Stretching Pizza Dough By Hand

Then roll the dough up with your fingers and stretch out the middle of the dough. Learning to stretch pizza dough by hand is a fun new skill to learn.

Pizza Hut Pan Crust Vs Hand Stretched

I use three fingers on each hand but if it feels better use four.

Stretching pizza dough by hand. Do this until the disc is the size and thickness you prefer rotating to keep it circular. Firstly ensure your dough is up to room temperature and nice and puffy. Repeat this several times and you will quickly notice the dough stretching out each time.

This is a move that you might recognize from your local pizza shop where the pro pizza makers quickly bat the dough back and forth between their hands to stretch it. Pounding is using your fingers to press the dough into a flat disc preparing it to be stretched. That way if you need to dust more flour down you can pinch it from the scoop instead of sticking your hands back in the flour container.

After trying out many different techniques this is the one that we find simplest to pick up and also super quick if you are making a lot of bases. This prevents the dough from sticking to the board. The most authentic and in my view easiest way is called the slap technique.

Before you start stretching pizza dough by hand add about half the flour to a large cutting board and spread it around the board so there is a very light layer of flour on the surface. Watch Annette do it on this video double quick time. Then use the flat side of your fingers to slowly work the air from the middle of the dough out into the outer crust but never touch the outer crust itself.

Start ½ to ¼ in from the edge of the dough ball to form the crust of the pizza. One hand will lightly hold the dough while the other hand does the stretching. When rolling thin pizza you can try a rolling pin and the material you choose will have an effect with wood being the preferred option.

Lay your hands palms down on top of the dough straddling the little hump of dough in the center use your fingertips to dig into the edge of the dough and start stretching the edge in a gentle arc type motion. With one hand non-dominant hand pin the nearest end of the dough to the counter. When you hand stretch pizza dough you can make things easier on yourself by dipping a half-cup scoop into your flour container and leaving it on the counter while youre working.

Pass the dough from hand to hand like you were feeding the wheel on your first driving lesson allowing gravity to stretch the dough for you. How to do the croissant technique. This technique can be particularly good to encourage less relaxed dough to begin stretching.

To stretch your pizza dough by hand start by gently patting down the middle of the dough to flatten it slightly. With one hand hold the pizza down to the counter. For more pizza related video techniques recipes including for the dough us.

With the heel of the opposite hand press down on the far side of the dough stretching it away from you. Lightly coat the pizza dough in flour. In this video learn how to open up or stretch home made pizza dough by hand.

Once a nice round shape has been established and the crust has been formed we can move onto stretching the pizza dough. Hand-stretching your dough is not only enjoyable but will also produce the best results including more air bubbles for a better texture and a less chewy or hard base.

How To Hand Stretch Pizza Dough A Visual Guide The Practical Kitchen