A slow 72-hour fermentation gives pizza dough a deep flavor, airy crust, and beautifully crisp exterior. This is definitely worth trying, as this technique elevates your homemade pizza from “good” to “excellent”.

72-Hour Pizza Dough Recipe

The extended fermentation process allows natural enzymes to break down the flour, developing deeper, more complex flavors that simply cannot be achieved with shorter rising times. This slow fermentation results in a lighter, airier crust with a satisfying chew and crispiness, giving your pizza a professional-quality texture. The dough also becomes easier to work with making it ideal for shaping. Preparing 72-hour pizza dough is a rewarding experience that elevates your homemade pizza to a new level in terms of flavor, texture, and ease of handling.

Ingredients (4 normal size pizzas)

• 500 g (4 cups) bread flour or strong pizza flour
• 325 ml cold water
• 15 g (2 teaspoons) fine sea salt
• 1 g (1/3 teaspoons) instant dry yeast

Instructions

1. Mix the Dough

• Place the flour in a large bowl
• Add about 300 ml of water and mix until no dry flour remains
• Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes

2. Activate the Yeast

• Dissolve the yeast in the remaining 25 g of water and mix the liquid into the dough
• Add the salt and knead the dough for about 5–8 minutes until smooth and elastic
• Cover the dough and let it rest at room temperature for one hour (1h)

3. First Fermentation

• Perform one gentle stretch-and-fold on the dough, then transfer it to a lidded container and place it in the refrigerator
• Let rise for about 24h

4. Divide the Dough

• Next day, divide the dough into four equal parts
• Shape each piece into a tight ball by folding the edges underneath and creating tension on the surface
• Place the balls into a lightly oiled dough container with a lid, or into separate containers
• Return them to the refrigerator

5. Shape

• Remove the dough balls from the refrigerator about 3–4 hours before baking
• Let them warm up and finish proofing at room temperature
• Gently stretch the dough ball into a pizza base, leaving the rim slightly thicker
• Add toppings sparingly

6. Bake

• Preheat your oven to the highest possible temperature, ideally 250–300°C or hotter, with a pizza steel, pizza stone, or other baking surface inside
• Bake until the base has taken on plenty of color and the rim has risen, usually takes just 5–10 minutes in a home oven

The Secret Ingredient is Time

The secret ingredient of this 72-hour pizza dough is time. A very small amount of yeast works the dough slowly over several days. Let the refrigerator do the heavy lifting; keeping it cool slows down fermentation and helps prevent over-proofing. A long fermentation with a small amount of yeast allows the dough to develop slowly, resulting in a more complex flavor.