Chef tossing pizza dough.

Why It’s A Mistake To Use A Rolling Pin On Pizza Dough

NEWS

By MATTHEW LEE

A person cupping a dough ball with their hands.
Achieving a great homemade pizza crust requires some serious elbow grease, with its dough taking up to 12 minutes of hand-kneading to reach the perfect level of firmness.
Hands flattening pizza dough.
Once the dough ball is formed, transforming it into the classic disc-shaped dough base is the next step. While you may be tempted to use a rolling pin, it might not be a good idea.
Uncooked pizza crust on a pizza stone.
The dough’s gluten structure acts as a trap for the carbon dioxide gas released by the yeast living within the dough, causing it to expand by filling it with tiny air pockets.
Woman using a rolling pin to flatten dough.
These air bubbles are vital for creating a tender, chewy pizza crust, and using a rolling pin on it will burst the air bubbles, deflating all the hard work you put into kneading.
A chef stretching pizza dough.
To stretch the dough without destroying those precious bubbles inside and ruining your pizza crust, gently tug and stretch one edge of the dough ball toward the corner.