Pan Pizza vs Hand Tossed[With 11 Differences!]

Ever wondered what is the difference between a pan pizza and a hand-tossed pizza? It’s easy to think there might be much of a difference. At least I used to think so, in my initial days. As a pizza lover, I took it as a responsibility of sorts to find out how they differ from each other.

Pan Pizza as the name suggests are baked in a pan, they have crust that are 1 to 2 inches deep and can hold more toppings and combination of cheeses. Hand Tossed pizzas are rolled and tossed in the air resulting in a thinner stretchier and a crispy crust that is lighter compared to pan pizza.

In this article, we shall have a look at the differences between Hand Tossed Pizza and a Pan Pizza in detail to get an in-depth understanding of the two.

Difference between a Hand Tossed Pizza and Pan Pizza:

Sr. No.	Parameters	Hand Tossed Pizza	Pan Pizza
1	Dough	Softer and thinner with more elasticity	Normal elasticity
2	Preparation of crust	Stretched and tossed	It spread in a pan
3	The dough is spread using	Fingers and fist	Fingers only
4	Baking process	Directly baked on the oven slab or pizza stone	the pan is put in the oven
5	Kind of bakeware used	No bakeware is used, transferred using a pizza peel	Cast iron skillet, cake pan, baking sheet, or sheet pan
6	Crust thickness	not very thisk as dough is stretched	thick and chewy
7	Crust crispiness	very crispy as the dough stretches out and thins	the dough rises high and turns dense and chewy
8	Toppings	cannot hold a lot of toppings and combination of cheeses	can hold more toppings and cheese
9	Texture	Thinner and crunchy	Softer and chewy with more amount bread per bite
10	Commonly made styles	New York style Pizza, Brooklyn style Pizza, and Neapolitan Pizza	Chicago-style pizza, Detroit-style pizza, and Sicilian style Pizza
11	Time taken to learn to make a pizza	Takes a time to master	Is very easy to learn

Dough and crust

The dough for the pan pizza, as well as the hand-tossed, is made from flour, warm water, salt, yeast, and olive oil. However, hand-tossed pizza dough is stretchier compared to pan pizza dough. The pizza dough is stretched by fingers and then tossed in the air to get more surface area and a light dough and caught using fists and laid down.

On the other hand, pan tossed pizza is simply stretched in a cast iron skillet or a cake pan or sheet pan(rectangular pans) and it gains in volume while it is being cooked. Since there isn’t much space for the dough to stretch put it rises higher and puffs up, resulting in a fluffier and chewy crust.

Hand-tossed pizzas are much crispier since they have more surface area and are more spread out. Pan Pizzas tend to more dense and chewy.

Baking Process

The cooking process also has a big impact on the dough. Pan pizzas as the name suggests are baked in a pan in an oven. Once cooked the pan is removed from the oven. Hand-tossed pizzas on the contrary are transferred into the oven using a pizza peel and cooked directly on the oven slab or pizza stone.

Toppings and Cooking Styles

Since the pan pizza has a thicker crust it is capable of holding more toppings and blends of cheese compared to the hand tossed pizza. The thin and stretched out dough while being hand tossed in a hand tossed pizza cannot support more amount of toppings and cheese.

Chicago style and detroit style pizzas are Pan pizzas. In Italy Sicilian pizzas are pan pizzas baked on rectangular pans called sheet pans and are equally popular. New York style, Brooklyn style, and Neapolitan pizzas are all hand tossed.

Which is better hand tossed or pan pizza?

Well it is purely your choice, which crust you prefer. Both the pizzas have their own charm and are sweet and delicious. Pan Pizzas have a thicker crust usually about 1 inch deep. Thus, they are called deep dish pizzas. Hand tossed pizzas have a crust that is more light and with lesser texture and chewyness to it.

If you prefer a thin to medium crust pizza with moderate amount of toppings. Or, if you watching your calories then a hand tossed pizza is a better option for you.

Related Reading: How to Cut a Pizza?[All you Need to Know!]

However, if you want to enjoy more bread and toppings in every bite of your pizza, then you should opt for a pan pizza.

Pan Pizza vs Hand Tossed[With 11 Differences!]