The Fresh Loaf

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Dough could not be stretched out

alan856's picture
alan856

Dough could not be stretched out

Made my first attempt at pizza dough. Think I made some mistakes in the initial mixing and did a numbered stretch & folds to get the olive oil to mix in. Then it was in fridge for about 18 hrs. When I tried to stretch it out to the 12” or so it just fought me all the way! Tried pressing it out on the table.... tried holding it by the edge with the dough hanging down circling around and it just would not  go. I had 600 gr flour and 400 gr water... wonder if for pizza I should have had more water - higher hydration 

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

I think 66% hydration for pizza is quite normal. What flour did you use? Very high protein, perhaps?

alan856's picture
alan856

I used Bobs Red Mill Artisan Bread flour.  Maybe a little too strong?

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

I don't know, what protein % is it?

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Cold pizza dough needs to come up to room temp in order to stretch.

Could that have been it?

alan856's picture
alan856

Yes - did start working it out of the fridge. Have 3 more- will try letting one warm up.

Benito's picture
Benito

I agree with Dave on this, when I’ve tried to stretch my pizza dough straight out of the fridge there was definitely more elasticity.

GlennM's picture
GlennM

i use the calculator below, drop the yeast and use a stater at its peak activity. After a series of stretch and folds I ball it up and put it in an oiled clear container in the fridge for a few days. You will see it expand over time, you may have to take it out and stretch it back into a ball if you let it go longer. I use 00 flour, if using a home oven you can add a bit of diastatic malt to brown it, I use a pizza oven so I leave that out. I would remove 25 gr each of water and flour from this amount and use 50 gr starter. It will easily keep in the fridge for a week. In this example  I would use 50 gr of 100% hydration starter and reduce the flour to 168.2 gr and the water to 97 gr

I hope this helps, I don’t stretch mine, I flour it and them press from the center (on parchment) being careful to not flatten the outer edge.  I have a small roller I use as well. I launch the prepared pizza on the parchment and then pull the parchment out once the crust is set 

 

Pizza

Pizza calc

alan856's picture
alan856

Thanks for the info - will check out that calculator. But your scheme, as great as it may be, is just "too much" for me! I'll stick to the simpler route for now

GlennM's picture
GlennM

I think I may have made it seem more complicated than it is ?

I basically mix it up, couple of stretch and folds and chuck it in the fridge. Couple days later I take it out and make the za

alan856's picture
alan856

I don't care to bother with the 00 flour - don't know where I'd even get it. And I do have SD starters - but just wanted to try something a little less involved and use the yeast.  I can never seem to get the timing of the starter peak to be at a time when I can use it to complete a dough.  At some point I'll def try (AGAIN) to use the starter but for now will stick with the yeast.

GlennM's picture
GlennM

You can use all purpose flour or a combination,  I sometimes add 25% whole wheat and that's good too.  The main reason people use 00 is so they can use very high heat (800f) without burning.  The calculator works well with yeast recipes,  I would let it proof a bit and then into the fridge for a day or two.  Just take your time or it will fight you.  Good luck !!

CedyBakes's picture
CedyBakes

When it fights you, try covering it and letting it sit for 10 minutes. It should relax and let you stretch it further.