Looking for my crust to support the weight of heavy toppings

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

I’m doing 18" pies, cut into 8 slices and sold by the slice/whole pie. A couple of the pie options have heavy toppings and usually (97% of the time) the weight of the toppings causes the slice to droop so as to make it messy. No such problem with the plain slice or 1-2 topping slices. And once in a blue moon, the pie comes out so that the heavy-topped slices have little droop - but I don’t know why that is.

I’ve played around with sauce (I use 10oz), tried to keep the center of the pie “light” but no success on a consistent basis.

My dough formula is: 12.5-13% hi gluten flour; 57% hydration; 2% sugar; 3% salt; 2% olive oil and 0.5% yeast.

Other than the droop, I’m very happy with the pie, so I’m loathe to make any major changes. Also, we’re averaging 100 pies a day, 7 days a week, so there’s not a lot of time to experiment.

If push comes to shove, I’ll keep the dough as is. Unless anyone has a suggestion for “droop relief”

Thanks!

2

The easy answer here is to cut down on the amount of toppings when getting into 3-4+ on a pizza. Why is it drooping? If it because of weight or because of water cooking out of them and soaking the crust?

3

have you tried baking the pizzas for a longer time at a lower temp? This could help to get a more finished bake and make the pizza crisper.

4

Cutting down on toppings is not an option - it’s drooping because of the weight, there’s no water soaking the crust.

This is not a fool’s errand; every once in a great while, the same heavy-topped slice has almost no droop.

So I know it’s possible to do, I just haven’t nailed how yet. But I will.

5

I’m going to try this - I have a triple-deck oven, so I’ll lower the temp on one deck. Thanks!

6

Sounds like it may be a simple answer after a bit of tinkering on your end. I am sure you will find a solution. Good luck!