It’s Alive!   Help! We are having a problem with our dough growing in the cooler. A: There are a number of things that can result in the dough “blowing” in the cooler. The first cause could be excessive amounts of yeast in the dough. M...

Dough Doctor answers your questions on stretching, sticky dough and temperature controls Q:  I’ve heard you mentioned that there was an ingredient that we could use to reduce the snap-back of our dough, making hand stretching a lot easier for us. ...

What causes a gum line on pizza just below the sauce? A: They don’t call it the “dreaded gum line” for nothing. A gum line can be caused by a number of different things, and some of them are inter-related, but the “kicker” is that it won’...

Dough Doctor discusses water temp and pizza peels   Q: Does the temperature of the water matter that much when making pizza dough? A: The temperature of your dough is vitally important because it sets the stage for everything else that will happ...

The Dough Doctor answers question about soft crusts, seafood pizzas and breakfast pies Q: My pizza dough gets too soft to hand toss after only two days in the cooler. What do I do? A: Your dough formula likely contains too much oil. Keep in mind that...

How one young pizza maker uses different techniques to produce top-tier dough It’s hard not to notice that the pizza world has been a male bastion for hundreds of years. Save for Sophia Loren’s memorable performance as a beautiful pizzaiola in th...

How to calculate how much dough you need for ANY size of pizza Want to calculate the amount of dough needed to make any size of pizza? No problem! Just use of our old friend “pi” to calculate the surface area of a circle, and then use that number...

The Dough Doctor dishes on par-baked crust Every once in a while, I receive a question about par-baked pizza crusts. People ask about the process of perfecting it and what applications are best suited to par-baking. I have found that thick-crust pizz...

Competition Dough with Laura Meyer This generation of pizza makers views pizza competitions as a proving ground for innovation and a pathway to recognition. Competition has served to unite pizza makers but make no mistake, consistent winners are fier...

Baking flatbreads and breads in your pizzeria In 1980, I had a job as a short-order cook working the graveyard shift at a roadside diner called The Breakfast Barn in rural North Carolina. Being the young punk that I was, I thought I knew everything a...

The Dough Doctor addresses mixing protocols and reducing agents There seems to be an abundance of questions on how much a pizza dough should be mixed. While there are just too many variables involved to give any hard and fast numbers, the best advice...

How oil, hydration and the mix impact your dough The addition of oil is a very important aspect to achieving consistent dough performance. We all know that oil will float on top of water, right? So, if we add the oil and water together to our dough m...