The dough under my sauce is uncooked - I have a “gumline”

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.