Baking a pizza is not an easy chore, particularly when beginning out. There are many things that may go wrong, and one of the most prevalent is sticky pizza dough. If you wind up with sticky dough, it’s probably because you used too much water or didn’t knead it long enough.

Hello there, pizza lovers! My name is Shea, and one of my favorite foods is pizza. I cook pizzas on a daily basis, whether it’s a morning pizza with eggs, cheese, bacon, sausage, and other ingredients or a standard Margherita pizza. Essentially, if it’s in the shape of a pizza, I’ll eat anything.

Don’t worry if you’re attempting to make a pizza for the family tonight and find yourself with extremely sticky dough. Every (nearly) issue has an easy answer. (If you activated your yeast with cold water, you’re out of luck, sorry!)

Let’s get that sticky pizza dough fixed as soon as possible.

Why is My Pizza Dough Sticky, and How Do I Fix It?

You want a little amount of sticking while baking pizza. Stuck is nearly often an indication of dehydration. This isn’t always a negative thing since it results in a lighter and airier crust. Yet, if it is hard to deal with, the stickiness must be reduced. This is how.

1. Too Much Hydration – Add More Flour

Water is essential for pizza dough, but too much is harmful. The golden proportion is about 60% hydration, or 60 grams of water per 100 grams of flour. (Hydration should be approximately 65% for lighter and crispier crusts).

If you are too hydrated, you will be much over the golden percentage and will be stuck with sticky dough. What is the answer?

The best thing to do is add extra flour to the dough. But don’t simply throw in a cup of flour and call it a day. Flour should be gradually added in moderate amounts. Consider adding a tablespoon or two at a time.

If you add too much flour at once, you may wind up with thick and dry pizza dough. Believe me, this does not result in a great pizza.

2. Didn’t Knead Long Enough – Keep Kneading

I’m not embarrassed to confess that one of the most inconvenient aspects of cooking pizza is the need to knead it. And if you don’t have a mixer with a hook attachment, your hands will become weary quickly.

But, kneading is required for your pizza dough. Kneading is required for gluten production, which results in the strength and structure of your pizza dough. Without it, you’ll have a flat nightmare that doesn’t look or taste well.

Sadly, most individuals (particularly novice pizza makers) do not knead for long enough. After all, it’s tiring, and most people give up after a few minutes. If you knead by hand, you should knead for at least 10 to 15 minutes (8 to 10 with a mixer).

Hence, if you believe your sticky dough is due to a lack of sufficient kneading, keep continuing.

3. You Used Cold Water to Activate Yeast – Start Over

If you tried to activate your yeast using cold water, I’m sorry to but you need to start again. Warm water is required to activate active yeast (it shouldnt be too hot). Otherwise, the glutathione will just leach off, leaving you with unusable pizza dough.

4. Your Pizza Dough is Too Cold – Let it Come to Room Temperature

If you’ve been storing your pizza dough in the fridge, don’t expect to be able to work with it straight soon. Cold pizza dough will be quite tough to form, and it may also be very sticky.

The simplest method is to just leave your pizza dough on the counter until it reaches room temperature. Then you won’t have to worry about difficult or sticky pizza dough. If you do, try adding a little flour or kneading it for a little longer.

How to Work With Sticky Pizza Dough (5 Tips)

As I previously said, sticky pizza dough isn’t necessarily a negative thing. Stickier dough with a greater moisture percentage produces a lighter, airier, and crisper crust. It’s the ideal crust for the majority of individuals.

Yet, working with sticky pizza dough is difficult. I wouldn’t suggest it for first-timers unless you’re ready for a challenge.

Here are some short strategies for working with sticky pizza dough:

Tip #1: Get a dough scraper. Sticky dough, well, it adheres to everything. A dough scraper can greatly simplify your life.

Tip #2: Use water to wet your hands. One of the most troublesome aspects of dealing with sticky dough is that it adheres to your hands. Cover your hands with water to avoid this predicament and make it simpler to shape the pizza dough.

Tip #3: Drizzle with oil. If your dough is sticky after kneading, coat it with oil before letting the pizza dough rise. This will enable it to simply peel away from the bowl and shape it.

or lubricate your workspace. The last thing you want is for your dough to adhere to your workspace. This may be avoided by dusting the workspace with flour or pouring oil over it. Tip #4: Dust and polish

5th tip: Stretch and fold the pizza dough. This process will be much simpler than other typical pizza-shaping methods.

FAQs

You now understand why pizza dough is sticky and how to correct it or learn to live with it. Do you still have questions? Then continue reading the frequently asked questions below.

Is it OK for pizza dough to be sticky?

A little stickiness is OK. In fact, this may result in a light, airy, and somewhat crunchy crust. If you want this sort of outcome rather than a somewhat thick and fluffy pizza crust, you’ll need sticky pizza dough.

Why is my pizza dough too wet?

When you’ve combined all of the ingredients and blended them together, your pizza dough may seem moist. This is simply due to the flour not having had enough time to absorb all of the moisture. Cover and set aside the pizza dough for approximately 20 minutes, or until it no longer feels moist or slippery.

Why is my pizza dough not stretchy?

If you’re experiencing stickiness, it’s most likely due to insufficient kneading. You either overworked or underworked your dough. You might also be working with excessively dry or too cold dough, which will prevent correct stretching and shaping.

How do I get more air in my pizza dough?

Before you begin shaping your pizza dough, it should be full of air bubbles. That is why it is never suggested to flatten your dough using a rolling pin, since this will force out all of the vital air bubbles.

Final Words

If your pizza dough is sticky, it is most likely due to over-hydration. Repair this by kneading in little amounts of flour. Consider maybe you haven’t kneaded your dough sufficiently. If so, stay at it. Those who used cold water should start again with warm water.

Have you ever had very sticky pizza dough? How did you resolve it? Please leave a comment!