Pizza Dough Hydration by Style
Every classic pizza style has a characteristic water content, and once you see them side by side, a pattern jumps out: it's not really about flavor — it's about how the dough gets shaped. Hand-stretched rounds need dough you can pick up and work without a fight; pan pizzas can be as wet as they like, because the pan does the shaping. Here are the typical ranges.
| Style | Hydration | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Cracker-thin / tavern | 45–55% | Stiff, often rolled with a pin; bakes snappy and crisp |
| Chicago deep dish | 50–58% | Low water, high fat — closer to pastry than bread |
| Neapolitan | 58–62% | The puff comes from the ~900°F oven, not extra water |
| New York | 58–65% | Foldable, chewy, easy to handle — the workhorse range |
| Detroit / Sicilian / grandma | 65–75% | Pressed into an oiled pan, so stickiness doesn't matter |
| Roman al taglio | 75–90% | Nearly a batter; incredibly airy, an advanced project |
The Neapolitan surprise
People assume the airy, blistered Neapolitan cornicione must come from very wet dough, but traditional Neapolitan runs a modest 58–62% — the official Naples specification actually starts around 55%. The magic ingredient is the oven: at roughly 900°F, the crust inflates and chars in about 90 seconds. Home bakers imitating the style in a 550°F oven often push hydration up to 65–70% to compensate, trading some handling ease for extra steam and openness. If you're summarizing New York and Neapolitan together, 58–65% covers both honestly.
Why pan styles run wetter
Detroit, Sicilian, grandma, and Roman al taglio doughs never touch a peel or get tossed. They're pressed into oiled pans with fingertips, proofed there, and baked there. Because nobody has to lift or stretch the dough, stickiness stops being a problem, and more water means a lighter, more open, focaccia-like crumb with that fried-crisp bottom where the dough meets the oiled pan. If you want an easy introduction to high-hydration baking, a pan pizza is the place to start — it's far more forgiving than a wet hand-stretched round.
Using this with the calculator
The calculator's hydration slider covers 55–75%, which spans everything from Neapolitan to pan styles. Set it to 58–62% for a classic hand-stretched pie, 62–65% for the home-oven sweet spot on a stone or steel, or 68–75% if you're pressing dough into a pan. For the ideas behind the numbers, see the hydration guide.