How to spin/toss pizza?

[tj]

I love thin-crust pizza, and was thrilled to find a recipe for thin-crust here (other recipes have not worked as well) - mine is about to go in the oven soon, and we'll see how it fares, but in prepping it I am hindered by having neither a roller nor knowing how to toss/spin pizza.

1) Are there "home" rollers?  I don't want to spend for a commercial roller.

2) Better yet, how can I spin pizza?  I haven't found much info on spinning/tossing, yet it seems that centrifugal force is both free and effective, and I'd like to find a "how-to" on it.

Thanks

- t

[Steve]

I use a big rolling pin. I don't believe that you can hand-toss a thin (cracker-style) crust...the dough is too dense. How did your pizza turn out?

[tj]

Well, that explains why it didn't toss very well.  

I didn't get it quite as thin as I wanted, but I would say that the quality was better (even though thick) than my other attempts.  I only used half of the dough, so in the next day or two I'll try again (I can only eat so much pizza).

I have noticed that using one particular pre-made mix, I was able to flip it back and forth and let gravity shape it out, but have not been able to repeat that with other recipes.  I thought maybe I was just lucky that day, but it helps to know that not all recipes are tossable.

It's back to the rolling pin, I guess.  Is there such a thing as a "home sheeter"?  I might be willing to spend one or two hundred bucks at most, but I'm not interested in springing for a commercial sheeter.

[Steve]

I've been on the quest for a "home sheeter" for quite some time. The closest thing I've found that might work is a hand-cranked clothes wringer. But, the widest one that I can find is only 12" which is not wide enough for me. And, there's no easy way to adjust the thickness since it's spring-loaded.

There are also sheetmetal "seamers" which would do the trick... basically two metal rollers and a hand crank, but those are relatively expensive (~$300) as well and the rollers might be too small in diameter.

So, for now, I use a large rolling pin and lots of elbow grease to get my cracker-crusts thin.  :-/