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
Insufficient rest between shaping steps
Generally acceptedWorkflow and timing · from Dough snaps back when stretching
Gluten needs a short relaxation period after being worked; stretching it again immediately meets full elastic resistance.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Dough snaps back when stretching", ranked 1 of 2 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The dough stretched at first and only began springing back after repeated handling; a short covered rest makes it noticeably easier.
- Rescue it now
- Rest the dough, covered, for 10-20 minutes and try again rather than forcing it
- Next time
- Build adequate bulk and ball fermentation time into your schedule, and rest the dough between shaping stages
Dough snaps back when stretchingPizza on a baking trayShaping without degassing
Under-fermented dough
Generally acceptedFermentation · from Dough snaps back when stretching
Fermentation gradually relaxes gluten's elasticity in favour of extensibility; an under-fermented dough is disproportionately elastic.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Dough snaps back when stretching", ranked 2 of 2 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The dough springs back from the very first stretch, even after a rest, and has had a short ferment with few visible bubbles.
- Rescue it now
- Rest the dough, covered, for 10-20 minutes and try again rather than forcing it
- Next time
- Build adequate bulk and ball fermentation time into your schedule, and rest the dough between shaping stages
Dough snaps back when stretchingPizza on a baking trayShaping 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.