Guides / Pizza / Hydration

Understanding Hydration in Pizza Dough

Hydration simply means how much water is in your dough compared to the flour. It affects how the dough feels, how easy it is to handle, and how your pizza turns out.

The simple version
More water usually means a softer, lighter dough — but not always an easier one. The best hydration is the one you can handle well.

What does hydration mean?

Hydration is written as a percentage. For example, a dough at 60% hydration means that for every 100g of flour, there are 60g of water.

Baker’s percentage

Hydration is part of something called baker’s percentage. This is just a simple way of writing recipes where the flour is always treated as 100%.

Everything else is then measured in relation to the flour. So if the water is 60% of the flour, the dough is at 60% hydration.

Example:

500g flour = 100%
325g water = 65%
10g salt = 2%
1g yeast = 0.2%

Once you understand this, it becomes much easier to compare recipes and scale them up or down.

Why hydration matters

Changing the hydration changes the whole behaviour of the dough.

Lower hydration doughs feel firmer and easier to handle. Higher hydration doughs feel softer, lighter, and more delicate, but can be more challenging to work with.

A simple way to think about it

60–62%

Firmer dough. Easier to handle, shape, and stretch.

Good for beginners or when you want reliability.

63–66%

Balanced dough. Softer, slightly more open, but still manageable.

This is where most home pizza sits.

67%+

Softer, lighter dough with more air and a more delicate structure.

More challenging to handle, but often gives the lightest result.

Hydration and different pizza styles

55–60%

Best for firmer, more controlled doughs.

Think thin and crispy home oven pizzas, cracker-style pizzas, and some lower-hydration tray pizzas.

Crisp rather than airy.

60–65%

Best for balanced, everyday pizzas.

Think most home oven pizzas, classic round pizzas, and many New York-style home doughs.

A very good place to start.

65–70%

Best for lighter, softer crusts.

Think Neapolitan-style pizza, artisan round pizzas, and doughs with a more open rim.

Lighter, but harder to handle.

70–75%

Best for airy tray and pan pizzas.

Think focaccia, pizza al taglio, Detroit-style pizza, and Sicilian pizza.

Soft interior, often with a crisp base.

75%+

Best for very high-hydration doughs and more experimental bakes.

Think very airy focaccia and some modern artisan doughs.

Advanced territory.

The important part

Higher hydration does not automatically mean better pizza.

A dough you can handle well will usually give a better result than one that feels out of control.

Understanding hydration through texture

If you are new to dough, hydration can feel abstract. It can help to compare it to textures you already know.

Lower hydration

Think of something firmer and more structured, like shortcrust pastry or a bread dough that feels tight and easy to shape.

Holds its shape easily and does not stick much.

Medium hydration

Closer to a soft bread dough — smooth, slightly tacky, but still very manageable.

This is where most home pizza dough sits.

Higher hydration

Softer and more delicate — closer to focaccia dough, or even a thick batter before it fully comes together.

Feels lighter, but also stickier and harder to handle.

Dough often feels wetter at the beginning than it will later. A short rest allows the flour to absorb the water, which makes it easier to handle.

What hydration should you use?

There is no single correct hydration. It depends on your flour, your experience, and how you like your pizza.

For most people cooking at home, a hydration around 60–65% is a very good place to start.

A slightly drier dough that you handle well will almost always give a better pizza than a wetter dough that feels out of control.

Why your dough feels too sticky

A sticky dough does not always mean something has gone wrong.

Often, it simply means the flour has not fully absorbed the water yet. A short rest can make a big difference.

Adding extra flour too quickly is one of the most common mistakes, and usually leads to a heavier dough.

How hydration relates to your flour

Stronger flours can usually absorb more water, which means they can handle higher hydration.

Weaker flours may struggle with very high hydration and feel overly slack or difficult to manage.

A simple takeaway

Hydration is not about chasing the highest number. It is about choosing a level that gives you a dough you can handle comfortably while still producing the result you want.