New York-Style Pizza Dough

Before you start

A New York slice is wide, thin through the middle and pliable enough to fold lengthwise, with a crisp underside and a rim that chews rather than puffs. That character comes from strong bread flour, moderate hydration, and small amounts of olive oil and sugar. The oil keeps the crumb tender, and the sugar helps the crust brown in an oven that runs much cooler than a Neapolitan wood-fired one.

The long cold ferment is the key decision. Two to three days in the refrigerator develops flavor, makes the dough easy to stretch thin without springing back, and creates the blistered, crackly bottom you see in good slice shops. Stretch the dough by hand and on your knuckles; a rolling pin works in a pinch but gives a denser, flatter rim.

Ingredients

• 600 g (4¾ cups) bread flour — 12.5–13.5% protein
• 372 g (1½ cups plus 2 tbsp) cool water — about 18°C (65°F)
• 12 g (2 tsp) fine salt
• 12 g (1 tbsp) granulated sugar
• 18 g (1½ tbsp) olive oil — plus more for the containers
• 3 g (1 tsp) instant yeast
• as needed semolina or flour — for the peel

Method

1. Whisk the flour, sugar and yeast in the mixer bowl. Add the water and mix on low for 2 minutes until combined. Rest 10 minutes.
2. Add the salt and olive oil and knead on medium-low for 6 to 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and pulls cleanly from the bowl. It should be about 24°C (75°F) when done.
3. Divide into 2 pieces of about 505 g. Shape each into a tight ball, coat lightly with oil and place in its own container. Cover and refrigerate right away for 48 to 72 hours.
4. Two hours before baking, set the containers on the counter. Place a baking steel or stone on an upper-middle rack and heat the oven to 290°C (550°F), or as high as it goes, for at least 1 hour.
5. Turn a ball onto a floured counter. Press a 2.5 cm (1 in) rim around the edge, then press the center outward with your fingertips. Drape it over your knuckles and rotate, stretching gently until it reaches about 40 cm (16 in) with an evenly thin center.
6. Lay the dough on a semolina-dusted peel. Top with about 180 ml (¾ cup) sauce and 225 g (2 cups) shredded low-moisture mozzarella, keeping the rim bare.
7. Slide onto the steel and bake for 7 to 10 minutes, rotating once, until the rim is browned and the cheese is bubbling with a few brown spots. Lift an edge: the underside should be crisp with dark freckles. Rest 2 minutes before slicing.

Tips for success

• If your steel is smaller than 40 cm, stretch three 335 g balls into 30 to 33 cm (12 to 13 in) pies instead.
• A 72-hour ferment gives the best flavor and stretch. Beyond 4 days the dough becomes slack and sour.
• Grate whole-milk, low-moisture mozzarella yourself; pre-shredded cheese has anti-caking starch that melts less smoothly.
• Use a light coat of sauce. Too much makes the center floppy instead of foldable.

Substitutions

Bread flour

High-gluten flour (about 14% protein) gives a chewier, more classic slice-shop texture. All-purpose flour stretches less and bakes up softer; reduce the water by about 15 g.

Sugar

Diastatic malt powder at 1 tsp gives similar browning with a malty note. Leaving sugar out produces a paler crust in home ovens.

Olive oil

Neutral vegetable oil in the same amount works. Without oil the crust is crisper but drier and less tender.

Variations

Simple uncooked NY sauce

Blend a 794 g (28 oz) can of whole peeled tomatoes with 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp dried oregano and 1 tbsp olive oil. Use it raw; it cooks on the pizza.

White pie

Skip tomato sauce. Spread 120 g ricotta, top with mozzarella, sliced garlic and grated pecorino, then add a few basil leaves after baking.

Troubleshooting

Dough springs back and will not stretch

It is still cold or too young. Give it the full 2 hours at room temperature or rest it 10 minutes mid-stretch.

Crust is cracker-crisp, not foldable

The pizza baked too long at too low a temperature. Preheat the steel longer and pull the pie as soon as the bottom is freckled.

Center is soggy and pale

Too much sauce or cheese, or the stone was not hot. Use less topping and preheat for a full hour.

Holes tear while stretching

Thin spots formed. Pinch small holes closed; stretch more gently by rotating on the knuckles rather than pulling.

Storage

Keep dough balls in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze balls after the first 24 hours of cold rest for up to 1 month; thaw in the refrigerator overnight and warm 2 to 3 hours. Refrigerate leftover baked pizza within 2 hours and eat within 3 to 4 days.

Safety notes

Do not eat raw dough or flour. Handle a 290°C (550°F) steel and the oven door with care. Contains wheat; toppings may contain milk.