Popular Mechanics (South Africa)
CREATION OF PIZZA BASES
Pizza bases can be formed in a variety of ways, with each method imparting its own unique characteristics to the dough, and in turn the final crust.
BY HAND: If you’re eating a good, handmade pizza, chances are the base was hand-formed – it’s the most gentle method, resulting in no two bases being alike. The dough isn’t handled nearly as much as in commercial industries, so very little gas is lost, which results in less shrinkage of the base. Although most people opt for a rolling pin when making pizzas, there’s a functional reason for hand-tossing the dough. The spinning and tossing action is actually the best way of extending the dough without tearing it. The airflow also dries the surface of the dough just enough, helping to form a thin skin. This develops the perfect balance of moisture in the dough and helps to create a crisp crust.
PRESSING: There are two common pizza-base-forming methods used in the industry – pressing and sheeting.
With pressing, a preformed individual dough ball is taken from the bulk dough and pressed into a flat, thin circular shape by either cold- or heated plates. Dough-ball lines operate in a similar fashion to conventional bread lines. First, the individual pieces are divided by weight, then rounded and proofed. A light coating of vegetable oil is then applied to the dough, which is stamped between two presses. The pressed pizza dough is baked immediately or is allowed a short proofing period before baking. The advantage of the press system is that there is no wastage and the crust is formed from a single dough ball. Many feel this method creates betterquality crusts, as no scrap dough is incorporated into the base and longer fermentation doughs can be used.
SHEET- AND DIE CUTTING: Sheeting creates a long strip of pizza dough from which individual bases are cut using circular cutting dies. The dough is first extruded on to a belt, about 13 mm thick, then further sheeted down to 4–6 mm for thin crusts and 6–10 mm for thick crusts. As the dough is rolled, it’s reworked, which can cause the gas cells in the dough to burst, toughening the dough and resulting in unwanted snap-back. This dough shrinkage can be prevented by adding dough-relaxing additives such as L-cysteine, glutathione or deodorised vegetable powder (garlic and onion). This method is fast and can result in almost any size and shape of pizza.
Scrap dough from the process is continuously collected and either fed back through the sheeting rollers or added to future batches. Bases that are formed through the sheeting method are allowed to proof further for thicker-style crusts or, as an alternative, baked immediately for thin and crispy versions.