2024 Neapolitan oven build

[daidensacha]

Isn't there a mystic part of dough making (the artistic end) as well as other factors like barometric pressure and how the moons line up ;-).

Haha. I’m like a kid in a toy store, and I can’t help myself. Playing and exploring, finding gold in every mistake or apparent failure (because there is no real failure). I’m currently dialled in on the room temp biga holy grail, and it’s been challenging. But today there are signs I am getting close and what appeared to be failure in my bulk ferment this morning, turned into biga gold tonight for dinner.

Given I have been eating mainly cold fermented biga (6C) of late while experimenting with that, tasting the room temp biga tonight shocked me in the stark contrast in flavors. Toasted muesli, crunchy puff cornicione, airy moist tasty nutty crumb.

My favorite salami, and tonight the wife wanted mushroom and bell pepper.



I have 3 x biga tests fermenting at room temp overnight. Will make 3 x 2 pizza batches of dough in the morning to test the bulk proof times for 0.07%, 0.08%, 0.09% IDY yeast bakers percentages. I’m enjoying the room temp dough again.

[UtahBeehiver]

Isn't there a mystic part of dough making (the artistic end) as well as other factors like barometric pressure and how the moons line up ;-).

[daidensacha]

Very interesting, way above my rank and I was an engineer by trade back in the almost slide rule days. Glad to see you are getting great use from you nice oven.

I got tired of biga lotto. I managed to wing it and was lucky for the most part, had a couple batches that were not ok. But when people are expecting pizza, I was feeling the pressure haha. I am a jack of all trades, and I learn what I must to bridge the gap between where I and what I want to achieve. In this case, it’s been a good project to brush up on my full stack skills I was learning a few years ago. It’s also fun.

Ultimately, if can create the app to provide consistent results, and quality biga pizza dough, I will be happy. Sharing with others for them to also use it and benefit from the recipes will be a bonus.

[UtahBeehiver]

Very interesting, way above my rank and I was an engineer by trade back in the almost slide rule days. Glad to see you are getting great use from you nice oven.

[daidensacha]

Biga Pizza Dough

I’ve been experimenting a lot with biga lately, establishing a baseline triangulating a balance between fermentation temperature, fermentation duration, and yeast quantity.

Actually, its inspired by an algorithm I have created for an app I am working on that enables creation of a recipe for users based on the user entering basic parameters, like number of pizzas, weight per ball, biga % in dough, biga hydration, biga fermentation temp, biga fermentation duration, final dough hydration, salt %, malt %, yeast type (idy, ady, fresh).

The app also calculates a schedule based on the user entering a baking time, and some other variables like oven preheating time, biga prep time, dough prep time, etc.

So I’m happy with the recipes it outputs, but I want to refine the algorithm. So i’ve nailed my cold ferment biga baseline yeast amount for 16, 20, 24 hour biga doughs.

The recipe seeds only enough yeast in the biga so it is ripe at the target fermentation time, after which dough is made, followed by 2 hour bulk proofing, balling then 4 hour ball proofing. The balls then are at the beginning of the usable window and can be baked, or refrigerated for another day before baking.


Tomato, Mozarella, Salami, roasted paprika, roasted red onion Pizza.
Biga 16 hours @ 6C | Dough 2 hour bulk proofing | Balls 4 hour proofing | Additional cold ferment 20 hours @ 6C. | Total 42 hours start to bake.
Result: Dough extremely light, airy, with caramelised crust with a lasting crunch factor. Crumb moist, tasty with absolutely not hints of over fermentation.



I’m still working on establishing my room temp (22C) biga fermentation baseline for 16 hours, thereafter the same for 20, 24 hours, so I can extrapolate these baselines into the recipe algorithm for calculating yeast quantities.

One other feature I have decided to add, is the ability to log results. Simple or extensive depending on the users requirement. As i’ve become more interested in perfecting this process, I’ve realised the importance of logging everything from start to finish, ingredient temperatures, times, durations, outcomes, PH levels, etc. There appears to be no app available to do this. So I will include it in the app to be used in conjunction with the created recipes, or as a stand alone feature if users want to record their results in order to perfect their process and results.

While I’ve not been posting a lot, I am working with my oven, and on my dough, and the BigaPizzaApp. Hope to have a beta testing version deployed in the near future.

[daidensacha]

Holiday in Süd TIrol, north Italy.

I just got home from my yearly holiday to Süd Tirol. This year we stayed near Lana, close to Merano, and Bolzano.

Needless to say, I was going out each night to a different restaurant to test Pizza. I was specifically interested in Biga style dough, and did end up finding one restaurant that served up what I was looking for.

What I wanted to share, was that we visited a flour mill in Lana, Meraner Mühle. They have a really nice shop, where you can buy any of their products, and also equipement for baking.

They also offer a course for professionals or pizza enthusiasts. “Pizza Masterclass: Advanced Spreading and Dough techniques”. Unfortunately their course in November was booked out, which I would make the 4.5 hour drive for. I can’t get back there in December for the next course, but am on their waiting list and will go hopefully in the new year if they offer another course then.

What I did get was 2 x 25kg bags of freshly ground 00 flour with W360-380 rating. Edited to make up some dough with it this week.

SOFT WHEAT FLOUR TYPE 00 VIOLET
The royal class - our soft wheat flour type 00 violet is produced by grinding a special selection of the best European wheat grains. This high-quality flour is ideal for the production of pre-ferments, for ciabatta and other aromatic breads. Best suited for fermentation times around 16-18 hours and more. Without ascorbic acid.
W 360 -380 | p/l 0,55 – 0,65 | water absorption > 55,0 % | stability > 9 min |
wet glue >35,0 %

I would just put it out there, in case there are some others who might be interested in taking a holiday in Süd Tirol, and doing the course. Let me know, and if we have 6 enthusiasts, I would happily reach out to the Mill to ask if they could organise a course specifically for us. Pizza course aside, Lana is a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains, close to the border of Austria and Switzerland. For those who don’t know, northern Süd Tirol is german speaking, although they do learn and also speak Italian, they hold to their historical Austrian culture.

[UtahBeehiver]

They all look great, my fav is also the potato pizza which I first was exposed at a little mom and pop shop in Rome.

[david s]

My humble potato pizza always has guests clamouring for more and it too has no tomato sauce.
It starts with a garlic and olive oil base which I prepare earlier by mixing together in the ratio of 1 teaspoon of freshly crushed garlic to 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Some of this mix is spread on the base followed by a 50/50 mix of mozzarella and sharp cheddar. I the use a potato peeler to cover this with a layer of potato, being careful not to overlap any. Then sprinkled sparingly with feta cheese and fresh rosemary and finally drizzled with olive oil. Finish with sea salt when cooked.
I sometimes use sweet potato in place of normal potato and sometimes use a few awaits of prosciutto on top.

[Giovanni Rossi]

Great combos!

The Maurizio….. I never imagined a pizza without tomato would work, and I’m a little ashamed to say I would have scoffed at the suggestion, but it’s one of my favorites. It makes a world of difference to use fresh rosemary on it, as it seems to release the oils and full flavor, together with the fresh ground black pepper and sea salt, yummmm. As an appetiser it works really well.

I make a similar pie without the mozzarella but add chopped pistachio. While I like most flavors, this one has become my favorite.

Looking forward to your reporting on the biga results.

[daidensacha]

All look fantastic! I must admit that several years ago I was in Italy and got something very similar to your Maurizio...still one of the best memories for me of a pizza anywhere I've been. The owner said that it was made with the dough left over at the end of the day...definitely hinted at longer fermentation. Glad you're enjoying this pizza journey and thanks for sharing your pics of these great looking pies!

Thank you!!!

The oven is amazing, performing beyond any concepts and expectations. It’s so much fun getting to know it, developing a relation ship with it and a basis of experience from which I can refine how I use it and develop my recipes.

The Maurizio….. I never imagined a pizza without tomato would work, and I’m a little ashamed to say I would have scoffed at the suggestion, but it’s one of my favorites. It makes a world of difference to use fresh rosemary on it, as it seems to release the oils and full flavor, together with the fresh ground black pepper and sea salt, yummmm. As an appetiser it works really well.

At present I’m full into experimenting with my BIGA fermentation yeast quantities for room and cold fermentation. Bavaria has quite contrasting weather from Winter to Summer. Yeast quantity (using IDY), fermentation duration, ambient fermentation temperature are the three variables I’m playing with to find my ideal recipe that I can use to create the consistent quality crust I like. It’s a process well worth the time and effort in my view. I’m also working on an app that I will deploy and make available for others to use once I’m happy with it. It will create a recipe based on entered variables like number of pizzas, biga %, biga hydration, biga fermentation time and temp, final dough hydration, final dough fermentation duration and temp, type of yeast (Fresh, ADY, IDY). It’s in early stages, and I’m hoping to have it live in the next month or so.

[daidensacha]

English Breakfast Pizza

About 6 weeks ago I put a few leftover Biga pizza balls in the freezer, rather than throwing them out, I was curious to see how they would fair defrosted.

So on Friday I took them out when I saw my 72 hour dough wasn’t looking like it would be ok.

I love my bacon and egg breakies, and never pass up an opportunity to indulge in an English breakfast when on holiday. So I wondered how transferable those ingredients would be to a pizza.

I excluded baked beans, this time, but I think they would really work.

English Breakfast Pizza - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh tomato slices, fresh basil, crispy bacon strips, sliced grilled pork sausage, 2 eggs, freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.

[SableSprings]

All look fantastic! I must admit that several years ago I was in Italy and got something very similar to your Maurizio...still one of the best memories for me of a pizza anywhere I've been. The owner said that it was made with the dough left over at the end of the day...definitely hinted at longer fermentation. Glad you're enjoying this pizza journey and thanks for sharing your pics of these great looking pies!

[daidensacha]

This weeks pizza…

I’ll start by saying this journey of finding my ideal pizza dough has successes and failures, but that even the failures are successes in that they are learning experiences.

1. 72 Hour cold fermented 100% Biga dough.
Tuesday I started a 72 hour cold ferment 100% biga dough which I cooked yesterday. It was not good, lacking gluten development and really difficult to work with and get in the oven without breaking. I checked my yeast to see it is still good, and ordered new yeast, but in my test it started bubbling in 10 mints, so should be good. Possible it was too little yeast, or I needed to add a little more when mixing the dough. Eatable, not to my liking. I used 1 gram of IDY in 1017g of 00 Pizza flour with 45% hydration. I did try to mix it in my mixer in reverse gear per the youtube video I got the recipe from, but it was very dry. I’ll try it again, but I’ll adjust the biga to 50% hydration, and add a little more when mixing the dough.

2. 30 hour room temp (22C) 100% biga dough.
Started the biga yesterday at 12.30pm, and due to an appointment this morning I wasn’t home to mix the dough until 1.30 today, so it was a 25 hour room ferment. Lots of gas, at 50% hydration, when I broke it up to put in the mixer it was already a little sticky. My dough was 68% hydration. By the time i added the salt, malt powder, and water it was really sticky difficult to handle. I left it to bulk ferment, and then divided it to 280g balls once the bulk ferment had doubled it in size. A little oil, with some folds it became easier to handle, and at 6pm I was baking. I would rate it as one of my best to date, and while I’m still refining it, it is becoming my go to dough as its easy, and quality for a 30 hour 100% biga. It was almost 30C today. I would cut the biga to 60-80% next time I make it on such warm days. Also, we went out this morning leaving the kitchen windows open, when the blinds up, so the kitchen got quite hot. Not ideal, and good to remember in future when fermenting at room temp in the kitchen.

Pizzas as follows:

1. Margherita - Tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil, parmigiano regiano, buffalo mozzarella, + extra sweet corn as a special request
2. Crudo - Tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil, parmigiano regiano, ham, buffalo mozzarella, pepper, salt, fresh rocket + extra home pickled jalapeños
3. Maurizio - Mozzarella, fresh rosemary, pepper, salt, olive oil, parmigiano regiano.
4. Diavola - Tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil, hot salami, home pickled jalapeños, buffalo mozzarella, parmigiano regiano

The cornicione was really nice with good rise and air pockets, crumb was super soft and moist. Very tasty and light to eat, with beautiful leoparding, and a good lasting crunch.




Today was the first time I baked pizza on consecutive days. The oven was still at 300C this afternoon, so the fire lit really easily, and in an hour the dome was clean, the wood burnt down to a nice pile of coals. The least coals I have had to date when I moved them to the side to clean the cooking surface. Good reason to cook more often.

[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.