Why Your Pizza Dough Won't Stretch Properly, And How To Fix It

Is there anything more infuriating than a pizza dough that won't stretch properly? Any experienced pizza chef — whether self-taught or professionally trained — would argue not. Next on any pizza chef's list of annoyances is figuring why their dough isn't stretching in the first place, and how they can fix it. That's because, according to Tony Gemignani, the chef and owner of Tony's Pizza Napolatena in San Francisco, the most likely reason why a slab of dough keeps shrinking back whenever you try to stretch it — or "snap back," as he says — can be handed down to one or a combination of three things: the readiness of your dough, the water, or the salt.

Gemignani says that the first reason could be that your dough just isn't ready. "You didn't let it mature long enough, your hydration isn't high enough, your dough is too cold, or sometimes it could have been mixed too long," he explains. "Hard water also plays a role in dough that snaps back. Typically, we like moderately hard to soft water." Lastly, Gemignani also says that you could've over salted your dough; "You would have to use three times more salt than what's recommended for that to happen, though. Usually, your salt should be somewhere around 2% of your flour weight."

When it comes to saving a dough that's snapping back, Gemignani it all depends on the cause. "It could be more water, taking your dough out later when it's more matured, letting your dough warm up to room temperature, or even using bottled water if you're in an area that has very hard water." Just know that, if it is the issue of your water being hard, you may end up having to start from scratch using a filtered or bottled option.

Gemignani also brought up how the type of flour can be an issue, particularly those with high gluten or protein. If you're using either one of these examples and find your dough isn't stretching properly, he says that your solution could be as simple as letting it rest longer. "When it comes to a higher gluten, higher protein flour, you want to make sure that you mature your dough at a minimum of 24 hours."

In any case, you'll have the best luck with your pizza dough if you take active steps to avoid it snapping back. For that, be conscious of both your ingredients and how hard you work the dough. "Over mixed doughs can cause your dough to be tight and cause it to snap back when shaping," Gemignani says. "Try not to over mix your dough in a planetary mixer, such as a KitchenAid at home."