Pizza and bread dough: the purpose of folds, kneading, and shaping

Then you start reading a recipe, and terms like "incordatura" (dough development), "pieghe" (folds), "staglio" (dividing), "pirlatura" (rounding), "puntata" (bulk fermentation), and "panetti" (dough balls) appear.

Preparing dough seems simple: flour, water, yeast, salt, and a bit of hand-kneading.

At that point, a seemingly simple preparation risks turning into a small baking course.

In reality, many of these techniques have a common goal: to better manage the dough's structure during the different stages of processing.

Understanding their purpose is much more useful than performing them mechanically.

So, without delving into a specific recipe, let's see what happens from the initial mixing until the pizza or bread is ready to be shaped and baked.

First of all: what does it mean to "incordare" (develop) dough?

When flour and water are mixed and kneaded, the wheat proteins contribute to the formation of the dough's gluten structure.

With kneading, the dough progressively becomes more cohesive, elastic, and better able to hold its shape. The way and intensity with which it is worked effectively influence the gluten structure.

In baking terminology, "incordatura" (dough development) is often referred to when the dough has reached a good degree of development.

It doesn't simply mean continuing to knead for as long as possible.

On the contrary, you need to learn to observe the dough.

During kneading, it tends to transform from an irregular and sticky mass into a more uniform structure. It progressively becomes more elastic, and when gently lifted, it can stretch further before tearing.

However, the amount of kneading required varies greatly depending on the flour, water quantity, method, and type of product we want to achieve.

For this reason, there isn't a single number of minutes that applies to all doughs.

Why do we make folds?

Once the initial kneading is complete, the famous folds come into play in many preparations.

The principle is simple.

A part of the dough is gently stretched and brought back towards the center, repeating the movement according to the technique used.

There are many ways to do this: envelope folds, stretch and fold, coil fold, and other variations.

However, for those making pizza or bread at home, it's more important to understand their function than to immediately learn all their names.

Folds are used to reorganize and give structure to the dough during resting, especially when the mass is soft and high in water content.

However, they should not be considered a mandatory rule.

A dough might require several folds, few, or none at all: it depends on the recipe, the flour, the hydration, and the chosen working method.

How to make a fold without mistreating the dough

The movement should be controlled.

You should not tear the dough or unnecessarily flatten it.

Place the dough on a clean work surface, gently grasp a portion, stretch it without breaking it, and bring it back over the mass.

A stainless steel pastry board offers a large and continuous surface for working, folding, and rotating the dough during this phase.

The important thing, however, remains the dough: if it offers a lot of resistance, it can be more useful to let it rest for a few minutes than to continue forcing it.

Rest is not wasted time

One of the most common mistakes when starting to knead is to think that it is always necessary to continue working the dough.

In reality, resting is also part of the process.

During breaks, the dough continues to evolve and can become easier to handle.

That's why many techniques alternate:

kneading → resting → folding → new rest.

Continuing to pull and knead a dough that resists does not necessarily mean improving it.

Sometimes the best choice is simply to let it rest.

From mass to dough balls: what is portioning

Once the first fermentation phase provided by the recipe is completed, it may be time to divide the dough.

This operation is called portioning.

It is the step in which the mass is divided into portions that will become loaves or individual pizza dough balls.

In the tradition of Neapolitan pizza, the AVPN disciplinary also provides for the manual formation of the dough balls after the dough has rested.

Here enters one of the simplest tools in the kneading laboratory: the bench scraper or spatula.

It allows you to divide the mass on the surface with a clean gesture and, during processing, it is also useful for collecting small residues or moving the dough.

It is better to cut the necessary portion rather than repeatedly pull and tear the dough with your hands.

Shaping: why surface tension is sought

Once the portions are obtained, another widely used word comes into play: shaping.

The term is primarily used in baking to refer to the motion by which dough is rounded to create a more regular and slightly taut surface.

In the world of pizza, it is often more simply referred to as forming the dough ball.

The practical goal is similar: to transform an irregular portion into an ordered mass, with the seam gathered at the bottom and a uniform outer surface.

However, tension should not be confused with force.

The dough ball should not be crushed or "choked".

With short, controlled movements, it is guided on the surface until a regular shape is obtained.

It is precisely at this stage that a stable and sufficiently large work surface becomes particularly convenient: you need to be able to drag and rotate the dough ball without being confined to a small portion of the kitchen counter.

More flour on the surface does not necessarily mean better work

When the dough starts to stick to your hands, the most natural reaction is to add flour.

Then a little more.

And a little more.

The risk is to continuously alter the surface of the dough just to make it easier to handle.

The necessary amount naturally depends on the type of dough, but it is useful to first learn how to manage movements, resting times, and tools.

A dough scraper can help, for example, to lift a soft mass from the surface without immediately adding more flour.

The choice of working surface also influences the practicality of the movements.

The goal is not to achieve a completely dry surface at all costs, but to learn to control the dough.

After dividing, there's another rest

Once formed, the dough balls are not usually rolled out immediately.

Fermentation and resting times continue according to the recipe used.

And this is where it's important to avoid another mistake: looking for a universal chart.

There isn't a single correct time for all doughs.

Temperature, yeast quantity, flour, hydration, and method completely change the process.

Even the AVPN regulations link the times for the second proofing to environmental conditions and flour characteristics.

That's why it's much more useful to follow a reliable recipe and gradually learn to observe how your dough changes.

The stretching: we must not undo all the work done before

When the dough ball is ready, probably the most satisfying phase arrives: the stretching.

For pizza, especially when you want to maintain a more developed crust, the movement generally starts from the center and proceeds outwards.

In the technique described by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, finger pressure pushes some of the gas present in the dough towards the periphery, contributing to the formation of the cornicione (crust).

This explains why indiscriminately flattening the entire surface can be counterproductive.

We've spent hours on fermentation and dough ball formation: the stretching should support that structure, not destroy it.

On a sufficiently wide pastry board, we can form the disc, rotate it, and manage the flour or semolina used during processing without being confined to a small portion of the kitchen counter.

From the counter to the oven: it's time for the peel

Once the pizza is stretched and topped, there's still a crucial step missing: transferring it to the oven.

And this is where the pizza peel comes in.

Before loading the pizza, it's important that the dough can slide and isn't stuck to the surface.

That's why it's best to check it before completing the transfer to the oven, not when the pizza is already on the peel and fully topped.

The transfer should be as simple and controlled as possible.

A perfectly stretched pizza that gets deformed during transfer can lose part of the work done up to that point in a few seconds.

Pastry board, dough scraper, and peel: each tool at a different time

When making pizza and bread, you quickly realize that you don't need to fill your kitchen with utensils.

You mainly need those that solve a specific problem during the process.

The pastry board creates a dedicated surface for kneading, folding, dividing, and shaping the dough balls.

The dough scraper or spatula helps to divide the dough during scaling, lift soft masses, and collect residues during work.

The pizza peel comes in at the last stage, when the pizza needs to be moved from the preparation surface to the oven.

Three different tools, three different moments.

And this is precisely the most natural way to choose accessories: not because "they are needed for making pizza," but because each one simplifies a specific action.

The best technique is the one you learn to control

Folds, gluten development, scaling, and rounding can seem complicated terms when first read.

After a few batches of dough, they simply become stages of the work.

The important thing is to avoid turning them into rituals to be performed without knowing why.

A fold is only useful if that dough benefits from it.

A rest can be more useful than another five minutes of working.

The shaping of the dough ball must create order and tension without overworking the mass.

And the stretching must respect what was built during fermentation and resting.

Learning to observe the dough is therefore more important than memorizing dozens of techniques.

Over time, you will begin to recognize by touch when a dough needs to be worked, when it's best to wait, and when it's finally ready for the next step.

And this is probably when making pizza and bread at home becomes even more fun.

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