Pizza Dough Hydration Calculator (Baker's Percentage)
Four 250 g dough balls (1,000 g total) at 65 percent hydration, 2.5 percent salt and 0.3 percent instant dry yeast need 595.9 g flour, 387.4 g water, 14.9 g salt and 1.8 g yeast. The rule is flour equals total dough weight divided by the sum of all percentages over 100, then every other ingredient is a percentage of that flour weight.
This is the calculator to open with flour on your hands. Set how many balls you want and how big each one is, pick a hydration, and it returns every ingredient weight to a tenth of a gram. Everything runs on baker's percentage, where flour is always 100% and every other ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the flour weight, which is why a 65 percent hydration dough is not 65 percent water by weight.
Dough hydration calculator
Higher hydration means an airier, more open crumb and a stickier, harder to launch dough.
The percentage above is always the instant dry figure. Other types are converted for you.
Optional: oil and sugar
New York style uses 1 to 3 percent. True Neapolitan uses none.
Helps browning in a cooler home oven. Unnecessary above about 750F.
Weigh everything. Volume measures of flour vary by as much as 20 percent depending on how the cup was filled, which is enough to move a dough from 65 percent hydration to 55 percent without you noticing anything except a pizza that came out wrong. A 0.1 g digital scale is the cheapest large improvement available in home pizza, and it is the one purchase that makes every number on this page meaningful.
What is baker's percentage, and why is flour always 100%?
Baker's percentage expresses every ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is defined as 100 percent, so a formula reading 100 / 65 / 2.5 / 0.3 means flour, water at 65 percent of the flour weight, salt at 2.5 percent and yeast at 0.3 percent. The percentages deliberately add to more than 100, and that is not a mistake: 167.8 percent in that example.
The reason bakers use it rather than a recipe is that it scales without arithmetic errors and it makes two formulas directly comparable. Two pizzerias using wildly different batch sizes can compare 62 percent to 67 percent hydration instantly, where comparing "390 ml of water" to "2 and a half cups" tells you nothing at all. It also survives changing your mind halfway: decide you want six balls instead of four and nothing about the formula changes, only the flour weight it scales to.
The one thing beginners get wrong is treating hydration as a percentage of the finished dough. It is not. In a 1,000 g batch at 65 percent hydration, the water is 387.4 g, which is 38.7 percent of the dough. Working from the flour side is the only way the numbers close.
How does the calculator work out the flour weight?
Backwards from the total, which is the part most people find counterintuitive. You know how much dough you want, not how much flour, so the calculator sums all the percentages and divides:
- Total dough = number of balls multiplied by weight per ball
- Total percentage = 100 + hydration + salt + yeast + oil + sugar
- Flour = total dough divided by (total percentage / 100)
- Every other ingredient = flour multiplied by its own percentage
Worked through with the defaults: four balls at 250 g is 1,000 g of dough. The percentages sum to 100 + 65 + 2.5 + 0.3, which is 167.8. Flour is 1,000 divided by 1.678, which is 595.9 g. Water is the flour weight multiplied by 0.65, which is 387.4 g. Salt is 595.9 multiplied by 0.025, which is 14.9 g. Yeast is 595.9 multiplied by 0.003, which is 1.8 g. Those four add to 1,000 g, and the calculator shows you that check line under the results so you can confirm it every time.
A small amount of dough is always lost to the bowl, the bench and your hands. If you want four balls at exactly 250 g, add roughly 2 percent to the total, so target 1,020 g rather than 1,000 g. That is the single most common reason a batch comes up one short ball at the end.
What hydration should I actually use?
Hydration is the dial that controls crumb structure. More water means more steam in the bake, a more open and irregular crumb, and a lighter chew. It also means a slacker dough that is harder to shape and much harder to launch off a peel. The right number is a compromise between the crumb you want and the dough you can actually handle.
| Style | Hydration | Ball weight | Bake floor | What the number is doing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neapolitan, wood fired | 58 to 62% | 250 g | 850 to 950F | Low water because the bake is 60 to 90 seconds and nothing dries out |
| Contemporary Neapolitan | 65 to 70% | 250 to 280 g | 750 to 850F | Extra water buys a taller, airier cornicione at a slightly slower bake |
| New York | 60 to 65% | 340 to 400 g | 600 to 700F | Balanced for a foldable slice with structure, usually plus 2% oil |
| Home oven with steel | 65 to 68% | 280 to 320 g | 550F | Compensates for a 6 to 8 minute bake that drives off a lot of water |
| Detroit and pan | 70 to 80% | 380 to 450 g | 500 to 550F | Very wet dough poured into a pan, no stretching required |
| Roman al taglio | 75 to 85% | by tray | 525 to 575F | Maximum openness, handled with wet hands rather than stretched |
Flour choice constrains this more than most people expect. A soft Italian 00 flour at around 12 percent protein cannot absorb as much water as a 14 percent bread flour, so 70 percent in one is a comfortable dough and in the other is a puddle. If your dough is slacker than the numbers suggest it should be, look at your flour before you blame the scale. The flour protein chart lists the common brands with their published protein figures.
How much salt and yeast, and does the type matter?
Salt sits between 2 and 3 percent of flour weight for essentially every pizza style, and 2.5 percent is the figure to default to. It does three jobs at once: it seasons, it tightens the gluten network so the dough holds its shape, and it slows yeast activity. That last one is why halving the salt does not just make a bland pizza, it makes a dough that over-proofs while you are not watching.
Yeast is the number that changes most, because it is really a function of time and temperature rather than of the recipe. A dough that will be baked in four hours needs roughly six times the yeast of a dough that will sit in a fridge for three days.
| Fermentation plan | Instant dry yeast | Active dry | Fresh yeast |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 to 6 hours at room temperature | 0.4 to 0.5% | 0.5 to 0.63% | 1.2 to 1.5% |
| 8 to 12 hours at room temperature | 0.2 to 0.3% | 0.25 to 0.38% | 0.6 to 0.9% |
| 24 hours, cold ferment | 0.10 to 0.20% | 0.13 to 0.25% | 0.30 to 0.60% |
| 48 hours, cold ferment | 0.07 to 0.12% | 0.09 to 0.15% | 0.21 to 0.36% |
| 72 hours, cold ferment | 0.05 to 0.08% | 0.06 to 0.10% | 0.15 to 0.24% |
The conversions are simple multipliers: active dry yeast needs about 1.25 times the instant weight, fresh yeast about 3 times. The calculator applies whichever you select, but always treats the percentage you type as the instant dry figure so the formula stays comparable. Active dry technically wants proofing in warm water first, though modern brands tolerate being mixed straight in. Work the timing side of this on the proof time calculator.
Does this work for poolish, biga and sourdough?
Partly, and the difference matters. A preferment moves some of the flour and water out of the final mix and into a separate stage, so the totals stay the same but the mixing schedule changes. Calculate the whole formula here first, then split it: send the preferment portion of the flour and its water into the poolish or biga, and hold the rest back. The poolish and biga calculator does that split for you and tells you what is left for the final dough.
Sourdough works the same way with one adjustment. A starter at 100 percent hydration is half flour and half water by weight, so 200 g of starter contributes 100 g of flour and 100 g of water to the formula. Subtract both from the calculated flour and water, or your dough will land several points wetter than you intended. Typical starter quantity for pizza is 10 to 20 percent of the flour weight for a long room-temperature ferment.
What should I do with the numbers once I have them?
Mix in a sensible order. Dissolve the salt in most of the water, add the flour, then add the yeast, holding back roughly 10 percent of the water to adjust with. That reserve is your insurance: flours vary batch to batch, and being able to add the last 40 g of water only if the dough wants it is more useful than any amount of precision on the scale.
Then read the dough as well as the numbers. Final dough temperature after mixing should land around 75 to 78F for a room-temperature ferment. A stand mixer can add 10F or more through friction, which is why professional bakeries calculate water temperature rather than using it straight from the tap. If your dough comes out of the mixer at 85F it will run ahead of every timing on this site.
Store balls in a container with straight sides so you can see the rise as a shape rather than guess at it. A latching dough box holds four to six balls and stacks in a fridge, which is the practical difference between a cold ferment you actually do and one you keep meaning to try. Then work out how long it needs with the proof time calculator, and how hot to run the oven with the bake temperature calculator.
Where do the numbers go wrong?
Four failure modes account for nearly every batch that comes out unexpectedly. Being able to name them is faster than re-running the arithmetic.
- Water calculated off the total dough weight. Produces a dough around 10 points drier than intended. The check line under the results exists to catch this.
- Flour measured by volume. A packed cup can carry 20 percent more flour than a spooned one, so the same recipe is a different dough every time you make it.
- Salt measured by spoon. Fine table salt and coarse kosher salt differ by nearly a factor of two by volume. Fifteen grams is fifteen grams either way.
- Yeast scaled for the wrong schedule. Same-day yeast in a 72 hour cold ferment will blow the dough out in the fridge and leave you with flat, alcoholic tasting balls.
Once the arithmetic is right, the remaining variables are temperature and time, which is a different problem entirely. The baker's percentage guide works through the algebra in more depth, and the hydration chart gives you a printable version of the style table above for the fridge door.
Before you fire the oven: a pizza oven at working temperature holds a 700F to 950F floor. Use a long-handled peel and heat-rated gloves, keep the oven outdoors and clear of anything combustible, and never pour water on a hot baking stone. The steam scalds and the thermal shock cracks the stone.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate pizza dough hydration?
Hydration is water weight divided by flour weight, expressed as a percentage. If a dough uses 600 g of flour and 390 g of water, hydration is 390 divided by 600, which is 0.65, so 65 percent. Flour is always the 100 percent reference in baker’s percentage, which is why a dough can be 65 percent hydration and 2.5 percent salt at the same time without the numbers adding to 100.
What hydration should I use for Neapolitan pizza?
Between 58 and 65 percent, with 62 percent a reliable starting point for a 00 flour baked at 850 to 950F. Below 58 percent the dough fights you when stretching and the cornicione stays dense. Above 65 percent with a soft 00 flour the ball spreads and the pizza becomes hard to launch. If you are baking in a home oven at 550F instead, push toward 65 percent so the extra steam buys you a lighter crumb.
How much salt goes in pizza dough?
Two to three percent of the flour weight, with 2.5 percent the most common figure in Neapolitan practice. On 600 g of flour that is 15 g. Salt is not only seasoning: it tightens the gluten network and slows fermentation, so cutting it in half makes a dough that both tastes flat and over-proofs faster than you expect. Weigh it rather than measuring by spoon, since salt crystal size varies enormously by brand.
How much yeast do I need for pizza dough?
For a same-day dough at room temperature, 0.3 to 0.5 percent instant dry yeast of the flour weight. For a 24 to 72 hour cold ferment, drop to 0.05 to 0.2 percent, because the dough has far longer to rise. Active dry yeast needs roughly 1.25 times the instant weight and fresh yeast roughly 3 times, so 2 g instant is about 2.5 g active dry or 6 g fresh.
Why do my ingredient weights not add up to my dough weight?
They should, exactly. The mistake is almost always calculating water as a percentage of the total dough rather than of the flour. Work it the other way round: add all your percentages together including the 100 for flour, divide the total dough weight by that number over 100 to get flour, then multiply flour by each percentage. Four 250 g balls at 65 percent hydration, 2.5 percent salt and 0.3 percent yeast come out at 595.9 g flour, 387.4 g water, 14.9 g salt and 1.8 g yeast, which is 1,000 g.
Does hydration need to change for a different oven?
Yes, and it is one of the most useful adjustments you can make. A hotter oven finishes the pizza before the base can dry out, so a 900F wood oven tolerates a lower hydration. A 550F home oven takes six to eight minutes, which drives a lot of water out, so a higher hydration compensates. Roughly speaking, add 3 to 5 percentage points of hydration when moving from an outdoor oven to a home oven with a steel.
How we choose: we compare published manufacturer specifications, verified owner reviews, and long-established baker's percentage practice. We do not test gear in person. Dough figures are guidance, not a recipe guarantee: flour, water and room conditions all vary, so read your dough as well as the numbers.
Heat safety: a pizza oven at working temperature holds a 700F to 950F floor and a shell hot enough to burn on contact. Use long-handled peels and heat-rated gloves, keep children and pets clear, burn fuel outdoors only with clearance from anything combustible, and never pour water on a hot baking stone. Water flashes to steam instantly and thermal shock cracks stone.
Keeping your own dough and bake numbers? The Dough & Oven Planner is the paid version of these pages: 8 printable worksheets you fill in with your own numbers, plus the full PDF, $29.