You have to dock (punch lots of little holes) the dough. Pizza shops use a docker which is a roller with pins sticking out. I've still got one floating around in the workshop, somewhere.

Yep, you do have to dock it. Since I've never found another use for an acutal docker (and don't like single use tools), I just poke it all over with a fork before putting on the toppings.

I never dock my crust.....the secret is getting it into a 500 degree oven as soon as possible after rolling it out.
Sometimes I even par bake my crust before I put on the toppings.
Linda C

I agree with Linda...I never dock...I preheat the oven to 500 for about an hour...and I get the pizza in as quickly as I can after I form it and top it...and I never have bubbles.
Teresa

I'm so glad someone else has had that happen. So, you roll the dough out and immediately stick it in the oven? I'll try that.

Sally

Maureen: The others were lucky not getting any bubbles.
Use a fork and fork the bubbles.
You should do this before you put the Pizza in the oven.
When you cook in a pan, this is a must, or you get air under the dough and it poofs !!!!
Lou

And Lou would, know, he's the Pizza Man!

I don't get bubbles either. I do as Teresa does and also bake it at 550.

I bake at 500 and get bubbles. But my girls (4 & 7) fight over who gets the biggest bubble and make up stories about who or what lives in them. I suspect that bad things would happen to me if I docked...

Things live in the bubbles?!? That's something I never considered.

Thanks for all the responses. I've never had to dock the dough before, so I wondered what I might be doing differently that I'm not even aware of. How do those of you who dock manage to keep the toppings from leaking out underneath the bottom of the crust? Especially with a very thin crust, which is what we prefer?

All those misspent years of my childhood hanging around Long Island pizza parlors, I don't think I ever saw the pizza makers poke holes in their dough. I'm willing to try it, though, if it'll end my inflation problem.

Could the recipe make a difference?

Sally

The dough mostly expands back into place after docking so the remaining hole is really small. Once you put the pizza in the oven, the crust expansion closes off the holes even more so there shouldn't be any problem with leakage of toppings.

Is it possible that something has changed so there is more time between rolling the dough and getting it in the oven?

Is this the same oven you have always used? Maybe this one isn't quite as hot?

Ours usually doesn't puff, but if it does to a problematic extent, we open the oven for a sec and poke the bubbles with a fork.

I thought of something just after I posted. With pita bread, the secret to getting them to puff and form the pocket is having the oven really hot (500 degrees) so clearly a hot oven alone isn't what keeps pizza dough from puffing - puffing or not puffing must partly be due to the composition of the dough - whether it forms a crust quickly that holds the air in or one that lets the air out. Maybe there is something that has changed in your dough - are you using a different flour?

I notice that pita bread recipes have a higher ratio of water to flour so how wet the dough is may influence puffing. For other bread recipes, a wetter dough produces more and bigger air bubbles. Possibly try using a bit more flour in the pizza dough.

Everything is getting so tech. Just Fork It !!!!!

I'm tired , It's the Hindenburg !!!!!!
LOU

That could be it. My pizza dough is fairly soft. And when I lived in places where a low-hanging ceiling fan prohibited me tossing it, I still don't roll it - I stretch it out by hand.

I worked in several pizza places in college, and we had to dock or it was Hindenburg time. Then again, we made our dough a shift ahead of time (day crew made for night shift, night crew made for day shift). Any or all of that could make a differnce.

Maureen - the holes aren't big. And I usually bake a thin crust at 500. If I'm making it with a lot of sauce or toppings, I parbake it for a couple minutes before putting on the toppings. That's for when people want a LOT of toppings, though. For just us and our 2 or 3 items, I don't bother.

Pizza pixies live in the bubbles! :)

Pizza pixies! Are they anything like mice in the cupboard? Do we need to exterminate them or trap and release?

Thank you all for posting. I made pizza last night and for the first time used a 500 degree setting. What a difference it makes over a 400 degree oven.
Jo

Jo and beanthere: You are right about the 500 deg. setting,
For a thin crust but for a thick dough I use a 425 Degree
setting so the Dough will cook all the way through.
We usually Par baked the thicker dough with the sauce,
for about 5 minutes and have them stacked up in a rack
ready for topping and Cheese.
LOU

Lou, do you ever do the first step you just mentioned and then freeze them for another time? Would that work?

Sally

Now that I think of it, I have done a couple of things differently on recent batches. I've been using partly white whole wheat flour (not all that different, since I usually use part regular whole wheat). But I've also been letting the dough rest for a while after the initial shaping, so I can stretch it out even thinner. That must be it.

I got the blimp while parbaking a really thin one, so I guess I need to cut out the parbaking or try docking them first. Or just call them pizza birthday balloons and start a new business!

I just had to chime in to say I think this is perhaps the best thread title I've seen in a long time! Love it! I have a terrible time getting pizza to puff, so I only wish I had your hindenburg problems!

Emily

Lou, You're right, and I should have been more clear. We tend to do only thin crust, so I forget about the distinction on the thick. :) What I REALLY need to get in the habit of doing is making several crusts at a time so I can freeze some. I get a craving for pizza and talk myself out of it because of the time it takes to make the dough...and there are no places that deliver here. (And only one place in town that has decent pizza!)

Sheshebop - My understanding is that Pizza Pixies suck all the calories out of the cheese and so catch-and-release is preferable. If you try to exterminate them, they retaliate by putting all those calories they hoarded into any food your may have marked "low calorie".

Sally: You can par bake and freeze. I always baked the
dough just til I saw tan specks starting on the crust,
or when the dough is just firm enough.
Then I put them on a rack to cool fast and into the freezer.
Don't stack them too high until they are frozen.
If you overcook a little you can brush some water on the dough,
to stop it from cooking too much, while baking.

Maureen you are supposed to let the dough rest,so you can continue.
Will you try forking it. For crying out loud !!!!!

Beanthere: You can do this too. I got it down to where the
ParBaked was coming out better than the fresh dough.
It's just a litle touchy with the thinner dough but
if it is at least 1/4 inch thick on the bottom ,your OK.
I have baked Pizza every which way but now I bake in pans,
for me it's easier and a little cleaner.
I guess I'm an outcast.
LOU

LOL, I thought you had read my thread about my homemade pizza from Friday - the Hindenberg is what I felt like after I ate two pieces! LOL SUPERTHICK crust!

I poked mine and didn't get bubbles, but last night we ordered pizza (I know, duh) and guess what - theirs had bubbles in the middle. So they must not poke. :P

beanthere,
Thank you sooooo much for that Pizza Pixie information. Since I lost 40 lbs. and am attempting to lose 25 more, I do not need the calories those sneaky little pixies would try to fool me with. I will be absolutely sure to use a 500 degree oven, OR dock my crust. I refuse to let them abort my weight loss mission!
Sherry, who is now on the lookout for pixies everywhere in her kitchen