Pizza Calculator Methodology & Assumptions

Exact recipe arithmetic

All ingredient percentages refer to total flour. Total dough = flour × [1 + (water% + salt% + yeast% + oil% + sugar% + malt%)/100]. Flour = target dough ÷ that ratio. Rounding occurs at display, so shown rows can differ slightly from the full-precision sum.

Preferment flour and water

Poolish uses equal flour and water. Biga hydration is independent of its share of total flour. Starter mass is a percentage of total flour; starter flour = starter mass ÷ (1 + starter hydration/100). Remaining ingredients subtract these contributions. The starter row identifies an included part of flour and water, not extra mass.

The inherited commercial-yeast split allocates up to 0.1% IDY of Poolish flour, or one-third of 1% IDY of Biga flour, capped by total yeast. Those are house planning assumptions, not manufacturer requirements. The interface reports insufficient recipe water for the specified preferment hydration.

Commercial yeast planning model

This heuristic uses time, room temperature and yeast type. It does not model dough cooling, strain, salt, sugar, flour, acidity or starter maturity. The cold weighting and temperature curve are software assumptions, not measured universal yeast activity. Compare the estimate with your own batches and watch the dough.

Room phase 10–35°C, 0–48 h; cold phase 0–168 h near 4°C. A nonzero schedule is required.

The implemented heuristic is IDY% = 2.25 ÷ max(1, room hours + 0.12 × cold hours) × 2^((21 − room °C)/10), clamped to 0.01–1.5%. These constants describe the software’s estimate curve; they are not a biological doubling law or a claim that refrigerated yeast has 12% activity. No calibration study is claimed.

The factors IDY × 1.25 for ADY and IDY × 3 for fresh yeast are conversion conventions. Product instructions take precedence; Red Star allows 1:1 dry-type substitution in traditional methods. Sourdough is accounted for separately and has no equivalent predicted yeast activity.

Desired dough temperature

Conventional straight dough uses water = 3 × target − flour − room − friction. Preferment dough uses four factors and subtracts preferment temperature. Friction is a fitted adjustment for a measured process, not a universal mixer-category value. This is not a mass-weighted thermal simulation. Temperature differences convert without the Fahrenheit offset.

Calculate water temperature · Calibrate your mixing adjustment

Pan geometry and units

Rectangle area is length × width; circle area is π × (diameter/2)². Weight = area × chosen thickness factor. Reverse mode divides total dough across all pans by total area. No universal factor is supplied in the independent tool. One inch = 2.54 cm and one ounce = 28.349523125 g, exactly.

Calculate pan loading. Style-based factors in the recipe tool are editable examples, not finished-height predictions.

AVPN scope

AVPN: floor approximately 380–430°C; dome approximately 485°C; 60–90 seconds. The regulations distinguish the cooking floor from the dome. AVPN’s public recipe describes approximately 430–480°C between floor and vault. These are different measurements, not one universal setpoint.

The regulations specify 1,000 ml water, 1,600–1,800 g flour and 40–60 g salt. Derived hydration is approximately 55.6–62.5%; salt depends on the chosen flour dose. Our 62% water / 3% salt preset is a planning example, not certification.

The 2024 regulations describe direct mixing and 12–24 hours total fermentation with controlled room/proofing conditions. Refrigerated presets on this site are home adaptations, not the official AVPN procedure.

What an answer cannot establish

A calculation does not establish food-storage safety, clinical benefits, flour performance or exact proof readiness. Use complete recipes, product instructions, measured conditions and observations. The site does not imply AVPN approval or claim individual reviewer approval of every new guide.