Pizza dough won't stretch and will tear... what to do plz...? Newbie

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herbeapuce on

Hi. I am new to this forum. I like cooking and trying new things.... I have been struggling at making a decent pizza dough, even more  struggling at " forming" a decent looking pizza , mostly because I just can't stretch the dough without tearing it. I always end up with  a product that  is nowhere near round, full of uneven thickness, not homogeneous mixture....my dough wants to spring back so bad....

I use bread flour 00. 

my recipe is :

7 gr dry yeast (the fast one)35 gr olive oil245 gr warm water500 gr bread flour10 gr salt. I mix all the ingredients  by hand and leave it to rise for half a day in a warm place. knead one more time and leave for a couple of  hours to rise. divide , make balls,  start attempting making a decent pizza dough...I don't knead much because I do it by hand and it's quite a workout.... would that be one of my problems ? I don't ask to be as good as this guy on youtube.... Look at the way the dough is reacting.... it is solid and stretchy....why can't I make a dough like his  Please... ? Please help :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyPTK0nOwqg thanksStef, Montreal. 

hi, I'm wondering whether your stretching would improve if after forming the final ball you allowed it to rest to relax the gluten. If you start to stretch and it still seems to resist, give it another 10 min to relax then try again. Another issue might be too stiff a dough.  your dough seems very low hydration. I would increase the water to as much as 350 gm for 500 gm flour. 

Good luck. 

The amount in the recipe will make a very dry dough.  Experiment with another batch with 350g water.  That will make a much softer dough (and stickier).  After you see how that works, you can adjust the water up or down for future batches. 

Paul

You need to knead to get the dough stretchy; by hand it's virtually impossible to over-knead. I would also increase the water to about 325g. It may be all in the mind, but I do find Italian 00 flour gives me better results too.

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dabrownman on Mon, 01/19/2015 - 08:48

70% hydration dough recipes too and those where it is retarded for 12-24 hours.  I also like recipes with half AP flour to cut the gluten some and make for a less springy dough.  If it still wants to spring back just cover and let it rest. 

for regular home oven with stone or steel plate heated to 525 i use new York style pizza dough. King Arthur or any bread flour. 58-60% hydration. 0.25-0.5 fresh yeast 1.7% salt 1% olive oil. 79-74 F final dough temp. 4 minute mix in first speed. Rest at bench for 10-15. Minutes. Divied in 400g for 16" pizza and retarded in fridge at least 24 hours but the longer the better flavor up to week. 1 to 2 hour room temp before baking. Bake for 4-5 minutes. Finish with broiler. Stretches and extends nicly. 

This dogh requires 20 minutes to make.

all right guys. thanks for the help

I will increase water to 325/350gr . I also found this recipe to be a bit dry...  although I did try more humid dough, and I was also running into the same problems...

 How long do you knead your dough if by hand please?

also regarding the 70% hydration....it this like a standard in pizza dough making ?  thanks

 

stef

also hard for me to work with but there are plenty of videos online that display techniques for dealing with it and its no where near as bad as high hydration Einkorn (which is all I have baked for almost the past year), the results are worth the small amount of time it takes to learn the skill. When I'm in a rush I just do Stretch & Fold in a large bowl with an oiled plastic bowl scraper, it works great and my hands don't even get dirty any more.

I don't do the real high hydration stuff but I believe that pizza is better if you make the dough a day or two before using it.  Last week we had pizza Tuesday night and the dough was made Sunday.  The other thing that lots of recipes call for is a fairly short mix time, I use a Kitchen Aid mixer and find that the dough needs 12 to 15 minutes of mixing.  When I tried the 2 minute mix, rest and then an additional minute of mixing I had no luck making thin crust pizza which is what my wife likes while I like the thicker crust.  I also just use my sourdough starter for leavening, if I need to use a dough the day I make it I always add yeast.  The pizza joint I frequent does it that way as well, they make and scale tomorrows crust today.  

the formula and process I posted above works for thin crust. Just use less dough and stretch it thin. With home ovens it is hard to bake high hydration pizza like niapolatian style  thst requires high temp. I am using 1/2 " thick steel plate that make it crispier. For long ferment I go with higher protein flour like bread.

the formula and process I posted above works for thin crust. Just use less dough and stretch it thin. With home ovens it is hard to bake high hydration pizza like niapolatian style  thst requires high temp. I am using 1/2 " thick steel plate that make it crispier. For long ferment I go with higher protein flour like bread.