How to Spin Pizza Dough Like a Pro!
Throwing pizza dough up into the air looks impressive, but did you know it also serves a purpose? It’s an excellent way to create and shape your crust by stretching out the dough.
Do you recall those pizza places of your past, where the cooks in the backroom spun and tossed dough into the air? They appeared to make it look so simple that maybe even enticed you to try it yourself! How masterfully they caught what was once a flat disc of dough with their bare hands.
If you’re eager to learn the art of pizza-making, look no further. Our experienced team is here to guide you through everything from kneading dough to spinning it like a pro! Allow us to lead the way as we embark on this captivating journey of transforming your kitchen counters into authentic pizzerias. Let’s get started!
Step 1: The Preparation Process
Begin by sprinkling your workspace with flour, then remove all jewelry from your hands and put on a comfy apron. Have a bowl of extra flour nearby for convenience.
Once you have the dough ready, make sure it reaches room temperature so that it can be stretched more easily when tossing; dust the ball of dough with some additional flour as well.
Prior to beginning the stretching process, knead your pizza dough thoroughly until perfected – if using store-bought dough which contains yeast, know that this is perfect for tossing!
Step 2: Stretch the Dough
You’ve done a fantastic job making your dough – congratulations! This is the most difficult part of pizza-making, and you should be proud. Now it’s time to stretch it out – start by draping the dough over your knuckles, keeping them bent inward and facing down to avoid creating any holes. Stretch it with just your hands until it reaches 8 inches in diameter. Then get ready for tossing!
Step 3: Let the Spinning Process Begin!
To achieve an impressive pizza toss, push up and rotate your hands in a simultaneous circular motion. Pushing is straightforward; however, the tough part lies with rotating it – this may require some training.
Position your throwing hand in an upward-facing palm and place the other one into a tight fist. Your throwing hand will provide a boost of energy to rotate the disk, while your supporting hand firmly grabs it from behind. Make sure to use whichever is most comfortable for you: if you’re right-handed, that should be the thumb up!
Step 4: Catch the Dough
Once you have the dough spinning in mid-air, don’t forget to catch it! You may be tempted to just stand there and marvel at your pizza flying around, but remember what goes up must come down. To ensure a successful retrieval of your delicious creation, use the backs of your hands instead of trying to grasp it with outstretched fingers – otherwise, you will end up piercing through the dough. Catching a flat surface like this gives you more stability than attempting with palms or digits alone.
Step 5: Repeat
For ideal results, toss the dough until it is approximately 12 inches in width. To ensure you don’t damage or overstretch your dough during this process, make sure to keep your fingers together rather than spread apart when tossing.
Our Best Piece of Advice
Our top advice when teaching someone how to spin pizza dough? Practice! Making extra pizza dough for practice is incredibly affordable. And if that’s not enough, you can even buy the fake pizza dough or use a damp dishtowel to hone your tossing technique. Before long, you’ll be slinging pizzas in the air with effortless expertise – giving yourself the confidence needed to host amazing family meals and events.
Final Thoughts
Although there are alternative methods for spreading the dough, such as rolling it with your hands, this often leads to tears or holes. To get the best pizza crust possible, we suggest investing in learning how to spin the dough like a pro! Not only is this process more reliable and satisfying but you’ll have a blast doing it too.
We hope that this guide has been beneficial in assisting you to successfully spin your pizzas. If it doesn’t go as planned on the first try, don’t give up! It will require some time and a few missteps before you can finally nail it. Once perfected though, spinning pizza dough will be second nature for sure!
