If you're looking to make professional-quality pizza at home, this 72-hour pizza dough recipe is your new go-to. Inspired by Jim Lahey’s no-knead method but refined with bread flour and cold fermentation, this dough delivers a crispy, airy, and flavorful crust. With just a few ingredients and a little time, you’ll be making pizzeria-level pizza using your home oven and a Baking Steel.
Instead of all-purpose flour, we use bread flour to give the crust more strength and chew, which really shines when baked on a hot Baking Steel. And while it started as a “no-knead” dough, we’ve found that just 2–3 minutes of kneading with wet hands helps create a smoother, more consistent texture. The biggest upgrade? Time. We extend the fermentation to 72 hours — giving the dough deep flavor, better structure, and that perfect crisp-meets-chew bite.
We love prepping and storing our dough in these BPA-free dough containers—they’re perfect for cold fermentation and freezing dough.
If you’re looking to freeze some of this dough for later, check out our full guide on how to freeze pizza dough
This is our go-to dough for next-level pizza at home.
Our Favorite Tools
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Baking Steel Original – For the crisp, puffy crust that mimics a brick oven.
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Dough Containers – Ideal for storing and fermenting dough.
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12-Inch Peel – Launch and retrieve your pizza with ease.
This dough takes time, but the results are so worth it. Once you try it, you’ll never look back.
Have questions or want to share your bake? Tag us @bakingsteel on Instagram. Let’s make some pizza magic.
Bonus Tips & Flavor Hacks
Pro Tips
Peak fermentation window:
The sweet spot for this dough is between 48 and 96 hours after the initial bulk fermentation, when the dough has doubled in size. Start it Tuesday, and your dough will be ready for prime pizza action from Friday through Sunday. Try different timings to see what gives you the flavor and texture you love most.
Alternate liquids:
You can swap out the water 1:1 for other liquids to change the flavor profile. Beer adds a malty note. Milk gives the dough richness. And if you're going dessert-style? Coffee takes things to another level—perfect for an inventive dessert pizza.
Want the ultimate crust at home?
We use the Original Baking Steel for all of our dough tests and bakes — it delivers unmatched crispness and heat retention.
