The dough is an essential part of a pizza, so you can’t make a pizza when you remove it out of the equation. Sure, you can have alternatives like a loaf, slice of bread, and other ingredients. But the memory of the experience would never be the same. That is why it is better to equip ourselves with knowledge of making pizza. In this article, you will learn how to press pizza dough.
Short History of Pizza Dough
Before you learn how to press pizza dough, let’s explore more about it. Most of us know that pizza was born in Naples Italy. But do you know who invented the pizza dough? Yes, the thick or thin crust that you enjoy in pizza parlors, bakeshops, and restaurants. Surprisingly, the pizza dough that we love is invented by an Italian, Gennaro Lombardi when he was 14-years-old during his trade in Naples. It was 1895 when he discovered it. If we are to base it in history, he discovered it after applying the recipe that his grandfather and father taught him. If you thought that the first pizza dough was made out of flour, you’re mistaken. The first pizza dough was made from wheat. That’s because farmers have been growing wheat kernels and seeds using a drill during that time. The fresh and grass-looking wheat was the most abundant ingredient. No wonder it was often used in making breads. But if you are curious how to make and press a dough, keep reading below.
Prepare Your Dough
Learning how to press pizza dough is important. But before you move to that process, you need to prepare your dough! So below are the materials and procedures that you need to follow.
What to do:
- In a bowl, put in the dry ingredients like yeast and sugar.
- Add warm water and mix it until you see foams forming. To make sure that your water isn’t too hot to kill the yeast, use a thermometer. The temperature should at least be 100 to 105-degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add your olive oil, salt, and 2-cups of flour and stir it well.
- mix it well until you achieve that sticky ball of flour
- dust the surface with flour
- scoop out your dough mixture and start kneading
- once you reach the right consistency, put it inside a bowl, cover it with a clean cloth and leave it to rise for 30 minutes.
Grease the Surface
How to press pizza dough? This time you won’t be needing to dust the surface with flour. The first thing to do is make sure the surface where you’ll be pressing the dough is clean and free from obstruction. Next, get your olive oil instead of flour. Three tablespoons of olive oil will do the trick in preventing the dough from sticking. Wipe the flat surface with olive oil and place the dough.
Press! Press! Press!
The next step on how to press out pizza dough is by kneading it. Press it with your palm until you form a flat dough with a shape of a disc. This time you can use a rolling pin in flattening it. It will resist holding its shape. It’s normal, so don’t worry. You should now cover it again with a clean cloth and leave it to rest for 15-minutes.
It’s Time to Stretch!
Now that you know how to flatten dough, you may have observed that it is stable in shape. Congratulations! It’s time to stretch. This time you’ll be using the force of gravity to stretch the dough. Gently lift the dough with your both hands and turn it like a wheel. Be careful not to drop the dough while you’re doing this. Do it repeatedly until you get the thickness that you desire. Then, estimate your dough and cut a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet on the tray and the pizza dough atop. The last step is to pre-bake it in the oven to get a perfect consistency. Know more about pizza doughs.
Conclusion
Pizza dough is an essential ingredient to a pizza recipe. Be it thick, be it thin, it will always complete our pizza experience. Just imagine it being gone in a pizza; your taste buds will find it. Learning how to make your own pizza dough is important so you can maximize your potential in pizza making. And now that you knew how to press pizza dough, nothing can stop you from making one anytime you crave for it. From a simple mixture of ingredients, mix, twist, press, and knead, you can have your own dough and have it refrigerated for future need. Learning this will also help you experiment with different ingredients like using different flour types or adding herbs and spices to make it more delicious. All you need to do now is follow the instructions we have provided, and you’re ready to make pizza anytime and anywhere! Just be confident and enjoy the process!