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 is tearing.
The reason why your pizza dough tears too easily is improper gluten development. This can happen due to improper kneading, not letting the dough rest for enough time, using flour with low protein, or improper stretching.
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 making your dough tear when you stretch it, and see how you can solve this problem.
1. Not Kneading the Dough Enough
When you are kneading the dough you are doing more than just mixing the ingredients together, you are also building up the gluten in the dough, which is responsible for the elasticity of the dough.
On average you should knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Anything less than that and the gluten won’t develop properly and as a result, the dough will have little to no elasticity.
But be careful you don’t want to overdo it with the kneading, as this is another problem that can make the dough tear easily.
2. Kneading the Dough Too Much
There is also the possibility that you are kneading the dough too much. While it’s important to create a good and strong gluten network in your dough, over kneading can create a gluten network that is too powerful, and as a result, the dough will lose most of its elasticity and the dough will be very hard to handle and will break more easily.
As I said kneading the dough for 5 minutes should create a perfectly good gluten network.
My recommendation is to simply put a 5-minute timer while you knead the dough But everybody has a different rhythm and technique when it comes to kneading so another thing that you can do is to use the windowpane test.
Windowpane Test
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 Letting the Dough Rest Enough
When the dough is resting (rising) the gluten and starches in the flour absorb the water and expand, this process is what gives them the elasticity needed in order to not break while it’s being stretched.
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 rest for too long can also be a problem. If the dough is left for too long it will start deflating and lose most of its elasticity and become very hard to handle. As for how much is too much it really depends on the dough and the temperature of the room. From personal experience, I can tell you that I once left a dough rest for 18 hours at room temperature during a summer day and it was over-proofed. So 18 hours is usually too much.
There are a few easy ways in which you can tell if your dough has spent enough time resting or not, and even if you left it out for too long. 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.
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, the double zero refers to how fine the flour is. But there is a small problem with this grading system.
Even if a flour is graded 00, it doesn’t mean that each flour with this grade is the same. Different companies 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.
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 Stretching
There are quite a few things that can be done wrong when stretching the dough which can lead to tearing.
One of the most common mistakes is not paying attention to the temperature of the dough when stretching it. The dough has to be at room temperature when it’s being stretched, and the room temperature has to be warm as well.
If the temperature is too low the dough will lose its elasticity and as a result, it will start tearing.
The temperature should be between 65 and 85°F (18 and 24°C), so it’s very easily achievable.
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.
6. Too Much Extra Flour When Stretching
One other reason why your dough tears can be using too much flour. If there is too much flour in the dough, the gluten won’t be able to do its job properly.
Most of the extra flour that causes the problem comes from the stretching of the dough. If you pour half a cup of flour on your work surface, when you stretch the pizza, about half of that flour will be incorporated into the dough. And this flour will significantly reduce the elasticity of your dough.
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.
7. Hydration Level
Another possible problem is that you are not using enough water when making your dough. Without enough water, gluten can’t develop properly.
On average you want to have at least a 60% hydration level. This means that for every 100 grams of flour, you want to have at least 60 grams of water.
If you don’t have at least a 60% hydration level the dough will have a very hard time developing a proper gluten structure, and as a result, the dough will tear up very easily.
So, if your dough recipe has a lower hydration level, you need to make some adjustments to it or look for a new one.
Final Thoughts
So those are the 7 reasons why your pizza dough is tearing when you try to stretch it.
Here is a quick recap of the things that you need to do in order to make sure that your pizza dough will never break again when you stretch it.
- Knead your dough for 5 minutes, if you do it for less the gluten network won’t develop properly, if you do it for longer the network will overdevelop
- Let your dough rest for at least 90 minutes, or 1 day of you keep it in the fridge
- Use a strong flour, which is graded 00 and has least 13% protein
- 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
- Make sure that you have a hydration level of at least 60%, this means that for every 100 grams of flour you are using at least 60 grams of water
- You have 3 tests that you can use to see if the gluten has developed properly, the windowpane test, the poke test, and the float test.