March 2, 2024 - 3:25pm
Pizza Dough - Any tips on shaping dough?
Having really good results making pizza now. Now I need tips on shaping the dough. I find the dough can be tricky to stretch and the last time I used a rolling pin to help stretch it out. The dough can be quite stiff and I guess I should maybe leave it alone for a while so it relaxes before I go to stretch it but I do not always have the time. And I know it’s better to stretch it by hand but the rolling pin speeds the process up when the dough is stiff like that. Anyhow, if you have any tips it would be most appreciated. Thank you.
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What type of dough are you using? What is your formula and method of mixing and timing of each step to get to your final dough?
You definitely need to let your dough relax longer before shaping but without knowing your details I can’t be sure. Never use a rolling pin unless you’re making a Chicago style bar style pie otherwise you’re ruining your dough structure and it will taste very dense.
The Master
Mr. Demill, I am ready for my closeup.
Very cool video! You might enjoy this one about making Uzbek bread. Around 6 minutes in, you should find the baker using a very similar shaping method- similar in its very different way!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlLv3QSMsr0
What I want to know is how one gets such extensibility out of the dough? My efforts are either too elastic to stretch out or too willing to tear. I've never gotten the combination of both at the same time.
TomP
The secret is high protein flour with strong gluten. At least for NY style. I have seen high temperature true Neopolanan dough made with lower protein flour. That is not my area of expertise.
Am I missing something?
Sorry, here it is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlLv3QSMsr0
I'm also going to edit my post above and add it.
Try more hydration in the dough if it is too hard to stretch. And try a less-strong flour such as Tipo 00 or semolina rimacinata. And try adding protein or fat such as milk powder or EVOO. I do all of the above and the result is a nice, smooth, stretchable pizza dough.
And let the dough relax for a few hours, or overnight in the fridge, before stretching.
Interesting how you can lower the protein and add fat or other inclusions, and get highly stretchable dough, while Will can go all high protein and also get very stretchable pizza shells. So many things in baking bread are like that - there is not one and only one way.
One difference I've noticed - in his videos, Will is working with a much larger hunk of dough than I do. So it's got more weight to pull down and stretch the dough. This might be a factor.
If you want to see some first-class stretching, take a look at this video (it's only 2 minutes long) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY2js49T5l8
Agree that larger dough masses are easier to knead.
It's possible to simply increase hydration, keeping all else constant, and have a more workable dough. Rigidly adhering to recipes/formulas is discouraged because flour and kitchen ambient conditions are highly variable. The variable nature of breadmaking means the method needs to be variable and adapt.
Amen to that!
Thank you everyone for your excellent suggestions!