Why not rolling Pin? Pizza Discuss Why not rolling Pin? in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; Ok Sorry if this is covered but I searched and never saw WHY. Why should you not use a rolling ...

[mrpbjnance]

Ok Sorry if this is covered but I searched and never saw WHY.

Why should you not use a rolling pin to roll out the dough.. other than using your ands and stretching the dough out how else do you get it out?

I want a thinner crispier crust...

I do get a store made dough from a samll itaian market...not sure if they use the caputo flower or not...

[texassourdough]

I would say main reason for doing them by hand is that you tend to get a puffier, more interesting crust. I personally can't get the dough as thin with a rolling pin as I can by hand. Rolling can toughen the dough and tends to remove bubbles - making it heavy instead of light. OTOH, the pizza police aren't likely to come arrest you and there are plenty of people who do roll so...try it. There is a good chance you will still want to finish stretching by hand. And to complicate things, different flours and hydrations can influence which solution you may want to use.

Good Luck!
Jay

[dmun]

The rolling pin has it's place in my kitchen, but not in pizza. I've found that rolling out dough for pita bread gives you a thin, uniform, floured surface, and the pita breads uniformly "balloon" to form a pocket every time, which only happens sporadically when they are hand stretched.

It all depends on the effect that you want. Every industrial pizza outfit has a "sheeter" which is a pair of mechanical rolling pins, once through the thicker spaced rollers to elongate the ball, and again through the thinner spaced ones to get it thin and round. If you wanted to create a simulacrum of commercial pizza, and could get your WFO cool enough to do it, then the rolling pin would be the way to go. Most of us are trying to get a more artisanal effect, with slightly irregular shapes, and lots of oven spring from the bubbles in the dough ball. It's also the best effect with the high heat of the wood oven.

[BrianShaw]

Let me be the resident heretic:

I use a rolling pin when I desire a thin crispy crust. It works... it really does, but only if one wants a thin and crispy crust. After rolling I let the crust rest for 20 or 30 minutes to rise just a bit so it isn't cracker-like. (I use a "NY style" dough formula for this type of pizza.)

Now let me recover my dignity (and hopefully the respect of some of our colleagues):

I more often shape by hand to get big puffy edges on the crust.

(I use a high-hydration Neopolitain style dough for this type of pizza).

[texassourdough]

Awww, Brian!

It isn't heretical to use a rolling pin. IMO it is more that it gives a different effect. And arguably works better with different dough vs. hand shaping, but...like bread the answer lies in what you want! And that's what you said, and I agree!
Jay

[muppety1]

Is there a 'Perfect Pizza dough Mix '? I made 3 different ones last weekend -- my first firing--- and the one with the egg in was far superior.
No rolling pin was harmed in the creation of any Pizza.

[Frances]

Originally Posted by muppety1

Is there a 'Perfect Pizza dough Mix '?

Sure, its the one you like best.

Alternately you could use the one given on the forum, which just happens to be what works best for me.

[BrianShaw]

Originally Posted by muppety1

No rolling pin was harmed in the creation of any Pizza.

Of equal importance: was any pizza harmed as a result of the rolling pin?

[stidik]

You can use a rolling pin. I know that many people say, don't. My advise is to handle the dough as little as possible. My best pizza experience was in Trastevere, Rome. 30 pizzas were rolled out by hand, stacked, dressed, put into their WFO, then 30 cooked pizzas were taken out of the oven two minutes later. When the dough was rolled out, it was with 4 to 6 strokes of the rolling pin. My advise is to do what ever technique manipulates the dough the least. In my hands the more I manipulate the dough, the tougher the pizza.

[Mitchamus]

the easiest way to answer this question is the Pepsi challenge.

same dough, same toppings, one hand formed, one rolling pin.

see which you prefer.

For me, they are like chalk and cheese.

If you like pizza bases that can also be used as a frisbee - use a rolling pin... and while we're going crazy... a docker for good measure.