Pizza Dough Calculator | Hydration & Baker Percentages
Build a pizza dough formula from dough ball count, ball weight, hydration, salt, yeast, oil, and sugar. Shows baker percentages, yeast guidance, fermentation timeline, recipe cards, and print output.
Neapolitan
4 balls × 260g = 1040g total
Fermentation
For 24h at 20°C, suggested yeast is 0.18% (1.13g). Current: 0.2% (1.26g).
Fermentation Schedule
Mix
Combine flour, water, yeast, salt, then add oil/sugar if used.
Bulk
Ferment until ball time at 20°C.
Ball
Divide and shape dough balls gently.
Warm
Bring dough toward room temperature before stretching.
Batch Size
Baker's Percentages
Fermentation
Hydration Scale
62% — Balanced55-62%
Firm, easy to shape, less extensible. Good for cracker-thin crust.
63-67%
Ideal for most styles. Easy to work with, light open crumb.
68%+
Sticky, requires more skill. Open airy crumb, characteristic of pan pizza.
Dough Troubleshooting
Dough tears when stretching
Let it rest 30 min more at room temp. Gluten is too tight.
Dough springs back
Same — gluten needs more rest. Don't force it.
Crust too thick
Reduce ball weight, stretch thinner, or use higher hydration.
Crust too pale
Increase oven temp, move to higher rack, or add a little sugar.
Bottom burns, top pale
Lower oven rack. Use a pizza stone preheated 45–60 min.
Dough doesn't rise much
Check yeast freshness. Too cold? Move to warmer spot (24-26°C).
What Is the Pizza Dough Calculator?
Flour is always 100% — every other ingredient is a percentage of that flour weight. A 62% hydration dough has 62g of water per 100g of flour, whether you make two balls or twenty. That ratio never changes, so scaling is trivial.
Select a style preset and the calculator loads the characteristic percentages for that style. Adjust any slider and the gram weights update instantly. Weigh everything on a kitchen scale — cups introduce variability that matters more in pizza dough than in most cooking.
Pizza Dough Calculator Formula and Method
Total dough weight = balls × ball weight.
Flour = total ÷ (1 + hydration/100 + salt/100 + yeast/100 + oil/100 + sugar/100).
Each ingredient = flour × its percentage / 100.
Suggested yeast (%) = 0.18 × (24 ÷ fermentation hours) × 0.88^(temp − 20).
How to Use
- 1
Choose a pizza style — Neapolitan, New York, Pan, Thin Crust, or Custom. Each preset loads the hydration, salt, yeast, oil, and sugar ratios for that style. Adjust any slider after selecting.
- 2
Set the number of dough balls and the weight per ball. A standard Neapolitan ball is 250–280g. A 16-inch New York pie runs around 300g. Pan pizza in a 30×40cm tray uses 400–450g.
- 3
Adjust the hydration slider. Below 62% gives a stiff, crispy dough. Between 63–68% gives an open, airy crumb. Above 70% is slack and sticky — great result, but requires stretch-and-fold instead of kneading.
- 4
Set fermentation hours and ambient temperature. The calculator uses 0.18 × (24 ÷ hours) × 0.88^(temp − 20) to suggest yeast percentage. A 72-hour cold ferment at 4°C may need as little as 0.05% yeast.
- 5
Check your salt percentage — aim for 2–2.8% of flour weight. Salt tightens gluten, slows fermentation through osmosis, and keeps bacteria in check during long cold ferments.
- 6
Read the gram weights and weigh each ingredient separately on a digital scale. Even the yeast — a difference of 0.2g can meaningfully affect how a cold ferment develops over 48 hours.
- 7
Note the hydration label below the results. It tells you whether your settings lean crispy, balanced, or airy — useful when replicating a result or sharing a recipe.
- 8
Copy the full recipe using the copy button. The output includes ingredient weights, percentages, and the fermentation schedule — ready to paste into your recipe notes.
Pizza Dough Calculator Example
Classic Neapolitan for two pizzas: 2 balls at 270g each = 540g total dough. At 62% hydration, 2.8% salt, 0.1% instant yeast (24-hour cold ferment at 4°C), 0% oil: flour = 540 ÷ (1 + 0.62 + 0.028 + 0.001) = 329g, water = 204g, salt = 9.2g, yeast = 0.33g. That 0.33g is why you need a scale that reads to 0.1g. If yours doesn't, bump yeast to 0.5g and reduce fermentation to 18 hours.
New York 16-inch: 1 ball at 300g. At 63% hydration, 2% salt, 0.5% instant yeast, 2% oil, 4-hour room-temp ferment at 22°C: flour = 176g, water = 111g, salt = 3.5g, yeast = 0.88g, oil = 3.5g. Mix, knead 10 minutes, bulk rest 2 hours, ball, rest 2 more hours, then stretch and bake at 260°C on a preheated steel for 8–10 minutes.
Understanding Pizza Dough
Baker's Percentages: The System That Makes Scaling Trivial
Every ingredient is expressed relative to flour, which is always 100%. Change the batch size and every gram weight recalculates automatically — the ratios never change. This makes two recipes written for different batch sizes directly comparable.
Hydration: What the Percentage Actually Does
At 58–62%, dough is stiff and easy to handle — the range for thin crust and Neapolitan. At 63–68%, you get a pliable dough with an open crumb. Above 70%, it's slack and sticky, requiring stretch-and-fold. The reward is large, irregular bubbles.
Flour type matters too. 00 flour absorbs slightly less water than bread flour, so the same hydration feels softer with 00.
Salt and Yeast: More Connected Than They Look
Salt at 2–3% of flour weight tightens gluten, slows yeast through osmosis, and inhibits bacteria during multi-day ferments. Yeast and time work inversely — the longer the ferment, the less yeast you need.
A 72-hour cold ferment at 4°C can work with just 0.05% yeast by flour weight. Slow fermentation gives enzymes time to develop the layered flavour that separates great pizza from merely good pizza.
The Five Styles and Their Key Differences
Neapolitan uses 00 flour, 62% hydration, no oil, and a long cold ferment. New York adds 2% oil for a foldable crumb and uses bread flour for extra chew. Pan pizza pushes hydration to 72%+ for a focaccia-style crumb.
Thin crust drops to 58% hydration — stiff and flat, holds toppings without going soggy. Custom mode gives you full control of every parameter.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is baker's percentage?
Flour = 100%. Every other ingredient is a percentage of flour weight. A 65% hydration dough has 65g of water per 100g of flour. Ratios stay constant at any batch size — change the flour and everything else follows automatically.
How much water should I add to pizza dough?
62–65% is the practical sweet spot for most home bakers. At 62% the dough is easy to stretch and bakes crispy. At 65% you get a more open crumb. Above 68% it becomes sticky and difficult to handle — worth learning once you're comfortable with the basics.
What hydration should I use for Neapolitan pizza?
Traditional Neapolitan runs at 62% with 00 flour. At that hydration, the dough is extensible but not sticky — you can open it by hand in about 30 seconds. In a home oven at 280–300°C, you can push to 64% for a slightly more open crumb.
How long should I ferment pizza dough?
Four hours at room temperature with 0.25–0.5% yeast is the minimum for decent pizza. A 24-hour cold ferment makes a noticeable difference in flavour. Most home bakers settle on 48–72 hours in the fridge using 0.05–0.1% instant yeast.
How many grams per pizza ball?
200–220g makes a 26cm pizza. 250–280g makes a 30cm Neapolitan. 300g makes a 40cm NY-style pie. 400–450g fills a 30×40cm rectangular pan. If your pizzas come out smaller than expected, increase ball weight in 20g increments.
Why does my pizza dough tear when I stretch it?
Tearing usually means the gluten is too tight — most often from stretching dough that's too cold. Let balls sit at room temperature for 60–90 minutes before opening. Under-fermentation and low hydration (below 60%) are the other common causes.
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