Why Your Pizza Dough Has Black-Blue Specks, and What to Do Next [Causes & Solutions]
Finding black or blue specks in your pizza dough may be alarming, but the cause is often a harmless reaction with ingredients or equipment, not contamination. This page details the exact causes and helps you avoid them in future batches
Note: This is a different problem from dough with black-brown specks – the distinction is in the color of the specks (black-blue vs. brown).
This page is part of PizzaBlab’s Pizza Making Troubleshooting Guide. It provides a practical overview of the most common causes for this problem, each with a brief explanation, actionable solution, and links to related articles for deeper understanding.
The sections are listed from most to least likely, meaning the first cause typically represents the most common reason for this issue, with likelihood decreasing as you move down the list. That said, several causes can often overlap or share similar likelihoods – it’s ultimately up to your process to identify which factors are at play.
Cause 1: Yeast Was Not Evenly Mixed in the Dough
Explanation:
Yeast that was not evenly mixed in the dough can die during fermentation due to lack of food (see ‘Additional Notes / Information’ section below), releasing ammonia into the dough and resulting in blue-hued speckles.
Solution:
Ensure the yeast is evenly mixed into the dough, especially when kneading by hand.
Read More:
Additional Notes / Information
These speckles form when yeast dies in localized areas due to uneven distribution in the dough. Because yeast is immobile, it remains where it was initially mixed. In spots where it is concentrated, it consumes the available food more quickly; once the food supply is depleted, some of the yeast cells die, releasing ammonia into the dough. This results in the appearance of black-blue speckles on the surface.
While this does not pose a health risk and the dough is completely safe to bake and eat, it can affect fermentation quality and overall dough condition, as some yeast has not contributed to fermentation.
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