Pizza Dough Calculator
Baker percentages, without the notebook.
Pizza Dough Calculator
Flour = total dough ÷ (1 + hydration% + salt% + yeast%), with all percentages measured against flour weight
Calculated instantly
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What This Calculator Does
The Pizza Dough Calculator turns a target number of dough balls and a preferred hydration into exact flour, water, salt, and yeast weights. It uses baker percentages, the notation professional bakers use, where every ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the flour weight.
How It Works
You choose the total dough weight by multiplying the number of balls by the weight of each ball. Because the flour is 100% and everything else is a percentage of it, the total is flour multiplied by one plus the hydration, salt, and yeast percentages. Dividing the total by that sum gives the flour weight, and each other ingredient follows from its percentage.
Example
Four balls at 250 g make 1,000 g of dough. At 62% hydration, 2.5% salt, and 0.5% yeast, the sum is 1 + 0.62 + 0.025 + 0.005 = 1.65, so the flour is 606 g. That gives 376 g of water, 15 g of salt, and 3 g of yeast, and the numbers add back to 1,000 g.
Formula
total = balls × ball weightflour = total ÷ (1 + hydration% + salt% + yeast%)water = flour × hydration%salt = flour × salt%; yeast = flour × yeast%Reading the Results
Flour
The anchor weight. Every other ingredient is a percentage of this number, so if you change the flour, everything else moves with it.
Water
The hydration weight. Higher hydration makes a wetter, harder-to-handle dough that bakes with a more open crumb and a crisper base.
Sources and References
Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana — Disciplinare
Traditional Neapolitan dough proportions
Specifies flour, water, salt, and yeast ranges for the protected Neapolitan style.
King Arthur Baking — Pizza Dough
Hydration and kneading guidance for home ovens
A practical reference for the 60–70% hydration range used in home baking.
USDA FoodData Central — Wheat flour
Flour composition and water absorption context
Explains why higher-protein flours tolerate more water.
References identify the method or data behind this calculator. Where a standard or tariff changes, the current edition applies, and the assumptions stated above take precedence over a remembered figure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hydration should I use?
For a home oven, 60–65% is a good starting point: manageable to shape and still crisp. Neapolitan-style doughs run 62–67%, and high-hydration sourdough-style pizzas go above 70%, but they need a strong flour and practice.
Why is the flour weight less than the total dough?
Because water, salt, and yeast add weight. The flour is only part of the dough, so it is always smaller than the total. In the example, 606 g of flour becomes 1,000 g of dough once the other ingredients are added.
How much yeast should I use?
About 0.5% instant yeast for a same-day dough at room temperature, or 0.2–0.3% for a 24–48 hour cold ferment. More yeast speeds the rise but costs flavour; less yeast needs more time and a warmer spot.
Can I use the calculator for sourdough?
Yes, but treat the starter as part flour and part water. A starter at 100% hydration is half flour and half water, so subtract its flour from the total flour and its water from the total water to keep the final hydration accurate.