problems whit pizza dough

[andiii741]

hi,

I'm trying now for several weeks already to get a decent pizza dough. until now, I was unfortunately not successful. My problem is that the dough is too thin once I shape it. It eighter tears or gets so thin that the the tomato sauce seeps on the pizzapeal...

I use:
500g Caputo 00 flour
3gr active dry yeast
only 53-55% hydration (the dough is too moist whit 65%hydation)
15g salt.

I mix 80% of the flour whit the rest of the ingridients together and give it an autolyse for 20 minutes. after that I need the dough for 8 up to 10 minutes.

then I leave it to rest for 2-3 hours. after that I shape the balls, which will again rest for 1 hour.

what am I doing wrong?

attached a photo from yesterday's result:
one can clearly recognize the thin spots.
many thanks!

[Giggliato]

Re: problems whit pizza dough

I would suggest cutting back a bit on the yeast, and allowing the dough to proof for 6-8 hours. What is your mixing and stretching technique?

[heliman]

Re: problems whit pizza dough

Make an overnight fermented biga with 60% hydration using only flour, water and a tiny amount of yeast - say a 1/4 teaspoon per 100 grams of flour. add that to your main dough mix with NO additional yeast and you should see a noticeable difference in the texture. Proof final doungh on the bench for 4 - 6 hrs before using. Good luck...

[andiii741]

Re: problems whit pizza dough

I would suggest cutting back a bit on the yeast, and allowing the dough to proof for 6-8 hours. What is your mixing and stretching technique?

Hey!
My mixing works as followed:
i put in all my water into a bowl approx. 300 gramm
then i put in the salt (15g) an the yeast (3g) and 90% of all the flour (500g).
mix everything together and let it rest for 20 minutes.

after that I kneed it for 8 up to 10 minutes.
am i doing something wrong here?

I keed the whole thing by hand. I dont have a mixer...

[andiii741]

Re: problems whit pizza dough

Make an overnight fermented biga with 60% hydration using only flour, water and a tiny amount of yeast - say a 1/4 teaspoon per 100 grams of flour. add that to your main dough mix with NO additional yeast and you should see a noticeable difference in the texture. Proof final doungh on the bench for 4 - 6 hrs before using. Good luck...

thx so much!
Can't wait to give it a try.

[Giggliato]

Re: problems whit pizza dough

Hey!
My mixing works as followed:
i put in all my water into a bowl approx. 300 gramm
then i put in the salt (15g) an the yeast (3g) and 90% of all the flour (500g).
mix everything together and let it rest for 20 minutes.

after that I kneed it for 8 up to 10 minutes.
am i doing something wrong here?

I keed the whole thing by hand. I dont have a mixer...

Right and wrong, subjective for pizza, subjective for everything else.

I've read about the autolyse and have used sponges/poolish'es for bread but haven't had much luck with them for my pizzas.

I like to add 1/4 tsp of yeast to 500 grams of flour, mix, then I add 2 tsp of salt, then slowly pour in 330 grams of water while turning the dough with my hand. Once the dough smooths out a bit I let it it sit for about ten minutes then I do a rougher but still gentle mix on my countertop for a few minutes 5-10 (or until the dough feels right). After that I cut the dough into three ~250 gram doughballs and place them into bowls on my countertop where they will sit for awhile.

I do follow the practice of reshaping the doughball about an hour before use, because that is about how long it takes for my stone to heat up. But now I am wondering about not reshaping. My doughballs tend to expand quite a bit, to the diameter of their containers...

The doughballs definitely need some extra flour before tossing...

In my experience tossing methods should cater to the consistency of the dough you are working with.

I'm going to make some pizzas now, good luck with yours!

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: problems whit pizza dough

Hi Andiii,
Roscco (hiliman) overnight biga is a great method and it would improve your results. I really recommend the overnight proofing in any way you can. Some points for you:
-I use only 10g salt per 500g of flour.
-3g of ADY is just over 1/2 tsp. I usually use 1/4 tsp for overnight retarding.
-Hand mixing is GREAT! Glad you do it too. After I mix by hand for 4-5 minutes, I let it rest for 20-30 minutes and come back to it when its relaxed and easy to kneed again for about 10 min. or until it's really soft and smooth. But no worries if it still fights me, I let rest on the bench for 2-3 hours before I ball them up refrigerate overnight. I use a much wetter dough than you but then I flour up A LOT when I'm shaping and it all works out.

Giggliatos "re-shaping" the dough balls about an hour before baking is also a good method I use to 'redistribute' the yeast and make the dough "come alive" again before hand stretching it out. (I assume you also DO NOT use a rolling pin) Stretching by hand keeps the texture better when using caputo or other fine flours.

Good luck, Dino