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Recipe · Direct · Medium

Neapolitan pizza on the kamado

At 350°C the base puffs in 90 seconds and the cornicione comes out leopard-spotted and pillowy. One pizza, three minutes, zero margin for error.

Pizza napoletana en el kamado
Prep
1440 min
Cook
3 min
Servings
4 servings
Temperature
350 °C

Ingredients

  • Italian "00" flour (W 280-320)500 g
  • cold water325 ml
  • sea salt12 g
  • fresh yeast1 g
  • San Marzano DOP tomatoes400 g
  • fior di latte (cow-milk mozzarella)250 g
  • fresh basil20 hojas
  • extra-virgin olive oilc/n

Method

  1. 01

    Dough

    Dissolve the yeast in water. Combine with flour until integrated, add salt and knead 10 minutes. Smooth ball, 30 min rest, fold, 30 min rest.

  2. 02

    Cold ferment 24h

    Divide into 250 g balls and store in oiled containers in the fridge for 24 hours. Bring to room temperature 2 hours before cooking.

  3. 03

    Sauce

    Crush the San Marzano tomatoes by hand in a bowl. Salt and a drizzle of oil. DO NOT cook them. The freshness of raw tomato is the point.

  4. 04

    Stabilise at 350°C

    Load the kamado with plenty of charcoal, deflector and a baking stone on top. Bring it to 350-380°C and let the stone saturate for at least 30 minutes.

  5. 05

    Stretch

    Hand-stretch on semola flour, no rolling pin, leaving the edge untouched so it keeps air. ~28 cm diameter.

  6. 06

    Top

    Thin layer of sauce in the centre, never to the edge. Drained mozzarella in chunks. Do not overload — Neapolitan pizzas carry little topping.

  7. 07

    Bake

    Slide the pizza onto the stone with a floured peel. Bake 90-180 seconds. Rotate once with the peel for even browning.

  8. 08

    Finish

    Pull it off with the peel. Add fresh basil leaves and a thread of raw olive oil. Serve immediately.

About this recipe

Slow-fermented dough (24h cold), uncooked San Marzano tomatoes, well-drained fior di latte and basil added off the heat. The kamado faithfully mimics a Neapolitan wood-fired oven.

Editor's tips

  • The stone needs at least 30 min at 350°C. Loaded cold, the base will stay raw inside.
  • For a hint of smoke on the cornicione, crack the lid for 10 seconds when loading — the oxygen flares the coals.

Gear for this recipe

FAQ

  • What is the right temperature for Neapolitan?

    430-450°C on the stone and 380-400°C ambient, per the AVPN standard. In a home kamado you get there with the lid closed, vents open, and the stone preheated 40 minutes. Pizza is done in 60-90 seconds at that temperature. Lower (300-350°C) still works but the base is denser.

  • Can I use supermarket flour or do I need 00?

    You need 00 flour at W250+ (medium-high strength) so the dough handles heat without tearing. Caputo Cuoco (blue) or Garofalo 00 work. Regular bread flour (W150-180) does not hold — pizza tears going into the kamado. With regular flour only, drop to 280-300°C and make home-style pizza, not Neapolitan.

  • How long does the dough need to ferment?

    Minimum 24 hours cold for decent flavour, ideal 48-72 hours. A pizza fermented 6 hours at room temp is edible but flat. Long cold fermentation builds aroma, improves digestibility and makes the dough easier to handle without sticking.

  • Will a standard pizza stone work or do I need a kamado-specific one?

    Any cordierite stone handles 500°C — a generic Amazon pizza stone (Pizzacraft, Lodge) is fine. What matters is round and fits through the lid. Kamado-specific stones are usually identical with a markup. Cordierite is cordierite.

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