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Second rise for sourdough pizza too long

Yo's picture
Yo

Second rise for sourdough pizza too long

I have been experimenting with sourdough pizza for a few months (friday night = pizza night). The first ones came out flat and hard although my sourdough was very active.

We live in Canada, so it is sometimes too cold for the pizza dough to rise properly. I put the dough in the oven to rise with the light on. I had to buy a thermometer and realized the 40 watts light in the over was too strong for proofing. It was almost 100 degrees in the oven. Tried a 25 watt bulb and still too warm and tried a 15 watts bulb and it is now I get the right temperature for proofing the dough (70-85 degrees). The dough is now rising. The last pizza was the most successful one, but I had to let the pizza rise the second time for about 5 hours before cooking, otherwise it would be too flat and hard. It won't rise as it cooks. I don't understand that when I look at videos on YouTube, they make their pizza after the first rise  prepare it and put it in the hot oven right away and it rises as it cooks. If I put mine in the oven that soon it won't rise much and will be hard. What could be the problem?

  • I don't like having to leave my pizza to rise for 5-6 hours before cooking.
  • Also the color is pale. I would like a golden brown crust (there is sugar in the recipe). I put the temperature to the max (500 degrees)

Thank you,