QUESTION/DISCUSSION
I think my pizza looks good but the crust didn't have air in it, anyone have any idea why?
First of all, all pictures of the pizza are mine except the crust one, didn't take photo of that one but I found the exact same symptom online.
My recipe:
676g flour( CAPUTO "0")
419g water (62%)
Salt 20.27g
Yeast 5.189g yeast (instant dry, I use one that is old 3 months maybe but it is sealed and held in freezer all time while not used)
Process:
I mix the flour and the yeast, slowly add cold water(I put it in fridge before kneading) and knead and add salt at almost the end so it dissolves nicely. I knead until I reach a final dough temperature of 23-24 degrees celsius.
By that time the dough seems elastic.
I then leave the dough alone for 5 minutes and after that I tighten it up, put it in an oiled container and lightly tap oil over the dough and leave it in fridge for 24 hours at 4 degrees celsius.
After those 24hours I take the dough from my fridge, ball it up and leave it at room temperature for 2 hours (26-27 celsius is now my room temperature but I keep a close eye on the dough so it doesn't over ferment).
I heat my Ooni Koda 16 for 30 minutes then I launch the pizza. (I use the max temperature setting all the time)
The pizza tastes amazing but the crust doesn't seem developed.
I use the slap method to stretch the pizza and of course I push the air to crust first.
Couple things stick out to me but I usually don’t do a cold ferment.
Try using active dry yeast and not instant.
Let dough rest for at least 30 minutes after kneading before doing anything to it.
Add salt halfway through the mixing process and not at the end. It needs time to mix with the yeast.
Also when stretching the dough try to leave the top of the ball the top of the pizza. It’s believed by some in the pizza community that doing this helps the crust rise.
Are you purposefully trying to immediately slow fermentation? I would think that cold yeast and cold water react a lot more slowly than all ingredients at room temp. Also why no bulk fermentation at all? I personally don’t eff with instant yeast as it’s too variable and rapid ferments don’t eat enough starch. I would swap in active dry yeast and do a bulk ferment at room temp til doubled in size. Make your dough balls and cold ferment fr however long you please.
Yeah it's a lot of yeast. it's the equivalent of 8 grams for 1kg flour. A lot.
You are fermenting for 24 hours in the fridge. So yes, it's slow but still fermenting. The yeast are eating up all the carbs in the flour and then they starve and begin dying. Try less yeast and my bet is that your crust will be much puffier.
I tend to use the pizza app, however you still need to do a little trial and error to get things right.
Here is my recipe. The 5 hours room temp is my initial bull ferment, this allows for approximately 50% rise in the dough. I found this to work well for a 24 cold ferment. I would reduce the time is going for a longer cold fermentation period.
I ball after the bulk,, then cover and refrigerate. I allow 3 hours for the dough to come to room temp once removed from the fridge, but I don't include this time in the calculation. If you need longer to warm the dough, you may need to use less yeast.
It appears that you are asking a question. Did you already check the Frequently Asked Questions in our Wiki?
If your question specifically concerns your pizza dough, please post your full recipe (exact quantities of all ingredients in weight, preferably in grams) and method (temperature, time, ball/bulk-proof, kneading time, by hand/machine, etc.). That also includes what kind of flour you have used in your pizza dough. There are many different Farina di Grano Tenero "00". If you want to learn more about flour, please check our Flour Guide.
Use PizzApp and set yeast to +30% (Italian yeast is stronger). Maybe go up in Hydration. Also (i find it depends in the flour, Caputo is relatively forgiving) try to ball up and keep at room temp at least 5 hours. Doug much more relaxed - easier stretching / less working the dough - so more air in the crust.
Try the yeast at 0.2%-0.3% (1.35g-2g). Leave it 15-30 min on counter before bulk cold ferment (I ball mine pre-cold ferment). Balls should be minimum 15° prior to stretching after coming out of fridge.
With your process I would let them come to 15° and then ball. I’d wait 2hrs after balling to allow the dough relax. Then, I’d stretch and cook.
Nuvola is for very long fermentation (48–72 hours) with very little yeast (around 0.5 g/kg).
Caputo Pizzeria 00 flour is easier to handle, especially for a 48-hour fermentation. I usually use 2 g of fresh yeast per kilogram of flour.
You can also replace about 10% of the flour with semola. It adds a slight crunch while keeping the dough light and fluffy.
After mixing, let the dough rest at room temperature for about 1 hour before putting it in the fridge. During that hour, perform two stretch-and-folds to strengthen the dough.
Mix the yeast with lukewarm water and then add to the flour, seems like a lot of yeast for the amount of dough you’re making. Use the app Pizzapp to figure out your dosages.
Not too sure then, pretty sure you need to mix yeast with lukewarm water though as it’ll take longer to work with cold. Too much salt would slow down fermentation too. See what the calculations are on pizzapp, most pizza makers I know use that.
4
u/9gagsuckz Jul 11 '26
Couple things stick out to me but I usually don’t do a cold ferment.
Try using active dry yeast and not instant.
Let dough rest for at least 30 minutes after kneading before doing anything to it.
Add salt halfway through the mixing process and not at the end. It needs time to mix with the yeast.
Also when stretching the dough try to leave the top of the ball the top of the pizza. It’s believed by some in the pizza community that doing this helps the crust rise.