How To Make Gourmet Pizza Dough for A Wood-Fired Pizza Oven
What do flour, salt, water, and yeast have in common? When combined, they form the ideal base for crafting an excellent Italian pizza! When it comes to pizza dough for a wood-fired pizza oven, less is more. Taking a nod from the simple elegance of classic Italian recipes, our perfect pizza dough is an essential wood-fired oven recipe.
What Type of Dough Is Best for Wood-Fired Pizza?
One of the greatest benefits of a wood-fired pizza oven is that you can create your own masterpiece every day of the week. If you ask around our home what’s the best pizza dough recipe, you’ll be in for a serious debate. From New York-style pizza dough to healthy gluten-free pizza crusts to Italian-style pizza dough, there are countless options.
While we use our pizza oven for non-pizza recipes all the time, one of my family’s favourite wood-fired oven recipes is still a classic pizza dough. We have had a great time trying all of the different types of pizza dough though and would highly recommend getting experimental once you have mastered the basics.
Types of Pizza Crusts
When it comes to pizza recipes for a wood-burning oven, there are countless options. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular picks for types of pizza bases.
New York-Style Dough
With that iconic bend in the middle of each slice, New York-style pizza is the definitive gourmet American pizza. This pizza dough recipe is made with all-purpose or bread flour, instant yeast, salt, olive oil, water, and sugar. This addition of sugar is what sets a New York pizza recipe apart for its distinctive flavour and texture.
Neapolitan-Style Dough
The only thing that you need for Neapolitan-style pizza is all-purpose flour, salt, instant yeast, and water. Traditionally, this would be made with finely milled Italian flour. Unlike the classic pizza dough we’d normally see, this crust is made without kneading and left out for a few days for fermentation.
Foodie Insight: The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) or The True Neapolitan Pizza Association as it’s known in English, has strict guidelines on what can officially be considered Neapolitan pizza. For any Neapolitan pizza recipe to be considered the real deal, it must be made with Tipo 0 and Tipo 00 flour. These types of flours might not be available at every corner shop, but there are accessible. To find flour 00 in Ireland, you’ll typically want to look for Caputo Flour ‘00’ Classic. This is one of the most commonly exported flours. Everywhere from speciality Italian grocery stores to health food shops to SuperValue sells this speciality flour.
Sicilian-Style Dough
This quick and easy pizza dough recipe is done without stretching or rolling it, which certainly saves on the clean-up time. Sicilian-style pizza is traditionally a square and made with all-purpose flour, instant yeast, salt, olive oil, and water. Unlike Neapolitan-Style pizza dough recipes, you don’t have to find a particular type of flour for this specialty pizza dough.
When it comes to the best pizza dough recipe for a wood-fired pizza oven, that all comes down to you and your preferences. To start making the perfect wood-fired oven pizza, let’s start with our quick and easy homemade pizza dough.
How to Make the Perfect Wood-Fired Gourmet Pizza Crust
For a flavourful homemade pizza, you’ve got to start with an artisanal pizza dough recipe. Fortunately making premium homemade pizza dough is easier than you might think. Here is everything you need to know for amazing pizza.
About This Classic Pizza Dough Recipe
Preparation time
10 minutes of active prep
2.5 to 3 hours for the dough to expand
Total Time Needed
2 hrs, 10 mins
Difficulty level
Level 2 – Easy
Ingredients
● 13oz (365g) cold water
● 4 tsp (18g) salt
● 20g fresh yeast (or 9g active dried yeast, or 7g instant dried yeast)
○ change yeast quantities depending on proving time
● 21.5oz (600g) “00” flour, plus extra for dusting
How to Make Classic Pizza Dough For a Wood-Fired Pizza Oven
Step 1: Prepare the yeast mixture
- Add two-thirds of the water to a large bowl
- Heat the remaining one-third in a saucepan or microwave until it boils
- Pour the hot water into the bowl of cold water to achieve the desired temperature for activating the yeast
- Combine the warm water with the yeast and salt and whisk until fully blended.
Step 2: Prepare the dough
When preparing the dough by hand:
- Start by putting the flour into a large bowl and pouring the yeast mixture over it.
- Use a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients together until a dough begins to take shape.
- Proceed to mix the dough by hand until it forms a ball
- Transfer it onto a surface that's lightly coated with flour.
- Knead the dough with both hands for around 10 minutes, until it becomes firm and stretchy.
- Once firm, place the dough back into the bowl, cover it with cling film, and leave it to rise in a warm spot for about 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
When using a mixer:
- attach the dough hook and put the flour in the mixer bowl. Begin the machine at a low speed and gradually pour the yeast mixture into the flour. Let the mixer knead the dough at the same speed for 5-10 minutes or until it reaches a firm and stretchy consistency.
- Cover the dough with cling film and leave it in a warm spot to rise for about 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
Step 3: Divide the dough
- Once the dough has risen to about twice its original size, divide it into 3 or 4 equal portions, depending on how large you want your pizzas to be (either 12 or 16 inches in diameter).
- Put each piece of dough in a separate bowl or tray, cover it with cling film, and let it rise for an additional 30-60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size again.
Step 4: Knead the dough
Gourmet Chef Trick: To properly knead and stretch the dough, it's important to begin with a perfectly rounded ball of pizza dough, as it helps maintain the circular shape of the pizza base during stretching.
- Start by placing the ball on a lightly floured surface and dusting your hands with flour.
- Use your fingertips to press the dough into a small, flat disc, starting from the centre and working outwards while spreading your fingers, and expanding the disc slightly.
- Pick up the pizza dough and gently pinch it around the edges, letting gravity pull it into a circular shape. Remember that Neapolitan-style pizza bases are thin, so be careful that you don't tear the dough as you work it. Once stretched, the base should be so thin that it's almost translucent when held up to the light.
Step 5: Prep the pizza
- After stretching the pizza dough to the desired size, sprinkle some flour onto your pizza peel and transfer the base onto it. If you notice any small holes in the dough at this stage, carefully press them back together.
- Once you're satisfied with the base, add your chosen toppings and follow the instructions in your selected recipe to bake the pizza in your Luhnasa pizza oven.
What Can You Cook in a Pizza Oven?
Wondering what else you can cook in a wood-fired pizza oven? As much as we love our homemade pizza recipes, it is just one of many uses for a pizza oven. Over the years, our family has come up with countless wood-fired oven recipes ideas. From wood-fired bread to wood-fired camembert and beyond, our friends and family are always surprised by just how many impressive homemade recipes we can pull out of that oven!
Want more inspiration on wood-fired pizza oven recipes? Our Instagram is a great source of ideas to elevate your family’s outdoor living experience.
Meet Luhnasa.
We are passionate about helping you create unforgettable memories with your friends and family with the art of outdoor cooking and living. That’s why we design and build high-quality, durable pizza ovens and outdoor living spaces that inspire people to gather, connect, and savour life's simple pleasures.
Irish-owned and operated, here are Luhnasa we offer exceptional customer service, expert craftsmanship, and innovative design solutions that will exceed your expectations at every turn.