How to Make Pizza Like a Pizzeria: The Round Pizza Guide

Have you tried recipe after recipe but your homemade pizza never turns out like the one from the pizzeria? Soggy bottom, or worse, one uniform crust, a pale or tough rim, a bake that feels more like bread than pizza… When it comes to round pizza, getting close to a pizzeria result comes down to two things: a well-structured dough with a good gluten network, and baking at high temperatures.

The temperature factor is the most important one, and it's what determines how good and professional the final result looks, because, as we'll see, every dough needs a different baking temperature that's hard to replicate in a home oven. Just think of Neapolitan pizza, which needs an oven temperature above 400°C (750°F). You don't need a wood-fired oven — what matters is that your electric pizza oven reaches high temperatures and holds the heat without losing it.

If you really want to take your homemade pizza to the next level (and you can see the results in the photos shared by our community members), take a look at our Voyager Advanced model.

Electric Pizza Oven

Voyager Twin Advanced

Up to 510°C (950°F) in under 30 minutes · digital PID control for top and bottom heat · cordierite stone included · AVPN certified

Discover the Voyager Twin Advanced

What "pizza like a pizzeria" actually means

A pizzeria's round pizza has unmistakable traits: a well-baked rim, more or less airy depending on the style, a thin center, and a quick bake that keeps the inside soft. The dough isn't overly crisped — except for the Roman style, which is a bit crunchier — and the mozzarella stretches without being watery. This profile comes from intense, brief heat, which you simply can't replicate with a ten-minute bake at 250°C (480°F) in a home oven.

For pizza like a pizzeria, first pick your style

There isn't just one way to make round pizza. Three styles dominate the Italian scene, and each calls for different dough, temperature and baking time. Choosing the style before you mix the dough avoids mistakes that are hard to fix later.

Neapolitan pizza

Dough hydrated between 60% and 65%. The water content, in other words, isn't as high as in tray-baked pizzas. Very little yeast is used (about 2 g of brewer's yeast per 1 kg of flour) with a long fermentation, from 8 hours at room temperature up to 24-48 hours in a temperature-controlled fridge. It's shaped by hand, soft, with a tall, airy rim.

In the oven: 400-480°C (750-900°F), baked in 60-90 seconds. The AVPN (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana) guidelines call for about 380-430°C on the deck and 485°C on the dome, with baking times under a minute and a half. The result is soft, foldable, with leopard-spotted charring on the rim — impossible to recreate at home-oven temperatures.

Round Roman pizza (low and crispy)

Less hydrated dough, around 55-58%. Rolled thinner, with a low or nearly absent rim. The pizza stays compact and crispy across the whole disc.

In the oven: 330-350°C (625-660°F) for about 2-3 minutes. Roman style is all about crunch, not a puffy rim.

Contemporary pizza

High-hydration dough, often above 70%, with very long fermentation (48-72 hours). The rim is pronounced and tall, with visible air pockets and a crispy crust.

In the oven: about 400°C (750°F), slightly longer than classic Neapolitan. This wet dough is delicate: too aggressive heat burns the surface while the moist interior hasn't finished cooking. Thermal stability matters a lot here — ideally with separate control over top and bottom heat.

Quick reference table:

Ingredients and dough for round pizza

For good homemade pizza, everything starts with the flour. You don't need anything fancy, but it still needs the right properties so the dough can be stretched easily and "puff up" properly in the oven.

For this reason, use flour with at least 12.5 grams of protein — check the label on the back of the bag — and if the strength (W value) is listed, even better: choose a flour with W270-320. The longer you let the dough ferment, the higher this value should be. For example, with the high-hydration "canotto" style of contemporary pizza — very photogenic and Instagram-friendly — use only flour with 13-13.5 grams of protein, or a strength of W350 or above.

How to make pizzeria-style dough

Fun fact: pizzaiolos used to start their dough with water, adding flour a little at a time until they reached the right consistency. In reality, it's the flour that absorbs the water, not the other way around. So start by adding the flour first, into your stand mixer (or any bowl if you prefer to knead by hand).

Here are the steps for the full recipe.

Ingredients

• 1000 grams good-quality flour
• 650 grams water
• 4-5 grams brewer's yeast
• 20 grams salt

Step one: getting the dough right

Crumble the yeast into the flour, then move on to the water. If it's summer and your home is above 26°C (79°F), use cold water, otherwise the yeast may work too fast, and high temperatures can hurt the dough's quality. If your home is below 20°C (68°F), use lukewarm water instead.

For standard hydration, you can pour in all the water at once and start kneading. If you're working with high hydration, add only half the water at first; incorporate the rest gradually, waiting each time for the flour to fully absorb it before adding more.

Add the salt halfway through kneading. To help the gluten network form and get a soft, well-developed dough ball, let the dough rest for about 5 minutes before finishing the kneading.

Sourdough starter: yes or no? If your goal is pizzeria-style pizza, the answer is no — better to avoid it. Sourdough is fantastic for bread because it gives distinctive tangy, complex notes, but those get lost once the pizza is topped. Pizza needs the vigorous lift of brewer's yeast, essential for the right rise and development during baking. To add aromatic complexity without sacrificing structure, the tip is to use indirect doughs with pre-ferments like biga or poolish.

Rising and fermentation: how long it takes

Once the dough is mixed, you're ready for the first rise of the whole mass — technically called "bulk fermentation." You can choose between a short or a long bulk rise: let the dough rise for about 2 hours at room temperature, or in the fridge for 12-24 hours.

Next comes dividing the dough into individual balls. For Neapolitan pizza, use 220-gram balls; for Roman, 180 grams; for contemporary, 250 grams.

The final stage is "proofing" — letting the individual dough balls ferment. Again, you can go short — 2-3 hours at room temperature — or long — 12 hours in the fridge.

Keep in mind there's no fixed timing with dough. The times given in this recipe are purely indicative. You need to look at the dough — and touch it — to check it has the right consistency.

How do you know the dough is ready?

Gently press your finger into the dough. If it sinks in softly and springs back, it's ready. If a deep dent remains, it's over-proofed. If it's too firm or your finger leaves no mark at all, it needs more time.

How to shape round pizza

Lightly flour the work surface and your hands. Place the dough ball down, press the center with your fingertips and push the air toward the edges. Widen it with your palms, rotating the disc, without touching the rim. For Neapolitan and contemporary styles, leave a rim about 1-1.5 cm (0.4-0.6 in) thick — it will puff up during baking. For Roman style, flatten the edges too: you want an even, thin thickness all around.

COMMON MISTAKES

• Using too little flour when shaping: the dough stays sticky and can stick to the peel. If this happens, use more flour.
• Using too much flour when shaping: loading too much dusting flour onto the peel before baking. The excess flour on the dough will burn in the oven, giving an unpleasant bitter taste — not just to this pizza, but to the next ones too if the baking stone gets covered in burnt flour.
• Tearing the dough: if the dough rips, sliding it into the oven becomes tricky and everything can stick, ruining the pizza. You can fix small tears by gently pinching the edges of the hole together to seal it.

Toppings: tomato, mozzarella and timing like a pizzeria

Use blended peeled tomatoes, not a thick passata. Top with salt, basil and a drizzle of oil. The mozzarella should be well squeezed — ideally left to drain the night before: excess water cools the surface and slows down cooking. Even better, use fior di latte, which doesn't release liquid.

How to bake round pizza like a pizzeria

Why a home oven struggles to match a pizzeria

A home oven tops out at around 250-270°C (480-520°F). The pizza takes 8-15 minutes to bake — too long for a thin dough, which loses moisture and dries out. In a pizzeria, at 450°C (840°F) and above, there's an immediate "blast of heat": the rim puffs up right away, the base crisps, and the inside stays moist. The whole bake takes under two minutes.

THE BAKING METHOD FOR PIZZERIA-STYLE PIZZA AT HOME

The best approach is a thick-bottomed pan combined with your oven on full power. Put your shaped dough into a large pan — big enough to hold the whole pizza — that's already been preheated. Set it right away on your largest burner, at maximum heat.

As soon as you see the bottom is cooked, turn off the burner and move the pan as close as possible to the oven's heating elements — ideally with the grill/broiler setting on.

While this technique does give better results than simply baking in a standard home electric oven, it's still a compromise: the temperatures stay lower, the timing stretches out, and heat recovery between bakes is limited.

The real leap in quality comes from using a Macte Ovens oven, perfectly suited for home use and standard home electrical systems, capable of reaching much higher temperatures.

For details on baking every pizza style, including tray-baked and pala pizza, read our guide on pizza oven temperature for every style.

The role of the baking stone in cooking the base

Baking your pizza on a refractory stone — the well-known "biscotto" — lets you build up heat during preheating and release it evenly under the pizza. At extreme temperatures, the base cooks without burning, even in 60 seconds. That's why Macte Ovens ovens come with the stone included as standard: without a proper refractory surface, even a powerful oven struggles to produce the same crust on the base.

Want pizzeria-quality bakes in your own kitchen? Check out the Voyager and Nettuno ovens in our pizza oven collection.

Mistakes that take you further from a pizzeria result

• Too much yeast: dough that tastes yeasty and a flat rim.
• Oven not preheated enough: raw base or uneven baking.
• Too many toppings: watery pizza and a surface that won't brown.
• Wrong temperature for the chosen style: Roman at 450°C (840°F) burns, Neapolitan at 280°C (535°F) stays gummy.
• Hydration that doesn't match the style: a contemporary dough handled like a Roman one (or vice versa).

Round pizza at home with a professional electric oven

To recap: pick your style (Neapolitan, Roman or contemporary), dial in hydration and fermentation time, shape it by hand with the right rim for that style, then bake at the right temperature and time. The biggest leap compared to a kitchen oven is temperature: reaching 500°C (930°F) in under 30 minutes changes the result more than any trick with a pan ever could.

If you mainly make round pizza on repeat, the Voyager line (low chamber, fast heat recovery) is built for you. If you also want to bake bread and tall leavened goods, the Nettuno offers a 17 cm (6.7 in) chamber without giving up on 500°C (930°F) Neapolitan pizza.

Not sure which model is right for you? Check out our guide on choosing a pizza oven and compare the Voyager Smart, Twin and Nettuno Standard or Advanced.