Neapolitan Pizza Dough Recipe: 4 Ingredients, 24-Hour Rise

Neapolitan Pizza Dough: The 4-Ingredient, 24-Hour Formula

Neapolitan pizza dough is made from exactly four ingredients: 00 flour, water, salt, and a very small amount of yeast. This recipe uses 1,000 g of 00 flour, 620 g of water (62% hydration), 28 g of fine sea salt (2.8%), and 1 g of instant dry yeast (0.1%), fermented at cool room temperature for 24 hours. It makes six 275 g dough balls — enough for six pizzas around 11 to 12 inches across — with a soft, extensible crumb and a crust that puffs and blisters in a blazing-hot oven.

That is the whole recipe in one paragraph. The rest of this article explains why each number is what it is, walks through the schedule hour by hour, and shows you how to adjust when your kitchen is warmer or cooler than the recipe assumes. Nothing here requires a mixer, a starter, or any equipment beyond a digital scale, a bowl, and a lidded container.

Is this formula inside the AVPN envelope?

Mostly, but not completely. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) 2024 International Regulations give 1 litre of water, 1,600 to 1,800 g flour, 40 to 60 g salt, and 0.1 to 3 g fresh yeast; dry yeast is one third of the fresh-yeast amount. The same document sets 200 to 280 g dough balls for pizzas 22 to 35 cm across and makes the second rise variable with temperature, humidity, and flour absorption.

The official flour and water range converts to about 55.6% to 62.5% hydration. This recipe's 62% hydration, 2.8% salt, and 275 g balls sit inside those ranges. Its 1 g instant dry yeast per 1,000 g flour does not strictly mirror the AVPN water-based maximum: at 620 g water, that maximum scales to about 0.62 g dry yeast. We use 1 g as a documented house starting point for a cool 24-hour home schedule, not as a certification formula.

If strict AVPN alignment matters, begin around 0.6 g dry yeast for this batch and expect the actual proof state, room conditions, and flour to decide the clock. If a dependable home dinner time matters more, use the 1 g house formula and record what happens. No yeast number can guarantee a 24-hour finish across every kitchen.

What the 24-hour schedule actually means

The recipe allocates about 18 hours to bulk fermentation and 5 to 6 hours to the balled proof after mixing and kneading. That is a planning framework, not permission to ignore the dough until an alarm rings.

Record four observations: dough temperature after kneading, room temperature, bulk volume and surface at hour 18, and ball condition before stretching. Change only one variable next time. If the batch peaks early, the useful correction is not "less fermentation" in the abstract; it is a named change to yeast amount, temperature, or elapsed time.

Ingredients and Baker's Percentages

Baker's percentages express every ingredient as a percentage of the flour weight. Flour is always 100%, so a 62% hydration dough contains 62 g of water for every 100 g of flour. Written this way, the formula scales to any batch size without guesswork.

Divided into six portions, the full batch gives you 275 g dough balls almost exactly — a comfortable weight for a Neapolitan-size pie.

Why 00 flour

Type 00 is an Italian refinement classification tied to ash content and extraction, not a universal promise about particle size, protein, strength, or pizza performance. AVPN Americas explains in its current flour guide that Type 00 has ash content up to 0.50%, while Type 0 reaches 0.65%; the current rules permit both, plus 5% to 10% Type 1 flour. A generic 11.5% to 13% protein target is too blunt: current AVPN supplier criteria distinguish flour types and extend the listed upper value to 13.5%. Read the exact flour specification and choose strength suited to the planned fermentation.

If you cannot find Type 00 or Type 0 pizza flour, unbleached bread flour can make a good Neapolitan-style home pizza, but it is a substitution rather than AVPN equivalence. Do not assume bread flour is simply coarser or that all-purpose flour will behave at exactly the same hydration. Hold back 20 g of the 620 g water, mix, then add some or all of it only if the flour accepts it without losing the soft, non-sticky dough state.

Why 62% hydration

The AVPN water-to-flour quantities calculate to about 55.6% hydration at 1,800 g flour and 62.5% at 1,600 g. That supports the familiar high-50s-to-low-60s orientation while giving it exact boundaries. Our 62% is an editorial working point near the upper end: manageable for many pizza flours, but still dependent on absorption, mixing, and handling.

Higher hydration is not an automatic quality upgrade. It changes extensibility, sticking, launching, and the energy needed to set the base. In an AVPN-range oven, a 62% dough is designed for a 60-to-90-second bake; in a home oven with a longer bake, another formula may use more water. Compare complete formulas rather than chasing the largest percentage.

Salt and yeast: small numbers, big jobs

Salt at 2.8% does more than season. It tightens the gluten network and moderates fermentation, which matters when the dough will sit out for a full day. Use fine sea salt and weigh it — volume measures for salt vary wildly by grind.

The yeast quantity is the number that surprises people: 1 g for a full kilo of flour, roughly a scant third of a teaspoon. It is our cool-room house dose, not a universal 24-hour guarantee and not the strict AVPN-scaled amount. Long fermentation changes flavor and handling, but two or three refrigerated days require a deliberately cold-fermented formula and temperature control, not merely this room-temperature schedule left running longer.

A note on measurement: 1 g, 0.6 g, and 0.5 g are hard to weigh on a standard kitchen scale. A 0.01 g scale makes those doses directly measurable. A level 1/4 teaspoon is often treated as about 0.8 g, but yeast shape and measuring technique vary; if you use that fallback, record it as an approximate dose and follow the dough rather than promising a slightly slower rise.

Step-by-Step Method

1. Dissolve and mix (10 minutes)

Pour the water into a large bowl and stir in the salt until dissolved. Add about a third of the flour and whisk to a smooth slurry, then sprinkle the yeast over the top and stir it in. (Keeping the yeast out of direct contact with concentrated salt water is cheap insurance.) Add the remaining flour and mix with your hand or a stiff spatula until no dry flour remains. The dough will look shaggy and rough — that is correct.

2. Rest, then knead (30 minutes)

Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. This pause, called autolyse-style rest, lets the flour fully hydrate and does half your kneading for you. Then turn the dough onto a clean counter and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until it is smooth, supple, and springs back slowly when poked. At 62% hydration it should barely stick; resist adding flour, and use a light touch of water on your hands instead if needed.

3. Bulk ferment (18 hours)

Place the dough in a lightly oiled, lidded container with room to double, and leave it at cool room temperature — this recipe assumes roughly 65 to 70°F (18 to 21°C). Over 18 hours it will rise slowly, roughly doubling, and the surface will show scattered bubbles. This long bulk stage is where most of the flavor develops.

4. Ball the dough (15 minutes)

Turn the dough out and divide it into six pieces of 275 g each, using your scale — consistent weight is what makes bake times repeatable. To ball each piece, fold the edges into the center, flip it seam-side down, and drag it toward you on the counter with cupped hands to build surface tension. You want a tight, smooth skin with the seam sealed underneath.

5. Final proof (5 to 6 hours)

Set the balls at least 3 inches apart in a covered proofing box or on a lightly floured tray covered with plastic wrap. Proof at room temperature for 5 to 6 hours. They are ready when they have relaxed into soft, slightly domed pillows that feel like a marshmallow when gently pressed — airy but still holding their shape. From here, they stretch open with fingertips; never a rolling pin, which crushes the gas you spent 24 hours building.

The 24-Hour Schedule at a Glance

Shift the whole schedule earlier or later to fit your day — the ratios of bulk-to-proof time are what matter, not the clock.

Dough Ball Weight: What 275 g Gets You

Dough ball weight is the lever that controls pizza size and rim character. For Neapolitan-style pies:

• 230–250 g — a 10-inch pizza; smaller, with a proportionally puffier rim. Good for compact portable ovens.
• 260–280 g — an 11-to-12-inch pizza; the classic personal-pie size this recipe targets at 275 g.
• 290–320 g — a 12-to-13-inch pizza; needs a larger oven floor and a confident launch.

Whatever weight you choose, keep every ball in a batch identical. When the balls match, your stretch, your topping amounts, and your bake time all become repeatable — which is the entire point of weighing in the first place.

Adjusting for Your Kitchen's Temperature

The recipe assumes a cool room around 65 to 70°F (18 to 21°C). Do not use "fermentation doubles every 15°F/8°C" as a dough timer. Yeast amount, dough temperature, flour, salt, fermentation stage, and temperature all interact. Measure the room and judge volume, bubbles, strength, and relaxation.

• Warm kitchen (72–78°F / 22–26°C): the 0.5 g half-yeast and 10-to-12-hour bulk options are separate experiment branches, not equivalent guarantees. Choose one change, record it, and ball when the bulk evidence matches your successful baseline.
• Hot kitchen (above 78°F / 26°C): do not leave a 1 g batch on the written cool-room schedule. A move to the refrigerator after the first 2 hours is one possible controlled branch, but chilling is gradual and refrigerator temperature matters. Use the complete cold-ferment guide rather than treating cold as a pause button.
• Cold kitchen (below 62°F / 17°C): expect a different schedule, but do not automatically double the yeast to 2 g or put dough in an unmeasured oven with the light on. Measure the proposed proofing space and make one controlled adjustment.

The dough itself is the authority: ball it when the bulk has roughly doubled, and bake when the balls are soft and relaxed. Times are estimates; the dough's state is the fact.

Baking: This Dough Wants Serious Heat

This formula contains no oil and no sugar, which is deliberate — and it means the crust browns only through intense heat. The 800°F floor shorthand needs a range. AVPN's 2024 rules specify an approximate base temperature of 380 to 430°C (716 to 806°F), an approximate dome temperature of 485°C (905°F), and a 60-to-90-second bake. The rules now describe approved gas or electric alternatives as well as the traditional wood-fired oven. Those are certification parameters, not a reason to exceed an oven manufacturer's limits. Getting your oven to that state, and knowing when it is truly ready, is its own skill — our guide to wood-fired oven temperature covers heat-up time, infrared thermometer readings, and floor-versus-dome balance.

For the complete pie — crushed tomatoes, properly drained mozzarella, basil, and the launch itself — follow this dough into our wood-fired Margherita recipe, which assumes exactly these 275 g balls.

Follow the oven manual and its fuel, clearance, lighting, and maximum-temperature rules. Keep people and combustible material out of the working zone, use the specified long-handled tools, and never reach into a live oven. Route damaged refractory, fuel-system, gas, or electrical work to a qualified technician.

No wood-fired oven? Bake on a preheated steel or stone at your home oven's maximum with the broiler, and expect 4 to 6 minutes rather than 90 seconds. The pizza will be excellent; it will simply be a cousin of Neapolitan rather than the thing itself.

Troubleshooting the Common Failures

Dough tears when stretching. Usually underproofed (the gluten is still tight) or overworked during balling. Let torn-prone balls rest another 30 to 60 minutes at room temperature before trying again.

Balls flattened into pancakes. Overproofed — too warm, too long, or too much yeast. They will still bake, but with less oven spring. Next batch, reduce yeast or shorten the proof. Slightly overproofed dough is also a candidate for gentle re-balling followed by a 2-hour rest.

Crust is pale even in a hot oven. Do not diagnose this from "the yeast consumed too much sugar" alone. Verify actual floor temperature, bake duration, flour, top heat, fermentation state, and topping moisture. Change one cause at a time.

Dough smells sharply boozy or sour. That can accompany advanced fermentation, but smell does not prove safety. Do not taste raw dough. If the dough also shows contamination, unexpected discoloration, or an objectionable odor outside ordinary fermentation, discard it; otherwise use structure and proof history to decide whether it is still workable.

Storage and Food Safety

Treat "2 extra refrigerated days" and "up to a month frozen" as house quality windows, not universal safety or performance guarantees. Keep dough covered at 40°F/4°C or below, label the mix time, and judge structure and odor before use. A 1.5-to-2-hour warm-up is only a planning estimate; colder or larger balls take longer. Thaw frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator, then proof under observation.

Flour and raw dough require food-safety controls even when a recipe contains no egg. FDA's raw-flour guidance says flour is raw, cooking is the only way to be sure foods made with flour are safe, raw dough should never be tasted, and refrigerators should be held at 40°F/4°C. Keep dough covered, clean flour from hands and work surfaces, and keep cheese and other perishable toppings refrigerated until assembly.

Four ingredients, one day, and a scale — that is the entire secret. Weigh everything, respect the temperature of your room, and the dough will meet you more than halfway.