Pizza styles, compared
Two styles, side by side, settled with numbers instead of opinions. Each comparison lays the doughs out by hydration, oil, oven heat and flour — all weighed by the calculator — then says, in plain terms, which one to make when.
Neapolitan vs New York
Both are round and hand-stretched, but they part ways at the oven: Neapolitan is a lean, blistered 90-second pie from a roaring oven, while New York is an oil-and-sugar dough built to bake slower into big, foldable slices.
Detroit vs Sicilian
Two thick pan squares often confused, but built differently: Detroit is a tall, airy steel-pan pie defined by its crispy frico cheese edges, while Sicilian (sfincione) is a denser, spongier square with more dough and a generous hand of oil.
Neapolitan vs Thin & crispy
Both are round Italian pizzas, but opposite in texture: Neapolitan is soft and puffy with a high, airy rim, while tonda romana is rolled cracker-thin to snap when you fold it.
New York vs Detroit
Two American favorites with different geometry: New York is a thin, foldable round stretched by hand, while Detroit is a thick, airy rectangle baked in a deep steel pan with caramelized cheese edges.
Roman teglia vs Focaccia
The two wettest doughs in the lineup and easily blurred, but they aim at different things: Roman teglia is high-hydration pizza al taglio with a big open crumb, while focaccia is an even wetter, oil-soaked bread you dimple and often eat on its own.
Pinsa vs Neapolitan
Both are round-ish, hand-stretched Italian doughs, but they chase opposite textures: Neapolitan is a soft, fast-fired pie with a puffy charred rim, while pinsa romana is a much wetter, longer-fermented flatbread stretched to an airy, crisp-bottomed oval.
Grandma vs Sicilian
Two square sheet-pan pizzas often confused, built opposite ways: grandma is thin, barely proofed and fried crisp in oil, while Sicilian (sfincione) is a thick, slowly-risen, spongy square carrying far more dough.
Tavern vs Thin & crispy
Two cracker-crisp thin crusts from different cities: tavern is the Chicago thin, rolled stiff and party-cut into squares, while the Roman tonda (scrocchiarella) is an even drier, oil-rich round that snaps when you fold it.
Neapolitan vs Roman teglia
The two most Italian answers to 'pizza' are barely the same food: Neapolitan is a soft, puffy-rimmed round fired in well under two minutes, while Roman teglia is a wet, airy slab baked in a pan and sold by the cut.
Sicilian vs Focaccia
Both are thick, oil-happy pan bakes, which is exactly why they blur together — but Sicilian is a pizza, a tall sfincione crumb built to carry toppings, while focaccia is a wetter, even oilier dimpled bread that's perfectly content with nothing but salt.
Thin & crispy vs New York
Crisp versus foldable, settled in the dough: the Roman tonda is a dry, rolled-thin round that shatters when you bite it, while New York is a bigger, gently enriched dough stretched into the wide slice you fold to eat.
The clock is a suggestion. The dough is the boss. In bocca al lupo!