Pizza Dough Styles Explained
Different pizza styles require entirely different dough compositions. The percentages below represent standard Baker's Percentages, where flour is always exactly 100%, and everything else is relative to the flour weight.
- Neapolitan: The classic. A very simple dough requiring extreme heat (800°F+). Usually made with fine '00' flour, around 60-65% hydration, and absolutely no oil or sugar.
- New York: Designed for slightly lower temperatures (500°F - 600°F) in standard deck ovens. Often uses Bread Flour, 60-65% hydration, and incorporates a bit of sugar (for browning) and oil (for tenderness).
- Detroit: A high-hydration (70-75%) pan pizza. The dough is very wet and airy, baked in a steel pan generously coated with oil or shortening to fry the bottom crust.
Understanding Hydration
Hydration is the ratio of water to flour. A higher hydration dough (like Detroit style) will be much stickier to handle but will result in a more open, airy crumb. A lower hydration dough (like NY style) is firmer, easier to toss, and produces a denser, chewier crust that can support heavy toppings.
If you're using standard all-purpose flour instead of bread flour or '00' flour, you may want to lower your hydration by 2-3%, as all-purpose flour absorbs less water.
How to Use the Calculator
Select your desired style, how many pizzas you want to make, and how large you want each dough ball to be. The calculator will automatically determine the exact gram amounts needed. You can manually tweak the percentages of any ingredient to create your own custom dough formulation.