Why Your Pizza Crust Bakes Up Flat, and How to Fix It [Causes & Solutions]
A pizza crust that bakes up flat lacks the desired airy, puffy structure of a properly baked pizza, resulting in a dense and disappointing texture. This page details the exact causes and provides actionable solutions for achieving a well-risen crust
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: The Dough Was Under-Fermented When Baked
Explanation:
In an under-fermented dough, insufficient CO₂ is produced by the yeast during fermentation, leading to a dense dough structure with limited expansion. As a result, the dough fails to rise properly during baking (limited oven spring), which leads to a dense, flat crust.
Solution:
Use the dough at its optimal fermentation point and avoid baking dough that hasn’t fermented enough (see: The Dough Ferments Too Slowly or Not at All (Under-Fermentation)).
Read More:
- Oven Spring Explained
- The Fermentation and Maturation Processes in Pizza Dough
- How to Tell if the Dough is Ready for Baking: 4 Dough Fermentation Tests
Cause 2: The Dough Was Severely Over-Fermented When Baked
Explanation:
During fermentation, gluten is gradually being broken down by protease enzymes, weakening the dough’s structure. In an over-fermented dough, too much gluten has been degraded, reducing the dough’s ability to trap gases produced by yeast. As a result, the weakened gluten network cannot support expansion during baking, leading to a crust that remains flat and lacks volume.
Solution:
Avoid reaching over-fermentation (see: The Dough Ferments Too Quickly or Is Over-Fermented).
Read More:
- Gluten in Pizza Dough: Its Role, Importance, and Impact on Pizza
- Protease Enzymes in Flour: What They Are and How They Affect Pizza Dough
- The Maturation Process in Pizza Dough – Breakdown of Proteins (Gluten) in the Dough
- How to Tell if the Dough is Ready for Baking: 4 Dough Fermentation Tests
Cause 3: Flour Used Is Too Weak
Explanation:
Flour that is too weak (such as cake or pastry flour) forms a weak gluten structure that cannot effectively trap gases during fermentation, resulting in a flat crust.
This also applies to wholemeal flours and other wheat varieties (like spelt or rye), whether wholemeal or white. These wheats/flours lack sufficient gluten-forming proteins to build a strong, elastic dough suitable for pizza, and wholemeal flours contain bran and germ that interfere with gluten development. While some may have higher total protein content, their gluten quality is poor, resulting in a weaker dough that’s less ideal for pizza making (see articles below).
Solution:
Use stronger (white) flour with higher protein content or one that produces a more elastic dough.
Read More:
- Gluten Quantity and Quality in Flour (“Strong” vs “Weak” Flour)
- Wholemeal, Ancient, and Other Grain Varieties as Pizza Flour
- Characteristics of Italian Flours
Additional Notes / Information
A flat crust that doesn’t rise during baking typically results from either under- or over-fermented dough:
- Under-Fermented Dough: If the dough feels resistant, overly elastic, and tends to shrink back while stretching, it was under-fermented.
- Over-Fermented Dough: If the dough is too stretchy, tears easily, or feels weak/sticky and difficult to handle, it was over-fermented.
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