Stretching the dough on the peel

[caltheide]

After watching some videos and a local pizzeria boasting on stretching/pulling the dough on the peel, I was just wondering why this is done with Neapolitan/New York pizzas.  It's like they get the pizza on the peel then purposely pull the dough over the sides of the peel.  Thanks, Cindy

[Chicago Bob]

It is to compensate for the inherent snap back of the dough when it hits the super duper hot stone...allows the pie to maintain a beautiful pronounced cornicione.
 
Bob

[Bill/SFNM]

It is to compensate for the inherent snap back of the dough when it hits the super duper hot stone

I must surely be doing it wrong. Never ever have I observed "snap back" when loading a pizza into the WFO.

[Chicago Bob]

Yeah...I sorta splained that wrong. 

[TXCraig1]

After watching some videos and a local pizzeria boasting on stretching/pulling the dough on the peel, I was just wondering why this is done with Neapolitan/New York pizzas.  It's like they get the pizza on the peel then purposely pull the dough over the sides of the peel.  Thanks, Cindy

Cindy, I do it for two reasons:

1) if I open up the dough all the way initially, I have to be very careful not to pull the center too thin. By opening it up most of the way, topping, loading onto the peel, the final stretch will expand the pie only from the cornice - leaving the center thickness unchanged.

2) when I stretch the dough on the peel, I form a slight oval that is wider (perpendicular to the handle of the peel) than it is long. Launching the pie tends to stretch it lengthwise a bit, and I end up with a nice round pie.

My pies come out of the oven at almost the exact same dimensions as they are when the hit the deck.

Craig

[mkevenson]

Craig, (got it right this time), thanks for mentioning the oval stretch. I had heard that before and forgot. Perhaps it will stick now.
 
Mark

[wheelman]

for me it's part of dragging the pie onto the peel after opening it on the table.  if I build it on the peel or don't stretch it on the peel I end up with a completely different pie - one that's got too much cornice.  final shaping on the peel only works with the proper dough though.  it's gotta be soft.  here's one not stretched on the peel and one that was...
bill

[chaspie]

I've just started opening and stretching doughs, so I'm hardly an authority, but I just do it on the bench.  After the final stretching to final size with my fists in the air, I lay it on the peel to dress it.  I don't stretch it directly on the peel, and I didn't think that was the norm.  I watched a bunch of videos on youtube, and I never saw anyone stretch a dough on the peel.  They all stretched the dough on the bench, then laid it fully stretched on the peel.

[Jackie Tran]

Cindy, I do it for two reasons:

1) if I open up the dough all the way initially, I have to be very careful not to pull the center too thin. By opening it up most of the way, topping, loading onto the peel, the final stretch will expand the pie only from the cornice - leaving the center thickness unchanged.

2) when I stretch the dough on the peel, I form a slight oval that is wider (perpendicular to the handle of the peel) than it is long. Launching the pie tends to stretch it lengthwise a bit, and I end up with a nice round pie.

My pies come out of the oven at almost the exact same dimensions as they are when the hit the deck.

Craig

Very cool Craig.  I had never even considered this effect and phenomenon.  Does this occur regardless of the peel material, whether wood or metal?

[scott123]

2) when I stretch the dough on the peel, I form a slight oval that is wider (perpendicular to the handle of the peel) than it is long. Launching the pie tends to stretch it lengthwise a bit, and I end up with a nice round pie.

For a while, I was doing the same thing, but I recently discovered that, depending on how you launch the pizza, you can elongate it a bit (if it's oval) or you can leave it pretty much intact.  It's hard to describe, because feel plays a part, but I'm pretty sure it's about speed.  It's like pulling the tablecloth from under a table's worth of dishes.  If you do it fast and have a low friction environment, the inertia of the dishes keeps them pretty much in place.  With pizza, speed keeps the pizza from elongating, and, unlike the dish trick, you can get the pizza moving in the opposite direction before you do the pull and further counteract the pulling force.

This is why just about every pizzeria you come across stretches round pies and the pies stay round during the launch.

I'm not saying that the slower pull, with the slight elongation is a bad thing, but I find it gives you a bit more flexibility to have both the slow pull and the fast pull in your repertoire. That way, you can either stretch round and launch round, or, if you happen to end up with an oval, you can correct it on the launch with a slower pull.