Neapolitan pizza dough calculator
Four ingredients and nothing else: flour, water, salt, yeast. 62% hydration by default, 250 g balls, an oven as hot as it goes.
Fridge hours are counted at 6 °C.
Classic Neapolitan pizza is four ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast. The proportions are baker’s percentages: flour is always 100%, and everything else is a fraction of it.
How it works
Baker’s percentages
Every ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the flour weight: 62% hydration means 62 g of water per 100 g of flour. That makes the recipe scale perfectly — change the ball count or ball weight and the proportions stay intact.
Yeast from time and temperature
The yeast dose is not a constant: the longer and warmer the fermentation, the less you need. The model assumes fermentation speed roughly doubles every 6 °C, with fridge hours counted at 6 °C. So a 24-hour plan lands at a fraction of a gram per kilo of flour.
Balls and baking
For a 30–32 cm pizza use a 230–280 g ball. Neapolitan wants 430–480 °C; in a home oven, preheat a stone or steel at maximum and bake fast, as close to the broiler as possible.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- AVPN — Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana — The official disciplinare: hydration 55.6–62.5%, salt 2.2–3.75%, balls 200–280 g, 8–24 h at room temperature — every default sits inside its band.
- Modernist Cuisine — “Understanding Neapolitan Pizza” — Runs Neapolitan at 62.3% hydration — the cross-check for the 62% default.
FAQ
What hydration for Neapolitan pizza?
The AVPN rulebook works out to 55.6–62.5% (1600–1800 g of flour per litre of water); KMP allows 55–65%. The default 62% is a safe middle: extensible dough that doesn’t turn sticky. With weaker flour, or as a beginner, work toward the bottom of the AVPN band.
Can I cold-ferment the dough?
Yes. Enter the total fermentation time and how much of it the dough spends in the fridge — the calculator assumes 6 °C and raises the yeast dose accordingly. A 24–72 h cold ferment gives deeper flavor and better digestibility.
Which flour should I use?
For 24 h+ fermentation, a strong Italian-style 00 sold for long-rise pizza. Weaker all-purpose flours do better with shorter schedules, up to 8–12 h.
Why is the yeast amount so small?
Yeast multiplies throughout the fermentation — over 24 hours a fraction of a gram of fresh yeast per kilo of flour is enough, and more means overproofed, collapsing dough. Conversions: instant (IDY) ≈ fresh ÷ 3, active dry (ADY) ≈ fresh ÷ 2.5.
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