Reference
- Hydration
- 58.5%
- Oil
- 0%
- Load
- 19 h-eq
- Instant dry yeast
- 0.082%
16 h at 20 °C, then 4 h proofing at 21 °C
Instant dry yeast 0.13 g for a 248 g dough ball
Farine
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gLab sheet
Neapolitan STG is the only pizza whose recipe is governed by a European regulation (Reg. EU 97/2010): flour, water, salt and brewer’s yeast, and not a drop of oil. Typical hydration runs 55–62.5%, salt 2.8–3.4%, and the bake lasts 60–90 s on a deck around 400–485 °C (750–905 °F).
Every dimension is a window, not a single number: two doughs at 60% and 62% hydration are both Neapolitan. The marker shows the typical value.
Naples. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), founded in 1984, wrote the disciplinare that the European Union recognised as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed in 2010. It does not describe a flavour, it describes a method: mixing by hand or with a slow mixer, hand-shaped balls, stretching without a rolling pin, baking in a wood-fired oven.
The text also fixes the maximum diameter (35 cm) and the thickness at the centre (about 4 mm). That level of precision is why Fornello rates this style confidence A: the standard is published and can be cited.
The disciplinare states salt and flour per litre of water (50 to 55 g of salt, 1.6 to 1.8 kg of flour). Converted to baker’s percentages, that gives a salt window of 2.8–3.4% and a hydration of 55–62.5%. Fornello displays the converted value and says so, rather than reprinting an Italian figure in another unit system.
A type 00 flour at W 250–320 suits it. No oil, no sugar: those zeros are what tells a Neapolitan from a New York at a glance, and the engine weighs them when identifying a dough.
Experiment
The calculator below is already set to this style, with a starting schedule. Change hydration, salt, oil or the fermentation schedule: the yeast is recalculated, and the indicator tells you whether you are still inside the style’s window.
Farine
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gEau
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gLevure
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gThis is the same calculator as on the Calculator page. Your settings stay in your browser; nothing is sent. Open the full calculator
A wood-fired oven reaches 400–485 °C (750–905 °F). At that heat the pizza bakes in 60–90 s: the cornicione puffs, leopard-spots, and the base stays supple. In a home oven that tops out around 300 °C (570 °F), the same dough makes a different pizza. That is not a failure, it is another style: the contemporary Neapolitan, with more water, is designed for exactly this.
Variants to try
Each variant moves one parameter inside the style’s window. The engine recalculates the yeast so the fermentation load follows the schedule. The button loads the variant into the calculator above.
16 h at 20 °C, then 4 h proofing at 21 °C
Instant dry yeast 0.13 g for a 248 g dough ball
Less water: a firmer dough, easier to open by hand, more forgiving in a home oven. The crumb will be a little tighter.
16 h at 20 °C, then 4 h proofing at 21 °C
Instant dry yeast 0.13 g for a 248 g dough ball
More water: a more open cornicione and a more delicate dough. You are near the top of the window; you need good flour and a good touch.
16 h at 20 °C, then 4 h proofing at 21 °C
Instant dry yeast 0.12 g for a 248 g dough ball
The same dough, but a room-temperature rise at 18 °C instead of 20 °C. The engine recomputes the yeast: you need less when you allow more time.
20 h at 18 °C, then 4 h proofing at 21 °C
Instant dry yeast 0.12 g for a 248 g dough ball
Not in the sense of the disciplinare, which assumes a wood-fired oven at about 485 °C (905 °F). You can get close with a steel deck and the broiler, but the result is a Neapolitan-inspired pizza. Fornello warns you when the deck is too cool.
Because the disciplinare does not allow it. In the engine, oil at zero is a dimension of the style: it is what separates a Neapolitan from a New York pizza.
It depends on your kitchen’s temperature, not on one universal number of hours. The calculator solves the yeast for the schedule you pick; the starting schedule is an example of 16 h at 20 °C, then 4 h proofing at 21 °C.
Same family, or close in hydration and bake.