Air Pockets

• Tossing the dough stretches the air pockets that rise during the cooking process due to fermentation. Stretching these out reduces the number of uneven bumps that appear during the baking process. Those bumps can potentially dislodge toppings and brown before the crust completes baking, resulting in unsightly areas devoid of cheese and other goodies. Stretching the bubbles reduces the likelihood of bubbles forming, but it is still riskier to toss instead of rolling out the air. Rolling lets a cook press out the vast majority of the air, helping to ensure that the pizza cooks uniformly and bumps do not force toppings off during the baking process. The air in the dough gives each crust its mouth feel and texture, however. A cracker-like crust results from removing large quantities of air from the dough through rolling, varying greatly from the more hearty texture of hand-tossed dough.

Crust Thickness

• The choice of a thin or thick crust also dictates whether a cook should roll or throw dough. Using a rolling pin can create exceptionally thin crusts. Diners may enjoy a thin, cracker-like crust, and it provides an exceptionally good surface for lighter garlic or pesto sauces. Deep-dish pizzas, and those with multiple layers of toppings, may benefit from hand-tossing. The thicker crusts created by the stretched air pockets during the cooking process can more easily handle all of the mushrooms, cheese, vegetables and meats desired by topping fans.

Bake Times

• Rolling a crust to make it thinner also reduces the amount of time it takes to cook in the oven because thinner dough exposes a greater surface area to the heat all at once. This offers mixed results; it works well with light sauces and toppings, but may fail to allow time to adequately melt large quantities of cheese or thoroughly heat meats. Hand-tossed dough, due to its innate thickness during and after the baking process, cooks more slowly and provides ample time for toppings to heat evenly.

Presentation

• The presentation and entertainment value of flying dough spinning on the knuckles of one hand while the other turns it provides one final reason why restaurants and caterers choose to toss pizza dough. The sheer skill of a trained cook tossing and stretching dough is plenty of reason to learn and use the technique. Pizza presses and rollers cannot provide the same level of artistry or give the same enjoyment to diners.