Assuming that you ever saw someone making a pizza out of a dough, you probably noticed that usually they push with quite some energy the dough down and use the other part of their energy to enlarge the disc .
Even after all this stress applied to the dough, most pizza are really soft, airy and fluffy inside: why is that and what makes this happen ?
I would like to replicate this with my own recipe because this behaviour is really useful, especially if I can just let the dough rise, make the disc just before putting it in the oven and get a nice soft result .
The only thing I can't replicate for sure is an oven capable of expressing 1,100° F and more, mine is about 400° F tops; based on my experiments something like a teaspoon of honey or fructose in general helps to get some more fluff, but not too much elasticity or structure .
Best Answer
Yeast action is only one factor in getting a rise when baking. Yeast metabolizes sugars and produces CO2 bubbles which puff up your dough, and also help with gluten development to make your dough stretchy. However, when you bake your dough much of the lift you get is from the expansion of water turning into steam - this is what makes pizza dough puff up a bit when baked and gives you that texture.
Water is also important in gluten development when your dough is proofing, without enough water you won't get an elastic dough with good crumb. My thinking is that your dough is too dry, so add more water to your dough. Stick to the amounts of flour and water in a trusted recipe and knead with oil instead of flour. After kneading your dough should be fairly loose and just a bit sticky, and you should be able to stretch it quite a bit without breaking.
Regarding oven temperatures you don't need the fires of hades to make a good pizza - the most important things for a good pizza is a good base, sauce, and quality ingredients. Crank your oven up as high as it will go and use a pizza stone (make sure to heat it up for at least 30 minutes) and you'll get a good result.