The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Tough Pizza Crust

Faith in Virginia's picture
Faith in Virginia

Tough Pizza Crust

We have a new Italian/ Pizza restaurant open in my small town.  The other night we gave it a try...lets just say not impressed.  The crust looked adequate but it was tough.  The exterior was crisp the the interior reminded me of microwaved bread and that is different than just stale or over baked. I watched him stretch the dough and I noticed that the dough had islands of dried dough  like the resting dough was not properly covered and formed that crust.   So my question is what do you think went wrong to have a fresh pizza dough be so tough.  I have been thinking about it and I am at a loss.  Short of popping it in the microwave I don't know how you can make something fresh and have it so wrong. 

rayel's picture
rayel

Hi Faith, with the small amt of experience I have had with  baking in general, my best guess is that the dough was probably not hydrated enough, or kneaded too long and  became tough.  Also, that place could be suffering from start up pains or gremlins. Have you tried that pizza a second time? Chances are it will be much better next time around. The baker might have become distracted, with all the other things demanding his/her attention. Perhaps they are still finding their way, and adjusting as they go. I think their customer's feedback will help them improve. (if they hang around long enough that is)   

We have all done the microwave thing, I think the worst place to reheat any breadstuff, and wondered how, in just a few seconds, it can turn into a tennis ball. Ray

flournwater's picture
flournwater

I would endorse rayel's comments.  Next time you visit, (and don't wait too long) take a few minutes and share the information you posted here with the proprietor.  Your information doesn't have to take the form of a complaint.  Just tell him/her what you saw and in what ways the pizza failed to meet your expectations.  Helpful, constructive customer feed-back is often all it takes to pull a start-up business into line and prevent it from failing.