Skip to content
PizzaHQ

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.

2. What did you see? Choose up to 3.

1 of 3 chosen.

3. Context (optional — sharpens the ranking)

Ranked causes

Most likely

  1. Dough shaped cold, straight from the refrigerator

    Generally accepted

    Fermentation · from Dough tears when stretching

    Cold dough is tight and inextensible; resting at room temperature relaxes gluten enough to stretch without tearing.

    Why it fits
    • Recorded cause of "Dough tears when stretching", ranked 1 of 3 by PizzaHQ's editors.
    How to tell it apart
    The dough came out of the fridge shortly before shaping and still feels cool, firm and tight in the hand.
    Rescue it now
    Let the dough rest 20-40 minutes at room temperature before trying again, and patch small tears by pinching the dough back together
    Next time
    Always temper cold dough before shaping, and stretch evenly, working around the whole circumference

    Dough tears when stretchingShaping without degassing

  2. Under-fermented dough with weak gas structure

    Generally accepted

    Fermentation · from Dough tears when stretching

    A dough that hasn't fermented long enough lacks the gas-filled structure that helps it stretch evenly.

    Why it fits
    • Recorded cause of "Dough tears when stretching", ranked 2 of 3 by PizzaHQ's editors.
    How to tell it apart
    The dough was at room temperature but shows few bubbles and has barely risen since balling.
    Rescue it now
    Let the dough rest 20-40 minutes at room temperature before trying again, and patch small tears by pinching the dough back together
    Next time
    Always temper cold dough before shaping, and stretch evenly, working around the whole circumference

    Dough tears when stretchingShaping without degassing

Also possible

  1. Thin spots stretched unevenly

    Generally accepted

    Shaping · from Dough tears when stretching

    Concentrating stretching force on one area rather than working evenly around the disc creates weak points.

    Why it fits
    • Recorded cause of "Dough tears when stretching", ranked 3 of 3 by PizzaHQ's editors.
    How to tell it apart
    The tear appears in one spot that was visibly thinner than the rest, while the rest of the disc stretched without trouble.
    Rescue it now
    Let the dough rest 20-40 minutes at room temperature before trying again, and patch small tears by pinching the dough back together
    Next time
    Always temper cold dough before shaping, and stretch evenly, working around the whole circumference

    Dough tears when stretchingShaping 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.

Related