[ ./recipes/basics/ny-style-pizza-dough.md ]
★ AMERICAN · BASICS
New York Style Pizza Dough (48h Cold Ball Ferment).
SERVES
4
TOTAL
2880m
ACTIVE
35m
LVL
MEDIUM
// SUMMARY
A straight dough — no poolish, no biga — that does all its flavour work in a 48-hour cold ferment. The dough is divided and balled straight after kneading, so the whole retard happens as individual balls: better gluten structure, a stretchier dough, and nothing to undo on baking day. 65% hydration with a little oil and sugar puts it squarely in New York territory: thin and foldable in the middle, with a light, chewy rim. Makes four 300 g balls for 32–35 cm pizzas.
// INGREDIENTS
| 700 | g | bread flour or Tipo 00, 12–13% protein |
| 455 | g | water, cool (65% hydration) |
| 18 | g | fine sea salt (2.6%) |
| 14 | g | olive oil (2%) |
| 10 | g | sugar (1.4%) |
| 1.1 | g | fresh yeast, or 0.4 g instant yeast |
// METHOD
- 01
T-48 h. Dissolve the yeast in the water. With this little yeast, make sure it is properly dispersed before the flour goes in.
- 02
Add the flour and mix until no dry flour is left. Cover and rest 15–20 minutes.
- 03
Add the salt, sugar and olive oil. Knead 5–8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and passes a windowpane test. It should still feel slightly soft — resist adding flour.
- 04
Cover and rest 15–30 minutes at room temperature so the dough relaxes enough to shape.
- 05
Divide into 4 pieces of about 300 g. Shape each into a tight, smooth ball: pull the surface taut, pinch the seam shut underneath, then roll it against the worktop to seal.
- 06
Put the balls into lightly oiled sealable containers with room to double, and move them straight to the fridge. No bulk rise — the balls do the whole ferment.
- 07
T-48 h to T-5 h. Cold ferment 40–45 hours at 4–5 °C. Do not touch them, do not degas them.
- 08
T-5 h. Take the containers out and leave the balls sealed at room temperature. At 21–23 °C allow 4–5 hours; at 25 °C or warmer, 3–4 hours is enough. They should be visibly puffed, domed and slack — not flat and spreading.
- 09
Baking. Flour a ball generously, press from the centre outwards with your fingertips and leave a 1–2 cm rim untouched. Then stretch over your knuckles to 32–35 cm. No rolling pin — it crushes the gas out of the rim.
- 10
Top and bake immediately. The base should be thin but not translucent — you want to be able to fold a slice without it snapping.
// NOTES
- — Why ball immediately. Bulk fermenting and dividing on baking day means degassing a dough that spent two days building structure, then giving the balls only a few hours to recover. Balling up front lets each one build gas and flavour undisturbed, and baking day becomes purely handling.
- — Why no poolish or biga. A preferment buys fermentation time and aroma. At 48 hours you already have both. For New York style, a straight dough is simpler and far more repeatable.
- — Yeast is the dial, not the timing. 1.1 g fresh yeast is calibrated for 48 hours at fridge temperature. For a 24-hour ferment, roughly double it; for 72 hours, drop to about 0.8 g.
- — Example schedule. Mix Thursday 21:00, balled and in the fridge by 22:00. Friday: leave alone. Saturday 15:00–16:00 out of the fridge, pizza from 19:00.
- — Flour matters more than technique here. Below about 12% protein the dough will not hold a 48-hour retard — it goes slack and tears when you stretch it.
- — Storage. The balls keep a further 12 hours in the fridge past 48 h, with slightly more sourness. They also freeze well after balling; thaw overnight in the fridge, then give them the usual 4–5 hours at room temperature.
// VARIATIONS
- → 24-hour version: Use 2.2 g fresh yeast and keep everything else identical. Less complex, still very good.
- → Instant yeast: 0.4 g instant in place of the fresh. Mix it into the flour rather than the water.
- → Crispier base: Drop the hydration to 62% (435 g water) for a drier, snappier crust that suits a hot pizza steel.