Italian

Pizza on the Kamado (Neapolitan-Style, 90-Second Bake)

Five hundred grams of Caputo 00 flour, forty-eight hours of cold fermentation, a pizza stone sitting on heat deflector legs at three hundred fifty degrees Celsius, and ninety seconds of violent heat. The kamado becomes a wood-fired Neapolitan oven — charred cornicione, leopard-spotted bottom, molten interior, with subtle smoke from the lump charcoal. The home equivalent of a brick-oven pizzeria.

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Main · Party Centerpiece · Outdoor Cook
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Variable by topping (traditional margherita = none)
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4-6 guests (one dough batch = 4 × 280 g balls = 4 pizzas)
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48-72 hours total (almost all cold ferment, hands-off)

The Kamado as Pizza Oven

Home ovens cap at roughly 260 degrees Celsius on their highest setting. Neapolitan pizza needs 420-450 degrees Celsius to cook in 60-90 seconds, producing the charred, blistered, puffy cornicione and the leopard-spotted underbelly that define the style. For decades, home cooks who wanted real Neapolitan pizza had three options: buy a $6,000 wood-fired oven, eat at a restaurant, or accept a compromise from the home oven.

The kamado changes that equation. The ceramic mass reaches 350-370 degrees Celsius easily (with proper fuel loading and vent management), which approaches the lower end of wood-fired oven temperatures. More importantly, the kamado's geometry creates the same three-way heat transfer that a wood-fired oven creates: floor radiation from the stone, dome radiation from the ceramic, and convective heat from the charcoal combustion. A pizza stone on heat deflector legs at 350 degrees with lump charcoal below produces pizzas that are substantially better than any home oven can produce — and within recognizable range of proper Neapolitan pizzeria output.

This recipe is specifically designed around Pablo's kamado. It is not a generic pizza recipe that happens to work on a kamado; it is a kamado-first pizza recipe. The dough is a 48-72 hour cold ferment (slower than Italian weeknight pizza, producing deeper flavor and better digestibility — the Tartine approach applied to pizza). The topping guidance is tuned for 90-second bakes (too much topping turns the pizza into a soup; restraint is mandatory). The setup protocol is kamado-specific (stone on deflector legs-up, target temp, preheat time). The two-tier variants cover classical Margherita (the DOC-equivalent classical reference) and Pablo-Spanish (jamón + pimentón + manchego + honey — the avant-garde Spanish-Italian fusion that the weekly tapa board loves).

The sourdough-discard variant uses Pablo's weekly ~350 g of discard, turning a byproduct into Friday-night pizza. Three breads, one starter cycle, zero waste.

Ingredients

for 4-6 guests (one dough batch = 4 × 280 g balls = 4 pizzas)

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Everyday

The Neapolitan Base Dough (🟢 — Commercial Yeast)

500 g Caputo 00 flour 'Pizzeria' (standard Italian import — available at good grocery and specialty Italian shops; substitute: bread flour)
325 g cool water (65% hydration — room temp, not warm, because we want slow ferment)
10 g fine sea salt
3 g instant dry yeast (small amount — the long ferment does the work)
Optional: 10 g EVOO (classical Neapolitan omits oil; Roman-style adds it; both approaches work)

The Classical Margherita Toppings (per pizza)

80 g San Marzano tomatoes, crushed BY HAND (not blended — hand-crushing preserves texture)
80 g fresh mozzarella (fior di latte or buffalo), sliced 5 mm thick and drained on paper towels 30 min beforehand
4-5 fresh basil leaves
1 tsp Arbequina EVOO, drizzled after bake
Pinch of fine sea salt on the tomatoes before bake

Substitution Notes

No 00 flour? Bread flour (12-13% protein) works but produces a slightly chewier crust. Do NOT use all-purpose (too low protein) or cake flour (way too low protein).
No heat deflector / pizza stone? The kamado WITHOUT these accessories cannot approximate Neapolitan heat transfer. You need both. Alternative: cook in home oven at max temp (roughly 260 °C) on a preheated baking steel or stone for 7-10 min — different style, still good.
No fresh mozzarella? Low-moisture mozzarella works for topping variants but fails the Margherita test. For real Margherita, fresh is non-negotiable; drain on paper towels to reduce water content and prevent a soggy pizza.
San Marzano tomatoes unavailable? Any high-quality canned plum tomatoes work. Do NOT use tomato paste (too concentrated) or fresh tomatoes (too watery for 90-second bake). If using generic canned crushed, taste first — some are too sweet.

No Limits

Sourdough Discard Dough (🔴 — Pablo's Active Mother)

500 g Caputo 00 flour 'Pizzeria' DOP — preferred OR Flour & Weirdoughs bread blend (Pablo ✓)
100 g active sourdough discard (Pablo ✓ mother, 4-6 hours after last feed)
275 g cool filtered water (hydration adjusted for discard water content — total still 65%)
2 g instant dry yeast (insurance — ensures rise timing predictability when using discard)
12 g Maldon fine sea salt (Pablo ✓)
Optional: 15 g Arbequina EVOO

Pablo-Spanish Margherita Variant

80 g premium Italian passata OR hand-crushed San Marzano DOP (Regalis Foods ✓ if stocking premium)
80 g fresh buffalo mozzarella (Salvatore brand at any Italian specialty), drained 30 min on paper towels
6-8 thin slices jamón Ibérico (Chèvre Miami ✓), DRAPED ON after bake (never baked — heat destroys the texture)
5 g aged Manchego, shaved with vegetable peeler, scattered after bake
5 fresh basil leaves, torn by hand
1 tsp Arbequina EVOO infused with pimentón de la Vera dulce (steep 1/4 tsp pimentón in warm EVOO for 30 min, strain)
1 tsp raw honey (Florida wildflower preferred), drizzled micro-amount at finish — signature sweet-salty move
Maldon flaky salt at finish

Classical Margherita DOC (🔴 reference)

80 g San Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP (the certified tomatoes — Regalis Foods ✓)
80 g Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP (buffalo, not cow — the classical reference)
5 basil leaves (genovese basil DOP for purists)
1 tsp Monte Vulture DOP EVOO (southern Italian, classical Campania region)
Maldon flaky salt at finish

Kamado Setup — Non-Negotiable

Heat deflector (the ceramic plate that normally goes flat for indirect cooking) — positioned LEGS-UP to create spacer
Pizza stone (cordierite preferred over marble — cordierite tolerates thermal shock better) — placed on top of the deflector legs
Lump charcoal (enough to fill firebox 1/2 full for 350 °C target — roughly 3-4 kg)
One fist-sized piece of kamado-safe wood (apple, cherry — subtle, not aggressive like hickory)
Preheat time: 30-45 minutes to reach and stabilize at 350 °C
Wooden pizza peel for launch + metal peel for turn/retrieve
Infrared thermometer (handheld — essential for verifying stone surface temp, which should match pit temp ±20 °C)

Mise en Place

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Dough balls: made 48-72 hours in advance, refrigerated in individual sealed containers (one per pizza)
Pulled from fridge 2 hours before bake to come to room temperature
Toppings staged: tomatoes hand-crushed, mozzarella sliced and draining on paper towels (30 min minimum), basil washed and torn, EVOO ready, salt in small dish
Kamado lit 45 min before first pizza: fill firebox 1/2 full with lump, add one piece of apple wood, light with electric starter or chimney, let the kamado rise to 350 °C with heat deflector (legs-up) + pizza stone already in position
Flour or semolina dust ready at shaping station (prevents dough sticking to peel)
Guests positioned near kamado — part of the experience, not a preamble
A cold glass of Italian lager (Peroni or Menabrea) for the cook

Method

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The Dough — 48-72 Hour Cold Ferment

In a large bowl, whisk 500 g of 00 flour and 3 g of instant yeast until evenly distributed.

Add 325 g of cool water (room temperature, not warm — we want slow ferment, not fast). Stir with a wooden spoon or clean hand until there are no dry spots. The dough will be shaggy and somewhat sticky.

Rest 15 minutes (autolyse).

Add 10 g salt (and optional 10 g EVOO). Mix for 2-3 minutes to fully incorporate. The dough will feel wetter again — this is the gluten hydrating.

Over the next 2 hours, do 4 sets of stretch-and-folds, 30 minutes apart. Same technique as focaccia: wet hand, grab one side, stretch up, fold over, rotate bowl 90°, repeat 4x per set.

After the final fold, divide the dough into 4 equal portions (280 g each — weigh with a scale).

Shape each portion into a tight ball: pull edges down and under, creating surface tension on top. A dough ball should be visibly taut on the surface.

Place each ball in its own sealed container, lightly oiled. Refrigerate for 48-72 hours. 72 hours is better if you have the time.

Kamado Setup — Three-Way Heat Transfer

Light the kamado with enough lump charcoal to fill the firebox halfway (roughly 3-4 kg). This provides sustained heat for 4-6 pizzas plus some thermal mass.

Place one fist-sized piece of apple or cherry wood on top of the lit charcoal. This adds subtle smoke to the bake — do NOT use hickory or mesquite (too aggressive for 90-second bake).

Install the heat deflector LEGS-UP. This is the key setup detail: the ceramic deflector plate normally sits flat for indirect cooking, but for pizza we flip it so the legs point up. This creates a spacer between the deflector and the pizza stone above it.

Place the pizza stone on top of the deflector legs. The stone should be about 5 cm above the deflector plate, with open air between them.

Close the dome. Target temperature: 320-370 °C. Manage vents to reach and hold this range (typically: bottom vent 2/3 open, top vent 2/3 open; adjust as needed).

Preheat 30-45 minutes. The stone must be fully heat-saturated, not just hot on the surface.

Verify with infrared thermometer: point at the stone surface. Target: 320-370 °C. If the pit temp is 350 but the stone reads 280, the stone is not yet saturated — wait another 10-15 minutes.

Shape + Top + Launch — The 5-Minute Window

Dust your work surface with 00 flour or semolina (semolina has larger grains and acts as tiny ball bearings — better non-stick than flour).

Take one warmed dough ball. Flip it so the seam is on the bottom (the smooth side faces up).

Press down on the center of the ball with fingertips, working outward. Leave a 1 cm untouched rim — this becomes the cornicione (the puffed edge that defines Neapolitan texture).

Lift the dough. Let gravity help stretch it — drape it over your knuckles and rotate slowly, letting it extend. Target diameter: 28-30 cm.

DO NOT use a rolling pin. Rolling pins crush the air bubbles in the dough and destroy the cornicione. Hand-stretching preserves the bubbles.

Transfer the stretched dough to a wooden peel that is well-floured (flour AND semolina). Work fast from this point — wet toppings + wooden peel + delay = stuck pizza.

Top the pizza: 80 g of hand-crushed tomato in a spiral from center outward, stopping 2 cm from the edge. Salt the tomato with a pinch of fine sea salt (this matters — salt on tomato, not on cheese). Scatter 80 g of well-drained mozzarella. Light EVOO drizzle. No basil yet.

Shake the peel gently to verify the pizza slides freely. If it sticks, tilt the peel and add more semolina under the stuck spot.

Open the kamado dome SLOWLY — burp 5 cm open first to prevent flashback — then fully open. Move fast: dome open = heat bleeding out.

Launch: angle the peel over the stone, then use a quick jerk-and-pull motion to slide the pizza onto the stone. The pizza should land centered on the stone.

Close the dome immediately. Start 90-second timer.

The 90-Second Bake

At T+45 seconds: slowly open dome (burp, then open). Use metal peel to rotate the pizza 180° — slide the peel under, lift slightly, rotate, set back down. Close dome.

At T+90 seconds: open dome (burp, then open). Visual assessment:

— Cornicione: should be puffed up and show dark charred spots (not uniform brown — leopard spots are the goal)

— Bottom: lift the pizza slightly with the peel. The bottom should show dark brown/black spots scattered across a lighter brown base (leopard-spotted)

— Cheese: should be fully melted and bubbling, with spots of caramelization

— Tomato: should look vibrant and slightly darkened at the edges, not washed-out pale

If ALL four criteria are met: retrieve. If NOT: close dome, another 30 seconds, reassess.

At T+90-180 sec: retrieve with metal peel. Slide under pizza, lift, transfer to cutting board or plate.

IMMEDIATELY finish: torn fresh basil leaves (placed on the molten cheese, where residual heat wilts them perfectly), final drizzle of EVOO (a light one — the pizza already has tomato oil from the bake), Maldon flaky salt pinch.

🔴 finish toppings: DRAPE thin slices of jamón Ibérico on top (the pizza heat softens the fat; the meat is NOT cooked through — intentional). Shave Manchego with vegetable peeler, scatter. Drizzle a micro-amount of honey (1/4 tsp max — restraint matters).

REST the pizza for 60 seconds before cutting. Fresh mozzarella is molten at 90+ °C when it comes off the kamado; it will burn mouths. The rest also lets the bottom re-crisp slightly.

Timeline

T-48 to T-72 h — Mix dough Whisk 500 g flour + 3 g yeast in large bowl. Add 325 g cool water. Stir to shaggy mass. Rest 15 min (autolyse). Add 10 g salt (and 10 g EVOO if using). Mix to combine. Cover.
T-47 h — Bulk ferment start Four stretch-and-folds, 30 min apart (2 hours total). The dough will become smoother and more elastic with each fold. After the last fold, divide into 4 × 280 g portions. Shape each into a tight ball. Place each ball in its own sealed container (oiled). Refrigerate.
T-45 h to T-3 h — Cold ferment Refrigerator at 4 °C for 48-72 hours. Do not disturb. The dough will expand, develop flavor, and become highly extensible. Longer ferment (72 h) produces more flavor; shorter (48 h) is still excellent.
T-2 h — Room temp warm-up Pull dough balls from fridge. Let them come to room temperature for 2 hours, still in their sealed containers. Cold dough is impossible to stretch; warm dough extends beautifully.
T-45 min — Light kamado Fill firebox 1/2 full with lump charcoal. Place one fist-sized piece of apple wood on top. Electric starter OR chimney starter to light. Do NOT use lighter fluid (never, ever). Install heat deflector LEGS-UP. Place pizza stone on top of deflector legs. Close dome, set vents to reach 350 °C target.
T-20 min — Verify stone temp Use infrared thermometer to measure stone surface temp. Target: 320-370 °C. If below, wait longer. If above 400 °C, crack vents open to cool. The stone temp MUST be in range before first pizza goes on.
T-5 min — Shape pizza #1 Dust bench with 00 flour or semolina. Gently press one dough ball from center outward, leaving a 1 cm cornicione rim untouched. Stretch by hand, rotating and letting gravity help. Target: 28-30 cm diameter. Do NOT use a rolling pin — it destroys the cornicione.
T-2 min — Top pizza Transfer stretched dough to a well-floured wooden peel. WORK FAST (dough sticks to peel in minutes). Spoon 80 g tomato in center, spiral outward to within 2 cm of edge. Drain mozzarella slices one more time on paper towels, scatter across the pizza. Drizzle a micro amount of EVOO. Salt the tomatoes. Basil AFTER bake (fresh basil incinerates at kamado temps).
T-0 — Launch Open kamado dome slowly (5 cm first = burp — prevents flashback). Slide pizza from peel onto stone with a quick jerk-and-pull motion. Close dome immediately. Start 90-second timer.
T+45 sec — Check, rotate Open dome slowly (burp again). Using metal peel, rotate pizza 180° for even cooking. Close dome.
T+90 sec — Assess Open dome. Check: is cornicione puffed and charred? Is bottom leopard-spotted (brown patches)? If YES → retrieve. If NO → give it another 30-60 sec.
T+90-180 sec — Retrieve Use metal peel to slide pizza off stone. Transfer to wooden board or plate. Immediately add: torn fresh basil, a final drizzle of EVOO, Maldon flaky salt, any 🔴 finish toppings (jamón Ibérico, shaved Manchego, honey drizzle).
T+90-120 sec — Service Let pizza rest 60 seconds (the fresh mozzarella is molten and will burn mouths). Cut into 6 slices with rocker knife or pizza wheel. Serve immediately. Start shaping pizza #2 while the first is eaten.