Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice on improving my Neapolitan pizza dough. I’ve been making pizzas at home for a while, but I’m consistently getting a crust that is more dense and chewy rather than the light, airy, fluffy Neapolitan-style crust I’m aiming for.
I’m using an electric pizza oven (Gino Pizza Ovens Electro 13 Complete Electric Pizza Oven Bundle: https://ginopizzaovens.com/products/electro-13-complete-electric-pizza-oven-bundle), so I should have the temperatures needed for Neapolitan-style baking. However, I’m still struggling to get:
- A big, puffy cornicione
- An open, airy crumb
- Good oven spring
- The classic leopard spotting on the crust
My current dough is generally based on the Caputo Neapolitan pizza recipe:
https://caputoflour.com/blogs/recipes/neapolitan-pizza
The recipe works well, but my results tend to come out with a crust that feels a bit too firm, dense, and chewy.
Ideally, I’m looking for a simple direct dough method (no poolish or complicated preferments) that I can prepare 1–2 days before baking and cold ferment in the fridge.
I’d love advice from people who are getting great results:
- Should I increase hydration?
- Would a longer cold ferment help?
- Should I change the yeast amount or fermentation schedule?
- Is my dough handling/balling technique likely the issue?
- Any tips specific to getting better oven spring and leopard spotting in an electric pizza oven?
I’m using 00 flour and aiming for that classic Neapolitan style: soft, light, airy crust with big bubbles rather than a dense chew.
Would appreciate any tried-and-tested recipes or tweaks you’ve made that worked well. Thanks!
by KAJSER_
