Pizza dough hydration explained

How hydration is calculated

Pizza recipes use baker's percentages, where flour is always 100 % and every other ingredient is a percentage of the flour weight. Hydration is the water percentage. If a recipe has 1,000 g flour and 620 g water, hydration is 62 %. Salt at 28 g is 2.8 %.

This makes scaling easy. For 500 g flour at 62 %, you need 310 g water. Our calculator does the maths for any number and size of dough balls.

Typical hydration by style

These ranges are general; recipes vary with flour, climate and personal taste.

How flour changes things

Different flours absorb different amounts of water. Stronger flours with more protein, like UK strong white bread flour, can take more water and still feel manageable. Italian 00 flour for pizza is finely milled and often absorbs a little less. Wholemeal flour absorbs more because of the bran.

If you switch flour and the dough suddenly feels sticky or stiff, adjust water by 2 % to 3 % next time rather than adding handfuls of flour on the worktop. Our 00 flour vs strong white flour article explains the differences.

Wetter dough in a hot oven

At 400°C to 450°C, water in the dough turns to steam almost instantly, inflating the rim. A wetter dough has more water to make steam, so it tends to give a lighter, more open crust. It also stays more tender because the bake is so fast.

In a kitchen oven at 250°C, a very wet dough can stay gummy because the bake is slower. Many home oven recipes therefore use 60 % to 65 % with a little oil. If you are baking in a pizza oven, you can push higher as your handling improves.

Handling higher hydration

Wet dough is sticky and slack. Use a bench scraper, wet or lightly oiled hands when folding, and a series of stretch and folds instead of long kneading. A cold ferment in the fridge firms it up and makes it easier to ball. Use semolina on the peel and work quickly when topping.

If your dough tears or sticks badly, step back by a few percent. See pizza dough tearing or too sticky and pizza sticking to the peel.

Starters and other liquids

If you use a sourdough starter or a preferment like poolish, count the water and flour in it towards the totals. A 100 % hydration starter contains equal weights of each. Milk, oil and honey also add liquid but behave differently: oil softens the crumb, milk browns faster. Most Neapolitan doughs use only water. See how to make sourdough pizza dough.

Putting it into practice

Start at 62 % with a good pizza flour, 2.8 % salt and a small amount of yeast, and ferment in the fridge for 24 hours. Once that feels easy, try 65 % and see how the rim changes. Weigh everything, including water; cup measures are too rough for this.

A hot oven makes hydration really matter. Compare ovens that hold high stone temperatures in our best outdoor pizza ovens and best gas pizza ovens guides. For ball weights, see pizza dough ball sizes.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best hydration for pizza dough? 60 % to 65 % suits most home cooks and pizza ovens. Go higher once you are confident handling wet dough.

Does hydration include oil? Usually not. Hydration normally counts water only, though some recipes count all liquids.

Why is my high hydration dough so sticky? It is meant to be tacky. Use stretch and folds, a scraper and a cold ferment rather than more flour.

Does higher hydration mean a crispier base? Not on its own. Base crispness depends more on stone temperature and bake time.