Pizza night is the best night of the week
and making your own is simpler than you think. However, there are plenty of tiny steps that
could trip you up, or make things much more complicated than they need to be. Avoid these common pitfalls to achieve a perfect
homemade pizza. Most grocery stores sell all manner of pre-made
pizza crusts, but taking this shortcut will make your final product less-than-stellar. So, what can you do? Making your own crust is easier than you probably
think, especially if you have some sourdough starter running. A simple sourdough crust will be firm enough
to stand up to all the toppings you could possibly want to pile on, but if you don't
have the time, there's a few other options. Consider calling your favorite pizza joint
to ask if they'll sell you a bit of their dough, or head to the grocery store and think
outside the box. Pick up some naan and use that for your crust,
or get a nice loaf of French bread and make French bread pizzas. All of these are better options than a disappointing
pre-made crust, we promise. Salt has taken a lot of heat lately, but because
it's a flavor enhancer, it's key to better-tasting food. Take flour. Without the addition of salt, flour isn't
going to make something that's very tasty. Given that traditional pizza crusts are made
nearly entirely from flour, salt is essential. If you don't add enough, your crust will be
bland. Don't get too heavy-handed, however, because
if you're adding many salty cheeses, or toppings like anchovies, olives, and ham, the resulting
pizza will basically just be a salt bomb. If salt is a dealbreaker for you, don't fret. You can also add Italian herb seasoning and
minced garlic to your crust for an added burst of flavor. While it might be tempting to pull the dough
out of the refrigerator and immediately get to work pulling, stretching, and shaping it,
topping it with ingredients, and quickly throwing it in the oven, try to refrain from doing
so. Make sure you let the dough rest on the counter,
long enough to let it come closer to room temperature and make it easier to stretch
gently. It'll take some willpower, but resting your
dough at room temperature will make the shaping a much smoother process. Even when you're using the best of scratch-made
dough, getting crust right is still tricky — so here's some tips. Using a rolling pin for pizza dough really
should be a last resort, because hand stretching is the ideal way to form your pizza. While rolling out your pizza dough with a
rolling pin will likely make the crust dense and tough, stretching will help it keep that
crust light and chewy. But hand stretching can be tough, especially
with a stubborn piece of dough. If you're partway through stretching and it's
getting tough to handle, let the dough rest some more, then come back. Don't give up until you've stretched it to
a thickness between one-eighth and one-fourth of an inch. That's the sweet spot, the point where your
pizza won't be difficult to cook and it won't fold under all your toppings. And that's what everyone wants, isn't it? "I'm in love, I'm having a relationship with
my pizza." Pre-cooking toppings takes a tiny bit more
effort than throwing them on top of the pizza raw, but if you want a really, really good
pizza, it's worth taking the extra time for two major reasons. Partially cooked, salted, or pre-cooked toppings
will make your pizza ultimately taste better, and secondly, they'll also help protect you
from food-borne illness. Pre-cooking any meats before putting them
on your pizza will ensure they're cooked completely, making it less likely that you'll get sick
from eating them. Greens, basil, and tough veggies could also
benefit from a quick pre-cook. Honestly, less is more when it comes to pizza
toppings. Pick a few veggies or meats that go well together
and stick with them. Adding too many toppings can also throw off
the flavor balance and weigh things down. And that theory goes for the cheese, too. Cheese is really delicious and gets gooey
when melted, but there is such a thing as too much cheese on a pizza. Get too heavy-handed with the cheese and you'll
skew the balance of flavors and weigh down your slice. Since you're taking the time to make your
homemade pizza great, you don't want to mask all the other flavors that are there or destroy
the crispiness of your crust. While you preheat the oven, preheat the pizza
stone or sheet pan that you'll bake your pizza on as well. This will help the bottom of the crust get
all nice and crispy, which is just what you want for your perfect homemade pizza. A good way to move your pizza from the counter
to the oven is by a sheet of parchment paper. Craft your pizza on top of the parchment,
then set it directly on the stone or pan in the oven. Once the pizza is done cooking, you can also
remove it from the oven using the parchment paper. Don't forget to leave your stone in the oven
to cool down, as you don't want it to crack from a drastic change in temperature. Pizzas cook best at high temperatures, and
even though your home oven probably doesn't get as hot as a the one at your local pizzeria,
but that doesn't mean you can't make great pizza from scratch. Crank your oven up to around 500 degrees Fahrenheit,
and that high heat means the pizza cooks quickly and becomes crispy on the outside and chewy
on the inside. You'll think your pizza came from your favorite
local spot, not from inside your oven. Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Mashed videos about your favorite
stuff are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the
bell so you don't miss a single one.
