The Best Temperature For Stretching Pizza Dough

Whether it is made from scratch or premade and defrosted, stretching your dough by hand is an integral step when preparing pizza at home. Barring some exceptions, doing so ensures that your crust gets evenly distributed across the pan while creating a thin and crispy base and a thicker crust to spread your sauce and toppings across. This balance can only be achieved by hand — and at the proper temperature. For an expert's opinion on what temperatures are best for stretching pizza dough, Tasting Table spoke with Tony Gemignani, a 13-time World Pizza Champion and master pizzaiolo, who offers some insight on the matter.

"It's easier to stretch cold dough if you want to practice, but a rule of thumb is to never put cold dough in a hot oven," he notes. This is because the gluten proteins in colder pizza dough are firmer and tighter. However, the catch with shaping your dough right out of the fridge is that it won't spread as thin and will usually come out far denser. In some cases, stretching and baking a cold dough can cause bubbles to form. Generally, you will see better results if you wait for your dough to warm up first.

"You want to try and get your dough up to room temperature," Gemignani recommends. "65 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit is fine for dough, or just keep it out at room temperature, covered for about an hour before stretching and cooking." There are many benefits to warming your dough before stretching; just be sure to keep in mind the tell-tale sign your pizza dough is ready to stretch.

Getting your pizza dough to the best stretching temperature requires little to no effort. You, literally, just have to let it rest. As Gemignani notes, the best way is to leave it out at room temperature for a while. This allows the gluten proteins to relax, transforming them from their tight and firm state to one that is easily malleable. This way, you can stretch the dough as far and as thinly as you like. You will want to aim for at least 30 minutes, but, as Gemignani advises, it's best to aim for an hour or so to allow your dough its full beauty sleep.

Aside from time, another crucial element to letting dough rest is tucking it in. Just like master pizzaiolo Gemignani points out, you will want to cover your dough while it's relaxing on your countertop. Doing so keeps the dough from drying out and forms a skin or crust. Without a cloth on top, the crust could potentially hinder the dough's ability to rise once you place it in the oven. This is especially important if you're using a foolproof sourdough starter with your dough, as it also helps maintain a consistent temperature.

Once your dough is properly rested and you know it's ready to stretch, apply this Roman-style technique for perfectly stretched pizza dough. You will find that it forms much more effortlessly than it would if it were cold, allowing you to create the optimal crust and shape.