Many people think that kneading pizza dough is just for show. However, this couldn’t be any farther from the truth! The process of kneading pizza dough is essential to obtaining a mouth-watering pizza from top to bottom.
Yes, you could have the best ingredients, but if you don’t get the dough right, you’re limiting yourself, your customers, and your guests to subpar pizza.
So, before you place your pizza into a fancy Ooni Fyra Pizza Oven, make sure it’s kneaded to perfection. Follow this short guide to learn how you can take your pizza making skills from 0 to 100!
Every memorable dish starts with the ingredients. You want to be sure you use fresh ingredients when preparing the dough: You’ll need:
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, let’s get down to the method of preparing your dough.
Pro Tip: Are you having trouble warming up the water to 38°C? Simply measure 200 grams of cold water into your mixing bowl and pour another 100 grams of boiling water on top. This will get it at the right temperature!
When you knead dough you are changing up the molecular structure of the gluten within it. This will help give it strength and structure. Wheat flour contains gluten made up of proteins.
When the above ingredients are combined, these proteins are arranged and knotted in no special order. As you continue to knead the dough, these proteins line up and form chains of amino acids. The matrix formed by this chain of aminos is what allows the dough to rise.
Consequently, you’ll enjoy a soft, chewy, and savoury crust!
Now that we’ve gotten through the preparation process it’s time to learn all about how to knead dough. This is often the part where non-bread makers get nervous. However, there is nothing to be nervous about! Kneading your dough is easy, as long as you understand how.
Think about the movies you’ve seen where a pizza chef is kneading dough. The process involves pressing down on the dough with the palm of your hand and then rolling the dough back and forth. You want to use this same method. The entire process will take 10-12 minutes, and we promise it’s worth it!
Here are some extra tips you’ll want to know when kneading your dough:
Keeping these tricks and tips in mind will ensure a successful pizza making experience!
If you’ve made it to the end of this article, congratulations! You now know how to knead pizza dough to perfection. Once it’s ready, roll it out, add the ingredients, and pop it into your oven!