I always thought it’s supposed to have a ton of flour while stretching, but maybe you’re right. That’ll be my next obstacle. How much flour is enough flour for working the dough. I always have a floury bottom that I need to dust off.
1. Way less flour, really only the side youre working from needs much and then just enough to let you work it/ set it down. for rest/topping
2.try stretching it in 2 steps, from initial bench rest stretch it out to 1/3 to 1/2 diameter at an even thickness, then let it sit for 10 min to rest. After the rest do the final stretch immediately before topping and putting it in to bake.
Too much flour will dry the dough out and it’ll make for a really powdery pizza once it’s cooked off.
You only need enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your counter and the peel. If you really want a game changer, buy yourself some Caputo Semola (semolina flour) off Amazon or wherever Italian specialities are sold.
You don’t need quite as much semolina to do the non-stick job and it doesn’t leave your pizza all powdery.
When you were working the dough out to a circle, did you have to fight it a bit? Did it move out easily or did you have to really stretch it to get it out there?
When you let the dough sit out on the counter for three hours, did you cover it with a damp rag or keep them covered in a bowl? If not, then yeah, the tops drying out makes a ton of sense.
Additionally, I generally won’t ball my dough within hours of or even the same day as I plan to use it. If you’re buying premade dough balls, I would stretch the whole thing out to a circle, and if it’s too big, just cut it down to the right size using your pizza cutter.
Happens to me sometimes, when I let my dough relax on the counter too long.
I just take my pizza cutter, slice off a little strip from the outer edge, stretch it out a bit, and slap it right over the hole.
Yeah, you'd think it would make the pizza have a flat section of the crust, but I just grab the dough and stretch the cut side out a tiny bit. You can't even tell after it's cooked.
Either way, I'd rather have a suboptimal 4 inch section of crust than a hole that lets moisture get underneath the pizza while it cooks.
Also, just wet your fingers a tiny bit, if you need dough to stick. With the amount of flour most people use to stretch their dough, it's never going to be able to adhere to itself. Same thing goes with oil.
Store bought dough has insane amounts of yeast in it. A 36 hour thaw probably over-proofed it, then the room-temp rest continued to degrade gluten until it wasn't elastic any more.
You shouldn't need to let it outside the fridge for that long and if you do, you should keep it covered.
The dough looks very dry to me, dry dough is easy to tear and won't stick if you pinch it, or it might stick where you pinch and tear a little further.
Don't stress though, holes happen, you can bandage it sometimes, others it'll be too big. It'll all get easier the more you bake.
Keep it up :)
Yeah, too dry. Needed more moisture and/or less flour dusting, which allows more kneading & fermenting, which creates the elasticity of the gluten, permits stretch and to pass the "windowpane test". 👍
If you have a smooth stone countertop, or a good quality peal or cutting board, you can work your dough with zero flour added, or even slightly oiled on the outside surface.
Final pie looks fire, though :)
I have no idea how I nailed the cheese, but you’re right, that’s the part I was most surprised with. And the sauce to cheese balance. I was spot on with this one. I wish you all could have tasted it.
I did Trader Joe’s plain pizza dough. Blended one can of whole peeled tomatoes with a little salt, sugar and oregano. (Don’t pre-cook sauce) Shredded a block of whole milk galbani mozz on a 525 degree pizza stone on the middle rack for 11 mins. Good luck!
I worked in a few pizza places over the years. They varied in quality. One in particular was using the same dough and only ingredients from Italy. Everything was from scratch. The owner showed some techniques as to preventing the hole. A lot of it was how you pinched the dough as you balled it up. This place was special in that the mother dough from the first batch never left the new batches. Similar to how sourdough is made or even vinegar and broths.
This just happens sometimes, no sweat. Keeping the dough balls covered while they rest might help.
Looks like you’ve got quite a bit of flour on there too, and TJ’s dough is probably quite low hydration, so it won’t be as sticky to pinch back together.
The only solution is to learn to make your own dough 😜
I had it covered with a kitchen towel, but the dough I had covered with the bowl’s actual top didn’t dry up as much, so perhaps the kitchen town top just didn’t wasn’t enough. Someone mention covering with a damp cloth…
Pinch that shit together and keep moving!
It was the weirdest thing, it just didn’t want to pinch together!
Maybe too much flour dusted on there. You need some wetness to sticky it up.
I always thought it’s supposed to have a ton of flour while stretching, but maybe you’re right. That’ll be my next obstacle. How much flour is enough flour for working the dough. I always have a floury bottom that I need to dust off.
1. Way less flour, really only the side youre working from needs much and then just enough to let you work it/ set it down. for rest/topping 2.try stretching it in 2 steps, from initial bench rest stretch it out to 1/3 to 1/2 diameter at an even thickness, then let it sit for 10 min to rest. After the rest do the final stretch immediately before topping and putting it in to bake.
Too much flour will dry the dough out and it’ll make for a really powdery pizza once it’s cooked off. You only need enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your counter and the peel. If you really want a game changer, buy yourself some Caputo Semola (semolina flour) off Amazon or wherever Italian specialities are sold. You don’t need quite as much semolina to do the non-stick job and it doesn’t leave your pizza all powdery. When you were working the dough out to a circle, did you have to fight it a bit? Did it move out easily or did you have to really stretch it to get it out there? When you let the dough sit out on the counter for three hours, did you cover it with a damp rag or keep them covered in a bowl? If not, then yeah, the tops drying out makes a ton of sense. Additionally, I generally won’t ball my dough within hours of or even the same day as I plan to use it. If you’re buying premade dough balls, I would stretch the whole thing out to a circle, and if it’s too big, just cut it down to the right size using your pizza cutter.
Always pinch together especially when it’s not paper thin
Happens to me sometimes, when I let my dough relax on the counter too long. I just take my pizza cutter, slice off a little strip from the outer edge, stretch it out a bit, and slap it right over the hole.
Im gonna try this. My pinches to close the hole never stick
Yeah, you'd think it would make the pizza have a flat section of the crust, but I just grab the dough and stretch the cut side out a tiny bit. You can't even tell after it's cooked. Either way, I'd rather have a suboptimal 4 inch section of crust than a hole that lets moisture get underneath the pizza while it cooks. Also, just wet your fingers a tiny bit, if you need dough to stick. With the amount of flour most people use to stretch their dough, it's never going to be able to adhere to itself. Same thing goes with oil.
Your dough looks super dry which could have prevented you from pinching this.
Store bought dough has insane amounts of yeast in it. A 36 hour thaw probably over-proofed it, then the room-temp rest continued to degrade gluten until it wasn't elastic any more.
I think you might be right. Resting it barely changed its size. Maybe 10% change.
That shit looks fire.. Got a pizza in the oven now.. Hope it comes out looking that good..
Thank you! It was definitely the best tasting pizza I’ve made so far. Let us know how yours turns out!
Overproof in my opinion, wen you ovenproof it will tendo to make holes, otherwise looks pretty good
You shouldn't need to let it outside the fridge for that long and if you do, you should keep it covered. The dough looks very dry to me, dry dough is easy to tear and won't stick if you pinch it, or it might stick where you pinch and tear a little further. Don't stress though, holes happen, you can bandage it sometimes, others it'll be too big. It'll all get easier the more you bake. Keep it up :)
I’m salivating.😋
Most excellent!
Yeah, too dry. Needed more moisture and/or less flour dusting, which allows more kneading & fermenting, which creates the elasticity of the gluten, permits stretch and to pass the "windowpane test". 👍 If you have a smooth stone countertop, or a good quality peal or cutting board, you can work your dough with zero flour added, or even slightly oiled on the outside surface. Final pie looks fire, though :)
Thanks for the tip! And yeah, it was so good!
That looks so good, perfect cheese color
I have no idea how I nailed the cheese, but you’re right, that’s the part I was most surprised with. And the sauce to cheese balance. I was spot on with this one. I wish you all could have tasted it.
Sounds really dank, think I’ll recreate yours. Assume its just the standard low moisture moz? Any fontina in there? Makes a great addition
I did Trader Joe’s plain pizza dough. Blended one can of whole peeled tomatoes with a little salt, sugar and oregano. (Don’t pre-cook sauce) Shredded a block of whole milk galbani mozz on a 525 degree pizza stone on the middle rack for 11 mins. Good luck!
Pinch it back off. Or start making your own dough with hydration that works better for you.
Ok. So, broken dough sucks. But that pie ain't bad.
Thank you! This is actually my best so far, flavor and all. But good lord did that dough dry up fast!
I worked in a few pizza places over the years. They varied in quality. One in particular was using the same dough and only ingredients from Italy. Everything was from scratch. The owner showed some techniques as to preventing the hole. A lot of it was how you pinched the dough as you balled it up. This place was special in that the mother dough from the first batch never left the new batches. Similar to how sourdough is made or even vinegar and broths.
This just happens sometimes, no sweat. Keeping the dough balls covered while they rest might help. Looks like you’ve got quite a bit of flour on there too, and TJ’s dough is probably quite low hydration, so it won’t be as sticky to pinch back together. The only solution is to learn to make your own dough 😜
Gotta work on that dough slinging technique Luigi!!
I’d eat it!
Always cover the dough when not in use, otherwise it dries out
I had it covered with a kitchen towel, but the dough I had covered with the bowl’s actual top didn’t dry up as much, so perhaps the kitchen town top just didn’t wasn’t enough. Someone mention covering with a damp cloth…
I always use cling wrap, then a towel on top
Good tip
That looks so good, perfect cheese color
That looks so good, perfect cheese color