Poolish Pizza Dough Calculator – Perfect Hydration Every Time

🍕 Poolish Pizza Dough Calculator

Calculate exact flour, water & yeast amounts for your poolish pre-ferment

Quick Presets
📏 Calculator Inputs
✨ Your Poolish Results
💡 How Poolish Works: A poolish is a 100% hydration pre-ferment (equal weights flour and water). It is made first and fermented, then added to the final dough. The poolish % controls how much of your total flour goes into the pre-ferment. More poolish = more complex flavor.
📊 Poolish Yeast Reference by Ferment Time
Ferment Type Temperature Duration Instant Yeast (per 100g flour) Fresh Yeast (per 100g flour)
Room Temp – Fast22–24°C / 72–75°F4–6 hrs0.5g1.5g
Room Temp – Standard20–22°C / 68–72°F8–12 hrs0.25g0.75g
Cold Retard4–6°C / 39–43°F12–16 hrs0.1g0.3g
Extended Cold2–4°C / 36–39°F16–24 hrs0.05g0.15g
📐 Typical Dough Ball Weights by Style
Pizza Style Ball Weight (g) Ball Weight (oz) Pizza Size Hydration Range
🇮🇹 Neapolitan250–280g8.8–9.9 oz10–12 inch58–65%
🗽 New York Style280–340g9.9–12 oz12–16 inch60–65%
🪓 Thin Crust200–240g7–8.5 oz10–12 inch55–60%
🟫 Pan / Focaccia400–600g14–21 oz9x13 inch pan70–80%
🍕 Home Oven250–300g8.8–10.6 oz10–12 inch62–68%
🔥 Wood-Fired220–260g7.8–9.2 oz9–11 inch60–65%
📈 Hydration Quick Reference
58–62%
Firm / Crispy
63–67%
Classic Balance
68–73%
Airy / Open Crumb
74–80%
Very Wet / Ciabatta
🧪 Yeast Conversion Reference
Instant Dry Yeast Active Dry Yeast Fresh Yeast Notes
1g1.25g3gStandard conversion
0.5g0.6g1.5gHalf dose
0.1g0.125g0.3gCold ferment dose
0.05g0.063g0.15gExtended cold dose
⚖️ Precision Tip: Always weigh ingredients including yeast on a digital scale. For amounts under 1g, use a 0.01g precision jewellery scale. The poolish is always 100% hydration — equal grams of flour and water. The final dough water calculation subtracts the water already in the poolish.

pizza dough is one of those things that seems hard, but actually it is quite easy. A simple recipe requires only six ingredients and nothing fancy. Regular flour or bread flour both work well.

Everything can be mixed in one bowl, without a stand blender, although that device is a good choice. Kneading takes almost no time and the dough only must rise for 30 minutes, before it is ready for use.

How to Make Easy Pizza Dough

Basic ingredients are water, yeast, flour, olive oil, a bit of sugar and salt. No special gear is truly needed. Two bowls and a wooden spoon are enough for the work.

Dough simply rises one time, which makes everything fast and simple.

To start, test the yeast by mixing warm water with sugar and yeast. Let it stand for about five minutes, until it becomes frothy and bubbly. Water should be warm, but not too warm.

That truly matters. When yeast is ready, add the other dry and wet ingredients. Stir with a spoon, until the dough becomes a bit too stiff, then knead by hand or by machine, until it is almost smooth.

In a stand blender, mix for four to five minutes, then let it rest five minutes, and finally mix two to three more minutes. Dough must be just wet. It should pull away from teh bottom and sides of the bowl, but stay quite soft.

After blending, oil the dough balls, cover with plastic wrap and let them rest at room temperature for about two hours. Then the dough will be risen, airy and easy to work with.

Cold rising of the dough in the fridge simply improves it. Ideal pizza dough should be made at least two days before and chilled. 48-hour cold rising creates a big difference.

Use very little yeast, if you plan ahead, so that the dough does not over-rise. Keep it in a covered tin, so that it does not dry out.

dough weight depends on the size of the pizza. For a 10-inch pizza you need about seven ounces. A 12-inch pizza uses about ten ounces.

For a 14-inch pizza, 14 ounces work well. For thin crust, 125 to 175 grams per serving is a good amount.

A pizza stone truly helps to reach even baking and crisp crust. Sprinkle semolina or flour on a pizza peel or flipped baking sheet, slide the pizza onto the hot stone and bake. Mixing bread flour with semolina or normal flour can change the texture in interesting ways.

Also the water level matters a lot four the resulting crust.

A Poolish is a simple pre-dough mix that canimprove your pizza dough even more.

Poolish Pizza Dough Calculator – Perfect Hydration Every Time

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