Let’s talk pizza

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it’s rigid and doesn’t flex.

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are you referring to the properties of the dough before or after it's cooked?

Start by telling us what type of oven, oven temp and cook time

I cook it on the convection setting at 500 for 15 min. Regular electric oven

Plan on ordering some 00 flour soon. Maybe it is simply a dough issue?

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After

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Without knowing your dough recipe and method of preparation, either the dough is not hydrated enough or the glutens are not developed enough.

Practices that can help the extensibility of your dough:

• Higher hydration level (50-65%)
• Make a biga (starter 24 hours before making the dough)
• Add dough conditioner (1/2%-4%)
• Retard the dough (store in refrigerator overnight after rounding)

These four factors can improve the extensibility and elasticity of your dough.

If retarding the dough, use cold water in the initial preparation to prevent premature fermentation.

Also, remove the dough from refrigeration 3-5 hours before use.

Edit: the above information is provided under the assumption that bread flour or other high gluten flour is being used for the dough. If not, then that should be your first consideration.

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I cook it on the convection setting at 500 for 15 min. Regular electric oven

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I cook mine on a baking steel at 550 for maybe 4-5 minutes. Convection roast setting.

That said, you can’t do a Neopolitan pizza in a home oven. Not hot enough. Cook time too long.

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You may want to rethink that

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I’ve cooked at 10 and 12 min with and without convection. Crust is the same at any cooking time above 10 min, with or without convection.

However, anything less than 12 the crust is chewy inside instead of soft.

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I’ve cooked at 10 and 12 min with and without convection. Crust is the same at any cooking time above 10 min, with or without convection.

However, anything less than 12 the crust is chewy inside instead of soft.


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I crank mine as high as it will go. I have two racks, so I stuff the lower one with all of the cast iron that will fit. They help keep it hot. I also use pizza screens. You oil and season them like you would anything else.

Yeah, I use a screen, too. Much easier than working with the stone.

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Is Biga like a “poolish?”

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Yes, in that they are both preferment starters. The difference is in the hydration level (poolish 100% vs biga 50-60%). We didn't bother with preferments in the restaurant but, that doesn't discount their viability.

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I’ve refrigerated as well after rising, still came out the same.

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in the restaurant, we scaled, mixed, portioned, rounded, and retarded our dough. We didn't allow it to bulk ferment prior to refrigeration. That's why we used cold water during the mixing/ kneading phase.

It's counterintuitive to how dough is made but, it served a purpose. We would make dough and slow ferment it in the fridge 2-3 days before we needed it.

The dough boxes would get removed from refrigeration by whomever was opening the station at 8am to be used for lunch. That 3-3.5 hours is just long enough to temper the dough for stretching.

I recently made pizza with my students using the same technique and it worked out great.

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plan on ordering some 00 flour as well

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good idea. The high gluten content should produce a better product.

If you have Netflix, and haven't watched the Chef's Table PIZZA series yet, I highly recommend you watch it.

Good luck with your journey.