Pizza dough not rising

I'm 4 hours in to what's supposed to be a six hour rise for the same day straight pizza dough from "Flour water salt yeast". Looks like it's barely risen so far. I halfed the recipe and used water at correct temp and just tested my yeast and it's very alive. Has anyone experienced this with this recipe? It calls for 1/2 tsp instant yeast for 1000 g flour which seems very little to me, especially considering that he uses no sugar and just over 1 tbsp of salt...his bread recipe uses same amount of flour but double the yeast I have it in a very warm rorom now but if that doesn't If there any way to save it, and anyone know what could've gone wrong?

Posted by: CanadaDan
October 28, 2015

9865 views
12 Comments

12 Comments

cookbookchick October 30, 2015

Sam1148, I just read about this in Kenji Lopez-Alt's new book. He tested pizza dough made with water containing various quantities of minerals. Though I'm a huge fan of NYC's wonderful water, it apparently has little to do with delicious pizza crust. Here is his conclusion: "On the other hand, we can now pretty definitively say that the small differences that arise naturally in the course of making a good pizza by hand far outweigh any difference the mineral content of the water could make. That is to say, great New York pizza is most certainly not dependent on using New York City tap water, which is good news for everyone else in the world."

Sam1148 November 1, 2015

I agree. I think it has more to do with their wonderful old brick ovens and regional flour type.

I haven't tried adding baking soda to a pizza dough water, but it suppose to help the dough brown up and crust up better in the lower temps of a home oven.

Sam1148 October 29, 2015

You might want to take a look at your water. Often tap water can have chemicals that don't work and play well with yeasts.
Leaving tap water in the fridge a few days in a open container will let those out gas.

Smaug October 30, 2015

Chlorine will evaporate, won't do much for minerals.

Sam1148 October 30, 2015

I think you want the minerals for pizza dough.
I remember recipes to recreate NYC water mineral content. http://blog.khymos.org/2012/01/04/mineral-waters-a-la-carte/

cookbookchick October 29, 2015

It's funny and interesting how those of us who enjoy making pizza all seem to be on a quest for the ideal dough. I'm glad you've found yours. My latest is from Roberta's cookbook. I've made it both ways, with my own sourdough starter and with commercial yeast. Now I'm anxious to try the one you like. I have the book.

CanadaDan October 29, 2015

in case anyone cares it ended up rising perfectly and i have to say after trying at least a half dozen pizza dough recipes over the years i've finally found the one i love. the dough is easy to stretch and the crust comes out perfectly chewy, just how i like it. i'm done searching for the best pizza crust.

Susan W. October 30, 2015

That's awesome Daniel. It's fun to find your favorite recipes of favorite foods.

hardlikearmour October 28, 2015

I've made that dough, at least a couple of times and it worked fine. I don't recall the particulars about the dough rising. I'd just have patience, and give it the rest of the rising time. The yeast is theoretically multiplying at an approximate exponential rate so it makes sense that it will rise more rapidly toward the end. Even if it doesn't rise as much as you'd like, it should still make a decent pizza dough.

CanadaDan October 29, 2015

hardlikearmour, thanks it ended up coming alive in the last hour or so (though i gave it an extra hour in case)...still not as proofed as i thought it would be but i think it'll be okay. it's in thd second proofing stage in my fridge now, hopefully it'll be ok. did you find the dough wetter than other recipes? i had a hard time forming the balls since they were so sticky even though i followed the recipe exactly...

hardlikearmour October 29, 2015

Yes, the dough is pretty sticky. If it's too sticky for me I just sprinkle on flour as I form the dough ball. In the end the dough is extremely easy to stretch into shape, so I like it overall. I do prefer the overnight straight and a less hydrated version of the poolish (25-30 less grams water). I've had good luck for the most part with the levain as well -- one major failure with a levain that probably wasn't developed enough.

Nancy October 28, 2015

if your yeast was active, and the water the right temp, I can't account for it.
As a veteran of many early bread-making errors (and brick-like non-loaves) I sympathize.
What I do in these cases now (if you have the time and want to fuss with it) is make a new proved yeast foam (a little sugar, warm water, a little time), knead it back into your dough, adjusting as needed by adding more flour. If it revives, proceed on a new time schedule determined by the look of the dough, not the clock.
If you don't want to fuss, give up and make a fresh batch another day.

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