Pizza Dough Calculator
Calculate flour, water, salt and yeast for any number of pizza dough balls, with hydration, yeast type conversion, fermentation guidance and poolish or biga.
A style fills in typical values; every field stays editable.
Typical: 250–280 g (9–10 oz) for a 30–33 cm (12–13 in) Neapolitan pizza, about 300–400 g (11–14 oz) for a 35–40 cm (14–16 in) New York pizza.
The plan fills in a starting amount of instant dry yeast; the weight shown is converted to the yeast type you use.
Typical: poolish with 20–50% of the flour, 0.1% instant yeast, 12–16 h at room temperature; biga with 30–50% of the flour, 0.2–0.5% instant yeast, 16–24 h at about 18 °C (64 °F).
- Flour
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- Water
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- Yeast
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- Total dough
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| Ingredient | Total | Preferment | Final dough |
|---|
No yeast is added to the final dough: the preferment already holds at least the planned amount.
| Plan | Temperature | Instant dry yeast |
|---|---|---|
| Same day, about 2–4 h at room temperature | Room, 21–24 °C (70–75 °F) | |
| About 8 h at room temperature | Room, 21–24 °C (70–75 °F) | |
| Overnight, 12–16 h at cool room temperature | Cool room, 18–20 °C (64–68 °F) | |
| 24 h in the fridge | Fridge, 3–4 °C (37–40 °F) | |
| 48 h in the fridge | Fridge, 3–4 °C (37–40 °F) | |
| 72 h in the fridge | Fridge, 3–4 °C (37–40 °F) |
Guidance only: flour, dough temperature and your kitchen change fermentation speed. Cold-fermented dough needs 2–3 h at room temperature before shaping. Conversions used: active dry = 1.25 × instant, fresh = 3 × instant.
How to use the pizza dough calculator
- Choose Metric (g) or Imperial (oz).
- Pick a Style: Neapolitan, New York or Pan (Detroit, Sicilian). It fills in a ball weight, hydration, salt, oil and sugar that you can change; editing any of them switches the style to Custom.
- Enter the Number of dough balls and the Weight of one ball.
- Adjust Hydration (% of flour), Salt (%), Oil (%), Sugar (%) and the Extra for dough left in the bowl (%), which adds a little dough so that the last ball isn’t short.
- Choose your Yeast type and a Fermentation plan. The plan fills in Yeast (% of flour, as instant dry yeast); type your own value to use Custom yeast amount.
- Optionally choose a Preferment: Poolish (liquid, 100% hydration) or Biga (stiff, about 50% hydration), with its share of the flour, its hydration and its yeast.
- Read the Flour, Water, Yeast and Total dough, and the recipe table. With a preferment, the table shows what goes into the Preferment and into the Final dough.
How the dough is calculated
Pizza recipes are written in baker’s percentages: every ingredient is a percentage of the flour, which counts for 100%. The tool works backwards from the dough you want:
- dough = number of balls × ball weight × (1 + extra % ÷ 100);
- flour = dough ÷ (1 + (hydration + salt + oil + sugar + yeast) ÷ 100);
- each ingredient = flour × its percentage ÷ 100.
Example: 4 Neapolitan balls of 250 g at 62% hydration and 2.8% salt, with 0.4% instant yeast and 2% extra, make 1,020 g of dough: about 617 g of flour, 383 g of water, 17 g of salt and 2.5 g of instant yeast.
Yeast types
The yeast percentage is always entered as instant dry yeast (IDY), because most published fermentation schedules use it. The weight shown is converted for the type you choose, with the usual factors: Active dry yeast (ADY) = 1.25 × instant (sources range from 1.2 to 1.33) and Fresh yeast (compressed) = 3 × instant. Dry yeast is also shown in teaspoons, at about 3.1 g per teaspoon (a 7 g packet holds about 2 ¼ teaspoons). For small batches, a scale that reads 0.1 g is much more reliable than a spoon.
Fermentation guidance
The table under the recipe gives starting amounts of instant dry yeast for common schedules. It is guidance, not a rule: warmer dough ferments faster, whole grain flours ferment faster, and every kitchen is different. Cold fermentation in the fridge (2 to 3 days) develops more flavour and makes the dough easier to stretch; take the balls out 2 to 3 hours before baking. If the dough doubles long before you are ready, use less yeast next time; if it barely moves, use more or leave it somewhere warmer.
Poolish and biga
A preferment is part of the flour, water and yeast mixed hours before the final dough. A poolish is liquid (as much water as flour) and usually ferments 12 to 16 hours at room temperature with about 0.1% yeast. A biga is stiff (around 50% hydration) and usually ferments 16 to 24 hours around 18 °C (64 °F). The tool takes the preferment out of the totals, so the final dough gets the remaining flour, water, all of the salt, oil and sugar, and whatever yeast is still needed. When the preferment already holds as much yeast as planned, no yeast is added to the final dough.
Frequently asked questions
What hydration should I use for pizza?
Neapolitan dough is usually 58–65%, New York style 60–65%, pan pizzas 65–75%. Higher hydration gives a lighter, more open crust but a stickier dough, and a home oven that can’t reach very high temperatures often does better with a bit more water.
How much does a pizza dough ball weigh?
About 250–280 g (9–10 oz) for a 30–33 cm (12–13 in) Neapolitan pizza and around 300–400 g (11–14 oz) for a 35–40 cm (14–16 in) New York pizza. Pan pizzas depend on the pan size.
Can I use fresh yeast instead of dry?
Yes. Choose Fresh yeast (compressed) and the tool multiplies the instant dry yeast amount by 3. Crumble it into the water so that it dissolves evenly.
How do I convert a same-day recipe into a cold ferment?
Choose 24 h in the fridge, 48 h in the fridge or 72 h in the fridge. The yeast is reduced to a typical starting point for that schedule; adjust it after your first bake.
Why is there extra dough?
A little dough always sticks to the bowl and your hands. The Extra for dough left in the bowl (%) field adds a margin (2% by default) so every ball reaches its weight. Set it to 0 if you prefer.
Related tools
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