The best homemade pizza starts with organic bread flour, a 72-hour cold-fermented dough, a simple no-cook sauce from great canned tomatoes, low-moisture whole milk mozzarella (shredded by hand), and a Baking Steel preheated to 500°F for one hour. That's the formula. Everything below is the detail, every secret I've learned from years of obsessive testing.
I'm Andris, founder of Baking Steel. I'm not just about steel, I'm about giving you the power to create legendary pizza moments. I've helped thousands of home cooks turn their kitchens into magic-making spaces, and I'm sharing every secret here. No holding back.
Founder Andris, during a recent plant visit in Hanover, MA.
Why Does a Baking Steel Make Better Pizza?
A Baking Steel turns your home oven into a high-powered pizza machine. It transfers heat 18–20 times faster than a ceramic stone, creating that blistered, crispy, airy crust everyone dreams about. When your dough hits a preheated Baking Steel, 15 pounds of stored thermal energy blasts into the crust instantly, you're baking pizzas in 4 to 5 minutes flat.
Each Baking Steel is precision-cut from American-made carbon steel and pre-seasoned to handle extreme temps. You'll feel the difference the moment your dough hits the surface.
What Is the Best Flour for Pizza Dough?
Flour is the foundation of every great pizza dough, and the brand you choose makes a noticeable difference in flavor, structure, and texture. For our dough recipe, we want fermentation, a slow, cold ferment over 2–3 days that develops incredible flavor and structure. For that to happen, we need strong flour, high in protein (12–14%).
My go-to? Organic bread flour from Central Milling. It's the perfect match for a Baking Steel and home oven setup. You'll get strength, chew, and that beautiful rise.
Don't want to source your own flour? Our 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix uses Central Milling organic flour, pre-measured. Just add water.
That said, there are plenty of amazing options worth exploring:
Cairnspring Mills — Beautiful stone-milled flours with incredible character and depth of flavor. Flour2Flour — Small-batch, artisan flours crafted for serious bakers. King Arthur Baking — Always reliable, widely available, and great for beginners and pros alike. Bob's Red Mill — Fantastic for specialty blends, alternative grains, and creative experiments.
At the end of the day, there's no single "best" flour, it's about finding the one that works for your style, your dough, your fermentation schedule, and your oven. I always encourage testing a few brands, taking notes, and letting your taste buds decide. And don't be afraid to mix and match flours, that can be an amazing idea.
Balling up dough is an integral part of the dough making process.
Should I Use Organic Flour for Pizza Dough?
We choose organic flour not because it's trendy, but because it's better for the dough, the planet, and honestly, it just tastes cleaner.
Fewer chemicals: Organic flours are made from wheat grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. No glyphosate residue in your crust.
Better soil, better grain: Organic farming prioritizes healthy soil, which leads to stronger, more nutrient-rich wheat and better gluten development.
Cleaner fermentation: Long ferments (like our 72-hour dough) magnify flavors. Organic flour tends to produce a cleaner, more nuanced result because it starts from a cleaner base.
Flavor and performance: Organic bread flours from mills like Central Milling perform more predictably and bake up with better structure and aroma.
Sustainable farming: Every bag supports farms that prioritize soil health, biodiversity, and responsible agriculture. That feels good, and tastes even better.
What's the Best Pizza Dough Recipe?
Our 72-Hour Pizza Dough was built around this exact combo: strong flour + Baking Steel + home oven. The long cold ferment develops incredible flavor and structure that you simply can't get from a quick dough. This recipe, in a home oven on our Baking Steel, is going to produce some of the best pizza you've ever enjoyed.
Want to skip the measuring altogether? Our 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix is this exact recipe in a bag — Central Milling organic flour, pre-portioned. Just add water.
Want pizza fast? Try our 24-hour dough. If you're short on time and we're talking pizza tonight, you can skip the long fermentation and go with a softer flour. All-purpose flour is lower in protein than bread flour, which makes it great for quick-turnaround dough. It's a bit more tender, and for an overnight rise, it's a solid match. Check out our 24-Hour Pizza Dough Recipe — it's our go-to when the craving hits and you don't want to wait three days.
Sizzling cheese pizza on a Baking Steel.
What Is the Best Pizza Sauce?
Forget overcomplicated sauces. The best pizza sauce starts with one thing: great tomatoes. You don't need a long ingredient list. You don't need to simmer anything for hours. In fact, don't cook your sauce at all. Just crack open a great can of tomatoes, add a pinch of sea salt and maybe a splash of good olive oil, and you're done.
My go-to tomato picks:
Bianco DiNapoli Crushed Tomatoes — Sweet, vibrant, and perfectly balanced. Grown in California and packed with flavor, these are a staple in my kitchen. You can spoon them straight from the can.
San Marzano-style — If you find the real deal, go for it. Otherwise, look for organic California-grown alternatives that bring the same sweet, low-acid profile.
Jersey Fresh — Picked at peak ripeness in New Jersey, giving them unmatched sweetness, vibrant flavor, and rich color. Perfect for pizza, sauces, or salads when you want that true summer tomato taste.
Italian San Marzano — The classic. If you can find authentic DOP San Marzanos, they're worth every penny.
Try our go-to recipe: House Pizza Sauce →
Should I Use Whole Peeled or Crushed Tomatoes?
There are literally hundreds of canned tomato options out there. Here's how I break it down:
Whole peeled tomatoes are packed whole (usually with basil), peeled, and suspended in juice. They're prized for their versatility, you can crush them by hand or blend them to your liking. Great if you want full control over texture.
Crushed tomatoes are often made from ripe tomatoes that didn't make the cut for whole peeled, maybe they got a little bruised or fell off the vine early. But flavor-wise? They're still absolute legends. These tomatoes are crushed and canned quickly, locking in sweetness and acidity. They're ready to go right out of the can.
I keep both in my pantry. But if you're just starting out and want max flavor with zero fuss, start with crushed.
What Is the Best Cheese for Homemade Pizza?
Keep it classic, start with a solid whole milk low-moisture mozzarella. It melts beautifully and brings that iconic stretch and flavor you're craving. We love the one from Trader Joe's — it's affordable, reliable, and damn good.
But here's the key move: skip the pre-shredded stuff. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in starch to keep the shreds from clumping in the bag. That starch causes premature browning in a hot oven, and that's not the kind of golden you're going for. Always shred your own. You'll get a cleaner melt, better flavor, and next-level results.
Want to level up? Try this blend: lay down shredded low-moisture mozzarella as your base layer, then tuck in torn pieces of fresh mozzarella for creaminess and authenticity. Add a light hand of fontina (grated) for a nutty, buttery depth of flavor. You can also blend in a little provolone for sharpness.
How Do I Launch Pizza onto a Baking Steel?
Stretch your dough (try our 72-hour dough or 24-hour dough), sauce it, top it, and now it's go time.
Grab your Baking Steel Peel, crafted from beautiful cherry wood. I love wood peels — especially for the launch, because wood naturally absorbs a touch of moisture from the dough, making it way better than metal for a clean, confident release.
Here's the move: Dust the peel with a little semolina flour. Place your stretched dough on top. Give it a gentle jiggle to make sure it's not sticking. Then launch it onto your screaming-hot Baking Steel.
The launch can feel intimidating the first few times, but with a little practice, you'll be sliding pizzas like a pro.
Pro tip: Maybe the pizza purists won't want to hear this, but our wooden peels are the dream peels. I don't just launch with mine, I serve right on it. I slice my pizzas directly on the peel, and after making hundreds of pizzas, mine is still holding up like a champ. Just wipe on a little mineral oil once in a while to keep that cherry wood looking and performing its best.
What Temperature Should I Bake Pizza at Home?
Preheat your oven to 500°F (or 450°F if you're using the broiler hack for electric ovens). Place your Baking Steel on the top rack and preheat for 45–60 minutes. Then launch your pizza onto the blazing-hot steel and bake for 4–6 minutes. For restaurant-quality results, finish under the broiler for the last 1–2 minutes to get those leopard spots and bubbly cheese.
Every time you make pizza, you're going to get better. Follow these guidelines, and before you know it, your friends will be lining up on Friday nights talking about how your pizza is the best they've ever had.
And if you want to come hang with me? I do free Baking Steel classes a few times a month on Zoom. Here's a link to our calendar.
FAQ: Making Legendary Pizza at Home
What is the best flour for pizza dough?
Organic bread flour with high protein content (12–14%). My go-to is Central Milling organic bread flour. For long fermentation (72-hour dough), use bread flour. For quick dough (24-hour), all-purpose flour works great.
What cheese should I use for homemade pizza?
Start with low-moisture whole milk mozzarella, shred your own, never use pre-shredded. For extra flavor, blend in torn fresh mozzarella and a little fontina or provolone. Pre-shredded cheese contains starch that causes premature browning.
What is the best pizza sauce?
Great canned tomatoes + sea salt + olive oil. Don't cook it. My go-to is Bianco DiNapoli crushed tomatoes, spoon them straight from the can. Jersey Fresh and Italian San Marzano are also excellent.
How do I make pizza dough at home?
Use our 72-Hour Pizza Dough with organic bread flour and a long cold ferment for the best results. Need pizza tonight? Try our 24-Hour Pizza Dough with all-purpose flour.
What temperature should I bake pizza at home?
Preheat to 500°F (or 450°F with the broiler hack for electric ovens). Place your Baking Steel on the top rack and preheat for 45–60 minutes. Bake for 4–6 minutes, then finish under the broiler for leopard spots.
Do I need a pizza oven to make great pizza?
No. Your home oven with a Baking Steel transfers heat 18–20 times faster than a pizza stone, creating blistered, crispy, airy crust in under 6 minutes. No wood-fired oven required.
Can I use store-bought pizza dough?
Absolutely. Let it come to room temperature (2–3 hours) and use a Baking Steel for high heat transfer. Check out our guide: Turn Store-Bought Dough into Gold.
How do I launch pizza onto a Baking Steel?
Use a wooden pizza peel dusted with semolina flour. Place your stretched dough on top, give it a gentle jiggle to make sure it's not sticking, then slide it onto the preheated steel with a quick forward-and-back motion.
What's the best yeast for pizza dough?
Instant dry yeast (also called rapid-rise or bread machine yeast) is the most reliable for home pizza. Use about 0.5–1% of your flour weight. For long ferments, less yeast is better — it slows the rise and develops more flavor.
Should I use whole peeled or crushed tomatoes for pizza sauce?
Whole peeled give you full control over texture, crush by hand or blend. Crushed are ready to go right out of the can with sweetness and acidity locked in. For beginners, start with crushed for max flavor with zero fuss.
About the Author
About Andris Lagsdin
In 2012 I was sitting at my desk at the end of the day in our family steel shop in Hanover, Massachusetts, reading the Wall Street Journal. One line stopped me cold, steel conducts heat better than stone. I put the paper down, walked into the shop, and started looking for a piece of steel that would fit inside my oven.
That piece of steel became the Baking Steel®, the original pizza steel for home ovens, now used by hundreds of thousands of home cooks around the world. Every steel still leaves our family shop. Every one arrives pre-seasoned and ready to cook.
I've been making pizza on steel for 14 years. I teach free weekly pizza classes. I created the 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix because great dough shouldn't require a culinary degree.
But the mission hasn't changed since that moment I walked off the shop floor with a slab of steel under my arm. I still just want to make a piece of steel feel alive. Read the full story →
