in need of some help

[johnz]

my problem is with kneading out my dough I do not use a rolling pin and keep getting thick and thin spots some of the thinspots cook thru any advice ?

[tusr18a]

Re: in need of some help

You will find many who will be willing to help. However, you are going to need to provide more info. What is the recipe that you are using? What steps are you taking to develop the needed gluten. Are you kneading the dough for an extended period of time or are you using the folding method to develop the gluten. While I have ripped dough while stretching it, I have never seen a thin spot "cook through". Give us more details and someone will be able to diagnose the issue.

[azpizzanut]

Re: in need of some help

Hello Johnz,

I hope I get this right....... I interpret your question to mean you are having a problem stretching the finished dough to a round shape in preparation for sauce. That is a huge assumption on my part, but if I am correct then the answers are fairly simple. A good example of how to flatten the dough (no rolling pin) is to press it flat with your hands and gently stretch from the middle. If it seems thin in spots then work on the thicker ones. There are several good videos on how to do this, here's one. YouTube - Fast Pizza making at Domino's 1m19s Yes, the man in the video is a pro but the technique he uses is like the one I described above. You can do the same, only slower, and make good dough ready for sauce.

tusr18a is correct about developing gluten in the dough. Well developed dough is stretchy and allows you to toss without tearing. On the other hand, we've made no rise dough successfully for many years and simply press it into a pizza pan. If it tears or gets thin then it is easy to patch. Both methods make great pizza but you want to make sure you are using the right dough recipe for the expected results.

Best of luck,

[jbuildarkansas]

Re: in need of some help

I had the same problem using all purpose flour for the pizza dough. Once I changed to bread flour the dough stretched out much more easily.

[SableSprings]

Re: in need of some help

A friend and I did a test of various flours for pizza. We had the highest protein flour available (AP brand) down through regular all-purpose. Our self-indulgent afternoon of pizza testing concluded that Gold Medal, Better for Bread was the winner. Turned out it has the lowest protein level of the standard U.S. bread flours -at a little over 12%, but that puts it right on target with the French flours used for bread and as noted earlier in this thread, a little higher protein content is a good thing. I've pretty much switched to this flour for my pizza and bread and have been very happy with the results. Pick up a 5# bag at the local grocery and try it out.