Pizza Dough Recipe by Weight: 4 Formulas for 4 Styles

Every recipe here is in grams, because a scale measures the same way every time. Measuring by weight is one of Ken Forkish’s eight details for a great crust: depending on how it’s packed, he points out, his cup of flour might weigh 120 g and yours 160 g.

Each formula gives the weights for a stated yield and the baker’s percentages behind them. The weights are the Pizza Planner’s own numbers for that pizza, rounded the way the Planner shows them: whole grams above 10 g and tenths below, so a column can differ from its total by a fraction of a gram. Each formula has a link that opens the Planner on it, where you can change the count or size and get a schedule worked back from dinner.

The four formulas at a glance

Formula 1: Neapolitan-style dough for a home oven

A soft, light crust with a raised rim, adapted for a kitchen oven. The 70% water is Forkish’s home-oven adjustment: a home bake of 6 to 10 minutes dries a crust far more than a 60-second bake in a wood-fired oven, so the dough needs more water than the Neapolitan association’s current recipe, which works out to about 56 to 63%. Forkish’s 24- to 48-hour dough uses 2.6% salt; the Planner uses 3%, the level of his AVPN-inspired Saturday dough.

Makes 4 dough balls of 250 g, for four 12-inch pizzas. Active time about 30 minutes. Elapsed time about 29 hours to the first pizza, 24 of them in the fridge. Bake 6 to 10 minutes per pizza.

1. Mix the dough: dissolve the salt and then the yeast in the water, add the flour and mix by hand until no dry flour is left. Rest 20 minutes, then knead for 30 seconds to a minute until smooth. Aim for a dough temperature of about 80°F (27°C).
2. First rise: cover and leave at room temperature for about 2 hours (1½ to 3), until the dough has expanded and feels aerated.
3. Divide into four 250 g pieces and shape each gently into a ball without pressing out all its gas.
4. Refrigerate the covered balls at 34 to 41°F (1 to 5°C) for about 24 hours. Expect gradual expansion and small bubbles, not a doubling.
5. Take the balls out about 2 hours (1½ to 3) before baking and keep them covered, until they are soft, airy and stretch without snapping back.
6. Preheat a steel or stone at 500 to 550°F (260 to 288°C) for 45 to 60 minutes, overlapping the warm-up.
7. Stretch one ball to 12 inches, top lightly and bake for 6 to 10 minutes, until the base is cooked through. Let the steel recover before the next pizza.

If you bake in an outdoor pizza oven instead, use 60% water; the hydration guide explains why. The full home method is in Neapolitan pizza at home.

Formula 2: New York

A thin, crisp slice that folds without flopping. These are the percentages of Forkish’s 48- to 72-hour New York dough: high-protein bread flour, 64% water, 2.8% salt and 0.24% instant yeast. The stiffer dough bakes crisp in a home oven, and Forkish notes it’s good for tossing. He recommends a stand mixer, because a dough this stiff is hard work by hand.

Makes 4 dough balls of 370 g, for four 14-inch pizzas. Active time about 30 minutes. Elapsed time about 53 hours to the first pizza, 48 of them in the fridge. Bake 8 to 12 minutes per pizza.

1. Mix the dough: dissolve the salt and then the yeast in about 90°F (32°C) water in a stand mixer bowl, add the flour and mix with the dough hook on the slowest speed for about 90 seconds. Don’t overmix. Aim for a dough temperature of 78 to 80°F (26 to 27°C).
2. First rise: cover and leave at room temperature for about 2 hours (1½ to 3), until the dough has expanded and feels aerated.
3. Divide into four 370 g pieces and shape each into a ball.
4. Refrigerate the covered balls at 34 to 41°F (1 to 5°C) for about 48 hours. Forkish allows up to 72.
5. Take the balls out about 2 hours (1½ to 3) before baking, until they are soft and stretch without snapping back.
6. Preheat a steel or stone at 500 to 550°F (260 to 288°C) for 45 to 60 minutes.
7. Stretch one ball to 14 inches, top and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until the base is crisp and browned underneath.

Check that a 14-inch pizza fits your steel or stone with room to spare. If it doesn’t, change the size to 12 inches in the Planner; four 12-inch pizzas take 272 g of dough each. More on the style in New York-style pizza dough.

Formula 3: Detroit

A tall, airy pan crust with a crisp, cheesy edge. These are the weights of King Arthur Baking’s weeknight Detroit pizza, which bakes in a 9 × 13-inch pan. The dough is wet, at 75% water, and it’s stretched into the pan rather than shaped on a peel.

Makes one 9 × 13-inch pan pizza, 657 g of dough. Active time about 30 minutes. Elapsed time just under 4 hours. Bake 22 to 26 minutes in two stages.

Grease the pan with about 1 tablespoon (12 g) of olive oil as well, as King Arthur does; that isn’t part of the dough.

1. Mix the dough: combine everything into a sticky, shaggy dough.
2. Rest and fold: cover and rest 15 minutes, then give the dough a fold in the bowl. Rest another 15 minutes and fold again.
3. First rise: leave it covered at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes more, until slightly puffy. It doesn’t need to double.
4. Stretch the dough into the oiled pan, cover, and proof for 45 to 60 minutes, until it reaches the edges and looks slightly puffy, with some bubbles. If it won’t reach the edges, cover it for another 30 minutes before you finish stretching; that pushes the bake back.
5. Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C) for 25 to 35 minutes, with the rack in the lower third.
6. Bake the untopped dough for 10 to 12 minutes, until set. Add cheese right to the edges and the sauce, then bake 12 to 14 minutes more, until the edges are deep brown and the base is crisp.
7. Loosen the edges carefully, move the pizza to a rack and wait a few minutes before cutting.

These are King Arthur’s stages, and the Planner’s same-day Detroit schedule follows them, reserving 2 hours for the rests, folds and first rise and 1 hour for the pan proof. Its standard Detroit pan is 10 × 14 inches, which takes 786 g of dough at the same thickness. The Detroit-style pizza guide covers cheese and pans.

Formula 4: Sicilian-style

A thick, soft, generous pan pizza for a crowd. These are the weights of King Arthur Baking’s Sicilian-style pizza, which fills a 13 × 18-inch half-sheet pan. King Arthur lists its yeast as 2 teaspoons; the Planner weighs it at 6 g.

Makes one 13 × 18-inch pan pizza, 955 g of dough. Active time about 30 minutes. Elapsed time about 4¼ hours. Bake 25 to 32 minutes in two stages.

1. Mix the dough: combine everything until cohesive. King Arthur notes you may not need all of the water.
2. First rise: cover and leave at room temperature for about 1½ hours (1 to 2¼), until expanded.
3. Ease the dough into a well-oiled half-sheet pan. If it springs back, cover it, rest and stretch again.
4. Proof in the pan, covered, for about 1½ hours (1 to 2¼), until noticeably puffy.
5. Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C) for 25 to 35 minutes.
6. Bake the untopped crust for 10 to 12 minutes, until it just starts to brown. Add the toppings and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the edges are golden and the base is cooked.
7. Rest about 10 minutes before cutting.

For a slower, more flavorful version, choose the Planner’s overnight schedule: the yeast drops to 0.3% (1.6 g) and the dough spends about 24 hours in the fridge before it goes into the pan. The Sicilian vs. grandma guide compares the two pan styles.

Scaling and swapping

To make more or fewer pizzas, change the count in the Planner, or multiply every weight by the same factor. To use active dry yeast, multiply the instant yeast by 1.33; for fresh yeast, by 3. Those are Modernist Pizza’s conversions, and the ones the Planner uses.

Roman tonda, rolled thin and crisp, is the Planner’s fifth style: 60% water, 2% salt, 2.7% oil and 180 g of dough for a 12-inch pizza. See the Roman tonda guide. Roman pizza al taglio isn’t in the Planner; Forkish’s al taglio dough, at 72% water, is in the al taglio guide.

Sources

• Ken Forkish, The Elements of Pizza (2016): chapter 2 (New York style at home), chapter 3 (Detail 1, hydration and the oven; Detail 3, measuring by weight) and chapter 6 (the Saturday, 24- to 48-hour and 48- to 72-hour New York doughs).
• Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, Modernist Pizza (2021), volume 1, page xxii (yeast conversions).
• King Arthur Baking: Weeknight Detroit pizza and Sicilian-style pizza recipes.
• Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana: public Neapolitan pizza recipe (1 liter of water to 1.6 to 1.8 kg of flour). Checked October 14, 2026.