Both doughs come from Ken Forkish’s The Elements of Pizza, and both rely on the same idea: a very small amount of yeast, a warm start and a day on the counter. Forkish offers them for the morning you decide you want pizza for dinner, and he’s candid that the best doughs take a little more time.
They do have something going for them. The first time Forkish made the Saturday dough, he was struck by how delicate the crust was.
Saturday Pizza Dough (about 8 hours)
Forkish based this dough on the rules of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), as his 2016 book describes them, adapted for a home kitchen. It keeps the AVPN’s salt and yeast percentages, using instant yeast at a third of the weight of the fresh yeast the AVPN requires, and a similar timeline: 2 hours in bulk, then the dough balls ferment for 6 hours. He raised the water to 70%, from the 55 to 58% he gives for the AVPN dough, because a home oven bakes far longer than a wood-fired one, and a longer bake dries the crust. (The AVPN’s current public recipe, 1 liter of water to 1.6 to 1.8 kg of flour, works out to about 56 to 63%, calculated.)
Makes 3 dough balls of about 288 g, for three 12-inch pizzas (or 5 thin-crust). Active time about 15 minutes. Elapsed time at least 8 hours to the first pizza. Bake 6 to 10 minutes per pizza.
| Ingredient | Grams | Baker’s % |
|---|---|---|
| Water at 90 to 95°F (32 to 35°C) | 350 | 70% |
| Fine sea salt | 15 | 3% |
| Instant yeast | 0.3 | 0.06% |
| White flour, preferably 00 | 500 | 100% |
| Dough | 865 |
In the EPUB edition consulted for this article, the recipe table prints the yeast as 0.6%. The method calls for the same 0.3 g, and 0.3 g in 500 g of flour is 0.06% (calculated).
- Measure 350 g water at 90 to 95°F (32 to 35°C) into a 6-quart dough tub. Stir in 15 g fine sea salt until dissolved. Add 0.3 g instant yeast, let it hydrate for a minute, then swirl until dissolved.
- Add 500 g flour. Mix by hand until it’s all one mass, then alternately pinch through the dough and fold it over itself for 30 seconds to a minute. The dough should be about 80°F (27°C).
- Rest 20 minutes, then knead on a lightly floured counter for 30 seconds to a minute, until the skin is very smooth. Put it seam side down in a lightly oiled tub and cover.
- First rise: leave at room temperature, 70 to 74°F (21 to 23°C), for 2 hours.
- Divide into 3 pieces of about 288 g and shape each into a medium-tight ball without tearing the surface.
- Set the balls apart on floured plates, flour the tops, cover airtight and leave at room temperature for 6 hours, until relaxed, soft and gassy, with bubbles visible on the underside.
- Preheat a steel or stone at 500 to 550°F (260 to 288°C) for 45 to 60 minutes. Stretch each ball to about 12 inches, top and bake for 6 to 10 minutes, until the base is cooked through. Use the balls within 4 hours, or see the notes on holding them overnight.
Forkish’s 2-hour first rise is flexible: if you need to shape after 1 or 1½ hours, he says, shape early and add the difference to the dough balls’ time. His own home-oven method, which uses the broiler to recharge the steel, is covered in how to bake pizza in a home oven.
”I Slept In but I Want Pizza Tonight” dough (about 6 hours)
For when it’s already late morning. Forkish speeds this one up with hotter water, more yeast and less salt.
| Ingredient | Grams | Baker’s % |
|---|---|---|
| Water at 100°F (38°C) in winter, a little cooler in summer | 350 | 70% |
| Fine sea salt | 10 | 2% |
| Instant yeast | 0.5 | 0.1% |
| White flour, preferably 00 | 500 | 100% |
| Dough | 860 |
The method is the same as the Saturday dough, with three changes: aim for a dough temperature of about 82°F (28°C) after mixing, give it about 1½ hours in bulk, and leave the dough balls for 4 to 6 hours. Three balls weigh about 287 g each.
The temperatures behind the timing
Forkish’s timelines rest on three numbers, and his schedules only work if you’re close to them:
- The room: 70 to 74°F (21 to 23°C) during the day. He developed the recipes in a Portland kitchen that runs about 70°F by day and 5 or 6°F warmer in summer.
- The water: 90 to 95°F (32 to 35°C) for the Saturday dough, 100°F (38°C) for I Slept In. Measure it with a thermometer; the water temperature isn’t the same as the temperature of the mixed dough.
- The dough after mixing: about 80°F (27°C) for Saturday, 82°F (28°C) for I Slept In. Check it with a probe thermometer and write it down.
If your dough comes out cooler, it will take longer; find a warmer spot for it. In a hot kitchen, Forkish suggests water 10 to 15°F (5 to 8°C) cooler, aiming for a dough in the low 70s°F (low 20s°C), or a little less yeast, and accepting that it may take a couple of tries to find what works. For the arithmetic of hitting a target dough temperature, see the desired dough temperature formula.
When the dough balls are ready
Forkish’s test for a mature dough ball: it’s relaxed and stretches out easily. Turn it over and you should see gassy holes on the bottom; it should feel soft and pliable, with gas you can sense in your hands, and seem delicate and structurally sound at the same time.
If it still springs back when you try to stretch it, it needs more time. If it has spread, gone slack and lost its shape, it has gone too far; Forkish compares too much time to too much to drink. See over-proofed pizza dough for what you can still do with it.
Near the end of the Saturday dough’s 4-hour hold, Forkish notes, the balls will be a little gassy, very easy to stretch and a little delicate. That’s normal for this dough.
Holding the dough balls overnight
Both doughs can wait if dinner moves:
- Saturday: after the balls have spent 4 hours at room temperature, refrigerate them to hold until the next evening. Give them an hour at room temperature before making pizza.
- I Slept In: refrigerate the balls if you need them to hold a little longer, then let them come back to room temperature.
How the Pizza Planner’s same-day schedule compares
For hearth pizzas in a home oven, the Planner’s same-day schedule is the Saturday dough’s: 0.06% instant yeast, about 2 hours for the first rise (1½ to 3) and about 6 hours as dough balls (4½ to 9). For Neapolitan-style dough it also uses the same 70% water and 3% salt.
The difference is the ball size. The Planner sizes a 12-inch Neapolitan-style pizza at 250 g of dough, a little less than a third of Forkish’s batch, so for three 12-inch pizzas it asks for 433 g flour, 303 g water, 13 g salt and 0.26 g instant yeast. That’s 750 g of dough instead of 865.
For New York style, the Planner’s same-day dough keeps the timing and uses 64% water and 2.8% salt, which is how Forkish himself suggests converting the Saturday dough: switch to high-protein bread flour and use his New York dough’s water. The Planner doesn’t model the I Slept In dough.
The Planner doesn’t shorten or lengthen the schedule for your room temperature. It treats 68 to 75°F (20 to 24°C) as its reference, warns you outside that, and won’t plan a room below 64°F or above 79°F (18 to 26°C). In either case, go by the dough.
If you have a day to spare, Forkish’s 24- to 48-hour dough uses the same flour and water with 13 g salt and 1.5 g yeast, and goes into the fridge as dough balls. See the overnight pizza dough recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the difference between the Saturday and 'I Slept In' doughs?
- Speed. The Saturday dough uses 15 g salt and 0.3 g instant yeast for 500 g flour and takes at least 8 hours: 2 in bulk and 6 as dough balls. The I Slept In dough uses 10 g salt, 0.5 g yeast and hotter water, about 100°F, for a 1½-hour bulk rise and 4 to 6 hours as balls. Forkish credits the Saturday dough's 3% salt with letting its balls hold at room temperature.
- Can I measure the yeast with a spoon?
- Forkish gives volume equivalents, 0.3 g is about a third of a quarter teaspoon and 0.5 g about half of a quarter teaspoon, but recommends weighing. At these amounts a spoon is only an estimate, so a scale that reads to 0.01 g makes the result much more repeatable.
- My kitchen is much warmer or cooler than 70°F. What should I change?
- Forkish adjusts the water. In a hot kitchen he suggests water 10 to 15°F cooler, aiming for a dough in the low 70s°F, or a little less yeast; in a cool one, warmer water or a warmer spot, and more time. Either way, judge the dough balls by how relaxed and gassy they are rather than by the clock.
- Can I refrigerate same-day dough balls?
- Yes. For the Saturday dough, Forkish refrigerates the balls after 4 hours at room temperature to hold them until the next evening, then gives them an hour at room temperature before making pizza. For the I Slept In dough, refrigerate if you need them to hold longer and let them come back to room temperature.
Sources
- Ken Forkish, The Elements of Pizza (2016), EPUB edition: chapter 3 (details 1, 2, 5, 7 and 8: hydration and the oven, time and temperature, seasonal adjustments, mature dough balls and salt), chapter 5 (mixing and kneading by hand, dough temperature, the home-oven bake) and chapter 6 (the chapter introduction, the Saturday Pizza Dough, the “I Slept In but I Want Pizza Tonight” Dough, the 24- to 48-Hour Pizza Dough and the New York dough conversion note).
- Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana: public Neapolitan pizza recipe (water and flour quantities). Checked October 14, 2026.