Pizza Dept.

Open all night

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo

Thick, chewy, cup-and-char pepperoni

Scale this formula

Halfway between a New York round and a pan pizza: thicker than a slice joint pie, baked on an oiled screen or pan so the bottom crisps, with a sweeter sauce and pepperoni that curls into grease cups.

Method

  1. Mix a soft, slightly sweet dough and knead until smooth.
  2. Bulk until doubled, then press into an oiled pan or onto an oiled screen.
  3. Proof in the pan until visibly risen, about an hour and a half.
  4. Sauce to the edge, then a heavy layer of cheese, then the pepperoni on top so it cups and chars.
  5. Bake until the edges pull away from the pan.

Fermentation

StageTimeTemperatureNotes
Bulk 2 h 23°C / 73°F
Pan proof 1.5 h 23°C / 73°F

Times are a guide. How to read the dough instead of the clock →

The bake

Oven260°C500°F
Time13-16 minutes

Surface. Oiled pan or screen

Use natural-casing pepperoni cut thick. Thin deli slices lie flat and never cup.

On top

Sauce
Cooked, sweet, oregano-forward.
Cheese
Whole milk mozzarella, applied heavily.
Toppings
Pepperoni. Occasionally hot sauce, which the rest of the country assumes is mandatory and is not.

You got it right when Curled pepperoni cups holding orange grease, and a crumb closer to bread than cracker.