How much dough per person
| Style | Per person | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Neapolitan (10–11" pie) | 1.5 × 250 g balls | One full pie + a slice off someone else's |
| NY (14" pie, sliced) | 2 slices of a 280g-ball pie | = 100 g dough per person |
| Detroit (square slice) | 2 squares = ~120 g | Heavier per square because of the cheese |
| Focaccia (½ sheet) | ~120 g | Slice it generously |
Scaling tables
| Guests | Neapolitan balls (250g) | NY balls (280g) | Detroit pans (600g) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 15 balls (3.8 kg) | 5 balls (1.4 kg) | 2 pans (1.2 kg) |
| 20 | 30 balls (7.5 kg) | 10 balls (2.8 kg) | 4 pans (2.4 kg) |
| 30 | 45 balls (11.3 kg) | 15 balls (4.2 kg) | 6 pans (3.6 kg) |
Oven throughput is the real constraint
One Ooni Karu does about 1 pizza per 90 seconds with a skilled launcher. That's 40 pizzas an hour at maximum throughput, and you won't hit that in practice. A more honest number is 25 pizzas an hour with one oven, one launcher, one stretcher.
For 30 guests eating Neapolitan (45 pies), one Karu means 90 minutes of nonstop pizza-making. Plan accordingly:
- Two ovens with two stretchers = ~50 pies/hour combined
- Stagger arrival times if you only have one oven
- Prep cold ferment 2 days before so day-of is just stretch + bake
Timing math for a 20-guest party
You want pizza on the table at 7 PM Saturday. Working backwards:
- 5:00 PM Sat — Light the oven. Karu takes 30–40 min to come up.
- 5:30 PM Sat — Pull dough from fridge. 1.5h warm-up.
- 7:00 PM Sat — First pies. Bake 25 pies over the next hour.
- 7:00 PM Thu — Mix dough. 48h cold ferment = mix Thursday evening to bake Saturday evening.
- Wednesday — Buy. Flour, mozzarella, San Marzano, basil. Order extra of everything.
Toppings prep
- One sauce. Crushed San Marzano with salt. That's it. Don't cook it.
- One cheese. Low-moisture mozzarella for NY/Detroit, fresh mozzarella drained for Neapolitan. Don't do both.
- Three topping options max. Pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms. People will ask for "half mushroom half pepperoni" — accommodate but don't expand the menu.
- Cut cheese the night before. Slicing 2kg of mozzarella while pies wait is the killer.
The Dough Clock calculator handles the math
Pick your style, enter the number of balls (use the table above), and it tells you when to start mixing. Then save the recipe and pull it up on your phone day-of.
Frequently asked
How much pizza dough per person?
For Neapolitan-style 10–11" pies, plan 1.5 × 250g balls per person. For NY-style 14" pies (sliced), plan 100g of dough per person (= 2 slices of an 8-cut pie).
How long does it take to make pizzas for 20 people at a party?
About one hour of active baking with one pizza oven, assuming Neapolitan style and a skilled launcher. Two ovens cuts that in half. Pre-stretching and pre-topping in batches helps.
How far in advance should I make pizza dough for a party?
48 hours is the sweet spot for cold ferment — best flavor, most forgiving timing. 24h works if you're short on time. Don't go beyond 72h or the dough starts to over-ferment.
What's the best pizza style for a large group?
Neapolitan if you have a high-heat outdoor oven and a launcher. Detroit-style if everything has to come out of a home oven — you can bake multiple pans in parallel.