From dough ball to pizza flat...how?

[erinanddan]

When I make a pizzal, I pick up the ball, stretch it a bit from underneath then turn it in my hands, with the 'wheel' hanging down, working in a circle around the pie as it stretch, working it outwards. When I see pictures like this one,


Im inclined to think that they were made with a roller, rather then all in the air. I am wondering, how do you do it? How do you go about turning that ball into a nearly uniformly thick pizza, credit card thick?

mine look good IMO, but they are always a different shape, and the thickness isn't consistently even, though close, not perfect. Plus, i need to be able to do it fast... thanks, Dan

[ptone]

I'm finding this exact thing a challenge as well. I'm finding it hard to find the right amount of rest for dough balls - they tend to keep rising and then stick together. If I handle the dough ball too much - it develops too much spring and want to stay more like a puck, if the ball is not well formed when I pull it up, I'm more likely to end up with thick spots along the edge, and thin spots in the middle.

I really think getting the dough just right is the most 'artful' part of pizza making - and I feel like I'm way at the base of the learning curve.

-Preston

[Tscarborough]

Individually balled, then pressed out. The dough never leaves the counter until it goes on the peel.

Pizza Anarchy

There are a hundred or so almost perfectly round ones.

[Derkp]

Tom,

Hello.

Is your cold ferment process similar to the one on your Anarchy site? just put in the fridge?

Thanks,

Derk

[Wiley]

About 40 seconds into this otherwise crappy video shows the same method by which I shape my pizza skins into a flat even thickness pizza. Not hard to learn, notice he stays away from the middle of the skin.
YouTube - ‪New York Restaurant - Pizza Making‬‏

Hope this helps,
Wiley

[Tscarborough]

Yes, just put it in the fridge. I do not have one ironclad method, but that is my normal way. I do not have a mixer (nor do I want one), so I let time develop the gluten instead physical labor.

[Tman1]

Well, when I need a refresher, I go to this video..

YouTube - ‪Drunken Dough‬‏

[Tman1]

oh, and there is plenty to earn in Ts's pizza making thread.

[lwood]

There are many ways to "open the dough". Practice is the best teacher. Lots of videos to watch on youtube. I personally like to allow the dough ball to proof after it comes out of the oven for about two hours. Then I open the dough.