Why is the yeast quantity so small?

Because the ferment is long. 0.4g of instant yeast across eight hours does the same work a larger quantity would do in one, and a slow rise builds flavour a fast one cannot. It is also below what most kitchen scales resolve — see the note below.

Can I make this in a domestic oven?

Not as written. This formula assumes a 950°F bake lasting 60 to 90 seconds. A kitchen oven at 500°F takes several minutes, and a 57% hydration dough spends that time drying rather than puffing. Use a New York formula instead.

What if I want a different number of pizzas?

Keep the percentages and change the flour weight. Our dough calculator inverts it for you — enter the number of balls and the ball weight and it returns the exact grams, using these same figures as its Neapolitan preset.

Is 00 flour essential?

It is what the AVPN specification calls for, and its fine milling suits a very fast bake. Bread flour works but browns differently over 60 seconds. Protein content matters more than the label — around 12 to 13% is the range to look for.

Recipe

Neapolitan Pizza Dough

Mike Ross · How we research · Updated 2026-08-28 · 2 min read

The formula

Makes: 4 × 250 g balls
Bake at: 950°F
Hands-on: 25 min
Total: 8h 27

0°F950–950°F1000°F

Baker's percentages are shares of the 625g flour weight.
Ingredient	Weight	Baker’s
00 flourFine-milled, roughly 12–13% protein	625 g	100%
WaterCool, around 18°C	356 g	57%
Fine sea salt	18 g	2.9%
Instant dry yeastOr 1.2 g fresh yeast	0.4 g	0.06%

Scale it to any batch with the dough calculator — it uses the same percentages.

Method

01
Dissolve the salt in the water. Salt first is the AVPN order, and it keeps the yeast from meeting undiluted salt later.
2 minutes
02
Add about a tenth of the flour and stir to a slurry, then the yeast, then the rest of the flour a handful at a time until it comes together as a shaggy mass.
8 minutes
03
Knead until smooth and the surface no longer tears when you stretch a corner. Roughly 10 minutes by hand.
10 minutes
04
Cover and rest at room temperature for two hours. This is the bulk ferment; the dough will relax more than it rises.
2 hours
05
Divide into four 250g pieces and shape each into a tight ball. Rest them covered, spaced apart so they do not fuse as they spread.
5 minutes
06
Prove the balls for a further six hours at room temperature. They are ready when a fingertip leaves a dent that fills back slowly.
6 hours
07
Open each ball by hand from the centre outwards, leaving the outer inch untouched so it can puff into the cornicione. Never a rolling pin.
2 minutes
08
Bake at 950°F for 60 to 90 seconds, turning once. The base should be set and spotted before the top browns.
2 minutes

Where these numbers come from

The ratios are derived from the AVPN specification, which gives roughly one litre of water to 1.7–1.8kg of flour, 50–55g of salt and 3g of fresh yeast. At 1.75kg of flour that works out at 57% hydration, 2.9% salt and 0.17% fresh yeast — and 0.17% fresh converts to about 0.06% instant, which is the figure in the table above.

We have not baked this in our own oven. The arithmetic is arithmetic, and the specification is published; what happens in your kitchen depends on your flour, your water and how hot your oven actually gets rather than what it claims.

The two rests are doing different jobs

The bulk ferment relaxes the gluten you just built. The dough will look like it has barely risen, and that is correct — you are waiting for extensibility, not volume.

The ball proof is where the gas arrives. Six hours is a starting point at ordinary room temperature; a warm kitchen will get there faster and a cold one slower, which is why the fingertip test matters more than the clock.

Scaling it

Every quantity here is a percentage of the flour weight, so the formula scales without changing. Doubling the flour doubles everything else.

The dough calculator does the inversion the other way — you say how many balls and how heavy, it returns the grams. Its Neapolitan preset is these exact percentages, so the two cannot disagree.

Gear mentioned

Ooni Koda 16

Gas-only and deliberately simple. Turn it on, wait, cook — no fire to manage.

Max temperature: 950°F (500°C)
Max pizza size: 16 in
Stone thickness: 0.6 in (15 mm) cordierite

$$$$Propane · Natural gas

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Common questions

Why is the yeast quantity so small?: Because the ferment is long. 0.4g of instant yeast across eight hours does the same work a larger quantity would do in one, and a slow rise builds flavour a fast one cannot. It is also below what most kitchen scales resolve — see the note below.
Can I make this in a domestic oven?: Not as written. This formula assumes a 950°F bake lasting 60 to 90 seconds. A kitchen oven at 500°F takes several minutes, and a 57% hydration dough spends that time drying rather than puffing. Use a New York formula instead.
What if I want a different number of pizzas?: Keep the percentages and change the flour weight. Our dough calculator inverts it for you — enter the number of balls and the ball weight and it returns the exact grams, using these same figures as its Neapolitan preset.
Is 00 flour essential?: It is what the AVPN specification calls for, and its fine milling suits a very fast bake. Bread flour works but browns differently over 60 seconds. Protein content matters more than the label — around 12 to 13% is the range to look for.