Pizza Dough Recipe: Pick Your Timeline

Every pizza dough question is really a time question.

I've been making pizza dough since before 2012, I invented the Baking Steel, wrote a book on it, and I've tested every fermentation window that matters. Here's what I've learned: there's no single "best" pizza dough recipe. There's the best recipe for the time you have.

So instead of one recipe, here's the whole system. Answer one question, when do you want pizza? and I'll hand you the right dough.

The Quick Answer

• Pizza tonight? → Same-day dough. Ready in 8–10 hours. Simple, clean flavor.
• Pizza tomorrow? → 24-hour dough. One overnight rest, noticeably better flavor.
• Pizza this weekend? → 48-hour dough. Deeper flavor, beautiful texture.
• The best pizza you can make? → 72-hour dough. Complex, tangy, airy. Worth the wait.

Same ingredients across the board, flour, water, salt, yeast. The only real variable is time. Longer, colder fermentation = more flavor, better texture, easier digestion. Here's each one.

Tonight: Same-Day Pizza Dough (8–10 Hours)

You woke up wanting pizza and didn't plan ahead. This dough uses a touch of sugar and double the yeast to compress fermentation into a single day. The flavor is young and simple, a cold beer, not a fine wine, but it's good, and it keeps the night alive.

Get the Same-Day Dough Recipe →

Tomorrow: 24-Hour Pizza Dough

One overnight in the fridge changes everything. The yeast slows down, flavor compounds start developing, and the gluten organizes itself while you sleep. This is the weeknight secret weapon, five minutes of work today, noticeably better pizza tomorrow.

Get the 24-Hour Dough Recipe →

This Weekend: 48-Hour Pizza Dough

Two days of cold fermentation and you're in serious territory, deeper flavor, better browning, a lighter, airier crumb. Mix it Thursday, eat like a king Saturday. The sweet spot between planning and payoff.

Get the 48-Hour Dough Recipe →

The Best: 72-Hour Pizza Dough

This is the one. Three days of slow, cold fermentation builds complex, slightly tangy flavor and an open, airy structure you cannot shortcut. It's the dough I built my whole system around, and the reason our dough mix is called what it's called. If you have the time, this is the answer.

Get the 72-Hour Dough Recipe →

Or Skip the Measuring Entirely

Our 72-Hour Dough Mix is the same organic flour we use in our studio classes, pre-measured. Just add water. Works same-day if you're in a hurry, or up to 72 hours if you've got time. One pouch, any timeline.

Why Time Is the Ingredient

During cold fermentation, yeast and enzymes slowly break down starches into sugars and develop flavor compounds you simply can't rush. Longer ferments also mean better browning (more sugars available), lighter texture (more organized gluten), and easier digestion (the fermentation does some of the work your stomach would). That's the whole secret. Flour, water, salt, yeast — and patience, in whatever amount you have.

Whichever dough you pick, bake it on a Baking Steel at 500°F and you'll get the crust a home oven isn't supposed to be able to make.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best pizza dough recipe?

The best dough is the longest fermentation you have time for. A 72-hour cold ferment gives the most flavor and best texture. If you need pizza tonight, a same-day dough with a little extra yeast and sugar gets you there in 8–10 hours.

How long should pizza dough rise?

Anywhere from 8 hours to 72 hours depending on the recipe. Short, room-temperature rises work for same-day pizza. Long, cold fermentation in the fridge, 24 to 72 hours  develops significantly more flavor and better texture.

Can I freeze pizza dough?
Yes. After balling, wrap tight and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then 2-3 hours at room temp. Full guide: freezing pizza dough →

Does longer fermentation really make better pizza dough?

Yes. Longer, colder fermentation develops more flavor compounds, improves browning, creates a lighter and airier crumb, and makes the dough easier to digest. The difference between same-day and 72-hour dough is noticeable in one bite.

Can I use the same recipe for different fermentation times?

Mostly yes, the core ingredients stay the same. Shorter timelines use slightly more yeast and sometimes a little sugar to speed things up. Longer timelines use less yeast and rely on time to do the work.

About the Author

Andris Lagsdin invented the Baking Steel in 2012 using steel from his family's Stoughton Steel Company in Hanover, MA. a shop his family has run since the 1970s. What started as a Kickstarter project (backed after an endorsement from Kenji López-Alt on Serious Eats) has grown into the go-to tool for hundreds of thousands of home pizza makers. Every Baking Steel is still made at the family shop.

Before launching Baking Steel, Andris trained under renowned chef Todd English and spent 15 years in the family steel business. He's the co-author of Baking with Steel with Jesse Olson Moore.

Today he teaches thousands of students how to make pizzeria-quality pizza at home through his free online classes and recipes.

In 2026, Andris launched the 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix the same recipe he's been teaching for over a decade, now in a bag. Just add water.