Pizza Dough Generator
Create the perfect pizza dough recipe tailored to your needs.
1. Select Pizza Style
Sets the ideal starting hydration.
2. How many pizzas?
Each makes a 25-30cm (10-12 inch) pizza.
3. Adjust Hydration (Optional)
Fine-tune the water content.
68%Adjusts yeast and timing (°C)
Creates 30% poolish for enhanced flavour and texture.
4. Select Oven Type
This changes the baking instructions.
5. Select Fermentation Time
Longer fermentation develops complex flavour.
📚 Resources & Tips
🔄 Ingredient Substitutions
+'00' Flour: Use bread flour (12-13% protein). Results will be slightly less tender but still excellent.
Instant Yeast: Can substitute active dry yeast 1:1, but dissolve in warm water first for 5 minutes.
Fine Sea Salt: Use table salt but reduce by 10-15% (it's denser). Kosher salt: increase by 25%.
No Scale? 1 cup flour ≈ 125g, 1 cup water ≈ 240g. But seriously, get a scale for best results!
Fresh Yeast: Multiply instant yeast amount by 3 (fresh yeast has more moisture).
💡 Troubleshooting Tips
+Dough is too sticky: Don't add too much flour! Use a bench scraper and wet hands. A little extra kneading or a few more stretch-and-folds will also help build strength.
Dough isn't rising: Your yeast might be old, or the room could be too cold. Move the dough to a warmer spot. Make sure your water wasn't too hot, as that can kill the yeast.
Crust is dense, not airy: You may have overworked the dough during kneading or knocked out all the air when stretching it. Be gentle in the final stages!
🙌 Dough Handling Guide
+1. Be Gentle: Your dough is full of gas from fermentation. The goal is to shape it without losing all those precious air bubbles.
2. Use Your Fingertips: Press down in the centre of the dough ball, leaving a 1-inch border untouched. This border will become the crust (cornicione).
3. The "Steering Wheel": Gently drape the dough over your knuckles and rotate it like a steering wheel, letting gravity do the stretching. Avoid pulling or tearing.
4. No Rolling Pins! A rolling pin will crush all the air pockets, resulting in a flat, dense crust.
5. Room Temperature: Let the dough balls warm up for 30-60 minutes at room temperature before stretching for easier handling.
📖 Glossary of Terms
+"00" Flour: A finely milled Italian flour that creates a soft, tender crust. Bread flour is a great substitute.
Hydration: The ratio of water to flour by weight. Higher hydration = stickier dough and airier crust.
Poolish: A liquid preferment made with equal parts flour and water (100% hydration) plus a small amount of yeast. Fermented for 12-16 hours to develop flavour and improve dough structure.
Preferment: A portion of dough made ahead and allowed to ferment before being added to the final dough. Examples include poolish, biga, and sourdough starter. Adds complex flavours and improves texture.
Bulk Fermentation: The first rise of the dough after mixing and kneading.
Proofing: The final rise of the dough after it has been shaped into balls.
Cornicione: The Italian term for the crust or the puffy outer rim of the pizza.
Windowpane Test: Stretching a small piece of dough to check if gluten is properly developed - it should be thin enough to see light through without tearing.