pizza-dough-scaler

Use when making pizza dough for any pan size and count — neo-neapolitan, NY-style, Detroit, sicilian, or gluten-free — from one dough ball; computes ball weight from pan dimensions (Detroit pan area math, 16-inch round area), hydration for your flour and oven, salt/oil/yeast by baker's percentages, cold-ferment vs same-day yeast schedules, and a per-step timing sheet so 4 doughs for a 16-inch + 2 Detroit pans never turn into guesswork.

Every pizza dough recipe on the internet is written for one specific dough ball — "makes two 12-inch pizzas." Your Friday night is four people, a 16-inch round stone AND two 8×10 Detroit pans, the kitchen is 18°C, and you want to bake tomorrow evening. Converting flour/water/salt/yeast by hand at 9 PM is where baking turns into improvisation.

This skill does the arithmetic that professional pizzerias have on a spreadsheet:

• Ball weight from pan geometry — round (πr² × g/in²), Detroit/sicilian (length × width × depth factor), neo thin vs NY floppy vs Detroit thick target densities
• Baker's percentages — everything scales from flour = 100%: water (hydration % by style AND flour strength), salt 2-3%, oil 0-10% (style-dependent), yeast (0.02-0.25% by schedule)
• Yeast scheduling — same-day (~1% instant at RT) vs 24-48h cold ferment (~0.05-0.15%), with temperature compensation (Q10 rule of thumb: ±7°C doubles/halves rate)
• Output — gram-precise ingredient list + dated timing sheet (mix → autolyse → ball → cold/RT box → out-of-fridge → bake), scaled to YOUR pan count

When to Use

• Any pizza night beyond "one recipe, one pizza": different pan sizes, a crowd, mixed styles
• Scaling a recipe up/down without percentage math errors (the #1 dough failure: salt doubling when you halve flour)
• Planning a cold ferment around a KNOWN bake time (party Saturday 7 PM → when to mix)
• New flour (00 vs bread flour vs all-purpose) — hydration guidance per flour class so 65% on 00 isn't 65% on King Arthur
• Detroit/sicilian pans where "hydration" also interacts with oil (fat coats gluten, dough feels drier than it reads)

Don't use for: sourdough-style naturally leavened doughs (starter percentage feeding math is a different skill), or focaccia (close cousin — the numbers work but pan density differs; use the sicilian setting as approximation).

The Model

Ball weight by style (target dough density)

Style	Thickness factor (g per in²)	Typical ball
Neo-Neapolitan (63-65% hyd)	2.4-2.6	260-280g / 12"
NY-style (60-63%)	2.8-3.0	530-560g / 16"
Detroit (70-75% hyd + oil)	pan volume: L×W×0.35 g/in³... see below	520-560g / 8×10
Sicilian / grandma (65-70%)	3.4-3.8	880-980g / 12×17 sheet

• Round pan: ball = π × (d/2)² × thickness_factor
• Rectangular pan: ball = L × W × thickness_factor (Detroit: use depth-aware density, ~0.55-0.60 g per in² per inch of pan depth is a safe target for the classic 2" pan)

Flour, hydration, salt, oil (baker's %)

Style presets in the script, all overridable:

Style	Hydration	Salt	Oil	Notes
Neo-Neapolitan	62-65%	2.8-3.0%	0%	00 flour, short mix
NY	60-63%	1.8-2.2%	2-3%	bread flour, sugar 1-2% optional
Detroit	70-75%	2.0-2.5%	8-10%	oil is structural here
Sicilian	65-70%	2.0%	3-5%	sheet pan, focaccia-adjacent

Flour class adjustment: all-purpose absorbs ~5% less water than bread flour; 00 is its own world (feels drier at same %). If your dough ever soups out, drop hydration 3% before blaming the yeast.

Yeast by schedule (instant dry, % of flour)

Bake in	RT 21°C	Cold ferment fridge 4°C
same day 6-8h	0.30-0.50%	—
same day 3-4h	0.60-1.00%	—
24h cold	—	0.10-0.15%
48h cold	—	0.04-0.08%
72h cold	—	0.02-0.04%

Kitchen at 18°C? Add ~30-50% more yeast or time. At 26°C+? Cut yeast or expect aggression. The Q10 heuristic: every 8°C cooler ≈ rate halves.

Pitfalls

1. Scaling salt/yeast linearly by eye. "A bit less" on a 5-flour-bowl batch is how 3% salt becomes 4.5% (inedible) — the whole point of baker's percentages is that this never happens. The script prints grams for EVERYTHING.
2. Same hydration, different flour. Switching to a new flour at the same % can soup or brick the dough. Change one thing: -3% hydration first.
3. Detroit hydration panic. 72% + 9% oil looks like batter when mixing. It's correct — the oil transforms it during ferment. Don't add flour.
4. Cold ferment yeast overdose. 0.3% yeast for a 48h cold ferment = overproofed pancake by hour 30. The schedule table is not decoration.
5. Ball weight → pan size mismatch. 260g stretched to 16" is a cracker; 550g into 12" is focaccia. Ball weight comes FROM pan math, not habit.
6. Timing sheet ignored. Dough out of fridge 2-3h before bake (Detroit/sicilian: 1-1.5h + pan warm-up). Cold dough won't stretch, hot dough tears. The printed sheet has clock times — follow it.

Verification Checklist

• Pan dimensions measured (rim-to-rim, not eyeballed)
• Ball weight computed per pan, total dough = Σ balls
• Flour = total / (1 + Σ percentages), scaled to gram
• Hydration matched to flour class (−5% for AP, watch 00)
• Yeast % picked from the SCHEDULE table, not habit
• Timing sheet printed with actual clock times, fridge pull-time highlighted

Quick Recipe

text

# 2× 16" NY + 2× 8x10 Detroit, bake Saturday 19:00, 41h cold ferment
python3 scripts/dough_scaler.py plan --style ny --pans 16x2
python3 scripts/dough_scaler.py plan --style detroit --pans 8x10x2x2
python3 scripts/dough_scaler.py plan --style ny --pans 16x2 \
    --bake "2026-10-24 19:00" --ferment 41 --kitchen-c 18

Output: per-ball weight, total flour/water/salt/oil/yeast in grams, and a dated schedule (mix time = bake − ferment − room-temp final proof).