Ratios
Baker's percentages across 939 pizzas with parsable dough. Box = middle 50% of recipes, line = median, edge ticks = min/max. The same axis that looks flat for salt (most recipes use 2-3%) spreads wide for oil (some styles use 0%, others 8%+).
Baker's percentage = each ingredient's weight as a share of the flour weight (flour is always 100%). It's how bakers compare doughs regardless of batch size: “65% hydration, 2.5% salt” describes a 300g ball and a 30kg batch equally.
The texture knob. ~50% = cracker (St. Louis, tavern), ~62% = classic NY/Neapolitan, 70%+ = open-crumb pan styles (Detroit, Sicilian), 80%+ = Roman al taglio.
The tightest distribution in baking: below 2% tastes flat, above 3.5% slows the yeast and tastes salty. Nearly everyone lands at 2–3%.
Inversely tied to time: same-day doughs use 1–2%, long cold ferments drop to 0.1–0.5%. High yeast + long ferment = overproofed.
A style marker: VPN Neapolitan forbids it (0%), NY uses 2–3% for tenderness, pan styles go 5%+ — plus more in the pan itself.
Mostly a browning aid for sub-600°F home ovens. High-heat styles skip it; the oven supplies the color.
Bimodal by hardware: a big cluster at 450–550°F (home ovens max out) and a second one at 700–900°F+ (pizza ovens, wood, coal).
Recipe yield more than style — one 250g Neapolitan ball vs. a 900g Detroit pan batch.
Hydration by style
Every dough recipe as a dot; the red tick is the style's median. Styles sorted driest to wettest — the spectrum from cracker to focaccia in one picture.
Hydration cheat sheet
45–55% — cracker crusts: St. Louis, Chicago tavern, Roman tonda
55–65% — the classics: Neapolitan, NY, Chicago deep-dish
65–75% — pan and open-crumb: Detroit, Sicilian, grandma, New Haven
75–90% — high-hydration specialists: Roman al taglio, focaccia-adjacent