New York Pizza with Poolish
A strong-flour New York dough with poolish, olive oil, and optional diastatic malt powder.
New York pizza grew out of the pizzerias that Italian immigrants opened in Manhattan around 1900. Lombardi's on Spring Street is often credited as the first licensed pizzeria in the United States, with a 1905 date that historians now dispute. The style became a large, thin, hand-tossed pizza, sold by the slice and soft enough to fold.
The formula in numbers
- Hydration
- 69.5%
- Salt
- 2.5%
- Olive Oil
- 3.4%
- Portion
- 1 × 1000 g, about 65.5 cm
- Fermentation source
- Instant Yeast
- Preferment
- Poolish, 10.2% of the flour
- Bulk at room temperature
- 20 min
- In the fridge
- 36 h
- Flour strength
- W 280–350
- Flour protein
- 12.5–14.5%
How to prepare it
- Poolish58 g flour, 58 g water, 0.04 g yeast116 g
- Flour512 g
- Water338 g
- Salt14 g
- Instant Yeast0.25 g
- Olive Oil19 g
The yeast is dosed for the fermentation times of this formula. The calculator adjusts it to your flour, your kitchen and your schedule.
- W 280–350
The dough
Strong bread flour, water, salt, yeast and 3.4% olive oil. Choose a flour of W 280 to 350. Part of the flour goes into a poolish first.
The poolish is 10.2% of the flour, mixed with water and a pinch of yeast and left for 14 h.
- 69.5% water
Mixing
Mix the poolish with the rest of the flour, the water, yeast, salt and olive oil. At 69.5% hydration the dough is soft. Knead it until it is smooth and strong.
A strong dough is what lets you stretch a wide, thin pizza without tearing it.
- 20 min
Dough balls
Rest the dough for 20 min, then shape it into tight balls, one for each pizza. Seal the seam well.
A weak seam can tear when you stretch the dough. The calculator sizes the ball for the pizza you want.
- 36 h
Fermentation
Put the balls in the fridge, covered, for 36 h. The cold rest makes the dough easier to stretch and the crust crisper.
Change the hours in the calculator and the yeast dose follows.
- 6.5 min
Shaping and baking
Let the balls warm up before you stretch them. Open the dough wide and thin, with a modest rim, and add the toppings. Bake on a stone or steel at around 285°C (545°F) for about 6.5 min.
In a home oven, use a steel and the highest heat it has.
The most common mistakes
Wrong:Skipping the cold rest
Right:Give the balls their 36 h in the fridge. The dough stretches more easily and bakes crisper.
Wrong:Stretching dough straight from the fridge
Right:Let it warm up first, so it stops springing back.
Wrong:Loading a wide, thin pizza with toppings
Right:Use few toppings, so the slice holds when you fold it.
Wrong:Baking on a cold tray
Right:Preheat a stone or steel with the oven for a crisp base.
Recommended flours
Flour for this formula: W 280–350, 12.5–14.5% protein. Ranked by fit, then by availability in your country, then by popularity.
