Pizza dough calculator
Pick how many pizzas you want, how big, and whether you rise them with sourdough starter or yeast. You get the grams of flour, water, salt and leavening to weigh out.
Start from a style
Fills in hydration, salt, oil, sugar and size. Change anything afterwards.
Water as a share of flour. 60–65% stretches easily; higher is airier but stickier.
Share of the total flour. 15–20% for a same-day dough, 5–10% for a slow overnight rise.
Starter hydration and dough for the bowl
Equal weights of flour and water is 100%. A stiff starter is around 50%.
Some dough always sticks to the bowl and your hands. Add a little so every ball still weighs what it should.
Your dough
- Flour
- 557g19.7 oz
- Water
- 334g11.8 oz
- Starter100% hydration
- 90g3.2 oz
- Salt
- 18.1g0.6 oz
Total dough 1000 g, divided into 4 balls of 250 g
Hydration 63% counting the flour and water in the starter
How the numbers work
Pizza recipes use baker’s percentages, like bread: the flour is 100% and everything else is a share of it. The calculator starts from the dough you want and works backwards. Four Neapolitan dough balls of 250 g at 63% hydration, 3% salt and 0.2% instant yeast need 602 g of flour, 379 g of water, 18.1 g of salt and 1.2 g of yeast, about ⅜ of a teaspoon.
Switch to 15% sourdough starter and the same dough needs 557 g of flour, 334 g of water, 90 g of starter and 18.1 g of salt. The starter brings 45 g of flour and 45 g of water with it, so those come off the flour and water you add and the hydration stays at 63%. The sourdough calculator works the same way for loaves.
Pizza styles at a glance
| Style | Hydration | Salt | Oil | Sugar | Dough per pizza |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neapolitan (pizza oven, 800–900°F) | 60–65% | 2.5–3% | None | None | 250 g for 10–12 in |
| New York (home oven, 500–550°F) | 60–65% | 2% | 1–3% | 1–2% | 370 g for 14 in, 480 g for 16 in |
| Thin and crispy (home oven) | 50–55% | 2% | 3–5% | 0–1% | 220 g for 12 in |
How much yeast or starter
The amount sets how fast the dough rises. Less yeast and a longer, cooler rise give a crust with more flavor and better browning. These are starting points for instant yeast and a 100% hydration starter:
| Plan | Instant yeast | Sourdough starter |
|---|---|---|
| Same day: 6–8 hours at 70–75°F (21–24°C) | 0.3–0.5% | 15–20% |
| Overnight: 12–18 hours at 65–70°F (18–21°C) | 0.1–0.2% | 5–10% |
| Cold: 1–3 days in the fridge | 0.2–0.4% | 10–15% |
Every kitchen and starter is different, so watch the dough rather than the clock: dough balls are ready when they have grown by about half and spring back slowly when you press them. For active dry yeast, use about a third more than instant; for fresh yeast, three times as much.
Sizing pizzas by diameter
Pizza makers size dough with a thickness factor, the ounces of dough per square inch. A 12 inch pizza covers 113 square inches; at 0.08 that is 9 oz, about 256 g of dough. Choose Pizza diameter in the calculator and enter the size of your pizzas, round numbers or not, and it does the math.
Tips for better pizza
- Weigh the yeast. 1.2 g is hard to measure with spoons; a 0.1 g pocket scale makes it exact.
- Take cold-fermented dough balls out of the fridge 2–3 hours before baking so they stretch without tearing.
- Preheat a steel or stone for at least 45 minutes at your oven’s hottest setting.
- Using sourdough? Feed your starter so it peaks when you mix. The starter feeding calculator tells you how much to feed.
- Your settings are remembered in this browser, so your usual pizza night formula is ready next time.
Tools for better pizza at home
Weighing in grams is what makes sourdough repeatable. Links go to Amazon search results, so you can pick any brand.
- Digital kitchen scale
Every number on this site is in grams. Any scale that reads to 1 g, holds at least 5 kg and has a tare button will do.
- 0.1 g pocket scale
Kitchen scales are often only accurate to about a gram, which is over 10% of 9 g of salt. A 0.1 g scale makes salt and small starter feeds exact.
- Pizza steel
A quarter-inch steel holds more heat than a stone and browns the bottom of the crust in a home oven. Preheat it for 45–60 minutes at your oven’s hottest setting.
- Pizza peel
Slides the pizza onto the hot steel and back out again. A thin metal peel gets under the crust most easily.
- Dough proofing box
Keeps dough balls from drying out and sticking together while they rise, on the counter or in the fridge.
Questions bakers ask
What hydration should pizza dough be?
Most pizza dough sits between 60% and 65%, which is soft but still easy to stretch. Neapolitan dough for a very hot pizza oven is usually 60–65%, New York style about 62–65%, and thin, cracker-like crusts 50–55%. Oil isn't counted: hydration is water divided by flour.
How much dough do I need for one pizza?
About 250 g for a 10–12 inch Neapolitan pizza, 370 g for a 14 inch New York pizza and 480 g for a 16 inch one. Switch the calculator to Pizza diameter to work it out for any size and thickness.
Can I use sourdough starter instead of yeast?
Yes. Choose Sourdough starter and use 15–20% for a same-day dough or 5–10% for a slow overnight rise. The calculator takes the flour and water inside the starter out of what you add, so the hydration you pick is the dough's real hydration.
How do I convert instant yeast to active dry or fresh yeast?
As a rule of thumb, 1 g of instant yeast does the work of about 1.33 g of active dry yeast or 3 g of fresh yeast. Switch the yeast type in the calculator and it converts the amount for you.
Should pizza dough have oil and sugar?
For a home oven, yes: 1–3% oil and 1–2% sugar help the crust brown and stay tender at 500–550°F. Leave them out for a Neapolitan pizza baked at 800°F or more, where sugar burns before the pizza is done.
What is a thickness factor?
Ounces of dough per square inch of pizza. Multiply the pizza's area by it to get the dough weight. 0.07 makes a thin crust, 0.08 a Neapolitan and 0.085–0.1 a New York pizza.