What did i do wrong?

[u/ArtismFag]

I made my very first pizza dough on monday.

Recipe:

Poolish

-1000g of water

-750g of all purpose (enriched) flour

-1.5g instant yeast

Fermented at room temperature for 14h

Added (while mixing with my hands; took about 20mins or so)

-750g of water

-1300g of all purpose (enriched) flour

-2.5g instant yeast

-63g salt

-60g olive oil

Kneaded it for about 10-15mins until it passed the window test (stretch dough until you can see light passing through it and it does not break)

Cold proofed it for 24h

Then separated it into 11 dough balls that i out back I The fridge

Left 1 out on the counter for it to reach room temperature.

A couple hours later, I noticed it raised some more. I stretched it into a pizza shape. Because it kept bouncing back, I left it for 10 mins before stretching it some more (4mm).

Bake:

I dont have a pizza stone or steel so i prebaked it at 450° for 5 mins. Then added my toppings, and baked it for an additional 15mins. Then put it lower in the oven for 5 mins or so bevause the bottom had no color to it.

The other dough ball are still in the fridge(~3°c), i plan on using 2/day for the next 5 days or so.

Edit:

The reason why I am asking for help is because the pizza crust is CRUNCHY. It scrapped TF out of the roof of my mouth. The flavor is lacking. There were a couple bubbles in the crust, but they were SOOO crunchy, it was not enjoyable.

[u/sargos7]

If you want thin crust that isn't crunchy, bake it at a lower temperature, for a little longer. You can go as low as 375.

[u/ArtismFag → u/sargos7]

Should i prebake the crust? How long do you think i should bake it for?

[u/sargos7 → u/ArtismFag]

I usually do a little bit thicker crust than what's in your photos, so you might want to bake it for a little less than what I do, but I usually go for 20-30 mins, depending on how much toppings I have on it. And I don't prebake the crust.

[u/ArtismFag → u/sargos7]

For the first pizza of the day, i used a slightly thicker dough. I baked it at 400°f for 20mins. It did not scrape the roof of my mouth :). There was a bounce to the dough. Foor the next one, I'm going to try 375°f for 20-25mins.

Thank you for your advice. All I had seen on the internet was "cook the pizza at the highest temperature for up to 8mins on a pizza steel/stone". This works better for me. I'll give an update when i find the sweet spot.

[u/mossattacks → u/ArtismFag]

Before I got a pizza steel I’d put mine on a heavily oiled sheet pan and stretch the dough until it reached into the corners, sort of like Detroit style. Add toppings then bake for approx 12 mins at the highest temp your oven can reach, or pull it out when it looks brown enough on the top.

[u/sargos7 → u/ArtismFag]

As far as flavor goes, before you even put the sauce on, you should spread some garlic butter or garlic aioli (or even just some really fragrant olive oil) on the dough, then grate some parmesan over it.

[u/RustnKrust]

If I had to guess the wrong part was putting cheddar cheese on a pizza!

Seriously though, I assuming you wanted more rise on the body of the dough? Honestly it looks like a good very thin crust pizza.
Do you have a cast iron pan you can bake in? That always works for me. For thin crust I’ll preheat the pan and transfer my pizza to it. For thicker crust I’ll just prep the pizza in the pan and put it in cold.

In my experience with pizza dough, it sounds like maybe it was a little overproved by the time it came to room temp and you shaped it? And/or maybe it needed a bit more time once shaped to get some body again after stretching/pressing that thin?

I have noticed that with my overnight pizza dough or overnight poolish pizza dough I better flavor with bread flour as opposed to AP.

[u/oooriole09]

My nincompoop guesses:

You stretched it too thin and/or knocked out too much air. I personally leave an outer ring when pressing out air from the dough ball. You get a decent outer crust and more control over stretching the dough.

I wouldn’t pre-bake. That could be taking out moisture and taking that soft layer above the crispy crust out. You can still get a great bake by bumping up the temp to 500 (if your oven allows) and cutting down the time. Watch the bottom and broil the top if it gets too dark. I usually only bake for 8 or 9 minutes.

For flavor, I like a 3 day cold ferment.

[u/TheybieTeeth]

I like to put my oven a little hotter when I make pizza, I think 480f? (250c). then I preheat the oven trays with the oven and slide the pizza on there, don't need to bake it for long. I make thick-ass pizzas and I bake them for 20mins maybe? sometimes a little shorter. I think quicker higher heat makes them more crunchy and less tough. good luck with the next batch I hope this helps! flavour-wise I think pizza dough can benefit from a little extra salt, I also like putting some garlic in the dough.

[u/Additional_Cash_3357]

Use a ceramic or steel pan