Pizza Dough Calculator (Baker's Percentage)
Tell the calculator how many dough balls you want and how much each should weigh, then set your hydration, salt, and yeast as baker's percentages, and it works backward to the exact flour, water, salt, and yeast weights for the whole batch and per ball. Baker's percentages are always expressed relative to flour weight, so flour is the 100% baseline every other ingredient is measured against.
Batch
Baker's percentages
Flour (100% baseline)
607.9 g
1,000 g total dough · 4 × 250 g
Water
376.9 g
Salt
12.2 g
Yeast
3 g
Full recipe & per-ball detail
Ingredient weights (grams)
Compare scenarios
Run the same calculation with two or three input sets side by side. Differences are highlighted; every number comes from the same tested formula as the calculator above.
| Input | Scenario A | Scenario B |
|---|---|---|
| Balls | ||
| Ball Weight | ||
| Hydration | ||
| Salt Pct | ||
| Yeast Pct |
How it works
First the calculator finds the total dough you need: number of balls multiplied by the target weight of each ball. A batch of four 250 g balls is 1,000 g of finished dough, before it is split into flour, water, salt, and yeast.
Baker's percentages describe every ingredient as a share of flour weight, which is fixed at 100%. So the total dough equals flour × (1 + hydration% + salt% + yeast%). The calculator divides total dough by that factor to recover the flour weight, then applies each percentage to it: water = flour × hydration%, salt = flour × salt%, yeast = flour × yeast%.
The flour weight is the load-bearing number — get it right and the rest follows. All arithmetic is carried at full precision and only the displayed grams are rounded, so the four ingredient weights add back up to your target dough. The per-ball view simply divides each total by the number of balls.
Frequently asked questions
What does baker's percentage actually mean here?+
In baker's math every ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the flour weight, and flour itself is always 100%. So 62% hydration means the water weighs 62% of the flour, and 2% salt means the salt weighs 2% of the flour — not 2% of the whole dough. That is why the percentages can add up to more than 100%: they are all relative to flour, not to the finished dough. This calculator inverts that relationship: it knows the total dough you want and solves for the flour weight the percentages imply.
What hydration should I use for my style of pizza?+
Hydration is a matter of style and preference, not a single correct number. Neapolitan doughs are commonly made around 58–65% hydration for a soft, extensible dough baked hot and fast; New York-style doughs often run a touch higher, roughly 62–68%; and very wet, airy styles like some pan or Roman doughs push well past 70%. Higher hydration is stickier and harder to handle but can give a more open crumb. The defaults here (62%) are a middle-of-the-road starting point — adjust to your flour, oven, and technique.
Does the yeast amount depend on the type of yeast?+
Yes. The percentage that works depends heavily on which yeast you use and how long the dough ferments. Instant (or active dry) yeast is potent, so bakers often use well under 1% for a same-day dough and far less for a long cold ferment. Fresh (cake) yeast is roughly one-third the strength by weight, so you would use about three times as much. This calculator applies whatever percentage you enter to the flour weight; it does not convert between yeast types or recommend a fermentation schedule, so match the percentage to your recipe and timing.