Pizza troubleshooter
Choose what you saw — up to three things — and, if you know them, what you baked on, the style and the bake. PizzaHQ ranks the likely causes from its 57 documented symptoms, 137 recorded causes and 36 equipment-specific branches, and for each one says why it fits, how to tell it apart from its neighbours, what you can still rescue, and what to change next time.
Ranked causes
Most likely
Flour too strong for the fermentation time given
Generally acceptedDough formulation · from Dough is difficult to stretch generally
A high-W or high-protein flour needs proportionally longer fermentation to become extensible; used too soon, it resists stretching.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Dough is difficult to stretch generally", ranked 1 of 2 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The ball is a normal weight but feels tight and rubbery throughout, and you used a strong flour on a short ferment.
- Rescue it now
- Give the dough more resting time before continuing to shape it
- Next time
- Match flour strength to your realistic fermentation schedule, and weigh dough balls to the size appropriate for your target diameter
Dough is difficult to stretch generallyShaping without degassing
Also possible
Dough balls too small for the intended final size
Supported, with regional variationShaping · from Dough is difficult to stretch generally
Underweight dough balls require more aggressive stretching to reach a target diameter, increasing the chance of resistance and tearing.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Dough is difficult to stretch generally", ranked 2 of 2 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The dough stretches reasonably at first but runs thin and starts resisting before it reaches your target diameter.
- Rescue it now
- Give the dough more resting time before continuing to shape it
- Next time
- Match flour strength to your realistic fermentation schedule, and weigh dough balls to the size appropriate for your target diameter
Dough is difficult to stretch generallyShaping without degassing
How this works
Every cause shown is one PizzaHQ has already documented, either on a symptom page or as an equipment-specific branch. The troubleshooter does not invent causes; it ranks the documented ones against what you told it.
A cause starts from its recorded evidence confidence and its editorial rank within its symptom. An equipment-specific cause for the equipment you used rises sharply, and causes for equipment you are not using are set aside. A kind of cause (bake environment, fermentation, toppings…) that also explains another thing you saw rises again — one explanation for two observations is more likely than two separate faults.
If you name a style, its recorded equipment fit, bake temperature and bake time are compared with yours; a bake far outside the style's range, or equipment PizzaHQ records as a compromise for that style, raises the heat and equipment causes and says why.
Assumptions
- Causes are bucketed — most likely, also possible, less likely — rather than given a percentage; the underlying ranking is additive and every addition is listed under 'Why it fits'.
- 'How to tell it apart' is the observation PizzaHQ records as distinguishing that cause from the symptom's others.
- Bake temperature and time only count when a style is chosen, because they are judged against that style's recorded range.
Limitations
- Only documented symptoms can be diagnosed. If what you see is not listed, the closest symptom page is the better starting point.
- Equipment-specific branches exist where equipment genuinely changes the answer; most dough-stage problems have none, by design.
- A ranking is a starting point for checking, not a verdict — the distinguishing observations are there so you can confirm or rule out each cause yourself.