Hello and welcome to my course on Mastering Pizza. Whether you're an avid home cook or a professional aiming to produce a top-notch, consistent product, you've come to the right place. I have spent years researching the science behind dough formulation, countless hours testing and developing pizza dough recipes, and have trained numerous teams across multiple restaurants that successfully serve various styles of pizza. Pizza is also one of my favorite things to cook at home, so throughout this course, you'll find tips and tricks for both the home cook and the professional chef.

While there are many different styles of pizza, this course focuses on what I call the Four Major Styles: Neapolitan, New York, Sicilian, and Chicago Deep Dish.

When you study the evolution of pizza, almost all styles can be traced back as variations of these four styles. Think of these as the "Four Mother Crusts."

The Crust

Pizza is all about the crust. The crust represents the technical aspects of pizza making. A well-made crust balances texture and flavor, providing the foundation for all other components. We'll explore the science of dough formulation, hydration levels, fermentation, and the appropriate flour types to use for each style.

Neapolitan Pizza

Neapolitan pizza is formulated for high, wood-fired ovens to achieve that perfect leoparding and char. These pizzas cook fast! With an oven temperature averaging 900°F, they are done within 45-90 seconds. Due to this quick cook time, Neapolitan doughs are typically lower in hydration. However, low hydration doughs can be tough to stretch. To address this, we select the appropriate flour type and delve into the science of fermentation.

New York Style

New York-style pizza dough shares a similar formulation to Neapolitan but is typically cooked at a slightly lower temperature (around 650°F). This allows for the addition of a bit of oil and extra water for extensibility, and a touch of sugar for flavor and a slightly sweeter crust. Both sugar and oil would scorch at the higher temperatures used for Neapolitan pizza.

This dough is also ideal for at-home, thin-crust pizza. By using the dough opening technique demonstrated in our video section, you can create a puffy crust or flatten the edge for a uniform thin crust. Almost all variations of "thin crust pizza" derive from this style, with simple tweaks to the percentages of water, fat, and sugar.

Sicilian Style

This crust is thick, more like a focaccia than a typical thin-crust pizza. Sicilian pizzas are typically baked in deep pans or sometimes directly on a stone. They can support heavy toppings and make a hearty meal, making them great for large parties and events.

Due to the longer baking times, the sauce is sometimes put on top of the cheese, although this isn't always necessary. Think of Sicilian dough as the Mother Dough for all thick-crust pizzas.

Chicago Style Deep Dish

Is it even a pizza? Of course! It has the word "pizza" in its name.

Chicago-style deep dish is unique, resembling a cross between a casserole and a savory pie. One slice is often enough to fill up your guests. The dough formulation is unique, with a texture akin to a flaky, tender pie crust instead of the chewy dough found in other styles. This is achieved by the amount of fat added and how it's incorporated into the dough.

Typically cooked in a cast iron or other round, deep, metal pan, the cheese is sliced instead of shredded and laid directly on the crust, with the sausage, other toppings, and the red sauce (which is more like diced tomatoes) placed on top. The cheese acts as a moisture barrier, keeping the dough from getting soggy during its extended cooking time.

Toppings

While many traditionalists have strict beliefs about what toppings can go on which type of pizza, that ends here and now. Throughout my curriculum, I always emphasize the separation of technique and flavor structure. Once you separate these two universal building blocks, you can make informed decisions about how to adapt a recipe or approach to make it your own.

Sure, in Italy, the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) only recognizes a few flavors of pizza as truly "Neapolitan," but that doesn't mean you can't create your own unique twists. However, it's important to understand what a Neapolitan dough is and how it works (the technique) before adding various toppings (the flavor structure).

Because Neapolitan dough is stretched relatively thin and cooks quickly, excessive toppings and sauce will weigh the pizza down, making it soggy and disappointing. Neapolitan pizza is really all about the crust, so when making wood-fired, Neapolitan pizza, consider your toppings as garnishes that highlight your perfect crust.

California pizza, on the other hand, is defined by its creative, non-traditional, and often abundant toppings. The dough is usually based on a New York-style formulation but isn't stretched as thin, so it can support all the toppings. Because the dough is slightly thicker, it is often cooked at a slightly lower temperature (typically 550°F to 600°F).

As you can see, understanding dough formulations, the techniques behind them, and the toppings will allow you to move effortlessly from style to style, making you a true pizza ninja.

Course Prerequisite

Although not mandatory, if you really want to understand dough formulations and how to create your own, I highly recommend going through my bread baking course and paying special attention to the podcast lectures within that course. It wasn't until I deeply understood bread baking and the science behind it that I was truly able to master the art of pizza.