Pizza dough problems: sticky, tearing, spreading, pale crust
Sticky dough means too much water for the flour, too little mixing, or dough that fermented too warm. Pizza sticking to the peel means wet dough, wet toppings or a slow launch. A pale crust means badly matured dough or an oven that is too cool. Big bubbles mean dough that is under-proved or still cold. Change one thing at a time, and start with temperatures.
Before you change anything, measure five things
Nearly every dough problem in a takeaway comes back to five variables. Write them on every batch sheet:
- Real hydration, with the water weighed, not poured from a jug.
- Mixing: time, speed, and the windowpane test (the dough stretches into a thin, translucent film without tearing).
- Dough temperature off the mixer: aim for 23–25 °C.
- Actual fridge temperature, with a probe thermometer in a tray, not the display on the door.
- Hours of cold prove against the strength of your flour.
Symptom, cause and first fix
| Symptom | Likely causes | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| Too sticky to ball | Hydration too high for the flour, short mix, warm dough | Drop 2 points of water, mix to windowpane |
| Sticks to the peel | Wet dough or toppings, slow launch | Semolina/flour dust, launch within 30 s |
| Tears or gets holes | Weak or over-fermented gluten, weak flour | Mix longer, cut yeast |
| Springs back, shrinks | Gluten not relaxed, flour too strong for the prove | Ball at least 4 h before service |
| Balls spread in the tray | Too much yeast, warm fridge, overloaded trays | Probe the fridge, cut yeast 20–30 % |
| Big bubbles in the oven | Under-proved or still cold dough | 48 h cold prove, temper 1.5–4 h |
| Pale crust | Cold dough off the mixer, spent sugars, cool deck | Aim 23–25 °C, check the deck |
| Soggy middle, gum line | Watery sauce or cheese, overloaded, deck too cool | Drain, weigh toppings, bake hotter |
| Dry skin on the balls | Trays not sealed, draughts | Lids or film, full trays |
| Dense, no open crumb | Under-fermented, cold dough, dead yeast | Check yeast date and dough temp |
Compiled from the most-read French pizzaiolo forum threads on dough faults.
Why is my pizza dough so sticky?
Too much water for the flour
UK strong white bread flour sits around 12.5–13.5 % protein and copes with 60–63 %. A weaker Italian 00 at 65 % will weep. If the dough is only slightly tacky, a light dust and one or two folds fix it; you do not need a new recipe.
Under-mixed
This depends on the mixer. On a slow spiral, 7–8 minutes is often too short: add 2–3 minutes on second speed until you get a windowpane. On a fast mixer, longer mixing just heats the dough and makes it worse.
Too warm, or over-fermented
Dough coming off the mixer at 28 °C ferments roughly twice as fast as you planned. The gluten slackens and the dough turns sticky.
Salt and oil way off
One experienced operator was using 116 g of salt and 106 g of oil per kilo after a unit mix-up. Normal is 20–22 g salt and 25–30 g oil per kilo of flour.
Pick a hydration for your flour
Pizza sticking to the peel
The most-read forum thread on this was solved by dropping from 65–75 % hydration to 55–60 %. The rest of the checklist:
- Mix properly (15 minutes or more on a typical spiral) and leave at least 4 hours between balling and stretching, not 2.
- Dust with fine semolina mixed 50/50 with flour, or rice flour. Pure semolina scorches on a very hot deck and wears out dough-press bearings.
- Drain the mozzarella, top fast, and launch within about 30 seconds.
- Build on a wooden peel, turn with a metal one.
Bubbles and bases that shrink back
Tennis-ball bubbles nearly always mean under-proved dough. The consensus among professionals: at least 48 hours cold with a strong flour, fresh yeast rather than dried, and 20 g salt per kilo.
The other cause is a cold core. Thirty minutes out of the fridge is not enough; give balls at least 90 minutes and up to 4 hours depending on the kitchen. A base that springs back was balled less than 4 hours ago, or the flour is too strong for a short prove.
Why do my dough balls flatten in the fridge?
Over-fermentation: too much yeast, warm dough going in, a fridge warmer than it reads, or too many balls per tray. Above about ten balls a tray, the middle chills too slowly. Aim for 3–4 °C on the probe. If the gluten is weak from a short mix, balls spread even in a cold fridge.
Storing dough balls: trays, fridge, tempering
A lot of these faults only show up at peak, when trays sit out while the phone rings. Online orders booked into time slots flatten that peak.
Pale crust and a soggy middle
A typical case: 58 % hydration, 72 hours cold, 2 g fresh yeast per kilo, dough at 19–20 °C off the mixer. Result: a pale rim. The dough started too cold and a long prove used up the sugars. Many pizza flours already contain malt; if you add diastatic malt, keep it under 1 % of the flour weight.
A soggy centre or gum line is usually toppings and oven: watery passata, wet fior di latte, double cream on a white base (single cream holds up better), too much on a 12-inch base. In a deck oven at 300–350 °C, bake 4 pizzas per load instead of 6, run the deck hotter if it allows, and finish on a rack. For reference, an authentic Neapolitan bakes in 60–90 seconds on a floor of about 485 °C.
Wood-fired vs electric: what changes
When the flour is the problem
Same recipe, results drifting over a few months: often a new harvest. If you switch flour, rebuild hydration and yeast from scratch, step by step, and keep a month of stock so the next change is planned rather than forced.
FAQ
Why does my pizza dough tear when I stretch it?
The gluten is either weak (short mix, weak flour) or broken down by over-fermentation. Check the windowpane, cut yeast if balls are spreading, and stretch from the rim outwards rather than pulling the centre.
What temperature should my dough fridge be?
For predictable dough, 3–4 °C. The legal ceiling is 8 °C and the FSA recommends 5 °C or below; our storage temperature table covers the rules.
Why does my pizza get big bubbles?
The dough is under-proved or still cold. Give strong flour at least 48 hours cold and temper balls 1.5–4 hours before service.
How much yeast for your prove time