Pizza Dough Calculator

How this is calculated

⚠️ DOUGH SCALES WITH AREA, NOT DIAMETER. This is the whole point of the tool. A 16-inch pizza is not a third bigger than a 12-inch one - it is (16 ÷ 12)² = 1.78 times bigger, because the area of a circle goes with the square of the radius. Scaling the dough ball by diameter instead gives you about 75% of what you need, and the result is a base you cannot stretch to the edge without tearing. The tool shows both figures side by side so the size of that error is visible rather than described. IT STARTS FROM A DOUGH BALL YOU ALREADY LIKE, which is deliberate. There is no universally correct weight for a 12-inch pizza - it depends on how thin you stretch, how much rim you want, whether it is going in a domestic oven or a 450°C deck, and what you consider a good base. Rather than assert a figure, this tool takes yours and scales it geometrically. That part is arithmetic and is correct by construction. If you have no starting point yet, make one pizza at any weight, decide what you would change, and use the corrected weight as the input from then on. THE THICKNESS FACTOR IS DOUGH WEIGHT PER UNIT OF AREA, and it is the number that lets you compare two recipes that make different sizes. Two recipes with the same thickness factor produce the same thickness of base regardless of diameter. It is shown here in grams per square inch; the pizza-making community usually quotes it in ounces per square inch, so divide by 28.35 to compare with those figures. THE FLOUR SPLIT USES BAKER'S PERCENTAGE. Flour is 100% and water, salt and yeast are percentages of the flour weight, so the total dough is flour × (1 + hydration + salt + yeast). Working backwards from a known total is just that arithmetic rearranged. The percentages are inputs because pizza styles differ enormously - a Neapolitan dough and a pan dough are both correct at hydrations nowhere near each other. THIS ASSUMES A ROUND PIZZA. For a rectangular pan, work out its area in square inches, divide by 3.14159 to get the equivalent radius, double it, and enter that as the target diameter. A 12 × 16 inch pan is 192 square inches, which is the same area as a round pizza of about 15.6 inches. DOUGH LOSS IS NOT MODELLED. A little sticks to the bowl, the bench and your hands. If you are making a large batch and want every ball to hit its weight exactly, add a couple of percent to the total and accept a small offcut rather than coming up short on the last ball. NO FERMENTATION ADVICE HERE. How long to prove and at what temperature depends on your yeast quantity, your kitchen and your schedule, and those interact - a dough with less yeast and a long cold ferment and a dough with more yeast and a short warm one can both be right.

Common questions

Why is a 16-inch pizza so much more dough than a 12-inch?

Because area grows with the square of the radius. Going from 12 to 16 inches multiplies the diameter by 1.33 but the area by 1.33 squared, which is 1.78 - so you need 78% more dough, not 33% more. This is the single most common mistake in scaling pizza, and it fails in the direction that hurts: you end up with about three quarters of the dough you need, and a base that tears before it reaches the edge. The tool shows the wrong answer next to the right one so the gap is visible.

Why doesn't it just tell me how much dough a 12-inch pizza needs?

Because there is no correct answer to that question. It depends on how thin you stretch, how much rim you leave, whether you are baking in a domestic oven or a deck oven at 450°C, and what you personally think a good base is. Any number a tool asserted would be somebody's preference dressed up as a fact. Starting from a dough ball you already know works keeps the judgement with you and leaves the tool doing the part that is genuinely arithmetic. If you have no starting point, make one at any weight, decide what you would change, and use the corrected figure from then on.

What is the thickness factor for?

Comparing recipes that make different sizes. It is the dough weight divided by the area of the pizza, so two recipes with the same thickness factor produce the same thickness of base whatever diameter each one makes. That makes it the honest way to ask whether someone else's dough is thinner or thicker than yours - comparing raw dough ball weights tells you nothing unless the pizzas are the same size. It is shown here in grams per square inch; most pizza forums use ounces per square inch, so divide by 28.35 to compare.

How do I do this for a rectangular pan?

Convert the pan to an equivalent circle. Work out the pan's area in square inches, divide by 3.14159, take the square root to get a radius, and double it for a diameter to enter as the target. A 12 by 16 inch pan is 192 square inches, which works out to an equivalent round pizza of about 15.6 inches. The dough does not know what shape the tin is - it only cares how much area it has to cover.

Should I add extra for dough that sticks to the bowl?

If you are making a large batch and want every ball on weight, yes - a couple of percent covers what stays on the bowl, the bench and your hands. The tool does not build that in because the right allowance depends on how wet your dough is and how carefully you scrape, and for two or three pizzas it is not worth the flour. The practical version is to add a small margin and accept a slightly undersized offcut rather than discovering the shortfall on your last ball.

Are these percentages right for Neapolitan?

They are starting points, not a specification, which is why they are inputs. Pizza styles differ enormously - a Neapolitan dough, a New York dough and a pan dough are all correct at hydrations that are nowhere near each other, and the yeast quantity depends entirely on how long and how cold you intend to ferment. If you are following a specific style, use its published figures in these fields and let the tool handle the scaling, which is the part that does not change between styles.

Does hydration change how much dough I need?

Not for a given size, no. The dough ball weight is set by the area you need to cover and how thick you want it, and that is what the scaling here is based on. Hydration changes what that weight is MADE of - a wetter dough is more water and less flour for the same total - which is why changing it moves the flour and water figures but leaves the dough ball weight alone. It does change how the dough handles and how far it wants to stretch, which is a matter of technique rather than arithmetic.

Take it further with AI

Copy this into ChatGPT or Claude with your own numbers filled in. It hands over the figures this calculator worked out, so the answer is built on real arithmetic instead of a guess.

I used the Pizza Dough Calculator at https://www.bfcbrilliance.com/tools/pizza-dough-calculator.

What I entered:
- A size you already make (in): ___
- Dough ball weight that works at that size (g): ___
- Size you want to make (in): ___
- How many pizzas (pizzas): ___
- Hydration (%): ___
- Salt (%): ___
- Yeast (%): ___

What it calculated:
- Dough ball for the new size: ___
- If you scaled by diameter instead: ___
- Total dough for the batch: ___
- Flour: ___
- Water: ___

Use those figures as given — they are already worked out, so please don't recalculate or estimate your own. Help me turn them into a plan: what to buy or do, in what order, roughly what it should cost, and the mistakes people most often make with this job.

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