Topic
Dough and cooking
Good pizza starts with dough measured by baker's percentages and a stone at the right heat. Most faults come down to dough, heat or timing.
Baker's percentages give every ingredient as a share of the flour weight. A dough at 62 % hydration has 62 g of water for every 100 g of flour. Work out a batch with the dough calculator.
Bake in short turns: launch near the back, then turn a quarter every 20 to 30 seconds so the side facing the flame does not burn.
Common mistakes
- A burnt base with a pale top: the stone is hotter than the dome, so let the flame build before the next pizza.
- Dough sticking to the peel: too little flour or semolina, or the pizza sat on the peel too long.
Guides on this topic
- What else can you cook in a pizza oven?Flatbreads, steak in cast iron, roast vegetables and fish: what to cook in an outdoor pizza oven besides pizza, with rough oven temperatures for each.How-to
- Pizza oven temperature guideThe right pizza oven temperature for Neapolitan, New York and pan pizza, why stone temperature matters most, and how to read it with an infrared thermometer.Guide
- Pizza dough tearing or too stickyPizza dough sticking to everything or tearing when you stretch it? It is usually under-proved, too wet or too cold. Here is how to fix it and stretch without holes.Fix
- Pizza dough ball sizes for 10, 12 and 16 inch pizzasA gram-weight chart of pizza dough ball sizes by diameter and crust style, from 10 to 16 inches, with the maths behind it and a link to our dough calculator.Guide
- Pizza burnt underneath but raw on top: how to fix itPizza base burning before the top cooks? Balance stone and dome heat: turn the flame down before launch, turn more often and let the stone recover between bakes.Fix
- How to use an outdoor pizza ovenPreheat properly, check the stone with an infrared thermometer, launch, turn and let the oven recover between pizzas. Simple steps for gas and wood ovens.How-to
- How to make Neapolitan-style pizza doughAn easy Neapolitan-style pizza dough in grams: Tipo 00 or UK strong white flour, 60 to 65 % hydration, cold proving and balling into 250 g dough balls.How-to
- How long does pizza dough keep in the fridge?Homemade pizza dough usually keeps 2 to 3 days in the fridge and around 3 months frozen. Cold-proving windows, freezing dough balls and signs it is past its best.Guide