Random question.... pizza
 

I feel like a jackass for asking this. But I ask because SO MANY TIMES i have had it happen.. I made home made pizza last night and I can never, ever, ever get the dough to form a circle like the classic pizza shape. What is wrong? What am I doing wrong??

I know to form it into a ball first. properly flour the counter and dough. But there always ends up to be some side or 2 that has a way longer side.. my pizzas end up looking like the state of texas and I dont know why. I use the push down spread method evenly. And then even the hold the down so gravity pulls it down then turn method.

I just dont get it?

Nothing wrong about a pizza shaped like Texas!

Mine come out oblong too... just part of being home made!
You have to master the twirl in the air method to get real nice round pies. Or get a pizza dish and make deep dish Chicago style pizza

You need one of my cutting boards then:)

Do you throw it in the air while singing an Italian tune in an opera-esque tenor? Key step right there.

Nope! He sings country tunes to the dough.

Hey, at least his don't come out of the oven like mine...like black holes in the space/time continueum... :eek: ;)

I know the purist will choke but do not be afraid to use a rolling pin!! I use the twirl in the air method though it took practice but I finally got it until then I would use a rolling pin still do on occasion. Dough consistency makes a huge difference too.

You cup your hands together and use your fingertips to form the circle. Leave an outside edge about 1/2" wide and don't thin out the center. Use a lot of flour on your work surface. Next dock the crust with your fingertips so the mound in the middle thins out a bit but is still visibly thicker than the outsides (not the edges). Pick it up and slap it to stretch the dough a bit. Let it come to rest on the backs of your wrists. The side of the pizza that started out on top goes on the bottom now. You can stretch the edges a bit more if you want using the backs of your hands or your knuckles. Lay it down on your pizza peel or your pizza screen. Do the sauce and toppings, and off it goes in the oven. If you're feeling really fiesty you can try tossing it in the air.

That's about the best I can do for you short of making a video.

Video with SAMPLES!!

Hmm...internet version of smell-o-vision?

The best thin-crust brick oven pizzas I've had on Wooster St. in New Haven have been far from symmetrical. You could cheat and buy a round pizza pan to form it but why does it bother you?

Give up, good pizza doesn't exist on the west coast.

True, you have to go to Phoenix, AZ. Peter Bianco.

False, you have to be in or around NY City and the guy making it has to be right off the boat from Italy with a wood brick oven.:D

Back in the day, I could roll out, sauce and cheese a 14 inch pizza in around 60 seconds (with little to no slop).
Use a rolling pin. If you have a stainless steel table, skip the flour, unless you have really sticky dough. DO NOT knead the dough again after it has rested.
Flatten it out with your hands into a circle maybe 6-7 inches in dia. Take your rolling pin, hit the dough in the middle and push forward, with a little less pressure towards the edge (or else you get a thin edge).
Repeat, but this time pull the pin toward you.
Pick the dough up, turn 90 degrees, and repeat.
Once it gets to be ...ohh...maybe 10-12 inches, pick it up and stretch it around the edge (maybe 1.5 inches from edge) with the back of your hand (mostly your knuckles).
If I think back, they must be 3-5 inch pulls. Keep doing this, until the dough circle is the right size.

When you sauce, start in the middle with a really big spoon. Spread it around in circular motions. Stop 1.5 inches from edge - once you put the cheese on, you push the cheese to the desired edge width, and the sauce will follow, so there is no need to go right to the edge.

Don't use olive oil in your dough...it will make the dough burn faster. (I know you didn't ask, but I threw it in just in case)

Whoops, got the name wrong, it's Chris Bianco, not Peter. He is an Italian boy from the Bronx . . . he's got the oven too, and he makes the pies, but he also has a James Beard award.

New York Times agreed in 2004

Food & Wine, 2005, 2008 and 2009

2005 book "Slice of Heaven" by Ed Levine picks C. Bianco as the best in the nation.

!!!!!!!!!! AGREED! I love their Pizza! I was waiting for someone to suggest it. There are two pizza places on that street, but I forget their names.

The key to a perfectly round pizza is in fact throwing it up in the air and spinning it. Gravity helps move the dough evenly out in 360 degree direction.

Then again an ooblong pizza is just as fine too ;) Don't be disappointed if it isn't perfect.

I saw a segment on the Food Network and there was also an article in Gourmet magazine (my aunt subscribes ;)) on Bianco's. I guess the point is that it would take a NY Italian to bring good pizza to the West. :D

Frank Pepe's and Sally's are the two big ones on Wooster St. and it seems that the camps are well divided. My wife is from the New Haven area and her family is firmly in the Pepe's camp. How dare I even suggest we try Sally's sometime! :eek:

I will sneak down and order a pie for myself from Sally's someday just to try it.:P

I'm from Chicago, therefore a pizza snob. The only acceptable pizza comes from Gino's East, Home Run Inn, or Lou Malnati's.

Que esta "pizza"? Quesadilla Italiano"? (sorry, I don't know the stroke commands to make those upside down question marks:P)

Real pizza is just a pipe dream down here. People claim there's real pizza here but I haven't found a consistent place.

Looks like you've got to make a couple hour jaunt over to Phoenix. :D
http://www.pizzeriabianco.com/

I've been to the Pepe's in Manchester and it is pretty good. I don't know how it stacks up against the Wooster st. location though, heard great things about both.

Fans of deep dish pan style pizza aren't snobs (self included, Sharpie pen written name on wall at Gino's East) . . . since most of the pizza world views it as "not pizza." ;)

I've had it too and it is pretty good (I'm right in Wethersfield so it's a quick trip to Buckland Hills for me). But it is different somehow. I think it might have something to do with the 3/4 century of "seasoning" the wood in that Wooster St. brick oven has provided. Even The Spot, which is part of Pepe's and located right next door, isn't the same. Good, just different.

My main problem with making pizzas round is that I could fit it to fit on my pizza stone. Probably a 14 inch pizza stone... Then of course the look also. But it sucks when you got a half cirle pizza and then a longer more rectangle or heart shaped other side. I seen videos, tutorials and all that but I just cant get it right.

One word of advice dont ever, ever make a pizza on the counter WITHOUT a pizza peel. You WILL NOT get the pizza off and if you do it will break and you will have problems. Had that problem the other day ahhaha. I dont have a pizza peel so the best alternative is to use a nice strong piece of cardboard. Flour it good and make your pizza on that then slide it from the cardboard onto the hot pizza stone.

I will post pics of the pizza i Mad the other day and then pics of the pizza i make tonight or tomorrow. We will see the difference I hope.

For those that are peel - less, then instead of cardboard, I would suggest a plain cookie sheet and sprinkle cornmeal on it to keep the dough from sticking. Always remember to give it frequent shakes to keep it loose on the pan.

A little update. I made the pizza last night. I ended up using a floured piece of cardboard for the pizza peel. It worked perfect with no problem. I also figured out a way to make a circle-like pizza. I figured just get a nice big pan and form it in the pan then pull it out and finish it. Which worked also. NOw the ONLY problem is that I think I over floured the cardboard (worried abotu not coming off the cardboard) so when I bit into the pizza it was REALLY floury and almost had a layer of semi cooked flour on the bottom. :( I litterally had to wash the bottom of the pizza off. So 1 day i get a good tasting uneven pizza and the 2nd time I make a perfectly shaped nice pizza and the flour bottom messed it up...

If you slap it around the flour will fall on the floor.

Did you try my instructions?

Lose the flour and use corn meal

They're both good. Figures all you kids on the coast can't keep the peace on pizza :cool:

Yea. Im going to go to cornmeal instead of flour. Not only because of this problem but it actually has abetter texture and taste to me.

No kidding! :D