Home Pizza Glossary: 15 Terms Explained
The words that show up in home pizza specs, reviews and how-to guides, explained without jargon.
- 00 flour
- Finely milled Italian flour, the traditional choice for Neapolitan pizza in very hot ovens.
- Related: Best 00 Pizza Flour for Homemade Neapolitan Crust →
- Baker's percentage
- Expressing each ingredient relative to flour weight, making dough recipes easy to scale.
- Related: Best Kitchen Scales for Baking and Pizza Dough →
- Cold fermentation
- Proofing dough in the fridge for 24-72 hours for better flavour and easier stretching.
- Related: Best Dough Storage Containers for Fermentation →
- Cornicione
- The raised, airy outer rim of a pizza.
- Dough ball
- A portioned, shaped piece of dough proofed individually before stretching.
- Related: Best Dough Proofing Boxes for Pizza at Home →
- Hydration
- Water weight as a percentage of flour weight. Higher hydration makes a softer, more open crust that is harder to handle.
- Infrared thermometer
- A point-and-read thermometer for checking stone or floor temperature.
- Related: Best Infrared Thermometers for Pizza Ovens →
- Launching peel
- A wide peel for sliding raw pizza into the oven.
- Related: Best Pizza Peels for Launching and Turning Pies →
- Leoparding
- Small charred spots on the crust from intense heat.
- Neapolitan pizza
- A soft, puffy pizza baked in about 60-90 seconds at very high temperatures.
- New York style
- A larger, thinner, foldable pizza baked longer at lower temperatures than Neapolitan.
- Pizza steel
- A thick steel plate that conducts heat faster than stone, great for home ovens.
- Related: Best Pizza Steels for Crispier Home Oven Crust →
- Pizza stone
- A ceramic or cordierite slab that absorbs and radiates heat for a crisp base.
- Related: Best Pizza Stones for Home Ovens and Grills →
- Semolina dusting
- Coarse semolina on the peel that helps pizza slide off like ball bearings.
- Related: Best Semolina Flour for Pizza Peels and Crispier Crusts →
- Turning peel
- A small round peel for rotating pizzas inside hot ovens.
- Related: Best Turning Peels for Even Home Pizza Bakes →