How this calculator works
A pizza base cooks from the bottom. Heat crosses the dough from the stone or steel, raises its temperature and drives off water, and the crust sets when the base is hot enough and dry enough. The simple model here treats the dough as one lump at a single temperature: the heat needed is the density times the specific heat capacity times the thickness, and the rate of heat arriving is the heat transfer coefficient times the difference between the oven and the dough. The ratio of those gives a time constant, and the time to reach a target is the time constant times the logarithm of the temperature ratio. A stone and a steel differ in how quickly they hand heat to the base, which is what the heat transfer coefficient represents. In a real oven the top also heats by radiation, so the estimate is about how long the base needs, not the whole bake.
Formula
time = (density x specific heat capacity x thickness / heat transfer coefficient) x ln((oven temperature - dough start) / (oven temperature - target base)). Density is in kg/m3, specific heat capacity in J/(kg K), thickness in metres, the coefficient in W/(m2 K), and the temperatures in kelvin but the ratios are the same in celsius. A stone is taken as 60 W/(m2 K) and a steel as 90.
Worked example
Dough 6 mm thick, density 1100 kg/m3, specific heat capacity 2500 J/(kg K), on a stone at h = 60, in an oven at 280 C, starting at 22 C, with a 130 C base target. The time constant is 1100 x 2500 x 0.006 / 60 = 275 seconds. The logarithm is ln((280 - 22) / (280 - 130)) = ln(1.72) = 0.542, so the bake is 275 x 0.542 = 149 seconds, about 2.5 minutes. On a steel at h = 90 the same pizza takes about 1.6 minutes.
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Frequently asked questions
Why does a stone bake differently from a steel?
A steel conducts heat into the base faster than a stone of the same temperature, so the base sets and browns sooner. The steel also cools more when a cold dough lands on it. The heat transfer coefficient in the model is what separates them, and the default values are typical rather than measured for a particular oven.
What base temperature should I aim for?
A base around 120 to 140 C has set, dried and started to brown. Much higher and the base can scorch before the toppings are hot; much lower and the base stays pale and soft. The table shows the trade off in time.
Is the dough thickness the base or the whole pizza?
Use the thickness of the dough as it goes into the oven, before the rise. A Neapolitan base is about 4 to 6 mm at the centre, while a thick pan pizza can be 2 cm. The rise is not in the model, but a thicker dough needs longer for the same base temperature.
Why is the top not in the model?
The top cooks mostly by radiation and by hot air, and the toppings have very different properties from dough. The model answers the question the base asks: how long until the bottom is done. In a very hot oven with a cold topping, the base may be ready before the cheese browns, so finish under the grill if needed.