9 Different Types of Pizza to Try in Your Outdoor Oven
From Neapolitan to Detroit: how to match the style to the oven, the crust, and the cook.
Most people buy an outdoor pizza oven thinking they'll make one kind of pizza. Then a few months in, they realize the oven can do a lot more than a classic Neapolitan— and suddenly they want to try everything.
The catch: not every pizza cooks the same way. A Neapolitan wants roaring heat and 90 seconds. Detroit wants a steady 500°F and a steel pan. A Chicago deep-dish is casserole-like. Knowing the differences — and how to set your oven up for each — is what separates someone who owns a pizza oven from someone who actually uses it.
This guide walks through nine pizza styles worth learning, what makes each one distinct, the crust and hydration behind it, and how to cook it in a wood-fired or hybrid oven at home. Keep in mind each dough recipe (even within the different styles) is just a little bit different so as you cook you may realize you prefer a higher or lower temperature, more or less time in the oven to achieve the perfect pie.
Why the Style You Cook Changes Everything
A pizza's style is really three decisions stacked on top of each other: the dough (hydration, flour, fermentation), the shape (round, square, pan, no pan), and the cook (temperature and time). Get one wrong and the whole pie falls apart — literally.
This is where having real heat control matters more than raw peak temperature. Fontana ovens let you cook a 900°F Neapolitan at lunch and a 500°F Detroit for dinner without changing equipment.
Our hybrid ovens allow you to choose between cooking with wood or gas which can also be a factor in the taste of your pizza. Here are nine of the pizza styles we love. Which one will you try first?
Nine Pizza Styles Worth Learning
1. Neapolitan Pizza
What is a Neapolitan pizza? A Neapolitan is the original — a thin, soft, pillowy pizza baked in under 90 seconds at 850–900°F. The crust puffs dramatically at the edge, the center stays tender and slightly wet, and toppings are kept minimal: San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil.
The dough runs high hydration — usually 60–65% — made with Italian 00 flour, which is milled ultra-fine and creates that signature soft chew. Fermentation is typically 24–48 hours cold.
You need real heat for this one. A wood-fired or hybrid oven holding 850°F+ with a hot stone is non-negotiable. Under 800°F and you lose the leopard-spot char on the crust that defines the style.
Cook target: 60–90 seconds, stone at 750–800°F, dome at 850–900°F. Rotate at 30 seconds.
2. New York Style Pizza
New York style is the large, foldable slice pizza most Americans grew up with. It's thinner than pan pizzas but sturdier than Neapolitan — crisp enough on the bottom to hold a slice horizontally, chewy enough to fold in half.
The dough sits around 58–62% hydration with high-gluten bread flour and a bit of oil and sugar. That sugar helps the bottom brown at lower temperatures than a Neapolitan.
Cook it closer to 600–650°F for 4–6 minutes. This is where heat control really pays off — crank an oven to 900°F for a New York pie and you'll burn the bottom before the cheese even starts bubbling.
Cook target: 4–6 minutes, stone at 600–650°F.
3. Detroit Style Pizza
What makes Detroit-style pizza different? Detroit is a rectangular, deep-pan pizza with a thick, airy crust and a lacy, caramelized cheese edge where the brick cheese melts down and forms a frico against the hot steel pan. The sauce goes on top of the cheese in stripes, not under it.
The dough is high hydration (70%+) and pressed into a seasoned blue steel or anodized aluminum pan. The pan is doing most of the work — it conducts heat aggressively into the bottom crust and creates that signature crunchy, almost-fried base.
How to cook Detroit-style pizza in an outdoor oven: run the oven at 500–550°F with the damper partially closed to hold steady heat or set the Volta and forget about it. Place the pan directly on the stone (or on a rack if you have one) and cook for 10–14 minutes. The stone acts as a thermal battery; the pan does the browning.
4. Chicago Deep-Dish
Can I make a deep dish pizza in an outdoor oven? Yes — if you can hold a steady moderate temperature. Chicago deep-dish is essentially a pie: a buttery, biscuit-like crust pressed up the sides of a deep pan, layered with cheese first, then toppings, then crushed tomatoes on top. It cooks low and slow for a pizza — around 425–475°F for 25–35 minutes.
The dough often includes cornmeal or semolina for that crumbly, cracker-like texture, and it uses butter or oil to create a pastry-like crust rather than the chewy bread texture of other styles.
This is one of the cases where the Volta shines. You want a long, steady, moderate bake — which is perfect with the set it and forget it feature the digital temperature control allows for.
Cook target: 25–35 minutes, 425–475°F, deep pan on the stone.
5. Sicilian Pizza
What sets Sicilian pizza apart? Sicilian (sfincione) is a thick, rectangular, focaccia-style pizza with a soft, open crumb and a golden, olive-oil-fried bottom. Traditional sfincione is topped with tomato, onions, anchovies, breadcrumbs, and caciocavallo — no mozzarella in the original.
The dough runs 75–80% hydration and gets a long, slow rise directly in the oiled pan. That high hydration and the oil create a crumb structure closer to focaccia than to a pizza crust.
Cook target: 18–22 minutes at 500°F. The pan should be generously oiled.
6. Roman Pizza
Roman pizza actually splits into two styles, and they're completely different:
• Pizza Romana (round): Thin, cracker-crisp, low hydration (around 55%), often with a bit of oil in the dough. Cook quickly at 550–600°F for 3–5 minutes. The goal is snap — a crust you can hear break.
• Pizza al Taglio (by the cut): Rectangular, high-hydration (80%+), focaccia-adjacent, sold by weight in bakeries across Rome. Long fermentation, cold rise, baked in oiled trays at 475–525°F for 15–20 minutes.
Both are worth the effort. Pizza al taglio in particular is a great dinner-party move because you can prep it ahead and reheat slices to order. But given that Pizza Romana takes only about five minutes to bake it’s a great choice too.
7. St. Louis Style Pizza
St. Louis is a regional oddity worth knowing. The crust is unleavened — no yeast — so it bakes into a thin, crackery, almost matzo-like base. The cheese isn't mozzarella: it's Provel, a processed blend of provolone, Swiss, and white cheddar that melts into a buttery, almost cheese-sauce texture.
It's cut into squares (the "tavern cut" or "party cut"), and it cooks fast because there's no dough to fully develop — around 500°F for 6–8 minutes.
Love it or hate it, St. Louis is an easy one to try on a weeknight because there's no fermentation time.
8. Bar / Tavern Style Pizza
Bar-style (also called tavern or Chicago thin) is the other Chicago pizza — the one locals actually eat on a weeknight. It's thin, round, and cut into squares, with a dough that's low in hydration and slightly sweet, rolled (not stretched) very thin.
The defining move is that the toppings and cheese go edge-to-edge, with no outer crust ring. The whole pie should be crispy enough to shatter slightly when you bite it.
Cook target: 7–10 minutes at 550°F on a well-heated stone. Cornmeal on the peel helps with the launch since the dough is stiff and doesn't slide easily.
9. Grandma Pizza
Grandma pizza is the home-cook's answer to Sicilian — a square, thin-ish pizza baked directly in an oiled sheet pan. It originated in Long Island Italian-American kitchens, named for the nonnas who made pizza without owning a pizza oven.
The dough runs 65% hydration, rests in the oiled pan for 2–4 hours, and gets topped with dollops of crushed tomato, thinly sliced garlic, fresh mozzarella, and olive oil. The bottom fries in the oil against the pan, creating a crust that's crispy on the outside and tender inside.
Cook target: 12–16 minutes at 525°F. This is another style where a hybrid oven makes life easier — the gas burner holds that temp precisely for the whole cook.
A Quick Guide to Pizza Crust Types
What are the different types of pizza crusts? Pizza crusts vary by hydration (water-to-flour ratio), flour type, and fermentation time. Higher hydration and longer fermentation create more open, airy crumbs like Neapolitan and Sicilian. Lower hydration and shorter rest times produce crispier, denser crusts like tavern-style and St. Louis. Again, cook times will vary a bit based on your dough recipe.
Here's the shorthand:
• Thin and chewy (Neapolitan, NY): 60–65% hydration, 00 or bread flour, 24–72 hour cold ferment.
• Thin and crispy (Tavern, St. Louis, Roman Romana): 50–58% hydration, bread flour, short ferment, sometimes no yeast.
• Thick and airy (Sicilian, Detroit, al Taglio): 70–80%+ hydration, bread or high-protein flour, long room-temp ferment in the pan.
• Pastry-style (Chicago deep-dish): 55–60% hydration, with butter or oil and often cornmeal, short rest.
Do Different Types of Pizza Cook Differently?
Yes — wildly. A Neapolitan cooks in 90 seconds at 900°F. A Chicago deep-dish cooks in 30 minutes at 450°F. That's a 20x difference in time and a 450-degree swing in temperature, in the same oven, for food called by the same name.
This is why heat control matters more than most first-time buyers realize. A pizza oven that only rips at maximum temperature is really a Neapolitan oven. An oven that can hold a steady 500°F with a damper and dial down to 425°F for a deep-dish is a pizza oven for every style on this list.
Fontana's ovens are built for this full range. The built-in damper controls airflow and temperature, the dual-fuel design lets you use gas for precision or wood for flavor (or both, simultaneously, which is the best pizza oven to make in a wood-fired oven setup we recommend), and the Saputo stones — handmade in Italy from a proprietary refractory material, with a limited annual production — retain heat long enough to cook back-to-back pies without cratering.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the different types of pizza?
The main pizza styles are Neapolitan, New York, Detroit, Chicago deep-dish, Sicilian, Roman (both Romana and al Taglio), St. Louis, bar/tavern style, and grandma pizza. They differ in crust hydration, pan versus stone cooking, temperature, and cook time — from 90 seconds to 35 minutes.
What is the best kind of pizza?
There's no single best pizza — it depends on texture preference and occasion. Neapolitan is best for purists who want a soft, wet-centered pie. New York style is best for feeding a crowd. Detroit is best for something different.
Can I make a deep dish pizza in an outdoor oven?
Yes, a deep-dish pizza cooks well in an outdoor oven as long as you can hold a steady 425–475°F for 25–35 minutes which is easy in the Volta. Use a seasoned deep pan, place it directly on the stone, and close the damper partway to prevent the top from burning before the center sets.
Do different types of pizza cook differently?
Yes. Neapolitan cooks at 850–900°F in 90 seconds. New York needs 600–650°F for 5 minutes. Detroit and Sicilian sit around 500°F for 10–22 minutes. Chicago deep-dish goes as low as 425°F for 30+ minutes. An oven with real heat control can handle all of them.
What is a Neapolitan pizza?
A Neapolitan pizza is a traditional Italian pizza with a thin center, puffy charred edge (and minimal toppings — usually San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and olive oil. It's cooked in a wood-fired or gas oven at 850–900°F for 60–90 seconds.
What flour should I use for homemade pizza?
For Neapolitan, use Italian 00 flour — it's milled fine and creates a soft, chewy crust. For New York and most American styles, use high-gluten bread flour. For pan styles like Sicilian and Detroit, bread flour or a bread/00 blend works well. All purpose can work for some pizzas depending on the recipe.
About Fontana Forni Outdoor Ovens
Fontana Forni has been hand-building wood-fired and gas-fired ovens in Italy for over three generations. Every Fontana oven is designed and manufactured in Italy, using stainless steel construction, thick insulation, and superior craftsmanship.
The hybrid line gives you both gas and wood in one chamber, so you can cook a Neapolitan on live fire at lunch and hold a Detroit at 500°F on gas for dinner. Built-in dampers give real heat control — not just max heat. For cooks who want digital precision, the Volta smart oven adds app control, temperature probes, and set-and-forget programming.
Ready to Start Cooking Your Way Through the List?
Whether you're chasing the perfect 90-second Neapolitan or planning a bar-style pizza night for the neighborhood, the oven you pick decides how many of these styles you can actually pull off. Explore the Fontana outdoor pizza oven collection to see which model fits your setup — and which unlocks the full nine.
