Pizza Stretching Vs Rolling: See How They Differ Side By Side | Crust Kingdom (2024)

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Stretching pizza dough can be a daunting task for a beginner, and one that most are unwilling to try. But there is the trusty rolling pin that you can fall back on – it still works great, just a different style.

Rolling pizza dough will push the pockets of gas out of the dough that were formed in the rise. These pockets create a thicker dough with larger bubbles in the crust. So a rolled dough will be a thinner, denser crust.

Stretching vs rolling creates a different style of pizza so it’s down to preference. A rolled dough makes a “thin crust” style. Stretched dough is more suited to Neapolitan and New York style pizza.

Check out the images of my test to see the results. I’ve also included a helpful video to watch the best practices in stretching and rolling.

Testing Dough: Rolling vs Stretching

For this test, I made a batch of dough that could make two medium-sized dough balls using my own dough recipe. The idea was to stretch one ball out and roll the other, and see the results when cooked.

For the dough that I rolled, I used a classic rolling pin with handles and didn’t roll completely to the edge to “pinch” out the air. This kept a slightly thicker crust rather than making a cracker thin style.

I baked both in a preheated oven using a pizza steel.

My best tip for making pizza in a home oven is to use a pizza “steel”. It adds intense heat from below for amazing crusts – I havethis size steel from Amazonwhich is lower priced than other brands but works perfectly. Steel conducts heat better than stone, they don’t shatter and are easier to clean.

Here are the test results.

So as you can see, to get that large open crust you do really need to stretch the pizza by hand. By rolling you can get a thinner crust or a super thin crust if you really want to roll it down thin.

Rolling Vs Stretching Explained

This is a really good video that shows the difference between the two techniques to prepare pizza – and also how to do it correctly.

The video is a little old, but Tony Gemignani is a renowned pizza maker with some serious skills.

The Effect Of Rolling Dough

When we mix the dough, the yeast starts fermenting by feeding on the flour and creating CO2 gas as an output. We let the dough rise, and this occurs from the CO2 building up gas pockets.

If we are to roll the dough, we press the dough with a flat object and this pushes the gas forward in front of the roller. It breaks up the larger bubbles into smaller ones and pushes most of the gas out of the dough completely.

Because the rolling pin gives nowhere to hide, the dough is squeezed of all gas.

When you push with your fingertips and palms, you retain some gas because the dimples are made in irregular places in the dough, pushing gas to other pockets.

Is it OK to roll pizza dough? Yes, of course. Some purists will not agree, but it is perfectly acceptable for creating certain thinner pizzas, especially for the beginner.

Docking Dough For An Even Thinner Crust

Docking is when we use a docking tool to make holes in the dough after it has been rolled out. This breaks up and prevents any pockets of gas from forming large bubbles when the dough is cooked.

It makes a really flat and thin pizza. A special dough docker tool can be used, or you can use the points of a fork to dot holes over the dough before adding toppings and baking.

How To Roll Dough And Still Maintain A Crust

Don’t push over the end of the dough and “pinch” the dough to the table – instead still leave a 3/4 inch gap in which the crust can form.

The rolling pin actually pushes gas from the center to the outside so the crust will hold the bubbles. If you push all the way then you will push the gas out completely.

You can also avoid deflating the dough by rolling the pizza until it is 2/3rds of the diameter and then finishing the rest off by hand.

You have got past the tricky part of keeping the dough uniformly thin and now can do the last bit without squeezing all the air out.

Styles Of Pizza Suited For Rolling

As rolling creates less rise, this technique is best suited to pizzas that might be described as “thin crust”. This is a pretty broad term, and will typically depend on how thin you roll the dough.

One of the thinnest doughs is the cracker-thin pizza. This is rolled thin and docked to give a super thin crust style that is cut into squares.

The Effect Of Stretching Dough

Stretching pizza has a few phases. You start by pressing the dough ball down into a disk with your fingertips, from the center to the outside. This pushes the pockets of gas toward the crust.

Once the base is flattened enough to put your palms inside, you can use two hands to stretch the dough apart and turn as you go. Watch the video in this post to see some exact instructions.

This stretching technique allows the pizza to retain some of the gas bubbles in the dough at random places.

When the dough is cooked, these bubbles will rise more and you end up with a large and pronounced crust. It is also irregular and “artisan” which adds to the effect of this style of pizza.

Tossing Pizza Dough

Tossing the dough isn’t a necessary step. It is widely seen as a restaurant trick rather than the best way to stretch pizza dough quickly and consistently.

It looks good, but you will do just fine stretching by hand on a worktop. A useful tip instead is to pick the dough up over two upturned fists and allow gravity to stretch the dough down gently.

Styles Of Pizza Suited For Stretching

Stretching pizza allows us to make pizza styles that have a big crust such as a Neapolitan or New York. Pretty much any other pizza from around the world that has some airiness to it will need to be stretched by hand.

When Your Pizza Dough Isn’t Stretching Easily

Dough that doesn’t stretch is because the gluten strength is too elastic.

Gluten is formed when the flour mixes with water, and this is tightened when we knead. This elasticity and tightness degrade over time as the dough rests.

To help make a more stretchy dough, try kneading a little less (only a few minutes). Then allow a long rest once you have shaped it into a ball.

The gluten tightens every time you work it, so it is “reset” when it is balled back up again. I recommend a few hours in the ball as a minimum before ready.

Make sure the dough is also at room temperature – it might require up to two hours once out of the fridge to warm up.

Use A Good Dough Recipe

A good dough for stretching needs to have a few key aspects in the ingredients and preparation. It needs well-suited flour – either bread flour or all-purpose.

This can be in the form of 00 bread flour or standard strong bread flour. Ensure that it has enough protein which will form the gluten for stretchiness. Cake flour or plain flour is too weak and will tear.

The dough needs time to ferment. This improves the texture of the dough, the flavor, and it allows the gluten to relax. Usually, two phases are best – a first rest as a bulk dough, then an individual proofing phase once shaped in a ball.

Check out my pizza dough recipe for more details.