Pizza Dough Calculator
Get flour, water, salt and yeast for your pizza dough balls.
Results update as you type.
How it works
Making pizza dough well means working backwards from how many bases you want to precise ingredient weights, and this pizza dough calculator does exactly that using baker's percentages. You enter the number of dough balls, how much each should weigh, and your target hydration, and the tool returns the flour, water, salt and yeast to weigh out. This approach matters because great pizza is a matter of ratios, not rough handfuls. The weight of each ball sets the size of the pizza — around 250 grams is typical for a Neapolitan-style base — and the hydration sets the texture, from a firmer, crisper crust at lower percentages to a lighter, more open one higher up. A pizza dough calculator lets you scale from a couple of pizzas to a party's worth while keeping the recipe perfectly in proportion, so every batch behaves the same. The method uses baker's percentages, where flour is 100 percent and the other ingredients are set against it: hydration as your chosen water percentage, salt at 2.5 percent and yeast at 0.5 percent. The total dough weight is the number of balls times the ball weight, and the flour is that total divided by one plus the hydration fraction plus the salt and yeast fractions. Water, salt and yeast then follow directly from the flour. So four 250-gram balls at 62 percent hydration need about 606 grams of flour, 376 of water, 15 of salt and 3 of yeast. Home pizza makers, dough-obsessed hobbyists and anyone hosting a pizza night rely on a pizza dough calculator to nail the recipe every time.
total dough = balls × ball weight; flour = total ÷ (1 + hydration/100 + 0.025 + 0.005)
Pizza dough is built on baker's percentages, where flour is 100% and every other ingredient is a percentage of the flour. With hydration as a chosen percentage, salt at 2.5% and yeast at 0.5%, the total dough weight equals the flour multiplied by (1 + hydration/100 + 0.025 + 0.005). Rearranging, the flour needed is the total dough weight divided by that same factor. Once the flour is known, water is flour times the hydration percentage, salt is 2.5% of flour and yeast 0.5%, so the whole recipe follows from the flour figure.
Source:Baker's percentage convention
We review all our tools from time to time to ensure accuracy.
Worked example
How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your values
Enter number of dough balls, ball weight and hydration.
- 2
Adjust the options
Fine-tune any options to match your situation.
- 3
Read your result
Flour updates instantly as you type — no button to press.
Frequently asked questions
How heavy should each pizza dough ball be?
It depends on the pizza size and style. Neapolitan-style bases are commonly 250 to 280 grams, giving a roughly 30-centimetre pizza with a puffy rim. Smaller personal pizzas might use 200 grams, while larger or thicker bases run heavier. Enter your preferred ball weight and the calculator scales everything else to match. Choosing a consistent ball weight is what makes your pizzas come out the same size and thickness batch after batch.
What hydration is best for pizza dough?
For home ovens, hydration around 60 to 65 percent is a forgiving and popular range, producing a dough that is easy to stretch and bakes into a crisp yet tender crust. Higher hydration of 70 percent or more gives a lighter, more open and airy crumb favoured for Neapolitan pizza in very hot ovens, but the wetter dough is harder to handle. Start near 62 percent and adjust once you are comfortable managing the dough.
Why are salt and yeast such small amounts?
In baker's percentages, salt and yeast are measured against the flour, and pizza dough uses only about 2.5 percent salt and 0.5 percent yeast. Salt controls flavour and tightens the gluten, so too much makes the dough tough while too little leaves it bland and slack. Yeast is kept low because pizza dough is usually given a long, slow rise, which develops flavour and needs only a little yeast to reach a good, well-fermented result.
Can I use this for a long cold ferment?
Yes. The ingredient weights the calculator gives work for both same-day and long cold-fermented doughs, since the recipe proportions are the same. For a slow rise in the fridge over one to three days, the modest 0.5 percent yeast is ideal because the dough ferments gradually, deepening flavour and improving digestibility. Just mix to these weights, then choose your fermentation schedule — a longer cold prove generally rewards you with a tastier, more extensible crust.
How do I scale the recipe for more pizzas?
Simply change the number of dough balls, and the calculator recomputes the flour, water, salt and yeast to match while keeping every ratio identical. Because the recipe is built on baker's percentages, doubling the balls doubles all the ingredients, so a batch for eight tastes and handles just like a batch for four. This makes it easy to plan for a crowd — decide how many pizzas you need and weigh out exactly what the tool specifies.