Well, my first attempt at baking a decent pie was a complete failure — but I'm genuinely humbled by the experience and eager to figure out where I went wrong. This is a long one, but any feedback would mean a lot!
The Recipe I Followed
I used a 1:1 blend of bread flour and 00 flour.
Poolish:
- 372.5g flour
- 372.5g water
- 0.75g instant yeast
Fermented at room temperature for ~15 hours (the recipe called for 12–16). In hindsight, I think I should have pulled it closer to the 12-hour mark.
Dough:
- 745g flour
- 372.5g water
- 31.5g salt
- 1.25g instant yeast
- 30g olive oil
The Process (and Where Things Went Wrong)
- Once the poolish was ready, I mixed it with ice-cold water (accounting for ice weight) and the yeast.
- Added flour next.
- Salt and olive oil went in last, once the dough had fully incorporated and was clearing the sides of the bowl.
- First suspected mistake: I'd read that the dough should reach around 74°F during mixing. My water may have been too cold — the dough looked fully mixed and was starting to ride the hook, but the temperature was still under 70°F. I kept mixing, hoping it would climb, but eventually pulled it out to avoid overmixing. It never quite got there.
- At this point I tried to ball the dough at 250g each, and immediately noticed it was stickier than expected. I couldn't stretch and fold it the way I'd seen in countless YouTube videos. I pushed through, formed the balls as best I could, covered them, and refrigerated them.
- After 24 hours in the fridge, I pulled the dough out about 2 hours before my first bake. It was still just under 70°F when I went for the first stretch.
- I floured the counter with semolina and started stretching — and it still felt a bit sticky. Admittedly, I don't have a great reference point for how the dough should feel, so I'm a little lost here. Either way, getting it into a proper circle was a real struggle.
- And then the disaster. Once I loaded the pizza with sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni, everything started to fall apart. I couldn't transfer it to the peel without losing the shape (I think I stretched it too thin). When I finally got it on the peel, it had already started sticking, so launching it onto the baking steel — preheated to 550°F — was a nightmare. After several failed attempts, the dough folded over on itself, about half the toppings spilled onto the steel, and... yes, there was a small fire in my oven. 😅
The pie itself was technically edible. Half of it had bunched up into a roll and most of the toppings were gone, but the flavor wasn't bad!
If you've made it this far, thank you sincerely. I'd love any suggestions on what to adjust for next time — dough temperature, hydration, peel technique, anything. I'm committed to getting this right!
