Pizza Reference Charts
Eight reference charts covering hydration by style, baker's percentage, bake time by floor temperature, flour protein content, fermentation time by temperature, dough ball size by pizza diameter, oven temperature by style and launch troubleshooting. A 12 inch pizza bakes in about 75 seconds at 900F and about 8 minutes at 550F.
Eight dense reference tables, built to be looked up rather than read. They use exactly the same figures as the calculators, so the two can never disagree, and they exist because mid-bake with flour on your hands, glancing at a table is faster than typing into a form.
- Baker's Percentage Chart for Pizza DoughA baker's percentage chart for pizza dough: total percentages, flour and water weights for fifteen formulas, batch scaling from 1... Open →
- Dough Ball Size by Pizza Diameter ChartA dough ball weight chart by pizza diameter from 6 to 24 inches and by style density, with areas, thickness factors, rectangular... Open →
- Flour Protein Content Chart for Pizza DoughPublished protein percentages and W ratings for pizza flours, from 00 pizzeria flour at 12.5 percent to high gluten at 14.2... Open →
- Oven Temperature by Pizza Style ChartStone floor and dome temperatures for every pizza style, from a 950F Neapolitan bake in 60 seconds to a 550F Detroit pan bake, with... Open →
- Pizza Bake Time and Temperature ChartA pizza bake time and temperature chart in 25 degree steps from 400F to 1000F, with turn intervals, dome targets, thickness and... Open →
- Pizza Dough Fermentation Time by Temperature ChartA pizza dough fermentation chart from 35F to 95F showing proof time at six yeast doses, with the rate formula, yeast for any target... Open →
- Pizza Dough Hydration Chart by Style and Batch SizeA pizza dough hydration chart from 50 to 90 percent, with exact flour and water weights for a 1,000 g batch, style ranges, flour... Open →
- Pizza Dough Troubleshooting ChartA symptom-driven pizza dough troubleshooting chart: tearing, springback, stickiness, dense crusts, over proofing and fused balls... Open →
- Pizza Launch Troubleshooting ChartA diagnostic chart for pizza launch problems: sticking, folding, tearing and off centre landings, with dwell times by peel type... Open →
- Pizza Oven Preheat Time ChartRealistic pizza oven preheat times to a measured floor temperature for gas, wood, pellet, electric and home ovens, plus recovery... Open →
Which chart answers which question?
| Chart | Answers | Headline figure | Matching calculator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydration by style | How much water for the pizza I want | Neapolitan 58 to 65% | Hydration |
| Baker's percentage | What every ingredient percentage means | Flour = 100% | Hydration |
| Bake time and temp | How long at my floor temperature | 900F = 75 s | Bake time |
| Flour protein | Which flour for which oven | 00 is 12 to 13% | Hydration |
| Fermentation time | When the dough will be ready | 2x per 17F | Proof time |
| Ball size by diameter | How much dough per pizza | 12 in = 249 g | Ball weight |
| Temp by style | What temperature each style needs | Neapolitan 850 to 950F | Bake time |
| Launch troubleshooting | Why the pizza stuck, tore or folded | Semolina, not flour | Ball weight |
What is the one relationship worth memorising?
Baker's percentage, because everything else on this site is expressed in it. Every ingredient is a percentage of the total flour weight, and flour is always 100 percent. That is why a 65 percent hydration dough is not 65 percent water: in a 1,000 g batch the water is 387 g, which is 38.7 percent of the finished dough.
The arithmetic runs backwards from the total. Add all the percentages including the 100 for flour, divide the dough weight you want by that number over 100 to get the flour weight, then multiply the flour by each individual percentage. Four 250 g balls at 65 percent hydration, 2.5 percent salt and 0.3 percent instant dry yeast comes out as 595.9 g flour, 387.4 g water, 14.9 g salt and 1.8 g yeast, which adds back to exactly 1,000 g.
What are the three numbers most people get wrong?
- Dough weight scales with area, not diameter. A 16 inch pizza needs 78 percent more dough than a 12 inch one because the area of a disc grows with the square of the radius. Scaling by diameter is why large home pizzas tear at the centre during the stretch.
- Yeast is a function of time and temperature, not of the recipe. A same-day dough uses 0.3 to 0.5 percent instant dry yeast and a three day cold ferment uses 0.05 to 0.08 percent. Using the first figure for the second schedule blows the dough out in the fridge.
- Floor temperature is not air temperature. A built-in gauge usually reads the air or the shell, and can differ from the stone by 200F in either direction. Everything on the bake charts refers to the floor, measured with an infrared thermometer aimed at the centre of the stone.
What do the four core figures look like side by side?
Most sessions need four lookups and no more. Having them in one table is faster than opening four pages, and each row links to the chart that goes deeper.
| Style | Hydration | Ball, 12 in | Floor temp | Bake time | Turns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neapolitan | 58 to 62% | 249 g | 850 to 950F | 60 to 90 s | 3 to 4 |
| Contemporary Neapolitan | 65 to 70% | 277 g | 750 to 850F | 90 to 150 s | 2 to 3 |
| New York | 60 to 65% | 294 g | 600 to 700F | 5 to 8 min | 1 to 2 |
| Home oven, steel | 65 to 68% | 294 g | 525 to 550F | 6 to 8 min | 1 |
| Home oven, stone | 65 to 68% | 294 g | 500 to 550F | 8 to 12 min | 1 |
| Detroit and pan | 70 to 80% | 385 g | 500 to 550F | 12 to 15 min | 1 |
| Roman al taglio | 75 to 85% | by tray | 525 to 575F | 15 to 20 min | 1 |
| Sicilian, deep pan | 70 to 78% | 430 g | 500 to 550F | 15 to 20 min | 1 |
Ball weights assume a 12 inch round pizza, which is 113.1 square inches, multiplied by the density for that style. Detroit and Sicilian figures are for the equivalent area in a pan rather than a 12 inch circle, because those styles are pressed rather than stretched. The ball size chart covers every diameter from 8 to 20 inches.
How do you use a chart mid-session?
Differently from how you use a calculator, which is why both exist. A calculator answers "what should my numbers be" once, before you start. A chart answers "what does 780F mean" in two seconds, while a pizza is on a peel and your hands are covered in semolina.
The practical pattern most people settle into is to run the hydration calculator and the proof time calculator once at the planning stage, then work entirely from the bake time chart and the launch troubleshooting chart during the session itself. Every chart on this site prints cleanly on one page for exactly that reason.
How accurate are these charts?
The baker's percentage figures are exact arithmetic and every worked example on every chart adds back to the stated dough weight. If a chart here disagrees with your own calculation, one of us is wrong and you should be able to see which, which is the whole point of publishing the working.
The fermentation and bake time figures are models built from published practice, and they are accurate enough to plan a schedule and not accurate enough to be a law. Flour strength, salt level, dough temperature after mixing, topping moisture and how much the oven mouth is losing all move the real answer. Use the charts to decide when to start checking, then read the dough and read the pizza.
Every figure assumes a scale rather than a measuring cup. Volume measures of flour vary by up to 20 percent depending on how the cup was filled, which is enough to move a dough from 65 percent hydration to 55 percent without any other change, so a 0.1 g digital scale is a prerequisite for every table on this site rather than an upgrade.
Where to go next
The calculators compute anything on these charts for your specific batch, the guides explain the method behind the numbers, and the gear roundups cover the equipment each chart assumes. If you are building from scratch, the complete builds put everything together at three budgets with a running total on every line.
Frequently asked questions
What hydration should pizza dough be?
Between 58 and 65 percent for Neapolitan, 60 to 65 percent for New York, 70 to 80 percent for Detroit and pan styles, and 75 to 85 percent for Roman al taglio. Hydration is water weight divided by flour weight, so a dough with 600 g of flour and 390 g of water is 65 percent. Higher hydration gives a more open crumb and a harder dough to launch.
How long does a pizza take to bake?
It depends almost entirely on the stone floor temperature. A 12 inch pizza takes about 60 seconds at 950F, 75 seconds at 900F, 2 minutes at 800F, 3 minutes 30 at 700F, 6 minutes 30 at 600F and 8 minutes at 550F. Base thickness and topping load adjust that by up to 60 percent either way, and wet toppings are the largest single factor.
How much dough do I need for each pizza size?
Multiply the pizza area by a dough density. A 12 inch pizza is 113.1 square inches, and at Neapolitan density of about 2.2 g per square inch that is 249 g. A 16 inch pizza is 201.1 square inches, so 442 g. Dough weight scales with area rather than diameter, which is why a 16 inch pizza needs 78 percent more dough than a 12 inch one, not 33 percent.
How does temperature change fermentation time?
Yeast activity roughly doubles for every 17F rise in dough temperature between about 40F and 90F. A dough that is ready in 4 hours at 75F takes about 8 hours at 58F and roughly 17 hours at 39F. That relationship is why cold-ferment recipes call for far less yeast rather than the same yeast and more patience: at 0.3 percent a fridge dough is done in under a day.
What protein content should pizza flour have?
Around 12 to 13 percent for Neapolitan 00 flour and 12.5 to 14 percent for bread flour used in New York and home oven pizza. Protein content predicts how much water the flour absorbs and how much structure the dough holds, but it is not the whole story: the milling and the damaged starch content decide how a flour browns, which is why 00 works at 900F and bread flour does not.
Why do these charts exist if there are calculators?
Because a chart can be read at a glance, printed and stuck to a fridge, while a calculator needs input. Mid-bake with flour on your hands, looking up "900F means 75 seconds and turn every 20" is faster than typing. The charts and the calculators use identical figures, so the two never disagree, and each links to the other.
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.