What do you like more, bread or pizza? Did you know bread dough and pizza dough both have their own flavor and overall outcome? If you don’t, then let’s discuss bread dough vs pizza dough.
Once I asked my mom to bake bread or make pizza for me. She smiled and decided to make both. As we started working, she told me the differences in bread dough and pizza dough.
Do you know about bread dough vs pizza dough? The bread and pizza dough have similar basic ingredients like flour, water, salt, and leavening agents. But ratio, formula, kneading process, and cooking method make them different.
The bread dough is soft and flexible for shaping a perfect loaf of bread. The pizza dough, on the other hand, is firmer, holding its shape, resulting in a crispy crust.
Differences between bread dough and pizza dough are listed here in this article. So, let’s roll up your sleeves and explore the delightful differences between bread dough vs pizza dough.
Fig 1- Dough balls for Pizza
Types Of Dough
The dough is a mixture of flour and a liquid (water or milk) with other ingredients such as a leavening agent, salt, sugar, and various flavorings used to make baked products.
Two types of dough are for baking goods.
- Unleavened dough
- Leavened dough
1: Unleavened Dough
No leavening agent is present in this dough (a flat dough). This dough doesn’t rise in the oven and stays thin and flaky.
2: Leavened Dough
In this dough, we add a leavening agent (yeast, baking soda, or baking powder) to make the dough rise through fermentation. It is puffier than Unleavened dough.
Bread Dough VS Pizza Dough
Fig 2- Bread dough vs pizza dough differences
It is true that both bread dough and pizza dough look alike and have the same ingredients, there are some differences, and once prepared and cooked, they do show different results.
1. Type Of Flour
The first and most important difference between bread dough and pizza dough is the type of flour used. Bread dough is made with bread flour, while pizza dough is made with bread flour or all-purpose flour.
Bread flour is rich in protein content, which makes it better for gluten development and creates a chewy texture.
2. Ingredients
Bread dough and pizza dough recipes contain similar basic ingredients:
Flour, water, salt, and leavening agent. Oil is used to fix tough bread dough or pizza dough.
The quantities added to recipes are different. It depends on the recipe you are following.
3. Hydration Level
Bread dough needs more water-to-flour ratio because it has more hydration ( 90%) than pizza dough. The reason is that bread needs to rise a lot more than pizza. Adding more water means giving it more space to raise. More moisture content will keep the bread from Molding.
Pizza dough has a low Hydration level (up to 50-70%) because higher hydration content makes it too much crispier and makes it difficult to shape pizza. It will burn faster as well.
4. Gluten Formation
Fig 3- Formation of gluten
One of the main differences between the bread dough and pizza dough is the gluten network. Pizza requires a higher gluten network because it helps create a stretchy texture, allowing the dough to stretch without breaking.
Bread dough also needs a gluten network but not as much as pizza dough because its outcome doesn’t need to be as stretchy as pizza. The less the gluten, the softer and airier the bread will be.
Fig 4- Kneading of dough
Pizza dough requires more gluten network, which is why it is kneaded briefly and vigorously for denser crumbs. The denser the crumb gets, the lighter the pizza is. It takes 6-8 minutes of kneading.
The goal is to achieve a crispy crust that provides a delicate balance of taste to the toppings.
1. Longer Mixing
The longer the mixing strengthens the gluten network and results in tight and uniform crumbs. It is essential to get a uniformly made crust for a pizza.
2. Lesser Mixing
It results in big holes like in bread. These uneven holes allow the dough to rise bigger and lighter bread.
5. Rising Time
Bread dough and pizza dough both require rising time at room temperature. Pizza requires a shorter rise time or fermentation process as we don’t need to make it fluffy, while bread dough requires a longer rising time to achieve its fluffiness and softness.
6. Temperature
Another key difference is the result that depends on the baking temperature of bread dough and pizza dough.
Bread dough is baked at a lower temperature for a longer time period to cook properly from deep inside, resulting in a crispy crust. On the other hand, pizza dough is baked at high temperature for a short period, resulting in a chewy, thin, and textured crust.
7. Cooking Method
Generally, pizza dough is baked on a pizza stone or flat baking pan. Bread is baked in a loaf tin or cast iron pan.
Bread requires steam to give us a fine crust. On the contrary, higher temperature gives a crispy pizza base.
8.Baking Time
Pizza dough takes up to 30 minutes to cook into delicious pizza. Bread dough needs a longer time to rise in order to develop a unique texture and flavor.
9. Flavor
Pizza dough is made with more salt than bread dough, which gives it a savory, salty flavor. Many pizza recipes use herbs and seasonings to enhance its unique flavor.
Bread dough usually contains low salt, which gives it a unique sweet flavor. Adding eggs, milk, or butter to the recipe also intensifies its flavor.
Can Pizza Dough Be Used To Make Bread?
Fig 5- Simple, fluffy white bread
Pizza dough is used to bake pizza and can be used to bake bread also. Bread dough and pizza dough contain the same basic ingredients: flour, water, yeast, and salt. But you will notice the slight difference in texture, flavor, and color of the bread made from pizza dough.
Can Bread Dough Be Used To Make Pizza?
Fig 6- Crusty pizza
Bread dough and pizza dough share the same ingredients, but there are some differences also. If you use bread dough to make pizza, you may have to give longer rising time as bread dough undergoes a longer fermentation process. This results in a thicker crust with a different texture and flavor profile.
Uses For Leftover Pizza Dough
Fig 7- Snacks from pizza dough
So if you have leftover pizza dough, you may bake the following other baked goods rather than pizza.
1. Cheese Sticks
They are the easiest to make from pizza dough. You have to sprinkle some cheese over the dough, cut it into slices, twist, and bake. In a short time, cheese sticks are ready to serve.
2. Pizza Rolls
Roll your leftover pizza dough with the toppings you like and create freshly baked Pizza rolls.
3. Calzone
They are made by wrapping all the ingredients and toppings inside the dough and baking it. Delicious and hot calzone is my favorite.
4. Pizza Pocket
They are the simplest ones. Just wrap bacon/chicken, cheese, tomatoes, and onions into chunks of dough and bake them. Your go-to snack is ready.
5. Flat Bread
Flatten your leftover pizza dough into rounds. Top it with olive oil and seasonings you like, and bake it.
Uses Of Leftover Bread Dough
Fig 8- Snacks from bread dough
If you have a batch of bread dough and don’t want to make bread from it, then there are many options that you can make.
1. Cinnamon Rolls
Bread dough can be turned into cinnamon rolls easily by adding brown sugar, white sugar, butter, and vanilla or chocolate in it and baking it. See how fast bread dough turns into fluffy cinnamon rolls.
2. Garlic Bread
Grab your bread dough, make knots, or any shape you like. Brush with some garlic butter and bake. Easy to make garlic knots are ready with a pleasant aroma.
3. Banana Bread
They are the most popular bread among children. You can also make it with leftover bread dough. You just simply need to add mashed bananas into the dough, bake it and banana bread is ready.
4. Mini Buns
Shape bread dough into burger buns and fill it with grilled chicken with sauces and bake. Mini buns are ready within 10-15 minutes.
5. French Toast
Make bread with the bread dough. Dip it into a mixture of whisked eggs, milk and sugar and fry it with butter. Crispy French toast is ready.
FAQs
1: What happens if you knead the dough too little?
When mixing your dough, the flour and water create a chemical reaction and form gluten. This gluten is important for the shape of pizza and the rise of bread. Mixing or kneading well will strengthen the gluten network. If you do not knead your dough well enough, the gluten network may not be strong enough to perform its functions properly.
2: What happens if you knead the dough too much?
The results of over-kneaded dough will be a little different than you expected. It may cause a hard crust on bread and pizza.
3: What if we give less or more time for proofing?
If you don’t give enough proofing time to the dough then it will not rise enough during baking and ends in a flat structure with no fluffiness.
If you overproof your dough, it will trap air inside and will rise too much during baking and end up collapsing.
4: Can frozen bread dough be used to make Pizza?
Yes, you can. It is the easiest way to make pizza. Flatten your pizza bread, add toppings and sauces over it, and put it in the oven. It’s that easy.
Conclusion
To sum up, we understand the distinctions and similarities between bread dough vs pizza dough. We learn that both bread dough and pizza dough share common basic ingredients and also have some different ingredients for their own uniqueness and flavor.
Cooking is always fun and experimenting. Changes in ingredients and techniques ( kneading, fermenting, cooking) can give distinct results. You can use bread dough as pizza dough and pizza dough as bread dough but slight differences can occur, which may change the flavor and texture of the final product.
Hope you get a clear idea of bread dough vs pizza dough and are confident enough to experiment as well.
More Resources:
How to Make Banana Bread – The Simplest Guide with Best Working Tips
The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Bread for French Toast