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Recipe · Indirect · Advanced

Sourdough pala-style pizza on the kamado

A Roman pala-style pizza — long, with a tall, open-crumb edge — leavened with sourdough and baked on steel at 350°C with the deflector in.

Pizza de masa madre con corteza leopardada saliendo del horno de leña
Prep
60 min
Cook
8 min
Servings
4 servings
Temperature
350 °C

Ingredients

  • strong bread flour W300-330 (or 80% strong + 20% fine semolina)500 g
  • room-temperature water (75% hydration)375 ml
  • active sourdough starter (refreshed 4-6 h before, at peak)100 g
  • sea salt11 g
  • extra-virgin olive oil from the Comunidad Valenciana (dough + finish)2 cda
  • coarse semolina for stretching and loading the peelc/n
  • crushed San Marzano tomato (drained, uncooked)250 g
  • fior di latte mozzarella, drained 1 h and torn300 g
  • fresh basil (added out of the oven)1 manojo
  • dried oregano and flaky salt (to taste)1 pizca

Method

  1. 01

    Autolyse and mix

    Mix the flour with 340 ml of the water and let it rest 40 minutes (autolyse): it hydrates and builds gluten with no effort. Add the sourdough starter, work it in, then add the salt dissolved in the remaining 35 ml and the oil. Knead to a smooth but sticky dough; at 75% hydration you are not after a firm ball.

  2. 02

    Bulk ferment

    Bulk-ferment at 22-24°C for 4-5 hours, with three rounds of stretch & folds over the first 90 minutes, every 30 minutes. The dough should grow by 50-60% and show bubbles on the surface. With sourdough the dough sets the clock, not the timer: the warmer it is, the sooner it's ready.

  3. 03

    Ball and cold-proof 24-48 h

    Divide into two dough balls of about 490 g, shape each one tight, and place it in an oiled lidded container. Cold-proof in the fridge for 24-48 hours: this is where the tangy flavour and open crumb develop. Take the balls out 2 hours before baking so they come up to temperature; cold dough won't stretch and tears.

  4. 04

    Set deflector and preheat steel

    Light the kamado, set the deflector for indirect heat, and place the grate on top with the carbon-steel plate (or cordierite stone). Settle it at 350°C and preheat the whole stack for at least 40 minutes. Check the surface with an infrared thermometer: it should read 330-350°C, no less. The lid thermometer only measures the air.

  5. 05

    Stretch without degassing

    Tip the dough ball out onto flour and semolina. Stretch with your fingertips from the centre outwards into the long peel shape (about 30x18 cm), pressing the centre but respecting the puffed edge: that open crumb is the soul of pala pizza. Don't use a rolling pin — you'd crush the gas out.

  6. 06

    Sauce and load the peel

    Spread the drained San Marzano tomato leaving a 2 cm clean border, a drizzle of EVOO, oregano, and the well-drained fior di latte mozzarella (if it weeps water, the base stays raw). Transfer the dough to the perforated peel dusted with semolina and shake it to shed the excess flour, which would scorch on the steel.

  7. 07

    Bake 6-8 minutes, turning

    Slide the pizza onto the steel with one sharp jerk and close the lid. Bake 6-8 minutes at 350°C. At 3-4 minutes turn the pizza 180° with the peel to even out the cooking (the draught side browns first). It's ready when the edge is golden-toasted and the base feels firm and crisp when you lift it.

  8. 08

    Basil and serve

    Move the pizza onto a board, add the fresh basil, a last drizzle of Valencian EVOO, and flaky salt. Let it rest 1 minute so the base settles, then cut into rectangular pieces with a wheel cutter or scissors. Repeat with the second dough ball while you eat this one.

About this recipe

Pala-style pizza on a kamado is baked indirect at 350°C with the deflector in and a preheated stone or steel, not over live flame. This is the Roman version: a long sourdough base at high hydration (75-80%), a tall open-crumb edge, baked 6-8 minutes on a surface that already stores heat. A closed kamado behaves like a vaulted oven, and that is exactly the point.

Why pala and not Neapolitan

Neapolitan is made at 430-480°C in 60-90 seconds: puffed cornicione, thin elastic centre, charred leopard spots. Roman pala pizza is a different animal: the long shape of a baker's peel, taller and airier, baked slower at medium-high heat. A home kamado rarely holds above 350-400°C with a deflector, which is precisely why pala suits it perfectly — you are not fighting for extreme temperatures, you are playing with sourdough, hydration and time. The result reads more like bread crumb than thin-crust pizza, with a crust that crackles and carries the weight of the toppings.

The kamado setup: deflector and steel

Set the deflector for indirect, radiant heat, and the grate on top with a cordierite stone or, better for this dish, a carbon-steel plate. Steel conducts far better than ceramic and solves the classic pala problem: a pale, raw base. Preheat the whole stack for at least 40 minutes at 350°C — the dough does not cook on chamber air, it cooks on the surface beneath it. Check that surface with an infrared thermometer before baking; the lid thermometer only tells you the air temperature.

The sourdough sets the clock

We work with active sourdough at high hydration, so forget about rushing. The dough wants a long bulk ferment and a 24-48 hour cold rest that builds flavour and an open crumb. On bake day you take it out, stretch it gently over flour and semolina without knocking the gas out of the edge, and load it onto the perforated peel. The perforations let the excess flour fall away — in a kamado it would scorch and turn the base bitter. Extra-virgin olive oil from the Comunidad Valenciana, San Marzano tomato, well-drained fior di latte mozzarella, and basil on the way out.

In 30 seconds

Sourdough at 75-80% hydration, bulk ferment + 24-48h cold rest. Kamado indirect with deflector, cordierite stone or carbon steel preheated 40 min at 350°C. Check the surface with an infrared thermometer (the lid gauge lies). Stretch without degassing the edge, load with a perforated peel to shed flour, bake 6-8 minutes turning halfway. Crisp base, open-crumb edge, serves 4.

Editor's tips

  • Carbon steel is the difference between a crisp base and a pale one. It conducts heat far faster than ceramic or a thin stone, so the base seals in the first 90 seconds. If all you have is a cordierite stone, preheat it 10 minutes longer and check it's above 330°C with the infrared before loading.
  • Drain the mozzarella properly: an hour on paper and, if needed, a squeeze with your hands. Fresh fior di latte releases a lot of water, and that water boils on the steel, steams the base, and leaves the centre gummy and raw underneath. It's the number-one mistake in homemade pizza.
  • Mind the draught. In a kamado at 350°C with the deflector, heat rises up one side, so the pizza browns unevenly. Turn it 180° halfway through and leave the bottom damper half open: too much air spikes the air temperature but not necessarily the steel's, and it's the steel that cooks the base.

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FAQ

  • What is the difference between Roman pala pizza and Neapolitan?

    They are two different pizzas. Neapolitan is round, with a thin centre and a puffed edge, baked at 430-480°C in 60-90 seconds. Pala pizza is Roman, long like a baker's peel, made with a wetter, more open-crumb dough and baked slower at 330-350°C for 6-8 minutes. Pala is closer to a flatbread than to a thin-crust pizza, which is exactly why it suits a home kamado, which rarely reaches Neapolitan temperatures.

  • Cordierite stone or steel for pizza in the kamado?

    For pala pizza at 350°C, steel wins. Carbon steel conducts heat far faster than ceramic, so it seals the base in the first few seconds and avoids the raw-base problem. A cordierite stone is more forgiving with Neapolitan at very high temperatures and withstands thermal shock, but at medium-high heat it takes longer to transfer heat. If you have both, use the steel for pala and the stone for thinner-crust bakes.

  • How do I hydrate and handle a high-hydration sourdough without it sticking everywhere?

    At 75-80% hydration the dough is sticky by definition, and that's fine: the water is what gives you the open crumb. The key is to build gluten with stretch & folds rather than intense kneading, and to work with wet hands and a surface dusted with semolina, not fine flour. The 24-48 hour cold rest relaxes the gluten and makes the dough far easier to handle when stretching. Don't add extra flour to tame it — you'd dry out the crumb.

  • What temperature and deflector do I need for pala pizza?

    You need indirect heat: the deflector (half-moon or full plate) between the coals and the pizza, so no direct flame hits it. The target is 350°C air, but what really matters is that the cooking surface — stone or steel — reaches 330-350°C, and that takes at least 40 minutes of preheating. Check it with an infrared thermometer pointed at the surface; the lid thermometer only measures the chamber air and will fool you.

  • Why does my base stay raw underneath and how do I prevent it?

    It's almost always one of three causes, in this order: the surface wasn't hot enough when you loaded (check it with the infrared, not the lid thermometer), too much water from the mozzarella or tomato steaming the base, or too much flour underneath insulating the dough from the heat. The fix: preheat the steel for 40 minutes, drain the mozzarella well, use semolina instead of fine flour, and shake off the excess before baking. A carbon-steel plate solves most cases.

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