Pizza Dough Calculator
Every good pizza dough is the same four numbers in different clothes: flour, water at 60-70% of flour weight, salt near 3%, and just enough yeast for the time you're giving the dough. Recipes written in cups betray you at every scale - this calculator works in baker's percentages, so '4 balls at 250g and 65% hydration' comes back as exact grams of everything, whether you're making two pizzas or twenty.
The yeast field is the piece most calculators skip: yeast quantity depends on fermentation time and temperature, so the selector separates a room-temp day from a 24-hour cold ferment and adjusts the dose accordingly - because the single biggest upgrade in home pizza is not a 450°C oven, it's tomorrow's dough tonight. Your usual recipe is remembered, results show in the tab title, and the share link carries the full spec.
How to use
- Enter how many pizzas and how heavy each ball should be (250g is typical for a 12-inch).
- Set hydration: 60% for beginner-friendly NY style, 65-70% for Neapolitan.
- Get your grams - then try the 24-hour cold ferment option this weekend.
Frequently asked questions
What does hydration percentage mean?
Water weight as a percentage of flour weight - 65% hydration means 650g water per kilo of flour. Higher hydration means wetter dough, more open airy crumb and harder handling; lower means easier shaping and denser chew. Start at 60-63% for your first bakes; go up only as your confidence with sticky dough does.
How much yeast should pizza dough have?
Less than you think when time is on your side: a same-day dough wants around 0.4% instant yeast (1% fresh), while a 24-hour cold ferment needs only a quarter of that - the dough rises slowly in the fridge while flavor compounds build. Doubling yeast does not double rise speed linearly; giving the dough more time does.
How heavy should a pizza dough ball be?
About 250g for a 12-inch (30cm) pizza, scaling roughly with the square of the size: 180-200g for a 10-inch, 300-330g for a 14-inch pan. Neapolitan rules pin it at 180-280g by law of tradition - the calculator just does the arithmetic for whatever you decide.
Can I scale this recipe for a stand mixer or by hand?
The grams scale to any batch size, which is the point of baker's percentages - an eight-pizza party batch is as exact as a two-pizza Tuesday. Mix, rest 20 minutes (autolyse), add nothing, knead briefly, then ball and ferment; the numbers stay the same no matter which muscles do the work.