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At home
How to make a real New York-style pizza
A real NYC-style pie — thin, crisp, foldable — in a regular home oven. High-gluten flour, a 48-hour cold ferment, raw tomato sauce, dry mozzarella, and a screaming hot steel. That's the whole secret.
What you need
Dough — makes two balls
- 500g high-gluten bread flour
- 310ml ice water
- 10g fine sea salt
- 7g sugar
- 3g active dry yeast
- 15g extra virgin olive oil
Sauce & cheese
- 1 × 28oz can whole peeled plum tomatoes
- Salt, sugar, dried oregano — a pinch each
- 450g whole-milk low-moisture mozzarella, in a block
- Fresh or buffalo mozzarella, a small amount (optional)
Equipment
- Pizza steel
- Digital scale
- Pizza peel
1 Dough
- Mix 500g high-gluten bread flour, 310ml ice water, 10g fine sea salt, 7g sugar, 3g active dry yeast, and 15g extra virgin olive oil.
- Knead by hand for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Cut into two equal dough balls.
- Place each ball in a lightly greased container with a lid.
- Refrigerate for 48 hours — this cold ferment develops the flavor and the open crumb that makes a NYC slice what it is.
2 Sauce
- Crush one 28-ounce can of whole peeled plum tomatoes by hand directly into a bowl.
- Add a pinch each of salt, sugar, and dried oregano. That's it.
Pizza Map tip
Use less sauce than you think. A thin, even layer you can still see dough through is right — more than that and the center steams instead of crisping. This is the single most common reason a home pie comes out soggy in the middle.
3 Cheese
- Buy whole-milk, low-moisture mozzarella in a block — not pre-shredded.
- Many New York pizzerias use Grande, and it's a large part of why a classic slice pulls and browns the way it does. It's sold to restaurants rather than supermarkets, but some cheese counters and online suppliers carry it.
- Shred it yourself on a box grater right before you build the pie.
- Optional: a few torn pieces of fresh or buffalo mozzarella, scattered on in small amounts. Treat it as an accent over the low-moisture base, not a replacement for it — fresh mozzarella carries a lot of water, and a pie made entirely from it steams instead of browning.
4 Cooking the Pie
- Place a pizza steel on the top rack and preheat your oven as high as it goes — ideally 550°F — for a full hour.
- Take the dough out of the fridge 30 minutes before you use it.
- Stretch by hand on a floured counter — no rolling pin. Work from the center outward to about 14 inches wide.
- Spread a thin, even layer of sauce. Less than you think.
- Add a moderate layer of shredded cheese.
- Slide onto the hot steel and bake for 6 to 8 minutes until the crust is browned underneath and the cheese bubbles and takes on some color.
The fold test
A finished New York slice should fold in half lengthwise and hold — the tip bends slightly but doesn't flop, and the crust doesn't crack along the fold. Too wet in the middle and it flops. Overbaked and it snaps. That's the whole standard.
The Gear That Actually Matters
You don't need a wood-fired oven to make great pizza at home. You need a few specific tools. Here's what's actually worth buying.
Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, this site earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. It doesn't change what gets recommended — everything here is gear worth owning, and the steel is the only thing you genuinely need.
If you buy only one thing
A thick steel slab that holds extreme heat and transfers it instantly to your dough. This is the single biggest upgrade you can make for home pizza — the difference between a baking stone and a steel is dramatic. Gets your crust to crisp up like a coal oven.
View on Amazon →Dough Essentials
The flour used by Neapolitan pizzerias across Naples. Finely milled, high protein, and designed for high-heat baking. For NY-style you can use bread flour, but for Neapolitan this is non-negotiable.
View on Amazon →Airtight containers for cold-fermenting your dough balls. The DoughMate Artisan Kit is what most serious home pizzamakers use — stackable, the right size, seals properly.
View on Amazon →Pizza dough is chemistry. Measuring by weight (not cups) is the difference between consistent results and hit-or-miss. Any decent scale works — this one is accurate to 1g and under $15.
View on Amazon →Launch & Cut
A perforated aluminum peel lets excess flour fall through so your pie slides cleanly onto the steel. The holes also reduce sticking. Get at least 14 inches wide for a full-size NY pie. Essential.
View on Amazon →A sharp, heavy pizza wheel makes a real difference — a dull cutter drags cheese off the pie. Ooni's is well-balanced, stays sharp, and dishwasher safe.
View on Ooni →The curved rocker blade is what most NY pizzerias actually use — it cuts through a whole pie in one rocking motion without moving the cheese.
View on Amazon →Finishing Touches
The tomatoes matter more than most people think. Real San Marzano DOP tomatoes from the volcanic plains near Vesuvius have a natural sweetness and low acidity that supermarket crushed tomatoes can't replicate. Check the label for "D.O.P."
View on Amazon →Point it at your steel to know exactly when it's ready. Guessing oven temperature is a mistake — you want your steel at 550–600°F minimum. An infrared thermometer ($20) removes all the guesswork.
View on Amazon →If you're serving pizza at home the right way — on a tray, raised on a stand, in the middle of the table — this is the piece that completes the experience.
View on Amazon →Want to Go Beyond a Home Oven?
None of this is necessary. A steel in a 550°F oven makes a genuinely great New York pie. But if you've made a few and want to chase coal-oven results, this is where that road goes.
Hits 950°F and cooks a 16-inch Neapolitan pie in about 60 seconds. Gas, so no fire to manage. Not cheap, but if pizza has become a hobby rather than a dinner, this is the jump.
View on Ooni →Wood-pellet powered, also reaches 950°F, and gives you the char and smoke that gas can't. More involved to run, closer to the old coal ovens in flavour.
View on Ooni →Prefer to leave it to the professionals?
There are 358 pizzerias on the map, and most of them have been doing this longer than either of us.