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How much yeast for cold-ferment pizza dough?
The single most confusing thing about cold-fermenting pizza dough is the yeast. The longer the dough sits in the fridge, the less yeast it needs — too much and it over-proofs into a sticky, boozy, domed mess by day three. Here's the chart, in baker's percentages (percent of flour weight).
Yeast by cold-ferment time
For a standard home fridge at about 38–40°F (3–4°C):
| Cold ferment | Fresh yeast | Instant dry (IDY) |
|---|---|---|
| 24 hours | 0.20–0.30% | 0.07–0.10% |
| 48 hours | 0.10–0.15% | 0.03–0.05% |
| 72 hours | 0.05–0.10% | 0.02–0.03% |
These are percentages of your flour weight. So for a 1,000 g flour batch fermenting 48 hours, IDY works out to roughly 0.3–0.5 g — a small fraction of a teaspoon. As a sanity check, Ken Forkish's overnight straight dough uses 0.8 g IDY per 1,000 g flour (about 0.08%), which lines up with the short end of this table.
Beyond about three days the gluten starts to break down and the dough can over-ferment — going slack, alcoholic, and prone to mold. Below ~36°F the ferment stalls instead. Keep cold ferments inside the 24–72h window.
Converting between yeast types
Recipes call for whichever yeast the author uses. To swap, anchor to the industry conversion chart:
| Convert | Rule |
|---|---|
| Fresh (cake) → ADY | divide by ~2.5 (1 g cake = 0.4 g ADY) |
| ADY → IDY | use ~75% of the ADY weight |
| Fresh (cake) → IDY | divide by ~3.33 (1 g cake ≈ 0.3 g IDY) |
| Sourdough levain ≈ IDY | roughly 20× the IDY weight in 100%-hydration levain — approximate |
The sourdough conversion is a rough rule of thumb only — starter activity varies enormously, so treat it as a starting point and adjust by how your dough actually behaves.
Crust does this math for you
Tell Crust your style, cold-ferment time, and fridge temperature, and it gives you the exact yeast weight — with type conversions built in and a hard cap that warns you past 72 hours. It also includes a backtimer that schedules your whole bake backward from dinnertime, and a symptom troubleshooter. Pay once, no ads, no subscription, works offline.
Sources
- Fond.kitchen — cold-fermentation pizza guide
- Red Star — yeast conversion chart
- AVPN — Neapolitan dough regulations
- Ken Forkish, The Elements of Pizza (overnight straight dough reference)
Baker's percentages are a starting point — adjust to your flour, kitchen, and fridge. This article is general guidance, not a guarantee for any specific batch.