The dough under my sauce is uncooked - I have a “gumline”Updated 7 months ago

If you were to wipe the sauce off a pizza after it's been cooked, it would

leave a gummy-like texture on the surface. This is normal and nothing to be

concerned about.

If you have a fairly thick-looking line of uncooked dough, then this is called

a "gumline".

**This is caused by a number of things:**

**1\. Cold sauce.** Avoid using cold pizza base sauce, especially from the

fridge. Allow the sauce to come back up to room temperature before adding to

the pizza

**2. ****Excess water**. This can come from cheese and toppings. Use low-

moisture mozzarella, and avoid using moisture-rich toppings. Pre-cook toppings

where possible.

**3\. Stone temperature**. If the stone isn't hot enough, the temperature

isn't going to radiate through the base of the pizza to cook it. For

Neapolitan-style pizza, the stone should be between 400 and 450°C (750 to

850°F)

**4\. Pizza base thickness**.** ** If the base is too thick, you will need to

bake it for a longer period to ensure it's cooked through. Aim for a thickness

of 3mm for Neapolitan-style pizza.

**Pro Tip** : Brush a thin layer of olive oil over the pizza base after it's

stretched out. Oil and water/moisture don't mix, so the oil will act as a

blocker of sorts to prevent water from soaking into the dough.