Chicago tavern-style dough calculator
Cracker-thin party-cut squares: ~50% hydration, 8% oil, days-long cold ferment and the overnight skin cure.
2 × 295 g · 49% hydration
Type how much flour you have — the portion weight recalculates.
Chicago tavern-style: the cracker-thin, party-cut pizza of Midwest bars — rolled flat, cured dry, and snapped into squares. Its secret is not in the oven but in the fridge: a multi-day cold ferment and an overnight uncovered “cure” of the rolled skins.
How it works
A stiff, fatty dough
About 49% ice water, 8% oil, 1.3% each of salt and sugar, with 3.5% of the flour base as cornmeal for bite. The 0.5% instant yeast dose belongs to a 4–5 day cold fermentation — this dough is never in a hurry.
Roll, dock, cure
Roll 295 g balls to a full 35 cm — a rolling pin is mandatory, not shameful — dock thoroughly, then rest the naked skins uncovered in the fridge overnight (up to ~24 h). That drying step is what produces the signature cracker snap.
Dress to the edge, cut in squares
Sauce and cheese go all the way to the rim — tavern style has no crust “handle”. Bake hot until deeply browned, then party-cut into squares. Thin toppings only; this base carries no weight.
FAQ
Why cure the rolled dough?
A dried surface bakes into a crisp, almost laminated shell instead of a bready one. Every serious tavern-style source agrees on the step — skip it and you get a thin pizza, but not the crackle.
Can I shorten the cold ferment?
Published schedules run from overnight to 7–10 days, with 4–5 days as the sweet spot. Shorter works — raise the yeast slightly — but flavor and blistering suffer.
Why squares?
The party cut is the tradition: a bar pizza eaten over napkins, not folded slices. Practically, a cracker-thin 35 cm round simply handles better in small squares.