What is the Papa John's "Dough Slapping" Technique?

Every major pizza chain has a different way of handling their crust. Domino’s stretches theirs, Pizza Hut often uses deep-dish pans with pre-measured oil, but Papa John’s prides itself on the “Dough Slap.”

If you get hired as a Pizza Maker (an “Insider”) at Papa John’s, learning to slap dough is the steepest learning curve of the job. You will not be throwing it in the air like an Italian chef in a movie. You will be slapping it on a table.

The Dough Management Process

Papa John’s dough is delivered fresh, not frozen, in massive plastic trays. Before it can be used, it has to be “proofed” (allowed to rise at room temperature).

When an order comes in, the pizza maker pulls a dough ball from the tray and drops it into a massive mound of Dustinator. The Dustinator is a proprietary blend (mostly cornmeal and flour) that prevents the wet dough from sticking to your hands, the table, or the pizza screen.

The “Edge Stretch” and the “Slap”

You have exactly 30 seconds to turn that ball into a perfect 14-inch circle without making the center too thin.

• The Edge Stretch: First, you press your fingers into the dough ball, working your way around the absolute outer edge to form the “crust.” You leave the center completely puffy and untouched.
• The Slap: You pick up the dough by the crust edge. You rapidly pass it back and forth between your open palms, slapping it down onto the stainless steel prep table.
• Centrifugal Force: As you slap it from your left hand to your right hand, you rotate it slightly. The weight of the dough pulling downward naturally stretches the center out perfectly even.

If you do it right, the dough makes a loud, rhythmic thwack-thwack-thwack sound on the table. If you mess up, you punch a hole directly through the middle and have to throw the dough away and start over.