Pizza Dough Calculator
Enter how many dough balls and their weight to get the flour, water, salt and yeast.
What this tool does
Pizza dough is described in baker's percentages of the flour weight. For four 250 g dough balls (1,000 g) at 65% hydration, 2.8% salt and 0.3% instant yeast, the flour is 1,000 ÷ (1 + 0.65 + 0.028 + 0.003) = 595 g, with 387 g of water, 16.7 g of salt and 1.8 g of yeast. Enter your numbers above.
Divides the total dough weight by one plus the percentages, to find the flour.
Calculates the water, salt, yeast and optional oil from that.
How to use it
- Enter the number of dough balls and the weight of each.
- Set the hydration, salt, yeast and oil percentages.
- Read the grams of each ingredient.
- Weigh them on a kitchen scale.
Why use this calculator
Turns the number of pizzas, the dough ball weight and your preferred hydration, salt and yeast percentages into grams of flour, water, salt and yeast. Pizza dough is a ratio recipe: the same percentages make good dough at any size. Scaling by hand from cups is inaccurate, and a small error in yeast or salt changes the result.
Why we built it
We built the pizza dough calculator on baker's percentages, so the same recipe scales from two pizzas to twenty. Scale other recipes with the recipe scaler and convert measures with the cups to ml converter.
Who this tool is for
- Home pizza makers
- Pizzeria staff scaling batches
- Bakers learning baker's percentages
When to use it
- Making pizza for a group.
- Adjusting hydration for your flour and oven.
- Scaling a recipe up or down.
- Switching between bread and pizza dough.
How it works
Total dough = flour × (1 + hydration + salt + yeast + oil), with every percentage as a fraction of the flour. So flour = total ÷ (1 + sum of fractions). Water = flour × hydration, and so on.
Example: 1,000 g of dough at 65% hydration, 2.8% salt and 0.3% yeast: flour 595 g, water 387 g, salt 16.7 g, yeast 1.78 g. Higher hydration gives a more open, stickier dough; 60-70% suits most home ovens.
Instant dry yeast is assumed. Use about three times as much fresh yeast, and much less for a long cold ferment.
A worked example
These are the values the calculator opens with, so you can see exactly what it does with them. Change any value on the page and the result updates; the figures below come from the same calculation.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Number of dough balls | 4 |
| Weight of each ball | 250 |
| Hydration | 65 |
| Salt | 2.8 |
| Instant dry yeast | 0.3 |
| Olive oil | 0 |
With those inputs, the calculator returns:
- Flour: 595 g
- Water: 387 g
- Salt: 16.7 g
- Instant dry yeast: 1.78 g
- Total dough: 1,000 g
What you give it, and what you get back
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Dough balls and weight | Count and grams each. |
| Percentages | Hydration, salt, yeast and optional oil as a percent of flour. |
| Output | Grams of flour, water, salt, yeast, oil and the total. |
Issues you may run into
| What you see | Why it happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Dough is too sticky | Hydration is high for your flour. | Lower the hydration by 3-5%. |
| Weights are small | Yeast is only a few grams. | Use a scale that reads to 0.1 g. |
| Flour absorbs differently | Flours vary. | Adjust the water to the feel of the dough. |
Assumptions and limitations
- A basic dough, not a full recipe.
- No preferment (poolish or biga) split.
Frequently asked questions
How much flour do I need for pizza dough?
Divide the total dough weight by one plus the percentages. For 1,000 g at 65% hydration it is about 595 g.
What hydration should pizza dough be?
Commonly 60-70% at home; Neapolitan is often about 58-62%.
How much yeast for pizza dough?
About 0.2-0.5% instant dry yeast depending on the time.
How much does a dough ball weigh?
Commonly 200-280 g for a 10-12 inch pizza.
What are baker's percentages?
Each ingredient as a percent of the flour weight.
Is my information sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing leaves the page.