Don’t Throw Out Torn Dough….Try this Instead! – Pizza University & Culinary Arts Center (2024)

Don’t Throw Out Torn Dough….Try this Instead! – Pizza University & Culinary Arts Center (1)

It’s happened to the best of us. You’ve just finished preparing picture-perfect pizza dough, yet somehow in the middle of shaping it, it tears. There’s no need to throw the dough away, or to start from scratch, however. There are a few simple steps to take to repair the dough, and a few more to ensure that tears don’t happen anymore.

Don’t Throw Out Torn Dough….Try this Instead! – Pizza University & Culinary Arts Center (2)

First of all, it’s important to understand that making successful pizza dough has many steps. During our certification classes, resident instructor, Chef Felice Colucci focuses on teaching students the importance of the ingredients, making and mixing the dough, the leavening process, how to properly stretch and shape dough, and of course topping and firing the pizzas. Chef Felice is constantly asked “what should I do if my dough tears?” This mishap is so undesirable, that he often takes students once again through the steps of how to not make it tear in the first place. Over the years, he has come up with the following suggestions:

What to do if your pizza dough tears:

  1. If dough tears after you have already added toppings, a common Italian quick-fix is to quickly remove the toppings and then fold the dough in half like a calzone. Next, you place basil under the torn area, and then turn over and re-add toppings.

2. With your fingers, gently pinch one edge of the whole of the tear and pull it over the entire tear. Firmly pinch down to seal the dough and be careful not to re-stretch that area.

Before toppings – how to not ruin

If tearing is a frequent problem, Chef Felice suggests :

  • Add a bit of extra-virgin olive oil to the dough to make it more elastic. While traditional Neapolitan pizza baked at a very high temperature does not use olive oil in the dough, ovens that are heated to lower temperatures such as home ovens, or pizzerias making other styles of pizza such as Detroit, Chicago, New York, Roman, California, and Neo-Neapolitan styles will be able to add a bit of additional oil to their dough since it always used in their recipes anyway.
  • Be sure to check out Chef Felice’s techniques here to ensure the dough itself is made properly.
  • Knead the dough a little bit longer than normal to improve the gluten structure. The amount of gluten will stay the same but the quality and strength will improve, and your dough will be less likely to tear.

Don’t Throw Out Torn Dough….Try this Instead! – Pizza University & Culinary Arts Center (4)

  • Make sure that you are using a flour with at least 11% protein content. Don’t use pastry flour to make pizza.
  • Make sure that the dough rests enough before stretching so that it relaxes enough before forming.
  • As you are stretching the dough before you go all the way, you can stop to spot check the dough – this allows you to notice thin areas. All that you need to do is place the dough (pizza base over your fists and lift them up so that you can see underneath them. Holding it up to the light this way enables you to notice thin areas and then you will know what to avoid stretching too much.
  • Practice stretching skills to create an evenly thick dough.

If you would like to enroll in our certification classes or schedule private consultations with Chef Felice, click here:

You may also like

Don’t Throw Out Torn Dough….Try this Instead! – Pizza University & Culinary Arts Center (2024)

FAQs

When you get tears or holes in your dough you should? ›

If your dough has a few small holes, simply pinch them together with your fingers. If your dough has larger holes, you can salvage it by making a Recovery Calzone!

How do you make pizza dough not tear? ›

Warm-up your dough: Cold dough is hard to stretch and more prone to tearing. Let your dough warm up to at least room temperature before stretching for best results.

How do you rescue pizza dough? ›

If dough tears after you have already added toppings, a common Italian quick-fix is to quickly remove the toppings and then fold the dough in half like a calzone. Next, you place basil under the torn area, and then turn over and re-add toppings.

When you are flattening your pizza dough and it keeps shrinking How do you resolve this problem? ›

Rest again as needed.

If your dough slowly shrinks a little bit, that is totally normal, but if it snaps back quickly, rest the dough for 15 to 20 minutes under a clean kitchen towel and start with step 3 again, repeating the process until the dough holds it shape.

Can you ruin pizza dough? ›

Note: Too much yeast will ruin your dough, even if it does make your dough rise quickly.

What happens if you tear pizza dough? ›

Tearing crust is a common pizza dough problem. If the gluten in your pizza dough hasn't developed enough, it can cause your dough to tear easily. Developed gluten is what gives your dough its pizza crust texture. If not processed enough when stretched, your dough will try to bounce back to its original ball shape.

Can you freeze pizza dough? ›

You can freeze any kind of pizza dough in any quantity — just let it fully rise before you freeze it and then divide it into pieces portioned for single pizzas. The dough can be frozen for up to three months and just needs to be thawed in the fridge overnight before you use it!

What happens if you use milk instead of water in pizza dough? ›

Did you know the protein and sugars in milk actually help strengthen pizza dough while baking and create a beautiful, golden-brown crust? Try it for yourself!

Can pizza dough be overproofed? ›

Yes, it is possible to overproof pizza dough. In severe circ*mstances, overproofed dough can result in a dense and tough dough that produces poor quality pizza. Overproofed pizza dough has the following visual indicators: The size of the pizza dough has more than doubled.

Why punch down pizza dough? ›

By punching the dough down, you can release some of the carbon dioxide and redistribute the yeast, giving you a more even rise and texture.

Why is my pizza dough so sticky? ›

Pizza dough becomes too sticky when it absorbs too much water. Over-absorbed dough can also be easy to overstretch and tear. Solve this problem and salvage the pizza crust by incorporating more flour, a little at a time, into the dough.

What flour is best for pizza? ›

The best flour for making Deep-Dish Pizza Dough is all-purpose flour. In bakeries and pizzerias, Pizza Flour is often used because it is a high-protein flour that produces a light and airy crust. However, all-purpose flour will also work well for Deep-Dish Pizza Dough.

Why did my pizza shrink? ›

In most cases the dough shrinks when it has not had the right leavening time and, as it does not contain enough gluten, the dough returns to its original shape. Gluten is what makes the dough elastic. If not enough gluten has formed, your dough will want to return to its original shape.

Why is my pizza dough rubbery? ›

Simply, because it hasn't proofed. Proofing dough is essential because it's this process that allows the retail pizza dough to become full of air bubbles and rise. And it's this process that allows the dough to be soft and flaky and chewy on the inside after it bakes in the oven.

What to do if bread dough tears? ›

The underdeveloped gluten molecules will cause your dough to flop around and tear easily. While underworked dough can simply be fixed by a little more kneading, severely overworked dough cannot be fixed. Instead, the overworked dough will result in a hard loaf that will likely not be eaten.

What should you do if pastry dough tears as you are rolling it? ›

I recommend:
  1. putting it back in the fridge, if you haven't already. ...
  2. if it's really cracked from being rolled out, smush it all back together into a ball/ circle shape, cover it in plastic wrapping and pound it with your rolling pin so it's flatter. ...
  3. find a cold place to roll out, if you can.
Jan 4, 2021

What causes holes in dough? ›

Excess yeast causes extra air bubbles to form, creating holes in the baked bread. You prepared the recipe correctly. The interaction of the various ingredients and the preparation method used for French bread and sourdough bread are intended to create a bread which has a coarse texture and uneven holes.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Gregorio Kreiger

Last Updated:

Views: 6283

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (77 voted)

Reviews: 92% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Gregorio Kreiger

Birthday: 1994-12-18

Address: 89212 Tracey Ramp, Sunside, MT 08453-0951

Phone: +9014805370218

Job: Customer Designer

Hobby: Mountain biking, Orienteering, Hiking, Sewing, Backpacking, Mushroom hunting, Backpacking

Introduction: My name is Gregorio Kreiger, I am a tender, brainy, enthusiastic, combative, agreeable, gentle, gentle person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.