Learning about bakers percentages is useful if you haven’t already. Informations sur votre appareil et sur votre connexion Internet, y compris votre adresse IP, Navigation et recherche lors de l’utilisation des sites Web et applications Verizon Media. I use about half of the 11gr instant yeast sachets which can be immediately mixed w flour… you use only o.3 gr yeast… that’s very little ! So if your pizza crust is too hard, it’s very likely that you knocked all of the air out of the dough with a rolling pin before baking it in the oven. If you need a fool proof dough with detailed step by step instructions then check out my best pizza dough recipe to give yourself the best start. Nos partenaires et nous-mêmes stockerons et/ou utiliserons des informations concernant votre appareil, par l’intermédiaire de cookies et de technologies similaires, afin d’afficher des annonces et des contenus personnalisés, de mesurer les audiences et les contenus, d’obtenir des informations sur les audiences et à des fins de développement de produit. Pizza dough should easily stretch and be quite moist, but if the flour to water ratio is out, this may mean that you end up with a dough that is far too dry to use. Of all these factors, underproving is probably the most common cause of doughy pizza dough. The Yeast Isn’t Working. Pizza dough is made using flour, yeast, sugar, salt, warm water, and oil. Unfortunately I baked it in a regular size loaf pan not seeing that your pan was smaller. My dough is good and soft after kneading it by hand; my proofing time is 4-6 hours in which the size of the dough doubles in size. On both of these 2 occasions I have not managed to get the dough to effectively rise. i've been thinking quite a bit about this because my sourdough pizza is also dense. The extended period builds up flavor and makes a better texture. A prime counter example is when you’re aiming for an extra thin crust pizza. My dough is too hard! But when you add more water, it can get harder to handle and shape. For most over-night, refrigerated dough production systems, an ideal dough temperature should be around 78 to 80ºF. Try adding a resting period just after you have mixed all your ingredients. Why is my homemade bread so dense? Especially if you have a sticky dough which might be prone to getting stuck. Both too wet or too dry dough can result in dense bread. When it comes to the stretching phase then feel free to use as much flour as you need. But it always needs this first hour to get the yeast active – it might be too cold and slow in the fridge to multiply. My dough is too hard! After the 1 hour rising you let the dough ferment for 6 plus hours… in most recipes with instant (non-active ?) I made a basic flour, yeast, water and salt bread. Also, the crust will be quite dense. Dissolve salt and yeast in the water, then add the flour and the oil. I don't understand what I am doing wrong, I am used to using yeast in my pizza dough, which is water, salt, flour, and yeast. Here, we aren’t mixing this flour back in, but we are just using it on the surface. Without all the air and gas trapped in these pockets, your pizza will bake into a flat and dense pizza crust. It makes the dough a little harder to work with and shape, but the results are typically better. First you mix these ingredients together, and then you knead the dough. i think that what is going on here is that the denisity of yeast in the culture is the issue. This allows it to develop flavor and a delicate texture, it’s easy to stretch and rises well in the oven. If you really don’t have enough water, the dough can have a hard time holding together, and it will break apart. Ball 3 dough balls and let them ferment at room temperature for 6-12 hours while airtight. We’ll discuss what can make sourdough too dense and answer your questions on how to get lighter sourdough bread in the future. Not sure what the windowpane test is, read my article “Kneading Dough In A Mixer”. But the dough was hard, kind of chewy. The tough and chewy stage is set when a high protein (very strong) flour is used to make the dough. I did this for a long time thinking it was the way forward. Never use a rolling pin, because this will ruin the edge of your pizza and you will end up with a flat and dry pizza crust. I use a Kitchen Aid Mixer – should I be kneading by hand instead? (tip: bread shouldn't bake at NEARLY the same high temps as pizza dough should.) Required fields are marked *. I followed a recipe and kneaded the dough for 10 minutes then I let it rise at room temp for a few minutes before putting it in the fridge to let it rise overnight. Need help! If you are confident you followed the recipe (water temperature, amount of salt) and didn’t swap in different flour willy-nilly (check this handy chart for flour substitution and how it might effect the recipe) then the issue is likely down to time and/or ambient temperature. Let’s go over why … But when it’s time for a taste test before they give it to their customers, they find that it’s tough and dense. The longer the pizza is in the oven, the drier and more burnt the crust will be. The bottom crust was also on the crunchier side, but I guess that beats the alternative of soggy. Challah dough can be sticky, and so your natural inclination might be to keep adding flour until it’s not sticky any more, which may result in an overly dense challah once baked. Why Your Pizza Crust Is Too Hard: How To Fix It. It was a little bit lighter than usual but was still much heavier than the ones I see people make on youtube. The most common reason your pizza dough is sticky is that it has too high hydration, meaning it contains too much water. Move the dough around your hands to keep the base stretching from all angles. But the dough was hard, kind of chewy. yeast there is no 2nd fermentation..? Using a pizza stone or pizza steel is great too. This helps make sure the middle is cooked. This allows the flour and water to hydrate themselves and start the chemical reaction. Yet, whole grain flours take awhile to absorb moisture, so it's better to add some of the flour and give it 15 minutes or so to absorb water. How To Handle Wet Pizza Dough: Avoid Sticky Hands. Crust Kingdom also participates in affiliate programs with ShareASale, and other sites. On both of these 2 occasions I have not managed to get the dough to effectively rise. bake a bit longer to ensure the middle is done as well. 10. Keeping it gentle ensures a delicate final outcome. If your dough is cold when you put it in the oven then its going to take longer … This surprised me how effective these were when I started using them – pretty much cutting the cooking time in half. Some of the other potential reasons could be mixing the yeast & salt together or losing your patience while baking or even not creating enough tension in the finished loaf before baking the bread. As there are over 80 portions of pizzas to make, I finds pizzas that I bake it doesn’t cook properly while toppings is all ready cook. You can parbake this as well, and prepare it before – anything from straight before, or a few hours ahead which might be helpful for you. Using a rolling pin to flatten a pizza base can cause the dough to become more dense. When you’ve mixed your ingredients and its time to knead, it can be tempting to cover your worktop in mounds of flour to begin. Then stretch by hand, and cook on a preheated pizza steel for 5-7 minutes (until very golden), turning once. This is what makes it soft and supple, rather than tough and chewy. The high heat for excessive times caused the moisture to evaporate. Pull apart and work with gravity to stretch the dough thinner. So, why is my sourdough bread so dense? To help this, use small amounts of flour on the bench. When you prepare it for the second rise, you won’t knead it again. I kneaded it by hand for about 8 minutes (i let it mature from a sticky dough into a smooth one without adding more flour), and let it cold rise in the fridge for about 12 hours. What will happen if my pizza dough hydration is too low? So, why is my sourdough bread so dense? If you ended up getting a dense crust, here are the possible reasons why: 1.It did not ferment enough. You now have my top ways to avoid a tough pizza crust. Again, all great. It can result from dough that is too wet and too dry. Slowing down the rise of your pizza dough is a key step to making better pizza from the taste and texture benefits of longer fermentation. I mixed the dough this time with a hand-held mixer to get a smooth dough. Establishing and maintaining a consistent dough temperature is the underlying key to pizza crust quality. Can I bake dough first before putting toppings on. Underproved pizza dough – this dough is still a little dense and needs a bit longer to prove Bread that's too dense is made with too much flour, and the amount of flour that a given dough needs is dependent as much on humidity, the particulars and age of the flour, things like that. (This is true for bread and other baked goods as well.) Less is more, so before adding more and more flour while kneading, just add a dusting to take the stickiness out. But while it’s usually a better idea to stretch your pizza dough out by hand, it isn’t always better. Hi tom, It all comes from starting with a great dough with the correct proportions. For bread made in a bread machine, the programs are set to mix, knead, rise and bake according to the selected recipe. I'm not sure if it's the mixing of the dough because I'm using a smaller mixer 20qt as opposed to my old 60qt. Letting the dough rise too long can also lead to dense and heavy bread. An underproved dough if cooked would lack any airiness in the crust at all as the yeast hasn’t had long enough to develop. Since the yeast didn’t have proper time to feed before being baked, you won’t get those large bubbles in the crust that makes pizza so airy and fluffy. Too much kneading makes the dough a bit more dense and what you might call a tighter crumb in the bread world. Steel is more conductive than stone so transfers more heat, they don’t shatter and they are easier to clean. This usually takes 45 minutes or so from a cold oven. I haven’t used a microwave convection oven myself but one thing I would say is make sure the oven is a consistent temperature. Comment document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a2842ab1eb22935d9358de0f38879518" );document.getElementById("acf565525f").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. Everyone knows that the perfect crust is the basis for the perfect pizza. First, your dough will most likely bake flat and dense. Knead it for 2-3 minutes and let it rise as a bulk for 1 hour. I also put corn meal on top off my pizza stone before I put the dough on. The bread will be dense and "doughy" - it will smell and tastes like dough. When making pizza dough at home, the type of wheat flour you use may not seem like a big deal, but it will affect the dough. The struggle might cause you to overwork the dough, which can contribute to a dense texture that no one wants to bite into. The kneading builds up gluten which is the stretchy network of strands in the dough. So if you have 1000g of flour and use 700m of water (700ml water equals 700g water) then you are using 70% hydration. Nobody likes a pizza that resembles chewing on stiff cardboard! If you want to learn more secrets to making perfect pizza, I found this great free 6 part video course from baking expert Peter Reinhart which you can watch here. So adding a little more water to dough is good practice. It cooks through better and makes a crisper crust with larger holes. Thank you sue, Hi Sue. i followed a recipe in the cheeseboard baking book to a tee and the crust is dense and crunchy on the outside with no air bubbles in the dough whatsoever! But when it’s time for a taste test before they give it to their customers, they find that it’s tough and dense. Also the pizza crust (edge) is more dense and often time it stays raw. Crust Kingdom is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and other Amazon websites. I’ve tried making pizza at home twice now, and the dough was a little undercooked the first time, and crunchy, the second time. The simple solution is therefore to add less flour. Overworking dough will pop all the tiny bubbles that make pizza crust so airy and fluffy once cooked. Years ago I read this lifts the dough up just enough so the hot air can circulate underneath the dough. Make sure your dough is mature - while the edges usually handle being off quite well, the middle remains soggy or dense. In summary, these are by best tips for... Guide To Long, Slow Pizza Dough Rising: All Questions Answered. Give my recipe a go – the dough rises at room temperature with a very small amount of yeast to stop it rising too much. If your hydration is too low, your dough will be difficult to stretch out. You just need to divide the water by the flour and multiple by 100. Your email address will not be published. It’s an odd thing to think, but wetter dough actually makes the pizza more crisp. The struggle might cause you to overwork the dough, which can contribute to a dense texture that no one wants to bite into. Or 500g flour and 350ml is also 70%. Using the mixer should be fine unless you are mixing for really long periods which can toughen things up – I imagine just a few minutes once the ingredients are incorporated? Remember.....my pizza and bread doughs do the same exact thing. Try a hydration of 65%, which is a good start. When this happens, the end result will be a dense, thick pizza crust. I’m Tom and this is my website devoted to pizza. Sometimes when too much flour is added, dough will come out hard and stiff. It was a little bit lighter than usual but was still much heavier than the ones I see people make on youtube. … If your pizza crust is coming out too hard then it can be from a number of common mistakes. Hi Tom, I’m a cook for school meals, pizza is one of the meal in menu that I find it’s very tricky to make them perfect. 20-30 minutes is more than enough for pizza dough to rise and after that, you can get started with making pizzas. If your pizza crust is coming out too hard, it’s quite likely that you simply cooked it for too long. Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest. Now we have the quick answers, here is some solutions for fixing these problems in a little more detail. 70% hydration. let's say that i have 100 yeast in there (just a number for argument's sake). Is the kind of yeast a factor? The bottom line is that dense, heavy bread means that the dough didn’t trap enough gas or the yeast didn’t produce enough gas. 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