2024 Neapolitan oven build

[daidensacha]

ChatGPT as a consultant for creating pizza recipes….

Yesterday I watched a youtube video “How to make Neapolitan Pizza Dough (100% BIGA recipe) in a Neapolitan Pizzaria in Rome”. I extracted the baker percentages from the instructions, and created a spreadsheet calculator so I could give it a try. I started the 48 hour biga ferment yesterday, will do the dough tomorrow afternoon, make balls and then give them 24hrs in the fridge before baking on Friday evening. This is an experiment, using cold fermentation, but if successful I will see about doing the same using room temp fermentation.

ChatGPT.

Out of curiosity, I asked ChatGPT to create a 100% BIGA Pizza dough recipe, with 45% BIGA hydration, 1015g flour, 48 hour fermentation @ 6C in fridge. Dough hydration 68%, 3.4% salt and added malt, with 24 hour fermentation @ 6C before baking in a wood fired oven. Mixing BIGA and dough in spiral mixer.

I was really impressed at the info ChatGPT gave back, really accurate and almost exactly per my recipe. Provided the following info which is very close to the recipe that I got from the youtube video.

Step 1: Biga (45% Hydration, 48h @ 6°C)

Ingredients	Amount
Flour	1015g
Water (45%)	456.75g
IDY (0.02%)	0.2g

Mix until just combined — dry, crumbly texture is correct.
Rest 20 min at room temp, then refrigerate at 6°C for 48 hours.

Step 2: Final Dough (to reach 68% Hydration)
We now calculate how much more water, salt, and malt to add:

Water Needed to Reach 68% Hydration:
68% of 1015g flour = 690.2g total water
Already in biga: 456.75g
Add 233.45g water to final dough


Final Dough Mix Additions:

Ingredient	Amount
Water (to reach 68%)	233.45g
Salt (3.4%)	34.51g
Malt (1.5%)	15.23g
Optional IDY	0-0.1g

You may omit the extra yeast entirely unless your biga shows signs of underfermentation.


Mixing Instructions (Spiral Mixer):
Break biga into ~160–180g of the water
Add malt
Mix until biga starts to break up
Add salt, then slowly add remaining water while mixing
Mix until smooth, elastic dough (~10–12 min)

After Mixing:
Let rest 20–30 min at room temp if tight
Divide and ball (e.g. 250g per ball)
Place in lightly oiled dough trays or containers
Refrigerate for 24h at 6°C

Bake Day:
Remove dough 2–3 hours before baking
Let come to room temperature (~22°C)
Stretch gently and bake in 450–500°C wood-fired oven
→ Bake time: 60–90 seconds

✅ Recap – Full Recipe (Based on 1015g Flour)
Biga (48h @ 6°C)
Flour: 1015g
Water: 456.75g (45%)
IDY: 0.2g

Final Dough Mix
Water: 233.45g (to reach 68%)
Salt: 34.51g (3.4%)
Malt: 15.23g (1.5%)
Optional IDY: 0–0.1g

Total dough weight ≈ 1755g
→ Makes ~7 × 250g dough balls (I will make 6 x 280g balls)

[daidensacha]

Glad you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. They say you can never teach an old dog new tricks but in reading your process for Biga dough I am going to try your method of a long room temp proof. My current recipe is okay but not great. I do use individual containers but never olive oiled the inside for easy removal (thanks). One of our old time members from Aussie land (Karangi Dude) made a proofing oven out of an old refrigerator and a small heating unit. In my garage I got hold of a stainless steel hospital blanket heater, the size of a refrigerator, to make a proofer but have never got around to it. I will let you know how you Biga dough turns out.

Pretty standard here in Bavaria that the houses have water heaters in all rooms of the house, thermostatically controlled, so the heat inside is pretty constant all year round. Even in the midst of winter, so that supports my room temp proofing. For my next batch I will drop the yeast % in the biga to 0.18%, just to slow the proofing down a little more. The biga was ripe at 24 hours, and when I made the dough, the bulk ferment bit more than doubled in size in 2 hours. The balls rose really quick. All in all, I find my room temp biga dough gives a much better result.

I did make a 100% biga dough which was a total of 78 hours old before baking. It was good, but lacked a lasting crunch. I found the cornicione had crunch when it was fresh out of the oven, but lost the crunch before I finished the pizza. My poolish dough was similar, as was the biga poolish mix.

I am looking out for a bench style fridge to put in the terrace, to keep my pizza ingredients fresh, and some beers cold. We have a proofing mode in our kitchen oven, but I rarely use it. Been into baking artisan bread for some years and that disciplined me into proofing my bread dough at room temp over multiple days. Applying that process to the pizza dough appears to be transferring successfully.

I would like to hear how you go with your room temp trial.

[UtahBeehiver]

Glad you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. They say you can never teach an old dog new tricks but in reading your process for Biga dough I am going to try your method of a long room temp proof. My current recipe is okay but not great. I do use individual containers but never olive oiled the inside for easy removal (thanks). One of our old time members from Aussie land (Karangi Dude) made a proofing oven out of an old refrigerator and a small heating unit. In my garage I got hold of a stainless steel hospital blanket heater, the size of a refrigerator, to make a proofer but have never got around to it. I will let you know how you Biga dough turns out.

[daidensacha]

Biga Pizza Dough

A life time ago as a teenager when I worked my first job at Mateo’s pizza bar in the hills of Perth, Western Australia , we made our pizza dough around 3 to 3.30pm, then opened at 5pm. Fresh yeast, flour, water, salt, and a smidgin of olive oil at the end. I didn’t learn or know there were other possibilities.

With my Neapolitan wood fired oven now finished, I’ve been on a search for my holy grail of pizza dough. I’ve been trying different pre-ferments, from Biga, Poolish, mixture of both Biga and Poolish. Each has its pros and cons, but I’ve been wanting a good crumb with a lasting crunch, nicely risen cornicione, and good leoparding.

Biga is my preferred pre-ferment now, as it gives me the result I judge to me best.

We have limited space in our fridge, which has also influenced my decision, as ideally I want to proof my preferment and dough at room temp. I have tried proofing in the fridge, and made a good 72 hour Biga dough, but it’s not better than my 24-30 hour Biga dough proofed at room temp.

I’ve been refining my spreadsheet that allows me to enter variable data that then calculates my recipe, and time schedule.

Yesterday I baked 9 pizzas, and the dough was the best so far.

Pizzas below are:

1. Salami - tomato, mozarella, parmigiano regiano, basil, hot salami, home picked jalapeños.
2. Maurizio - Mozarella, parmigiano regiano, rosemary, sea salt, ground black pepper, dash of olive oil.

Couple of things to note.
1. Super happy with the small re-usable containers I bought as they are the perfect size for the balls. Easy to handle, and I can fit 2 stacks of 5 in my fridge, whereas I can’t put a 60x40cm proofing tray in my fridge. I just paint th inside with a little olive oil, and the dough balls fall out into my semolina tray easily.
2. I was overdoing the mozarella on my pizza’s, which were cheesy but to much so. My pizza balls are weighed to 280g, and stretched out to 12”/300mm pizzas. My hand holds 100g mozarella comfortably, which is what I have reduced it to. Yesterday it was just right by my taste.
3. My dough was almost 30 hours old by the time I baked. I put it in the fridge for 1.5 hours in the afternoon, as it was warm and I was worried it might overproof. It was a good call, as I took it out around 2 hours before baking and I could smell it was mature. I could handle it easily, and it didn’t break when I worked with it. Had I not put it in the fridge for that 1.5 hours at 6C, it might have been a little difficult to work.
4. I did chill the water when making my dough, so when it was finished the temp was 24.5C. My goal was between 22-26C. In summer I think I’ve discovered my max proof at room temp is around 26-30 hours.

[daidensacha]

Top notch project, very nice.

Thank you.

It was on my bucket list for many years since I first came across the Forno Bravo plans.
A year planning it out in Sketchup, working out details, with the very kind help from your forum.
Challenging working with the stone to fit my vision and design. Long sweaty days, but I would do it all over again.
I‘m so happy I didn‘t compromise on insulation, as with the heat retention I can use it for 4-5 days from the initial heating. Pizza, meat, cakes, vege‘s, herbs.

Your support has been amazing, and sooooo appreciated.

[UtahBeehiver]

Top notch project, very nice.

[daidensacha]

Table and benches for oven completed

Summer is getting hot here, and I‘ve been busy digging foundations for the new terrace on the side of the house. I also have been working on finishing the oak table and benches for the pizza oven. Filled the cracks and blemishes with black epoxy resin. Sanded and oiled, was a time consuming process but it‘s finally done and very happy with the outcome.

I painted a floral stencil on the green stripe around the oven. Lines up with the tiled landing on the front of the oven.

This arvo I put all my tools away, uncovered the granite, cleaned and sealed it. With the heat, the insulated roof provides a cool shaded space, with great air circulation. This week I‘ll fire it up and get back to cooking pizza. I‘m thinking a 48 hour biga pizza dough. Biga proofed at room temperature and the dough refrigerated overnight day 2 before cooking.

[daidensacha]

Oven painted, light switch fitted

The last days I fully painted the oven, giving it 3 coats of off white. Added mission green skirting and waist band. Waiting on a stencil which I will use to add a nice pattern around the oven on the green band.

Waiting on some more 2 part epoxy resin so I can finish off the bar, oil it and screw it down on the back of the bench. Then I can finally clean off the pizza bench and put it to the work its intended for.

[Toiletman]

Wonderful work again, great to see it all come together even the finishing touches!

[daidensacha]

Matching oak bench seats for oak table

This week I also planned down some oak slabs and built to matching oak benches to go with the oak table. The oak is well seasoned, 13 years since it was cut. I have started filling cracks and blemishes with 2 part epoxy colored with black iron oxide. Its a tedious process, as I need to wait 24 hours after filling before being able to sand it flat, then move to a different side. Once the filling and sanding is finished, I can oil it.

I really like how adding the black epoxy not only fills blemishes, but also highlights and makes a feature of them. I‘ll put some more pictures when it is done.

The bench tops are 3300mm x 400mm x 40mm. I kept the natural sides, only removing the bark and sanding to smooth the edges.

[daidensacha]

Adding reinforcing mesh to render

[daidensacha]

Final layer of render on dome

This last week I have been working on finishing the final layer of render on the dome. I incorporated nylon mesh where the dome render meets the base and the front chimney structure to reduce any cracking if there is movement. At last, a bit over a year after starting the oven the rendering is done. With the warm weather expected this week I should be able to paint it in about a week. Then I‘ll refit the Ash slab on the bar at the rear of the preparation bench top. FInishing the details is really fulfilling.

[atak]

Hello,I donot mean the clay bricks but the way they are cementing without special cutting machines. You made a piece of art and they donot care as long as it works I suppose.

[daidensacha]

atak Good luck with your build. Hope you enjoy it and it performs how you want it to. Its far removed from the forno bravo build, which I chose and couldn’t be happier with.

Can’t comment more other than to say that refractory bricks for me are superior to clay bricks when it comes to thermal cycling and longevity. Also the performance with regards to conduction and heat retention is superior. Depends what you want, and how long you want it to last.

I built a small wall in my garden 9 years ago using recycled clay bricks. They are flaking from exposure to the variance in temperature here in Bavaria. I wouldn’t want that in my oven.

[atak]

I will do the dome and walls like the video. Cut and plaster, no watersaw will be jused.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXrQdkGuVBI&ab_channel=BrooklynPizzaCrew