Pizza Dough Calculator

How to use this calculator

Start by selecting a style preset: Neapolitan, New York, Detroit, Roman al taglio, or Sourdough. Each preset loads sensible defaults for hydration, salt, oil, and fermentation time based on community and professional standards. You can adjust any value to suit your recipe and equipment.

Set the number of dough balls and the weight per ball. For a standard round pizza, Neapolitan uses 250–290g balls and New York 270–320g. For pan pizzas (Detroit, Roman), use the total dough weight for the pan rather than ball count.set balls to 1 and adjust the weight.

Enter your fermentation time and room temperature. The calculator determines exactly how much yeast or starter you need so the dough peaks at the right time. Adjust either number and the yeast amount updates instantly. If you know when you want to bake, use the optional timeline section to work backwards to a mix time.

Pizza style presets

Neapolitan. Defined by the AVPN (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana). 55–62% hydration, 2.5–3% salt, no oil, 24–48 hour fermentation at 18–22°C. Requires 00 flour and a very hot oven (450°C+/850°F+). Bakes in 60–90 seconds. The most demanding style to execute but the most distinctive result.

New York. Higher hydration (63–67%) and a small amount of oil for a more flexible dough. Bread flour gives the extra chew characteristic of NY pizza. Typically fermented 12–24 hours at room temperature, or 24–48 hours in the fridge for more flavour. Baked at 260–290°C (500–550°F).

Detroit. A pan pizza with high hydration (70–75%).more like a focaccia dough than a hand-stretched pizza. Baked in a well-oiled steel pan with cheese pressed to the edge. The crust fries in the oil against the pan, creating a crunchy cheese-edged crust. A shorter, warmer fermentation (4–8 hours) works well.

Roman al taglio. The highest hydration of the presets (75–80%). So slack it can't be hand-stretched.it's pressed into an oiled pan and baked low-and-slow, then finished at high heat. Bonci-style Roman pizza uses a series of stretch-and-fold steps during a long, cold fermentation. Sold by the slice.

Sourdough. The same dough as any of the above styles, leavened with wild starter instead of commercial yeast. Any hydration works; the starter % changes the timeline. The flavour is more complex and the crust often crisps differently. Fermentation is longer and less predictable than commercial yeast.the calculator gives a starting point, but your starter's activity determines the real timeline.

Hydration.how wet is too wet?

Hydration is water as a percentage of flour weight. 60% means 600g of water per 1000g of flour. It's the single biggest variable in how a pizza dough feels and handles. Lower hydration (55–63%) produces a stiffer, easier-to-shape dough. Higher hydration (68–80%) produces a more open, airier crumb but is significantly harder to handle.

For beginners, 62–65% is a good starting range: workable without being sticky, and forgiving enough to hand-stretch without tearing. As you develop feel for the dough, pushing to 68–72% unlocks a more open crumb. Above 72%, most bakers use a pan rather than hand-stretching.

Flour type matters enormously for hydration. 00 flour (finely milled Italian flour used for Neapolitan pizza) absorbs water differently than all-purpose or bread flour. Bread flour absorbs slightly more water, so the same hydration percentage can feel wetter in 00 than in bread flour. When switching flour types, adjust hydration by 1–2% and feel the difference.

Salt in pizza dough

Salt in pizza dough serves two roles: flavour and structure. Salt strengthens gluten, which gives the dough more elasticity and helps it hold its shape during stretching and baking. It also slows fermentation. More salt means a slower rise at the same yeast level.

The standard range is 2–3% of flour weight. The Neapolitan spec calls for 2.5–3% (fine sea salt), which is slightly higher than most bread recipes because the flavour needs to stand up to acidic tomato sauce and fatty cheese. Most NY and general pizza recipes use 1.8–2.2%.

Never let salt come into direct contact with yeast before mixing.salt at high concentration kills yeast cells. Add them to opposite sides of the flour, or add yeast to the water first and salt to the flour before combining.

Fermentation.time and temperature

Fermentation is where pizza flavour is built. A dough fermented for 24 hours at 18°C (65°F) will taste meaningfully different from one fermented for 4 hours at 24°C (75°F) with the same ingredients. The longer, cooler fermentation produces more complex organic acids and a more extensible, easier-to-stretch dough.

This calculator uses the Q10 temperature coefficient, a well-established biological model, to adjust yeast amount based on temperature. Fermentation rate roughly doubles for every 10°C increase in temperature. A dough that needs 8 hours at 24°C (75°F) would need about 16 hours at 14°C (57°F) to reach the same stage.

The model is calibrated for room-temperature fermentation (12–34°C / 54–93°F). For fridge fermentation, the model is less precise. Yeast activity at 4°C (39°F) doesn't follow the Q10 curve as cleanly. If you're doing a cold bulk fermentation, treat the calculated yeast amount as a starting estimate and adjust based on your results.

One practical note. The bake timeline in this calculator accounts for total fermentation time only. It doesn't add a separate proofing period after shaping. For most room-temperature doughs, shape 30–60 minutes before baking. For cold doughs pulled from the fridge, allow 1–2 hours to come to temperature before baking.

Which yeast to use

All commercial baker's yeasts are the same organism: Saccharomyces cerevisiae in different forms. For pizza, the type you use comes down to convenience and what you have available.

Instant yeast is the easiest choice. Mix it directly into the flour without proofing. It's 25% more potent than active dry by weight, so you use less. It has a good shelf life and is widely available. Most pizza recipes that specify "fast-action" or "bread machine yeast" mean instant.

Active dry yeast should be proofed in warm water (38–43°C / 100–110°F) for 5–10 minutes before use. If it foams, it's alive. If not, it's dead and won't leaven the dough. At 1% of flour weight or less (typical for pizza), skipping the proof is risky. The small amount means fewer cells to begin with.

Fresh yeast (cake yeast) is common in European bakeries and produces slightly more flavour complexity. Use 3× the weight of active dry yeast. It has a 2–3 week shelf life refrigerated, which makes it impractical unless you bake frequently.

Sourdough starter changes the fermentation timeline and flavour profile significantly. The amount needed (typically 10–25% of flour weight) is large enough to affect total dough weight. The calculator accounts for this. For a consistent sourdough pizza, use a starter that was fed 4–12 hours before mixing, at its peak.