I follow the NYT Roberta’s inspired dough recipe (link below) which I think works the best for me and requires no stand mixer (which I don’t have). I cold-proof the dough for 16-20 hours then I let it come to room temp before using (30 – 45 mins in the proofing container). Overall this dough works really well, it passes the windowpane test and rises nicely in the oven leaving a somewhat chewy but light crust.
[https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough)
My only complaints are that my dough is still pretty sticky when shaping and that it tends to shrink after being stretched. I dust my work surface with semolina flour when shaping but I try to avoid getting it all mixed in with the dough.
Is the stickiness a problem with the dough itself/how it’s made, or how maybe the environment in which I’m letting it come to room temp, or how I’m handling it? I’d greatly appreciate any feedback.
For reference, I think the quality of dough I’m going for is shown in this video where the dough just sits in a circle really nicely and doesn’t look too sticky. Skip to the 1 min mark
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j4x-98IHpk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j4x-98IHpk)
thanks and here are some pics of pizza I did already make, you can see I didn’t quite nail the shape which I’m hoping all of the above can fix
by BilliamLA
5 Comments
The bouncing back when shaping could be caused by under proofing. Perhaps let it sit for longer when you take it from the fridge. Or let it proof for longer before refrigerating.
Dough is gonna be sticky when shaping… always. Use a mix of semolina and flour. Be very generous with it as you shape your pizza. Shape it then get rid of as much excess flour as possible. I put the dough over my knuckles and bounce it kinda, this gets rid of the extra flour and helps stretch. Use my spare hand to wipe the board of flour before putting the pizza back down.
Stickiness: your recipe is 65% hydration, which is a little sticky, but still very workable. You can reduce the water a little bit if you want (I wouldn’t go below 55% at the lowest), or just use more flour on your work surface. Doesn’t need to be semolina either. My dough is 100% pizzeria flour at 60%.
Stretchiness: Does your dough feel cold after 30-40 min out of the fridge? My dough usually takes closer to an hour to be workable if I refrigerate. If you get your dough stretched out and it still wants to shrink back a little just throw a towel over it and give it another 5 minute rest. Sometimes the gluten just needs a break.
definitely sounds like the dough is too cold. I take it out of the fridge at least 4 hours before i proceed to bake it, sometimes even 6 hours (depends on the room temp too, of course) prior
You are describing two different problems: the stickiness and the bounce back while shaping.
For stickiness, do as many others suggest, dust thoroughly with your choice of flour mixture, then shake off excess. I recommend staying with 100% semolina as it won’t burn and leave scortched taste on the bottom.
For the bounce back while shaping, you need much more slack time for the gluten to relax. Obviously, kitchen temps vary, so no one single time out of the fridge will work for everyone. For example I leave my dough in my covered doughbox for 2 hours before shaping. This much time is needed in my (dry) climate and my 78°F kitchen for the dough to fully relax! In 100°F summer, I reduce it to one hour.
So I don’t think 5 minutes will change things, give it an extra 30 minutes of rest before shaping; see if that makes it relaxed and stay put.
If dough is too sticky you need to autolyse for an hour, I have no problem working with 75% hydration dough when I autolyse first. As for extensibility issues you probably need to let dough rise longer at room temp, at least a 3-4 hours maybe more. While there are many factors that go into this, I get my cold fermented dough out at 10am and make it at 6pm. But this is only after 24hr cold ferment, if I do 48hr I usually don’t pull it till 2:00 and make it at 6 but I also use anywhere from 35%-40% poolish made a day before I make the dough. I have read that over kneading and salt can contribute to inability to stretch. Salt should be 2.5-3%, if you are on the high end you could try lowering your salt that will def help. I have noticed adding poolish really helps with extensibility. Good luck 👍🏻