Dough Presses

Dough Press Machines: What You Need to Know

Dough presses are a necessity for pizzerias, Mexican restaurants, and other concepts serving pizzas, tacos, and similar menu items made with pizza dough or tortillas. They enable chefs to flatten rounds of dough into their required thicknesses, ensuring that, if the portions are the same, each leveled piece will be pressed consistently. While hand-tossing dough can be an intensive process requiring the work of a highly skilled professional to produce uniform results, dough presses can be used to create dependable dough, even by cooks who haven't had much training. An automatic dough press can make the process that much more efficient for busy eateries that need to keep up with high-volume production during peak hours of operation.

Common Questions About Dough Presses

What is a dough press?

A dough press machine consists of two platens – flat, round or square surfaces made of stainless steel or aluminum – that are flattened together by a manually operated lever or an automatic process to level balls of dough into pizza crusts or tortillas of consistent thicknesses. A dough press may be reminiscent of a panini press because both types of equipment have what is commonly referred to as a "clamshell" design; however, dough presses don't cook what is placed between the platens.

How do you use a dough press?

Operating a dough press is fairly simple – just place a dough round onto the platens, bring them together, and flatten it – but there are some best practices for getting the most out of your machine (and your dough). Some units have heated platens, meaning dough can be flattened even if it has been freshly retrieved from cold storage. Heated platens often have a wide temperature range, with some going as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature the platens should be set to (if they're heated) and for how long the dough should be pressed depend on whether the dough has been par-baked, how much yeast the dough contains, and if the dough is warm or cold. Depending on these factors, dough may be pressed for anywhere from 1 to 8 seconds.

Can you press pizza dough and tortilla dough in the same machine?

Yes, pizza dough and tortilla dough can often be pressed in the same unit, but some dough press machines aren't big enough to press out anything larger than a personal pizza. Like many types of equipment, dough presses are available in a few different sizes, and the one you need depends on your menu. If your operation only serves tacos and burritos, a dough press with an 8-inch diameter may be sufficient, but models designated for use in pizzerias can press dough as wide as 18 inches in diameter.

How much dough can I press out each hour?

The production of each unit varies according to the size of the machine, the amount of dough being flattened, and the machine's level of automation. For example, a manual dough press with square platens measuring 16 inches by 20 inches can press out 100 16-inch tortillas, 200 9-inch tortillas, or 400 6-inch tortillas per hour. Because the weight of a ball of dough determines the final size of the pressed-out tortilla or pizza crust, you'll be able to flatten more dough in an hour if you make crusts and tortillas with a narrower diameter.

Before you purchase your dough press, remember to estimate your production requirements and ensure you invest in a machine that can keep up with your kitchen's output. Because the weight of a dough ball determines the final size of the pressed-out tortilla or pizza crust, these machines can flatten more dough each hour if you are preparing menu items with smaller diameters.