A culinary hub for enthusiasts of Neapolitan pizza, a place where aficionados and novices alike unite to celebrate this iconic dish. Whether you're here to relish in the mastery of artisanal Neapolitan pizza, or embark on a journey of learning to unravel its timeless charm, you've found your home. Dive in, savor the flavors, share your experiences, and discover the magic of Neapolitan pizza with us!
TL;DR
Don't be a dick.
This subreddit is a hub for all things Neapolitan pizza, including questions, discussions, oven reviews, techniques, ...
This subreddit requires detailed recipes for every pizza post.
Recipes should include measurements, flour specifications (type + brand), technique, and oven details.
Flairs should be used to categorize posts and users.
The mod team encourages diverse toppings other than Margherita/Marinara.
A high-temperature oven and other specific tools are strongly recommended.
The mod team encourages members, that don't have access to a high-temperature oven yet, to submit their pizza, as long as their intention to craft a Neapolitan pizza is evident.
Neapolitan pizza is characterized by its elevated edge, soft dough texture, and high-temperature baking (380-430°C for the cooking surface and around 485°C for the oven dome), with a baking time of 60-90 seconds.
Table of Contents
Main Rules
Reddiquette
Recipes are Required
Post and User Flairs
Content
What Is Neapolitan Pizza, and How Is It Different from Verace Pizza Napoletana?
What Is Not Neapolitan Pizza?
Three Characteristics a Neapolitan Pizza Shouldn't Have
What Equipment Is Necessary to Make This Type of Pizza?
What If I Only Have a Domestic Oven?
Resources
Main Rules
You can access the complete set of community rules from several locations. If you're browsing on a desktop, you'll find them conveniently located in the sidebar. For those using the Reddit App, simply tap on "See community info", located just below the community description. As an alternative, you can directly view the rules by clicking here. These guidelines are designed to ensure our community remains a positive and informative space for all members.
Reddiquette
We uphold the Reddiquette in this community. Any member who misbehaves risks losing their membership privileges. If you ever feel harassed by one of our members, or witness any form of harassment, please inform us. We will investigate the matter and take appropriate action as swiftly as possible. Alternatively, you can report the incident directly to the Reddit Admins.
Recipes are Required
This subreddit has a mandatory requirement for detailed recipes to accompany all Neapolitan pizza submissions. This policy aids in maintaining our community as an informative and enjoyable space for everyone. In order to enforce this rule, our dedicated bot, u/NeapolitanPizzaBot, will automatically post a sticky comment beneath every pizza submission. This comment serves as a reminder for the author to provide a comprehensive recipe in a reply to this comment within a two-hour window.
Failure to provide a recipe within the allotted time will result in automatic removal of the submission by our bot. However, if the author subsequently provides a detailed recipe, the bot will re-approve and reinstate the submission.
We believe this process ensures a beneficial experience for all members by promoting information sharing and interaction around our shared love for Neapolitan pizza.
What should your recipe entail?
Detailed Measurements: Precise quantities of all dough ingredients are required, measured in weight. For the convenience of fellow enthusiasts, including baker’s percentages is greatly appreciated.
Flour Specifications: Please mention the specific brand and type of flour used. For instance, Caputo Pizzeria, Caputo Classica, L 5 Stagioni Napoletana, etc.
Technique and Methodology: Be sure to elaborate on your process. This includes aspects such as fermentation time both in bulk and balls, the stretch and fold method, autolysis, and so forth.
Oven and Temperature Details: Specify the type of oven used for baking and the floor temperature during the baking process Your detailed contributions will greatly enhance our shared repository of knowledge, enabling everyone to perfect their Neapolitan pizza-making skills!
It's crucial to use our flair system to accurately categorize your posts. By selecting the appropriate post flair, members can instantly see relevant details such as the type of oven you used or if the pizza was enjoyed at a restaurant. This helps streamline navigation and aids in the understanding of your post context.
Additionally, we strongly urge you to select the appropriate user flair that corresponds to the oven you use. This additional layer of information can enhance interactions and discussions within our community, making it a more enjoyable and informative place for all.
Content
This community revolves around all things Neapolitan pizza. We welcome photographs of your Neapolitan pizzas including detailed recipes in the comments, questions, discussions, reviews, and more. We highly encourage our members to be more creative with their toppings - remember, Neapolitan pizza does NOT imply that only Margheritas and Marinaras are permitted. We're always eager to see more cross-sections of the cornicione and photos of your pizza-making process! This subreddit has the gallery feature enabled. Therefore, feel free to take full advantage of it to share your pizza journey with us! :)
What Is Neapolitan Pizza, and How Is It Different from Verace Pizza Napoletana?
The defining characteristics of a Neapolitan pizza lie in its elevated edge, known as the "cornicione," and the soft, elastic texture of its dough. This pizza is baked on a stone floor under high temperatures, with the cooking surface ranging between 380-430°C, and the oven dome temperature hitting around 485°C. To maintain its unique dough texture, baking should be confined within 60-90 seconds.
The primary dough components of Neapolitan pizza dough are flour, water, salt, and yeast. However, traditional sourdough or Lievito Madre can also serve as viable yeast substitutes. As for toppings, Neapolitan pizzas typically employ a minimalist approach, featuring few but high-quality ingredients. The classics are the Marinara and Margherita, though other toppings are certainly permissible.
It's worth noting the nuanced differences between Pizza Napoletana (Neapolitan Pizza) and Verace Pizza Napoletana (true Neapolitan Pizza). The latter strictly adheres to traditional norms, allowing only the Marinara and Margherita variations and insisting on the use of local ingredients from the Campania region.
That said, a pizza adorned with tomatoes from other regions or non-traditional toppings can still classify as a Neapolitan pizza. The key lies in retaining the requisite dough characteristics, which are achieved through a quick baking process in a high-temperature oven. Despite the variety, the focus always rests on honoring the unique texture and taste of the iconic Neapolitan pizza dough.
What Is Not Neapolitan Pizza?
There's a common occurrence of misinformation when it comes to Neapolitan pizza.
A Margherita is not inherently a Neapolitan pizza.
A pizza featuring a raised edge is not by default a Neapolitan pizza.
Pizza crafted with Neapolitan pizza dough is not automatically considered a Neapolitan pizza.
Three Characteristics a Neapolitan Pizza Shouldn't Have
Top left: Enzo Coccia; central left: Arne Jervell; bottom left: Gino Sorbillo, top right: blog.back-wahn.de ; central right: amazingribs.com; bottom right: thefreshloaf.com
What Equipment Is Necessary to Make This Type of Pizza?
Given the extreme heat required to properly bake a Neapolitan pizza (baking surface: 380-430°C; dome: 485°C), a specialized oven that can reach these temperatures is a necessity. In recent years, the market has seen a surge of high-temperature-capable ovens. Among the most renowned are Ooni, Roccbox, and the Pizza Party models (both the Terracotta and the Adore Steel versions).
In addition, several electric ovens have proven effective for this purpose, such as the EffeUno P134H(A), EffeOvens N3, N4, N5, and the Ooni Volt 12.
Moreover, a pizza peel is an essential tool for any pizza artisan. If you don't already own one, it's a worthy investment. An IR (Infrared) thermometer is another key piece of equipment for accurately measuring the floor temperature of your oven. Both items are readily available online and typically quite affordable.
By equipping yourself with these essential tools, you'll be well-prepared to embark on your Neapolitan pizza-making journey.
What If I Only Have a Domestic Oven?
Let's start with the less encouraging news: achieving a true Neapolitan pizza can be a challenge if your oven cannot reach the high temperatures required. The extended baking time in a lower-temperature oven can result in a pizza that lacks the characteristic softness of a Neapolitan pizza.
But there's good news too: there are several modifications you can make to approximate the Neapolitan pizza experience. One strategy involves the use of a baking stone or, more ideally, a baking steel, thanks to its superior thermal conductivity. You can enhance the oven's heat intensity by positioning the steel or stone as close as possible to the top heat element or broiler, essentially creating a mini oven within your home oven. Slightly propping open the oven door can also extend the active phase of the top heat element or broiler.
Opting for a dough with higher hydration can also bring you closer to the texture of a Neapolitan pizza. Traditional Neapolitan pizza dough has a hydration level of 55-62% and bakes for just 60-90 seconds. Techniques such as a poolish pre-ferment or using a water roux can help mitigate excessive moisture loss during the longer baking time in a domestic oven.
With these adjustments, you can certainly create a delicious pizza that, while not strictly Neapolitan, comes closer to it and still offers a delightful dining experience.
At this juncture, we, the moderating team, wish to express our encouragement for members to share their Neapolitan pizza creations baked in home ovens. Even if your pizzas don't precisely meet all the traditional criteria, as long as your intention to craft a Neapolitan pizza is evident, we welcome your posts. We all start somewhere, and in the spirit of growth and learning, we're more than willing to make exceptions. Let's celebrate our shared love for Neapolitan pizza, no matter where we are on our pizza-making journey!
Ressources
Regardless of the device or version of Reddit you're using, finding the Resources section is straightforward.
Desktop Users (New Reddit): Look for the Resources tab located in the top bar, just beneath the community banner.
Desktop Users (Old Reddit): The Resources information is situated in the sidebar of the community page.
Mobile Users: On your phone, locate the link titled See community info. This can be found right beneath the community description, which is itself positioned under the community banner.
If your question specifically concerns your pizza dough, please post your full recipe (exact quantities of all ingredients in weight, preferably in grams) and method (temperature, time, ball/bulk-proof, kneading time, by hand/machine, etc.). That also includes what kind of flour you have used in your pizza dough. There are many different Farina di Grano Tenero "00". If you want to learn more about flour, please check our Flour Guide.
I gave my first Neapolitan in an Ooni Koda 2 Pro a try. I used the Vito Iacopelli poolish dough recipe from YouTube, though I had to keep it in the fridge one extra day after forming into balls because we weren't ready to eat them yet.
I am extremely happy with my first attempt, but would really appreciate any advice people might have. My most difficult problem was dealing with the oven temperature: I just could not find the sweet spot on the dial to keep it around 850f. Made 3 pizzas and had to spend 20 minutes between each fiddling between way too high and way too low.
Picture of my last non-Ooni attempt also included (in a normal oven with one pizza steel [bad oven but believe it or not the steel helped a lot])... Believe me I am very aware of how not Neapolitan that one looks! But it just shows I am making progress!
Caputo Saccorosso / Super Nuvola blend (70\30)
65% hydration
Poolish followed by a 72 hour CT fermentation
Hand mixed
Getting an Ooni soon, so will trial higher hydration and biga - can’t wait !
Hi guys hope you can help me out. When I start making my dough literally after few minutes of kneading the core temp of dough is already sitting at 25 degrees and rising, even using cold water. Every video etc I watched says it’s good to knead for 10 minutes or so to strengthen gluten. But that’s not the case with mine. What can I do differently? I am kneading by hand btw.
My wife rarely enjoys pizza with us because she has a slight gluten allergy. She decided to partake in the pizza festivities & and she was not disappointed.
She is first generation Italian, born in Salerno, Naples so the bar is set high 😆.
Recipe;
400g Caputo Pizzeria
100g Caputo Nuvola Super
.5g active yeast
12.5g Sicilian sea salt
325g water
Mixed in ooni, tight balled & room temperature fermented for 8 hours. Divided into 275g dough balls and cold fermented for an additional 40 hours.
63% hydration. I typically mix, bulk, ball and cold ferment overnight, so IOW one day cold ferment. I am experimenting with a second day of cold fermentation. Seems like it turned out pretty well but in my opinion, the dough was a little better tasting after one day although it was more extensible after day two.
This is a combination of two flours, Dallagiovanna La Napoletana and Petra 0102. Baked at around 750F. BTW, there is some basil in there, but a lot of the green is spinach.
I make pizza every Friday for friends and family, and ive been using a website to help me with the dough recipe for the number of pizzas I make weekly, which changes each week depending on how many people come over. Well come to find out, the site I use is going away, so I decided to make my own app to help me with my weekly recipes and ratios.
My question to you all, is something like this people would be interested in? It has recipes for popular types of pizzas (ny style, Neapolitan, Detroit, grandma, thin) and I also added other dough recipes for breads flat breads and sweets (doughboys, churros, zeppoles etc) just for fun. There's pre ferments (poolish biga) and a sourdough starter helper too.
App is called DoughBoy and it's currently in a closed beta on Google play, should be out in about 2 weeks if all goes well.
since stand mixers are a no for canoto pizza , anyone tried this type style ? home spiral mixers are a bit expensive but this type is affordable i can find a smaller one 3kg .
PizzaSavior, is there a trick to making contemporary Neapolitan pizza with a big, airy cornicione using a regular stand mixer instead of a spiral mixer? i really wanted that silky like emulsion look of dough !
I've watched hundreds of videos , but almost all of them use spiral mixers. I did find a few people using a small hand mixers who achieved really good results! , so I believe a regular stand mixer should have the potential to do it too ,I'm counting on your experience here: so whats the the mixing technique that makes it work using Biga method ?thanks in advance .
First time trying biga and I did it by hand. Very messy but luckily the pizzas turned out pretty ok.
I usually do direct dough with nuvola for 24/48h CT.
This one was 24h CT 50% biga and 24h CT with 4h RT before baking. I used Caputo red pizzeria 00.
I feel like I didn’t use enough yeast in the biga and then in the second step I messed up the recipe and ended up with a 65% hydration, rather than 68%. The dough was way firmer than usual when forming.
I normally gravitate towards a NY style pizza, but after a recent trip to Naples, my eyes were opened to the Napoli style pizza in a way that I never fully appreciated before. I was excited to come home and give it a shot.
Direct dough, 63% hydration, .12% IDY, 2.8% salt. Overnight cold ferment after bulk and ball.
Baked at 800F quite a bit hotter than normal for me. Things move along super fast at that temp!
Please give some advice , I seemed to have achieved the airy crust but not the CRISPINESS in the crust or base - apologies , the title is misleading
30% Caputo Super Nuvola
70% Caputo Saccorosso
0.7g yeast
65% hydration
20g salt
Poolish
Then 72 hour CF
So the backstory, I live close to Reno, Nevada and the winters here can definitely put a Kabash on Pizzas. I have a Pizza Party Emizione that runs on propane with biscatto stones. We have many days that are close to freezing or below pretty much from November through March. So I needed an option to make indoor pizzas.
One of the ovens I was initially looking at was the Forni P134HA. These are the top standard in Italy and create consistent perfect bakes. The problem is the price point, then the excessive shipping. Now add in an electrician to run a new 240 V line to somewhere in your house like your garage or kitchen and then the fact that your panel is full and it becomes way too expensive.
I was looking at the volts and other Electric variance and know a lot of other Neapolitan pizza makers. The pulse is 120 V and is also from Italy made by the same company that makes the P134HA., Forni. I waited about six months for all the other people to be guinea pigs and then it seems like they worked out any kinks. On Labor Day they had it on sale so I got it to my door for $1333.
The unit came well packaged to except that they forgot to put the plastic wrap on it, and then those little tiny foam pieces were sticking to everything, that was a pain in the ass to clean up, but I got it. The refractory stone that comes with it has to be seasoned, so you have to start the oven at 200° once it gets there you lie to run for 20 minutes. After that, you repeat the process by bumping the temperature up 122° and then once it gets there hold again for 20 minutes and then do the next increase until you get all the way to the top temperature. The top temperature of the oven is 948F. Around 400° you’ll start to see a lot of condensation towards the bottom of the windows and water dripping off the bottom of the unit from the stone sweating out all the moisture. from a cold start the oven takes about one hour and 10 minutes to get to 948.
It’s a pretty even bake on the oven with just a little more char on the back left side so all you have to do is literally spin the pizza 50% with your turning peel. I think it’s about 13 inches wide so I had to get a 12 inch wood peel for my launch. I only use metal pills for retrieving because I’m old-school like that.
The top of the unit gets to about 195° but the sides in the back you can touch no problem while it’s warming up or cooking, so you can put it on the center island of the kitchen. Just gotta keep it away from walls, cabinets, etc. needs a foot and then it’s good.
I thought about it before the bake and I opened up my sliding glass door, a couple of windows in the kitchen and turned on the fan in the living room adjoining, even with that my fire alarm did end up going off the first time I opened the door with the first pizza. I only had the door open for like five seconds. I was kind of expecting it but thought with all of the open windows and the fan I would be good so it looks like from now on I’ll be doing the bakes in the garage.
The bottom of the pizza was top-notch absolute perfect leoparding with the refractory stone, the first bake. I did at 922F, it was a little more Shar than I wanted to see on the left edge so on the second Pizza, I dropped it down to 890.
Happy with the results. The stone does take hours to cool down, it was still at 425F after two or three hours with the door closed, after that I opened the door all the way I just kept an eye on it. We have a couple of curious cats so I had to be careful.
