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I've read in another answer, that for bread stretch and fold and kneading is more or less the same. On the other hand, almost all of the pizza recipes say kneading and almost all of the bread recipes have stretch and fold. Is there a reason for this, or more of a tradition sort of thing or is just my sample of recipes very bad?

fbence
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    Does this answer your question? [Why stretch and fold vs traditional kneading of bread dough?](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/21675/why-stretch-and-fold-vs-traditional-kneading-of-bread-dough) – Croves Mar 25 '20 at 17:37
  • Hmm. So, kneading is faster (if you are good?), but you need drier dough for it, which pizza dough is, compared to bread dough? – fbence Mar 25 '20 at 17:57
  • I wouldn't say my pizza dough is drier. Hydration will certainly depend on your style of pizza. Remember both kneading and stretch and fold are about creating a gluten structure...and they both accomplish that. Time also helps this process. So, how long are you fermenting your dough? I think, in the end, you will find that the answer you cite answers your question. – moscafj Mar 25 '20 at 20:12
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    I would doubt the “almost all of the bread recipes have stretch and fold” statement. You may be misled by a recent trend of “no knead bread” and similar. – Stephie Mar 26 '20 at 13:24

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It is just a matter of your sample. "Kneading" and "stretch and fold" are not really the same thing - the actual relationship is that stretch and fold is a subtype of kneading. In some cases (mostly very high hydration), it is more comfortable than other subtypes, in others, any subtype will do. So, if a recipe directs the baker to just "knead", the baker will use their preferred technique, which might be stretch and fold. On the other hand, if a recipe author very much likes stretch and fold, they may write it into the recipe even if there is no technical need to prefer it over another technique. The baker may follow it, or decide to deviate.

So in the end, what gets written into the recipe is mostly a personal preference of the recipe author. And what gets done during baking is influenced by both the recipe and the baker. So the word choice is a bit random, and there is no reason to have one more commonly used in bread than in pizza or the other way round. If you noticed such clustering (and just "noticing" is actually not enough due to confirmation bias) then it is likely you got an unbalanced sample, which is a very common thing to happen.

rumtscho
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