What is hydration and how does it affect pizza dough?

Hydration refers to the amount of water in dough. It's expressed as a percentage relative to the amount of flour. For example, if you have 1000g of flour and 700g of water, you'll have 70% hydration. 

By increasing or decreasing the hydration you can significantly alter the end result of your pizza. Higher hydration improves flavor and texture but it also makes handling the dough more difficult. As a general rule of thumb, 60% is a good starting point when you begin making your own dough.

Here's how hydration affects your dough:

Stretch: Higher hydration makes your dough more elastic, which means it'll be easier to stretch and less prone to tearing.

Proving time: Higher hydration speeds up yeast reaction, which results in shorter proving times.

Texture: Higher hydration leads to a more flexible gluten structure. This means that larger air bubbles will be trapped inside the dough which will then expand in the oven to create airier crusts.

Flavor: Higher hydration results in a more developed flavor.

Stickiness: Higher hydration means your dough will be stickier, which can make it difficult to handle. Here are some tips that will help:

• Use the Ooni Pizza Dough Scraper when removing your dough from the tray.
• Use a small amount of water or oil on your hands when handling the dough. You may be tempted to add more flour but try to avoid doing this as it will lead to a denser crust.
• When stretching out your dough to form a pizza, lightly coat the dough ball with fine semolina.

Higher hydration dough takes practice - we'd suggest starting with 60% and working up over time. We'd also recommend using the Ooni App to help you work out what hydration is best for you.