Regarding tough pizza crust, here is the recipe I use and it gives me a
lovely crispy/soft crust:
Oven 465F with pizza stone, preheated 1 hour
2 cups warm water (we have very hard water, I think the minerals add flavor)
1 TB salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
4 TB olive oil
5 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I use a local brand, Hudson
Cream) Err on the side of more if you're measuring by weight as I use
the scoop & sweep method.
1 TB instant yeast (Fleischmann's bread machine)
I use a stand mixer and dough hook. Add ingredients in the above
order. Let the onion powder rehydrate for a minute or two before
adding the rest of the ingredients. Mix until well combined, adding
water or flour to make a smooth, marginally sticky dough (you can
touch it briefly and it won't stick, but if you leave your finger on
it, it will). Mix on low for another 7-8 minutes. Dough will be
soft and will stick to the bottom of the mixer bowl.
To rise, I use a large plastic canister sprayed with olive oil. Once
you put the dough in, spray the top with oil. Cover (I use the
canister lid) and let rise for approximately 1 hour. Turn dough out
onto a lightly oiled surface and portion as desired. I make 3
approx. 10-14 inch pizzas from this recipe, it all depends on how
thick you want the crust.
Place dough ball on a floured sheet of parchment and roll/stretch to
desired size. Leave a small rim at the edge of the crust. Prick
with a fork to remove air bubbles. Top as desired and bake at 465F
for about 10-13 minutes, depending on your toppings. I use a pizza
peel for transferring.
I think a more hydrated dough and lower baking temp might solve the
tough crust problem, as you're using your regular bread recipe and
you don't normally bake bread at 500F, I'm guessing. Anyway, hope this helps!
Best, Yvonne