How to calculate pizza dough
Pizza dough is written in baker's percentages: every ingredient is a percentage of the flour. Start from how much dough you need, the number of pizzas times the weight of each ball, and divide by the total of all the percentages to get the flour.
Example. Four 290 g New York style balls with 2% extra for the bowl are 1,183 g of dough. The formula adds up to 172.2%, so the flour is 1,183 ÷ 1.722 = 687 g, the water 65% of that, 447 g, the salt 20.6 g, the active dry yeast 1.4 g and the oil and sugar 13.7 g each.
Starting formulas by style
| Style | Water | Salt | Yeast | Oil | Sugar | Ball |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 65% | 3% | 0.2% active dry | 2% | 2% | 280–300 g for 12–14 in |
| Neapolitan | 62% | 2.8% | 0.2% fresh | none | none | 250 g for 11–12 in |
The New York formula is Baking Steel's 24-hour dough, which rises 18 hours at room temperature. The Neapolitan rules of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana call for 1.7 to 1.8 kg of flour per liter of water, about 56 to 59% hydration, 50 to 55 g of salt per liter and balls of 180 to 250 g. Home ovens are much cooler than a wood-fired one, so many home bakers go a little wetter, around 60 to 65%.
Sources: Baking Steel and the AVPN regulations as summarized by the r/neapolitanpizza dough guide. Checked October 2026.
Dough ball weight by pizza size
Dough expert Tom Lehmann's method keeps the crust the same thickness at every size: multiply the area of the pizza by a thickness factor, in ounces of dough per square inch. Thin is about 0.07, medium about 0.088 and thick about 0.11.
| Pizza | Thin | Medium | Thick |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 in · 25 cm | 156 g | 196 g | 245 g |
| 12 in · 30 cm | 224 g | 282 g | 353 g |
| 14 in · 36 cm | 305 g | 384 g | 480 g |
| 16 in · 41 cm | 399 g | 502 g | 627 g |
Yeast, time and temperature
- Less yeast, longer rise. The small amounts above are for long fermentation. For dough made the same day, bakers use several times more.
- Cold slows everything. Dough in the fridge can rest one to three days and gains flavor, then needs a couple of hours at room temperature before shaping.
- Weigh the yeast and salt. A scale that reads to 0.1 g makes small batches repeatable. The yeast converter swaps between instant, active dry and fresh.
Questions
How much dough do I need for a 12 inch pizza?
About 225 g for a thin crust, 280 g for a medium crust and 350 g for a thick one. Those figures come from multiplying the pizza's area, 113 sq in, by a thickness factor of 0.07, 0.088 or 0.11 oz of dough per square inch.
What hydration is best for pizza dough?
Most home pizza doughs sit between 60% and 70% water. Neapolitan rules work out to about 56 to 59%, New York style is often around 62 to 65%, and pan pizzas go wetter. Higher hydration gives a lighter, more open crust but a stickier dough.
How much salt goes in pizza dough?
Usually 2% to 3% of the flour weight. For 500 g of flour that is 10 to 15 g of salt.
How much yeast do I need for pizza dough?
It depends on how long the dough rises. Doughs that rise for a day or more use very little, around 0.1 to 0.4% of the flour in dry yeast. Same-day doughs use about 1%. Less yeast and a longer, cooler rise give more flavor.
Why is my dough ball lighter than planned?
Some dough always sticks to the bowl, the hook and your hands. The calculator adds 2% to cover it, which you can change under Advanced.
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