Baker's Math: How Pizza Dough Percentages Work
Baker's math is the system professional bakers use to scale recipes. Every ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. Once you understand it, you can scale any recipe from 1 ball to 100 without doing complicated math.
How It Works
In baker's math, flour is the anchor — it's always 100%. Every other ingredient is expressed as a percentage relative to the total flour weight.
| Ingredient | Baker's % | For 1000g flour | For 500g flour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flour | 100% | 1000g | 500g |
| Water | 65% | 650g | 325g |
| Salt | 2.5% | 25g | 12.5g |
| Yeast (IDY) | 0.1% | 1g | 0.5g |
| Olive oil | 3% | 30g | 15g |
The formula is dead simple: ingredient weight = flour weight × percentage / 100.
Why Percentages Instead of Grams?
Fixed gram amounts only work for one specific batch size. Baker's percentages let you scale instantly. Need dough for 2 pizzas? Or 20? Just multiply the flour and all the other amounts follow.
Percentages also make it easy to compare recipes. If someone says their dough is "65% hydration, 2.5% salt," you immediately know the character of that dough without seeing the actual gram amounts.
Common Pizza Dough Percentages
| Style | Hydration | Salt | Oil | Yeast (IDY) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neapolitan | 58-65% | 2.5-3% | 0% | 0.05-0.2% |
| New York | 62-66% | 2% | 2-3% | 0.1-0.3% |
| Detroit | 70-75% | 2% | 3-4% | 0.2-0.5% |
| Roman al Taglio | 75-85% | 2.5% | 3% | 0.1-0.2% |
Calculating Ball Weight
Total dough weight = flour + water + salt + yeast + oil. To figure out how much flour you need for a specific number of balls:
Flour needed = (ball weight × number of balls) / (1 + hydration% + salt% + oil% + yeast%)
For example, 4 balls at 250g each with 65% hydration, 2.5% salt, and 0.1% yeast:
Flour = (250 × 4) / (1 + 0.65 + 0.025 + 0.001) = 1000 / 1.676 = 597g flour
Skip the math entirely
Our calculator handles all of this automatically — just pick your style and number of balls.
🍕 Open Pizza Calculator →Hydration: The Most Important Percentage
Hydration (water as a % of flour) has the biggest effect on your dough. Low hydration (55-60%) gives you stiffer, easier-to-handle dough. High hydration (70%+) gives you airy, open crumb but is harder to shape.
Start at 62-65% if you're new. Move up gradually as your handling skills improve. Read our hydration guide for more detail.
Common Mistakes
1. Confusing baker's % with regular percentages
In baker's math, all percentages can add up to more than 100%. A recipe with 100% flour, 65% water, 2.5% salt totals 167.5%. That's normal — each ingredient is relative to flour, not the total.
2. Measuring flour by volume
A "cup" of flour can weigh anywhere from 120g to 160g depending on how you scoop it. Baker's math requires weight. Get a kitchen scale — it's the single best tool upgrade you can make.
3. Forgetting preferments
If you use a poolish or biga, the flour and water in the preferment count toward your totals. A 65% hydration recipe with a poolish still uses 65% total water — some of it just goes into the poolish the night before.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is flour always 100%?
It's a convention that makes scaling easy. Flour is the main ingredient, so everything else is measured relative to it.
How do I convert a regular recipe to baker's math?
Divide each ingredient weight by the flour weight, then multiply by 100. If a recipe has 500g flour and 325g water, the hydration is 325/500 × 100 = 65%.
Does the type of flour change the percentages?
The percentages stay the same, but different flours absorb water differently. You might want to start with slightly lower hydration when switching to a new flour and adjust from there.
Let the calculator do the math
Enter your style, ball count, and timing — we calculate everything.
🍕 Open Pizza Calculator →🍕 Try these recipes
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🟨 Roman al Taglio
80% hydration worked example