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
The pizza was stuck to the peel and tore free unevenly
Generally acceptedShaping · from Pizza tears during launch
A pizza that has partially bonded to the peel will tear at its weakest point when force is applied to launch it.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Pizza tears during launch", ranked 1 of 2 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The pizza did not slide freely when the peel was shaken before launching, and the tear starts where it gripped.
- Rescue it now
- Patch the tear by pinching the dough back together once it's on the baking surface, accepting some cosmetic imperfection
- Next time
- Confirm the pizza slides freely on the peel before attempting to launch, and use a confident, continuous motion
Pizza tears during launchHow to get better pizza on a BBQPizza on a BBQPizza on a charcoal BBQChoosing a pizza peel: wood, metal, perforated and turning peels
A hesitant or interrupted launching motion
Generally acceptedShaping · from Pizza tears during launch
A confident, continuous motion distributes the force evenly; hesitation concentrates stress on one area.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Pizza tears during launch", ranked 2 of 2 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The pizza slid freely on the peel, but the launching motion stopped or jerked partway, stretching one edge.
- Rescue it now
- Patch the tear by pinching the dough back together once it's on the baking surface, accepting some cosmetic imperfection
- Next time
- Confirm the pizza slides freely on the peel before attempting to launch, and use a confident, continuous motion
Pizza tears during launchHow to get better pizza on a BBQPizza on a BBQPizza on a charcoal BBQChoosing a pizza peel: wood, metal, perforated and turning peels
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.