Pizza dough calculator

Baker's percentage and pizza

Pizza dough is where home cooks first encounter baker's percentage — the professional notation where flour is 100% and every other ingredient is expressed as a percentage of flour weight. A classic Neapolitan-style pizza dough:

• Flour: 100%
• Water: 62-65%
• Salt: 2.5-3%
• Instant yeast: 0.2-0.5% (lower yeast = slower cold fermentation = better flavor)

For a single 14-inch Neapolitan pizza (~280g dough ball): 170g flour × 100% = 170g flour, 110g water (65%), 4.5g salt (2.6%), 0.5g yeast (0.3%). Total dough: 285g.

Dough ball weight by pizza style

Each pizza style has a signature dough ball weight:

• Neapolitan (10-12 inch thin): 250-280g per pie
• New York style (16-18 inch): 500-600g per pie
• Sicilian / Grandma (9×13 rectangle): 600-700g per pan
• Detroit-style (10×14 rectangle): 550-650g per pan
• Chicago deep dish (9-inch): 700-850g per pie (thicker, higher hydration-adjusted)
• Roman-style al taglio (sheet pan): 800-1000g per sheet (high hydration 75-80%)

Hydration by pizza style

• New York style: 58-62% (stiffer, easier to shape, chewier)
• Neapolitan: 60-65%
• Detroit: 65-70% (wetter, puffier crumb)
• Sicilian: 70-75%
• Roman al taglio: 80-85% (very wet; uses biga pre-ferment)
• Focaccia-style: 80-90%

Flour choice changes everything

Neapolitan uses 00 flour (Caputo Pizzeria is the standard, ~12.5% protein, double-zero milled extra-fine). Burns less at 900°F wood-fired oven temperatures. At home without a pizza oven, 00 flour produces floppy crust because the ultra-hot quick-bake doesn't happen.

New York style uses high-gluten bread flour (13-14% protein) or "high-gluten" flour (King Arthur Sir Lancelot, 14% protein). More protein = more chewy pull.

At home (500°F max oven): bread flour gives you the chew and browning you want. 00 flour works best if you have a pizza steel preheated at 550°F for 45 minutes.

Cold fermentation: the secret to great home pizza

Cold-retard your dough 24-72 hours in the fridge. This slow fermentation develops flavor compounds (acids, esters) that same-day dough can't match. Technique:

1. Mix dough with low yeast (0.3%) and short knead.
2. Bulk ferment at room temp 1-2 hours until just started to rise.
3. Divide, shape into balls.
4. Fridge 24-72 hours in lightly oiled containers (separate or proofing box).
5. Remove 1 hour before baking to come to room temp.
6. Shape and bake.

Why it works: cold temperatures slow yeast but don't stop enzymatic activity. Amylase breaks starches into sugars; proteases modify gluten. Result: more flavor, more blistering, better browning.

Scaling up: multiple pizzas

For 6 New York pizzas (500g each = 3000g total dough):

• Flour: 1820g (100%)
• Water: 1110g (61%)
• Salt: 50g (2.75%)
• Yeast: 5g (0.27%)
• Olive oil: 55g (3%)
• Sugar: 20g (1.1% — helps browning at home oven temps)

Total: 3060g, yielding 6 balls at 510g each. Slightly over-sized accounts for rounding and handling loss.

The Poolish pre-ferment (flavor upgrade)

A poolish is a 100%-hydration pre-ferment: equal weights flour + water + tiny yeast. Mix the night before, sits at room temp 12-18 hours, then gets added to the main dough.

For a 6-pizza New York recipe: Poolish = 300g flour + 300g water + 0.3g yeast. Main dough the next day: remaining 1520g flour + 810g water + 50g salt + 4.7g yeast + 55g oil + 20g sugar. Combine with poolish.

Poolish improves: flavor complexity (more fermentation), browning (acids lower surface pH), rise (pre-developed yeast activity), shelf life (acid inhibits mold).

Pizza dough troubleshooting

• Dough won't stretch / keeps snapping back: Under-rested. Let dough relax 15-20 min at room temp, try again. If still snapping, hydration may be too low.
• Dough tears during shaping: Over-proofed or over-hydrated. Next batch, reduce proof time or hydration by 3%.
• Crust too hard / crackery: Over-baked or too thin. Aim for 90-second bake at max oven temp; reduce shaping thickness.
• Crust too pale: Oven not hot enough. Preheat pizza steel 45 min at max temp. Add 1% sugar to dough next time.
• Soggy bottom: Wet toppings or insufficient preheat. Blot high-moisture toppings. Preheat steel longer.
• Crumb too dense: Under-fermented. Next batch, cold-retard 48+ hours.

The pizza steel vs. stone debate

Baking Steel ($99 for 14"×16") vs. pizza stone ($30-60). Steel has ~20x the thermal conductivity of stone. Faster heat transfer to dough = better rise, better leoparding (charred blisters), shorter bake time.

For home ovens at 500°F max: steel gives you an edge over stone. In a 900°F pizza oven: stone works fine because the temperature is extreme enough that conductivity matters less.

Pizza dough timeline planning

For Saturday dinner pizza:

• Friday morning 8 AM: mix poolish
• Friday evening 6 PM: mix main dough, bulk ferment 1 hour, divide into balls
• Friday 7 PM: balls into fridge
• Saturday 6 PM: pull dough out, come to room temp 1 hour
• Saturday 7 PM: preheat oven at max
• Saturday 7:45 PM: preheat pizza steel
• Saturday 8:30 PM: bake pizzas

Toppings: the 1/3 rule

Pizza is 1/3 crust, 1/3 sauce/cheese, 1/3 toppings (by visual area). Over-top and you get soggy bottom, under-browned crust, sliding cheese. Good pizzas are restrained. Neapolitan: 80g mozzarella + 60g tomato sauce + 3 basil leaves per pie. New York: slightly more (100g mozz + 80g sauce + optional pepperoni at 40g). Not a pile.

Related: dough hydration, sourdough starter, recipe scaler, cups to grams.

The one-sentence pizza dough rule

Cold-ferment 48-72 hours at 62% hydration in bread flour with 0.3% yeast and you will make better pizza than 80% of restaurants in your city. The technique is embarrassingly simple once you stop rushing.

Worked dough calculations for 4 styles

Neapolitan for 4 pizzas at 260 g each = 1,040 g dough. At 62% hydration, 2.8% salt, 0.2% fresh yeast: flour = 1040 / 1.65 = 630 g. Water = 390 g. Salt = 18 g. Yeast = 1.3 g. 72 hr cold bulk at 38°F, then 6 hr warm proof in balls.

NY style for 2 pies at 450 g each (14-inch) = 900 g. 65% hydration, 2% salt, 0.3% IDY, 2% oil, 1% sugar: flour = 900 / 1.70 = 529 g. Water = 344 g. Salt = 11 g. Yeast = 1.6 g. Oil = 11 g. Sugar = 5 g.

Detroit for 1 10×14 pan = 625 g dough. 70% hydration, 2% salt, 0.4% IDY, 5% olive oil: flour = 625 / 1.75 = 357 g. Water = 250 g. Salt = 7 g. Yeast = 1.4 g. Oil = 18 g. Higher hydration + oil = open honeycomb crumb.

Roman al taglio for 1 half-sheet (13×18) = 1,050 g. 80% hydration, 2% salt, 0.2% IDY, 3% oil: flour = 1050 / 1.85 = 568 g. Water = 454 g. Salt = 11 g. Yeast = 1.1 g. Oil = 17 g. This is a wet dough — use a scraper, not hands.

Flour buying guide for pizza

• Caputo 00 Pizzeria (blue bag, $5/kg): 12.5% protein, ground to talc. The Neapolitan standard. 900°F wood oven.
• Caputo Americana (red bag, $6/kg): 13.5%, higher extraction. For gas deck ovens 550-700°F.
• King Arthur Sir Lancelot (13.8%, $8/kg): High-gluten. NY style, Detroit, any dough going more than 600°F.
• King Arthur Bread Flour (12.7%, $4/kg): All-purpose winner. Good for all styles if you can't find 00.
• Central Milling Artisan 00 ($6/kg): US-milled clone of Caputo. Fresh, more nutritious than imported.

Oven time-and-temp chart

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between 00 and bread flour? 00 refers to grind (fineness), not protein. Caputo 00 Pizzeria is 12.5% protein and talc-fine. US bread flour is 12-14% protein, coarser grind. Fine grind = faster hydration, smoother dough; higher protein = more gluten development.

Is fresh yeast actually better? Flavor, slightly. Consistency, yes. Convenience, no. IDY has a 2 year shelf life vs fresh yeast's 3 weeks. Conversion: 1 g fresh = 0.33 g IDY = 0.4 g active dry.

Why cold ferment for 72 hours? Cold slows yeast 10x but slows enzymatic and bacterial breakdown only 3x. Result: more flavor development per unit of rise. 72 hr cold dough is flavor-equivalent to 8 hr warm but with tighter, more digestible gluten.

How do I know when dough is ready? Poke test: press 1/2" deep with a floured finger. Spring back fast = under-proofed. Spring back slow = ready. No spring back = over-proofed (use immediately or discard).

What's a poolish vs biga? Both are pre-ferments. Poolish = 100% hydration (equal flour and water), 0.1% yeast, 12-16 hr. Biga = 50-60% hydration, 1% yeast, 16-24 hr. Poolish adds extensibility; biga adds strength and sour notes.

Can I use instant dough from the freezer? Yes. Freeze portioned balls after bulk ferment, wrapped tight. Thaw in fridge 24 hr, then ball and warm proof 4 hr. Texture drops 10-15% vs fresh but still better than delivery.

Why won't my dough stretch? Under-hydrated (bump to 65%+), under-fermented (extend bulk), or too cold (proof balls 2 hr at 75°F before shaping). Gluten needs water, time, and warmth to relax.

What hydration for a home oven at 550°F? 62-65%. Higher hydration needs higher heat to evaporate water before crust sets. 70%+ hydration in a 550 oven yields a soggy-bottom, tough-top result.

Best pizza steel in 2026? NerdChef 3/8" ($100) or Baking Steel Original 1/4" ($90). Steel conducts 20x faster than stone — matches 700°F pizza oven bottom heat from a 550°F home oven. Preheat 45 min minimum.