is cool if you’re into it. Pickles, too. Your pizza. Your toppings.
Shuffle the pizza gently to make sure it hasn’t stuck to the peel. If it has, gently lift at the edges and blow a little air underneath.
Launch your pizza and cook it!
### Cooking the Pizza
The lower the temperature, the longer the bake time, ranging from 5 to 10 minutes. Use a timer. Don’t get distracted. If you like darker crust, or need more top heat to finish the pizza, you can use a broiler for 1-2 minutes.
For the pizza in this post, I did not use a broiler and let the pizza bake for eight minutes.
After about the halfway mark, and again once or twice throughout the bake, carefully turn the pizza in the oven using a metal peel to make sure it cooks evenly. Ovens, steels, and stones can have hot spots. Don’t turn the pizza too early, as the dough will still be raw and it might rip or shrink.
Remove the pizza when it’s finished cooking and transfer it to a wire rack to keep the base crispy and to allow it to cool before you slice it and annihilate the roof of your mouth with molten hot cheesy goodness.
If you don’t nail it the first time, don’t hang up your apron or cast your peel into the fires of Mount Doom. It takes practice to get it how you like it, and you should plan to make adjustments to the recipe and method based on your taste, your experience level, and your kitchen setup.
Worst case scenario, you get a chaos calzone, and the recipe makes two pizzas, so after some cleanup, you have a second shot at pizza perfection.
Cheers!
Looks great
That looks so amazing! You nailed it!
What are your thoughts on canned tomato brands?
I’m from NJ. We take our NY pies seriously. This looks legit AF! Wish I could taste it. Congrats.