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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. Rim was deflated during shaping

    Generally accepted

    Shaping · from Rim (cornicione) did not inflate

    Pressing into what should be the untouched rim releases the trapped gas that would otherwise puff during baking.

    Why it fits
    • Recorded cause of "Rim (cornicione) did not inflate", ranked 1 of 3 by PizzaHQ's editors.
    How to tell it apart
    The rim is flat in some places and puffier in others, matching where fingers or a pin pressed while opening.
    Rescue it now
    Not fixable for the current bake; identify which of the three causes applies for next time
    Next time
    Preserve the rim untouched while opening the dough, use the hottest practical oven setup, and ferment long enough to build adequate gas

    Rim (cornicione) did not inflateHow to get better browningHow to get an airier crustShaping without degassing

  2. Oven temperature too low

    Generally accepted

    Bake environment · from Rim (cornicione) did not inflate

    A high, fast bake is what causes trapped gas to expand rapidly before the crust sets; a slow bake lets gas escape before it can puff.

    Why it fits
    • Recorded cause of "Rim (cornicione) did not inflate", ranked 2 of 3 by PizzaHQ's editors.
    How to tell it apart
    The rim is flat and pale all the way round, and the bake took noticeably longer than the style usually needs.
    Rescue it now
    Not fixable for the current bake; identify which of the three causes applies for next time
    Next time
    Preserve the rim untouched while opening the dough, use the hottest practical oven setup, and ferment long enough to build adequate gas

    Rim (cornicione) did not inflateHow to get better browningHow to get an airier crustShaping without degassing

Also possible

  1. Insufficient fermentation, leaving too little gas in the dough

    Generally accepted

    Fermentation · from Rim (cornicione) did not inflate

    A dough with limited gas production has less to expand in the first place.

    Why it fits
    • Recorded cause of "Rim (cornicione) did not inflate", ranked 3 of 3 by PizzaHQ's editors.
    How to tell it apart
    The rim is evenly flat despite a hot, fast bake and an untouched edge, and the dough balls showed few bubbles before shaping.
    Rescue it now
    Not fixable for the current bake; identify which of the three causes applies for next time
    Next time
    Preserve the rim untouched while opening the dough, use the hottest practical oven setup, and ferment long enough to build adequate gas

    Rim (cornicione) did not inflateHow to get better browningHow to get an airier crustShaping 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.

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