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
Overproofing
Generally acceptedFermentation · from Dough has weak structure (deflates, won't hold shape)
Fermentation past its optimal point breaks down gluten structure and depletes the sugars needed for the dough to hold gas well.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Dough has weak structure (deflates, won't hold shape)", ranked 1 of 2 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The dough rose well, then turned slack, very bubbly or collapsed, often smelling boozy, after a long or warm ferment.
- Rescue it now
- A significantly overproofed dough can sometimes be rescued by degassing, reshaping, and using immediately with a shorter final proof
- Next time
- Track fermentation time relative to temperature carefully, and ensure adequate kneading, folding, or autolyse time
Dough has weak structure (deflates, won't hold shape)How to get an airier crustHow gluten develops
Insufficient gluten development from mixing
Generally acceptedDough formulation · from Dough has weak structure (deflates, won't hold shape)
A dough that was never adequately kneaded or folded lacks the elastic network needed to hold its shape.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Dough has weak structure (deflates, won't hold shape)", ranked 2 of 2 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The dough never firmed up or held a ball shape, even early in fermentation, after only brief kneading or folding.
- Rescue it now
- A significantly overproofed dough can sometimes be rescued by degassing, reshaping, and using immediately with a shorter final proof
- Next time
- Track fermentation time relative to temperature carefully, and ensure adequate kneading, folding, or autolyse time
Dough has weak structure (deflates, won't hold shape)How to get an airier crustHow gluten develops
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.