Neapolitan vs Roman pizza: dough, oven and bake compared
Neapolitan pizza is soft and foldable with a puffy half-inch to three-quarter-inch rim: flour, water, salt and yeast, no oil, stretched by hand and baked for 60–90 seconds at about 800–900 °F. Roman pizza (the round “tonda”) is thin and crisp with almost no rim, has oil in the dough, sits around 55% hydration, can be rolled with a pin and bakes for 2–3 minutes at roughly 575–750 °F.
Neapolitan vs Roman at a glance
| Neapolitan | Roman (tonda) | |
|---|---|---|
| Dough | Flour, water, salt, yeast | The same plus 2–4% oil |
| Hydration | 58–65% | 50–58% |
| Fermentation | 8–24 h (AVPN), often longer in practice | 24–72 h cold |
| Dough ball | About 7–10 oz | About 5.5–7 oz |
| Shaping | Hands only | Rolling pin or hands |
| Diameter | Up to about 14" | About 12–14" |
| Center thickness | About 0.1–0.16" | About 0.08" |
| Rim (cornicione) | ½–¾", risen | Almost none |
| Oven | Wood, gas or high-heat electric, 800 °F+ | Electric deck or wood, 575–750 °F |
| Bake | 60–90 s | 2–3 min (3–4 min at 575 °F) |
| Texture | Soft, folds “a portafoglio” | Crisp, almost cracker-like |
AVPN specification, EU Regulation 97/2010 and common Roman practice, converted to US units and rounded.
Neapolitan: a specification, not just a style
There are two reference texts and they do not quite agree. The AVPN (the Naples association behind most “certified” pizzerias, including the ones in the US) sets the center at about a tenth of an inch; the EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed specification (Regulation 97/2010) says about a sixth of an inch and a bake at around 905 °F. Both agree on what matters: no oil in the dough, no rolling pin, and a pizza you can fold into four.
In the EU, “Pizza Napoletana” has been a reserved name since December 2022. That rule stops at the EU’s borders: in the US, “Neapolitan” on a menu is not policed by anyone except your customers. Even so, if you write “Neapolitan” over a pie baked for six minutes in a 575 °F deck, the people who seek out Neapolitan pizza will notice. UNESCO listed the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo as intangible heritage in 2017.
The full Neapolitan dough proportions
Roman pizza is three different things
- Tonda: round, very thin, “scrocchiarella” — it crackles. This is what Roman pizzerias serve at dinner and what people mean in a Neapolitan vs Roman comparison.
- Teglia (al taglio): a high-hydration dough baked in a rectangular pan, cut and sold by weight. A different business altogether.
- Pala: an elongated pizza baked straight on the deck and served on a long wooden peel.
For tonda, use 2–4% oil on flour weight (olive or a neutral oil), hydration around 55% and a 24–72 hour cold ferment. The rolling pin, heresy to a Neapolitan, is fine here: you want the gas out for a flat, even disc. A professional batch that circulates on pizza forums — about 56% water, 2.8% salt, 2.8% oil and 0.6–0.8% fresh yeast, 48 hours in the walk-in — is effectively Roman dough whether or not anyone calls it that.
Pizza al taglio: the Roman pan pizza
Which oven for which style?
This is the real decision. Neapolitan needs a floor at roughly 800–900 °F: wood, gas or a dedicated high-temperature electric oven. A standard gas or electric deck running at 550–650 °F makes a good Roman, NY-style or “classic” pizza, not a Neapolitan one; the bake stretches to 3–4 minutes and the dough dries before the rim can rise. The reverse fails too: oiled, low-hydration Roman dough burns underneath at 900 °F before it crisps.
Wood-fired or electric: what actually changes
Which style suits your business?
Throughput
At 90 seconds a bake the oven is never the bottleneck; the bench is. Stretching Neapolitan cleanly takes months to learn. Tonda, with a pin, is quicker to shape and far more forgiving of a Saturday-night fill-in.
Takeout and delivery
A Neapolitan pizza shut in a box goes limp within ten minutes: the wet center steams. A crisp Roman crust is still decent after fifteen. Neapolitan places that deliver tend to cap their radius or use vented boxes. If most of your sales leave with a driver, this outweighs your personal taste.
The style you choose is also your positioning, and delivery apps flatten it — every pizza gets the same thumbnail. “Wood-fired Neapolitan” or “crisp Roman” should be obvious on your own site, with your own photos.
Can you offer both?
Only if the oven allows it: two decks, one at about 575 °F and one at 850 °F, or two ovens. On a single floor, choose. Two doughs also mean two mixes, two sets of dough boxes and two techniques to train. For most shops one style done properly beats two done approximately.
FAQ
Is there oil in Neapolitan pizza dough?
No. The AVPN specification allows only flour, water, salt and yeast; olive oil goes on top. Roman dough does contain oil, which is part of what makes it crisp.
Can I make Neapolitan pizza in an electric oven?
Only if the floor reaches about 800 °F or more. A standard deck at 550–650 °F makes a good pizza, but not a Neapolitan one, and the bake takes 3–4 minutes.
Is pizza al taglio Roman pizza?
Yes, but a different product: high-hydration dough baked in a pan and sold by weight. The round, thin Roman pizza is the tonda.