How to Make Poolish Pizza Dough (60% Hydration)
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Time to read 6 min
60% hydration poolish pizza dough, topped and ready to bake.
This 60% hydration poolish pizza dough takes a little planning, but the hands-on work is straightforward. The poolish rests overnight, and the dough balls ferment in the refrigerator for 48 hours. The dough is firm enough to handle comfortably, with the added fermentation time built into the schedule.
This recipe makes three dough balls of about 270 grams each. The timing below follows our video. Room temperature and refrigerator temperature can affect fermentation, so use the schedule as a guide and pay attention to how the dough looks and feels.
Watch the Poolish Pizza Dough Video
Quick Answer
Make the poolish with equal weights of bread flour and water, plus a small amount of yeast and sugar. Let it ferment at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate it for 18–24 hours. The next day, mix it with the remaining flour, water, and salt. Rest the dough for 20 minutes, divide it into three balls, and refrigerate them for 48 hours. On baking day, let the covered dough balls warm at room temperature for about 3 hours before stretching.
Ingredients
Poolish
175 g bread flour
175 g room-temperature water
1 g instant dry yeast
3 g sugar
Final Dough
All of the poolish
325 g bread flour
125 g water
12 g fine sea salt
Full Formula
| Ingredient | Poolish | Final Dough | Total | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | 175 g | 325 g | 500 g | 100% |
| Water | 175 g | 125 g | 300 g | 60% |
| Instant dry yeast | 1 g | — | 1 g | 0.2% |
| Sugar | 3 g | — | 3 g | 0.6% |
| Fine sea salt | — | 12 g | 12 g | 2.4% |
The 175 grams of water in the poolish and the 125 grams added during the final mix make 300 grams of total water. That’s 60% hydration based on 500 grams of flour.
The poolish itself is 100% hydration because it contains equal weights of flour and water. The finished dough is not 100% hydration; it is 60%.
The full batch weighs about 816 grams. Divided into three equal portions, that’s about 272 grams per dough ball. The video rounds each portion to about 270 grams.
Poolish Pizza Dough Schedule
| Stage | Time |
|---|---|
| Poolish at room temperature | 2 hours |
| Poolish in the refrigerator | 18–24 hours |
| Poolish at room temperature before mixing | 1 hour |
| Covered dough rest after mixing | 20 minutes |
| Dough balls in the refrigerator | 48 hours |
| Dough balls at room temperature before baking | About 3 hours |
From the start of the poolish to baking, plan for roughly 3 to 3¼ days, plus mixing and baking time. The schedule includes both room-temperature rests and two refrigerator stages.
How to Make Poolish Pizza Dough
1. Mix the poolish
Combine the bread flour, instant dry yeast, and sugar in a bowl. Add the room-temperature water and mix until no dry flour remains. Cover the bowl and leave it at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate it for 18–24 hours.
The poolish after its room-temperature rest and overnight chill.
2. Let the poolish rest at room temperature
Take the poolish out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour before mixing the final dough.
3. Loosen the poolish with the remaining water
Add the 125 grams of final-dough water to the poolish. Work it by hand until it begins to break apart in the water. This helps distribute the poolish through the flour during mixing.
4. Mix the dough
Transfer the poolish and water mixture to a stand mixer. Add the remaining 325 grams of bread flour and mix on low speed just until no dry flour remains.
Add the salt and continue mixing on medium-high until the dough looks smooth and elastic. The video doesn’t specify a fixed mixing time, so use the dough’s condition rather than relying on a number of minutes.
The mixed dough gathered into a smooth ball.
5. Rest and divide
Shape the dough into a ball, cover it, and let it rest for 20 minutes. Divide it into three equal portions of about 272 grams each, then shape each portion into a smooth ball.
Three dough balls ready to be placed in individual containers.
6. Cold-ferment the dough balls
Place each dough ball in its own covered container and refrigerate for 48 hours. Keeping the portions separate makes it easier to remove one dough ball without disturbing the others.
For dough balls around 270 grams, see the KEVJES guide to choosing a 500 ml or 1000 ml pizza dough container.
For more guidance, read How Long Should Pizza Dough Sit Out Before Baking?.
7. Warm the dough before stretching
About 3 hours before baking, take the covered dough balls out of the refrigerator. Keep them covered as they warm so the surface doesn’t dry out.
Cold dough can feel tight and resist stretching. As it warms, it should feel more relaxed and give more easily. If it still feels cold and stiff, give it more time. The exact timing will vary with your kitchen temperature.
For more guidance, read How Long Should Pizza Dough Sit Out Before Baking?.
One dough ball after warming at room temperature for about 3 hours.
8. Stretch and bake
Stretch each dough ball gently, add your toppings, and bake on a preheated pizza steel in a home oven or in a high-temperature pizza oven. Use the highest temperature your setup can safely reach.
The video doesn’t provide a specific oven temperature, steel preheat time, or bake time, so those details are not listed as tested values here. They depend on the oven and baking surface. If you record them during a future bake, they can be added to this recipe.
A freshly baked Margherita-style pizza made with poolish dough.
A slice shows the airy interior and browned crust.
What Poolish Does in Pizza Dough
Poolish is a yeasted preferment made with part of the flour and water in the recipe. It ferments before the final dough is mixed, giving that portion of the dough more time to develop.
Here, the poolish is made with 175 grams each of flour and water. Once the remaining flour and water are added, the complete dough comes to 60% hydration. That balance keeps the dough more manageable than a very wet dough while still allowing time for a longer fermentation.
This isn’t a same-day recipe: the poolish rests overnight, and the dough balls spend another 48 hours in the refrigerator. If you need dough for tonight, use our same-day pizza dough recipe. To compare different refrigerator schedules, see Pizza Dough Cold Fermentation: 24 vs. 48 vs. 72 Hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is poolish the same as sourdough starter?
No. Poolish is a yeasted preferment prepared for a particular recipe. This one uses instant dry yeast. A sourdough starter is maintained over time and relies on naturally occurring yeast and bacteria.
Is this a 100% hydration pizza dough?
No. The poolish is 100% hydration because it contains equal weights of flour and water. The finished dough is 60% hydration: 300 grams of water for 500 grams of flour.
How many pizzas does this recipe make?
It makes three dough balls of about 270–272 grams each. The finished pizza size depends on how thinly you stretch each ball and how much crust you leave around the edge.
Can I make this poolish pizza dough in one day?
Not with this schedule. The poolish needs 18–24 hours in the refrigerator, followed by a 48-hour cold ferment for the dough balls. For a dough you can mix and bake on the same day, see our same-day pizza dough recipe.
Can I bake this dough in a regular home oven?
Yes. The video shows baking on a preheated pizza steel in a home oven, or in a high-temperature pizza oven. It doesn’t specify an oven temperature or bake time, so use the guidance for your own oven and steel rather than assuming one setting will work for every setup.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Lo
I’m Kevin Lo, founder of KEVJES and a home pizza maker. In 2021, I designed our first silicone dough containers to make proofing and storing pizza dough easier in my own kitchen. Here, I share the recipes, techniques, and lessons I’ve picked up while making pizza at home.
