Baking – How to make pizza crust thin and elastic at the same time

From Encyclopizza

There’s a difference between bubbles formed from under-proofing versus over-proofing. Bubbles from under-proofing tend to be flat but large in diameter. If unpopped, they can blow up an entire pizza. This is the process by which pita or pocket bread is made. Bubbles from over-proofing tend to be high but smaller in diameter. They rise up like little ping-pong balls and eventually form a hole at the top, at which time they stop expanding. They almost always burn. Most pizza bubbling problems are of the under-proofed type.

To resolve a bubbling problem, dough fermentation must be adjusted accordingly. To stop bubbling caused by under-proofed dough, increase the amount of fermentation. To stop bubbling caused by over-proofed dough, reduce the amount of fermentation.

In addition to proper proofing, it has been found that reducing the amount of water in a dough formula can help with reducing bubbling when dealing with the under-proofed type. The reduction in moisture aids in creating the pinpoint holes in the cells walls.

In addition, you want to make sure you properly knead your dough. Some people poke tiny holes in the dough to prevent overly large bubbles. As a final resort you could observe your pizza in the oven and poke bubbles as they form.

Traditional yeast based pizza crust is essentially a yeast raised flat bread. Its structure and chewiness is the result of gluten development from the wheat proteins—the very aspect you are trying to avoid.

The recipe that you have has three basic components:

• Yeast, to develop some of the yeasty flavors
• Starch which will form the matrix of the crust (tapioca, brown rice flour)
• Gums or thickeners to give it enough structure and strength to hold together cohesively (gelatin, xantham gum)

There is nothing in the formula you have provided which should be scraping the roof of your mouth like the infamous breakfast cereal. The closest thing to a suspect is the rice flour, which if it is brown, is milled from the whole rice grain, including the outer hull or husk. That might be what you are finding texturally unpleasant. You might try another brand of rice flour, or using white rice flour in its stead.

It may also be from over baking--if you are only getting the abrasive texture from the edges where it is most cooked, you know that you should simply cook it less.