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
Exposed sauce with no cheese or topping covering it, baked at very high heat
Generally acceptedSauce · from Sauce burns or blackens in spots
Sauce with nothing protecting its surface loses moisture fastest and chars once it dries out, especially at Neapolitan-style temperatures well above 400C.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Sauce burns or blackens in spots", ranked 1 of 3 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The black spots sit only where sauce was left uncovered by cheese or toppings, in a very hot oven.
- Rescue it now
- Not fixable once burnt; scrape off small blackened patches if the rest of the pizza is otherwise fine
- Next time
- Keep sauce fully covered by cheese or toppings on very high-heat bakes, apply it in a thin but even layer with no bare gaps, and reduce added sugar if scorching is recurring
Sauce burns or blackens in spotsHow to get sauce to behave better
Sauce applied too thinly or unevenly, leaving thin patches that dry out before the rest of the bake finishes
Generally acceptedSauce · from Sauce burns or blackens in spots
A thin film of sauce has little moisture left to evaporate before it starts to scorch rather than simply finish cooking.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Sauce burns or blackens in spots", ranked 2 of 3 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The burnt spots match where the sauce was spread thinnest, while thicker sauce nearby cooked normally.
- Rescue it now
- Not fixable once burnt; scrape off small blackened patches if the rest of the pizza is otherwise fine
- Next time
- Keep sauce fully covered by cheese or toppings on very high-heat bakes, apply it in a thin but even layer with no bare gaps, and reduce added sugar if scorching is recurring
Sauce burns or blackens in spotsHow to get sauce to behave better
Also possible
Sugar content in the sauce caramelising past the point of browning into burning
Supported, with regional variationSauce · from Sauce burns or blackens in spots
Sauces with added sugar or naturally sweet tomatoes brown, then burn, faster than a plain sauce at the same temperature.
- Why it fits
- Recorded cause of "Sauce burns or blackens in spots", ranked 3 of 3 by PizzaHQ's editors.
- How to tell it apart
- The sauce darkens broadly and quickly, even where reasonably thick, and contains added sugar or very sweet tomatoes.
- Rescue it now
- Not fixable once burnt; scrape off small blackened patches if the rest of the pizza is otherwise fine
- Next time
- Keep sauce fully covered by cheese or toppings on very high-heat bakes, apply it in a thin but even layer with no bare gaps, and reduce added sugar if scorching is recurring
Sauce burns or blackens in spotsHow to get sauce to behave better
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.