7 Reasons Why Your Pizza Dough Is Not Stretching (+How to Fix)

This is one of the most common problems people have when making pizza at home. And there are quite a few reasons why this is happening, but luckily most of them can be solved very easily. So let’s start by seeing why your pizza doesn’t stretch properly.

The most common reason why pizza dough is not stretching is improper gluten development, which can be caused by: improper kneading, using the wrong flour type, bad hydration level, incorrect stretching, and not giving the dough enough time to rest.

So the main reason is improper gluten development, and this can be caused by a lot of thighs. But despite the slightly intimidating name, this can be easily solved by doing basic things like kneading the dough for the right amount of time or using the right quantity of water. So let’s take a look at the 7 things that are keeping your dough from stretching properly.

1. Excessive Kneading 

The most important thing when it comes to the stretchiness of the dough is gluten development, and the most important moment for the development of the gluten is when you knead the dough.

If you knead the dough too much, it will become very hard and lose some of its elasticity, due to gluten overdevelopment.

The gluten network inside the dough is what gives it its elasticity, if the network is underdeveloped, the dough will have little to no elasticity, and it will easily tear when you try to stretch it. And if the gluten has developed too much, it will become harder.

2. Insufficient Kneading

The reverse is also true.

If you don’t knead the dough enough, it will tear when you try to stretch it, this is due to the lack of gluten development.

So, you need to get the kneading just right. But as you can imagine everybody has a different kneading style, some do it very gently, while others apply a lot of pressure, some do it fast, and some like to take their time, so it’s hard to say how long you should knead the dough. This is why I would recommend you do the windowpane test to see if you’ve kneaded your dough enough.

This is a very simple test that will tell you if you’ve kneaded your dough enough..

Take a small piece of dough and gently start stretching it out, and see if you can obtain a slightly transparent layer in the middle. If you can then you’ve kneaded the dough perfectly.

If the dough breaks too easily it means that you have to knead it a little more.

If the dough is too hard to stretch, and when you finally manage to stretch it breaks, it means that you’ve over kneaded and you need to start all over.

And here is a video showing how you can do this test:

3. Not Enough Rest Time

Another very important part of the development of gluten is the resting time. During this time the gluten and starches that come from the flour will further absorb the water and increase their elasticity.

Another very important thing that happens during this phase is the rising of the dough. This happens due to the yeast that is feeding on the sugar from the flour and creating C02.

On average a pizza dough should be left to rest for at least 90 minutes, but depending on the content of the dough, this time might increase, but 90 minutes is the minimum in most cases. If you were to let the dough rest in the fridge, you should let it rest for about 1 day. Due to the low temperature, the dough will rise slower and it will need more time to fully develop.

But be careful, leaving your dough resting for too long can also be a problem. If the dough is left for too long it will start defaulting and lose most of its elasticity and become very hard to handle.

As for how much is too much, it can depend on a lot of factors, like room temperature, humidity, hydration level, type of flour used, etc. So it’s really hard to say an exact time, but instead of using time, you could do one of those two simple tests and see if your dough is ready. The first one is a simple poke test.

Poke Test

This is extremely simple, you just have to slightly poke your dough and see how it reacts.

• If the dough bounces back quickly it still needs some more time to rest.
• If the dough slowly gets back to its original shape, then it rested for long enough, and it’s time to use it to make some pizza.
• If the dough doesn’t get back to its original shape, it means that it spent too much time resting and you should make a new one.

Float Test

Fill a glass with water and take a small piece of your dough and gently put it in the glass. If the dough floats, it means that it has risen for enough time and you can use it for baking. If the dough floats, it means that you either have to let it rise for a little longer or that it has risen for too long.

The float test is probably the simplest and most exact test, but unfortunately, it can’t tell you what is wrong with your dough.

4. Improper Flour

Another important part that drastically influences the elasticity of the dough is the flour that you use.

In the US you will most likely see the US grading system, but it’s not uncommon to see flour that is marketed towards pizza makers labeled as 00 instead of pastry flour. And keep in mind that if a recipe tells you to use 00 flour, you can use Pastry Flour, as it’s the same thing.

When making pizza dough you want to use strong flour, with a lot of protein. On average the best flour for making pizza is 00 flour. But grabbing the first flour that is marked as 00 is definitely not recommended.

A lot of different flours are graded 00, and almost none of them are identical. Different brands have different areas from where they get their wheat, and as a result, the content of the flour will differ. So not all of them will have the same amount of protein, which is just as important as how fine the flour is.

One of the best flours that is also readily available is Caputo, which can be found in most stores, and you can also order it on Amazon.

If you can’t get Caputo you should look for another flour that is graded 00 and that has a protein content close to 13%. If you find a flour with an even higher protein content it should work as well.

5. Improper Hydration Level

Another possible problem is that you are not using enough water when making your dough, or you are using too much water.

The hydration level is measured in percentages. A hydration level of 50% means that for every 100 grams of flour you are using 50 grams of water. If you want a hydration level of 87%, you will have to use 87 grams of water for every 100 grams of flour.

On average you want to have a hydration level between 60% and 65%. So you need to add between 60 and 65 grams of water for every 100 grams of flour.

While it is possible to work with hydration levels that are higher or lower than this. My advice is to stick to the basics until you get a good grip on them, and only then to start experimenting.

6. Improper Stretching

There are quite a few things that can be done wrong when stretching the dough which can lead to stretching.

One common mistake is not paying attention to the temperature of the dough when stretching it. If the dough is cold, and try to stretch it, it will most likely tear. When the dough is cold it loses some of its elasticity. So if you keep your dough in the fridge let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before stretching it.

Another common mistake is trying to stretch the middle of the dough. When stretching the dough you should stretch the sides, not the middle.

The middle will get stretched when the sides are being stretched due to the elasticity of the dough. If you were to stretch the middle of the dough, and then move to the sides, the middle will get overstretched and tear up.

Don’t use a rolling pin. While it’s definitely easier to stretch the dough using one, it will also remove all the C02 that was built up while rising, and you don’t want that.

If you were using a rolling pin to stretch the dough, you should try to do it by hand at least once and you will notice a great improvement in taste and texture. After that, you will never go back to using a rolling pin.

7. Excessive Flour When Stretching

One other reason why your dough isn’t stretching properly is using too much flour when stretching the dough.

This extra flour won’t have enough time to properly hydrate, so it will reduce the elasticity, and it will also affect the hydration level.

Solving this problem is simple, use less flour when stretching the dough. But I know that this is easier said than done in some cases. If using less flour will make your dough stick to the work surface you should get a silicone mat. I’ve been using this one that I got from Amazon, for a few months and I can tell you that it definitely works, now I only use about a quarter of the flour that I used to need. I haven’t tested any other silicone mat, but I think that most of them will work the same.

Another thing that you could do is to put some oil on your hands before stretching the dough, this will keep the dough from sticking to your hands.

Final Thoughts

So those are the 7 reasons why your pizza dough is not stretching properly.

Here is a quick recap of the things that we discussed:

• Knead your dough until it passes the windowpane test, this is the best way to tell if you’ve kneaded your dough correctly.
• Let your dough rest for at least 90 minutes, or 1 day of you keep it in the fridge
• Use the poke and float tests, to see if your dough has risen enough
• Use 00 flour with 13% protein, this is the best flour type for pizza
• A hydration level between 60% and 65%, is what you should be aiming for, this means that for every 100 grams of flour you want to have between 60 and 65 grams of water.
• Stretch the sides of your dough, the middle will get stretched by itself, if you stretch from the middle it will become very thin and tear
• Use as little flour as possible when stretching, or even better get a silicone mat.
• Put some oil on your hands if the dough is too sticky