Pizza Dough Calculator
Calculate flour, water, salt and yeast for any number of pizza bases.
Please note: Cooking guides only. Times and temperatures vary with oven calibration, altitude, starting temperature and cut. For anything where safety matters — poultry, pork, sous vide, preserving — use a probe thermometer and follow your national food safety guidance rather than a calculated time.
What the Pizza Dough Calculator does
Pizza dough is specified by the finished weight of each ball, then worked backwards through baker’s percentages. Because the percentages sum to more than 100, the flour is the total dough divided by that sum — everything else follows from the flour.
Formula
Total dough = Balls × Ball weightTotal % = 100 + Hydration + Salt + Yeast + Oil + SugarFlour = Total dough × 100 ÷ Total %Each ingredient = Flour × its % ÷ 100
Inputs explained
| Input | Unit | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of dough balls | number | Yes | Accepts 1 or more. |
| Weight per ball | g | Yes | About 250 g for a 12 inch base, 180 g for Neapolitan. Accepts more than 0. |
| Hydration | % | Yes | — |
| Salt | % | Yes | — |
| Yeast | % | Yes | — |
| Oil | % | Optional | — |
| Sugar | % | Optional | — |
| Yeast type | one of 3 options | Yes | — |
How to use it
- Choose Yeast type.
- Enter Number of dough balls, Weight per ball, Hydration and Salt and 1 more.
- Optionally add Oil and Sugar.
- Select Calculate.
Worked example
Four 250 g balls at 62% hydration, 2.5% salt and 0.5% instant yeast.
- Balls
- 4
- Ball weight
- 250 g
- Hydration
- 62%
- Salt
- 2.5%
- Yeast
- 0.5%
Total dough 1,000 g at 165%, so flour is 606 g. That gives 376 g water, 15.2 g salt and 3 g yeast.
Frequently asked questions
How much dough per pizza?
About 250 g for a 12 inch base, 180 g for a Neapolitan 10 inch, and 450 g for a 16 inch. Thicker or pan styles need more.
Why so little yeast?
Because time does the work. A 24–48 hour cold ferment develops far better flavour on a fraction of the yeast, and produces a more digestible base.
Method and sources
Method. Total dough from ball count and weight, split into ingredients by baker's percentages for hydration, salt and yeast.
Assumptions
- The percentages entered suit the flour and oven in use.
Limitations
- Hydration that works in a very hot oven can be unmanageable in a domestic one, and the calculator has no view on the equipment.
- Fermentation time and temperature govern the result more than the yeast percentage does, and neither is modelled.
Sources
- None — baker's percentages applied to a chosen dough weight — Not applicable. Stated so the absence of a source is not mistaken for an oversight.