Help Newbie - Disastrous 1st attempt

[NJpizzagirl]

Okay after 5 days of curing I was ready to go! Using Caputo flour, everything with dough was going great. After the 2 hour rise I measure, cut, and formed dough balls. Now I read that the dough had to rest for one hour. I put it in a tupperware box, covered on the counter. When I came back the dough had risen so much... In addition when I went to form the dough it would not stretch out. Should the 1 hour rest have been in the fridge???? Should I have skipped the one hour rest.

I did cook some really bad malshaped pizza. First one burned on the bottom, second one okay but at 90 minutes wasn't really cooked enough. Top was 800 and sides were over 750 and floor was in the mid 600s. Tips.....

[jbuildarkansas]

Re: Help Newbie - Disastrous 1st attempt

What has worked great for me is to make the dough balls a good 4 hours before I'm ready to make pizza and to use less yeast for a slower rise. I think I used about 0.2% yeast in my last batch and that was just right.

When I started 3 years ago I used KA AP flour and could not get it to stretch out. I've got a big tub of 00 flour but I actually like KA bread flour mixed with semolina (2:1) better. I have no trouble stretching the doughs

Your oven temps are exactly where I like mine. When I started I has my temps a bit higher and I've found that the lower temps along with the semolina give me a crispier crust.

I use brown rice flour on my peel which doesn't tend to burn as easily of other types of flour.

The main thing is to just keep trying. You'll learn a little more each time. There are people on this forum way more experienced than I but I've finally gotten my pizzas where I want them. Good Luck!

[Laurentius]

Re: Help Newbie - Disastrous 1st attempt

Hi JNPG,
I really hope that you meant 90sec instead of 90 minutes. In 90 minute a side of beef at that temp. would be a crispy critter.

[Pdiff]

Re: Help Newbie - Disastrous 1st attempt

You might check your yeast to make sure it is still viable (mix some with some sugar and water in a bowl and see if it starts bubbling up after a while). Or just get some new, as it's relatively cheap. If it is ok, then perhaps you did not have enough.

I usually make the dough the night before. I put the balls (lightly oiled) in a tupperware box (also lightly oiled) and put the whole thing in the fridge over night. I take them out and let them warm for an hour or two before cooking.

How did you arrange the fire in the oven relative to where you cooked the pizzas?