Tips for making a homemade pizza dough
Pizza is one of the best meals that can be enjoyed either hot or cold. If you have never tried making a homemade pizza, now is your chance to do it. Trust us, making your own pizza is much cheaper than ordering out. It is worth the effort because you have full control over all of the toppings. Another great thing about homemade pizza is you don’t have to pick up or order delivery to get a hot and fresh pizza. Today we are sharing our tips about how to make a great homemade pizza dough.
When it comes to flour, many recipes differ in their opinions. Some recipes call for only all purpose flour, others say to only use bread flour. In our experience, using a combination of both all purpose and bread flour makes a very good consistency. With just all purpose flour, pizza dough can tend to be floppy instead of sturdy once it is cooked. On the other hand, using only bread flour results in too thick of a crust that isn’t optimal for pizzas. Using about half all purpose flour and half bread flour gives you a sturdy crust that browns well in the oven. Other common ingredients in pizza dough consist of salt and olive oil. However, you can add in seasonings such as garlic powder and Italian seasoning if you want your pizza crust to have more flavor.
Every pizza dough needs yeast in order to rise. If you are making a pizza dough by hand without the use of a bread machine or stand mixer, you need to start out with warm water and yeast in your mixing bowl. Be sure to get your water temperature warm enough for the yeast to start working. The precise water temperature should be around 100 to 110 degrees F (38 to 43 degrees C). Certain pizza dough recipes will also call for some sugar which spurs on the chemical reaction of the yeast’s leavening process. Once you have mixed all of your ingredients and let the dough double in size, the result should look something like this.
Make sure to flour the surface of your cutting board or counter top before you roll it out. The dough will be slightly sticky still, and the last thing you want is a dough that creates a sticky mess all over the place. Once you have the dough rolled out in a relatively circular shape, transfer it to a pizza stone or a perforated pizza pan and stretch it out by hand. The dough should retain about the same thickness all the way around in order to cook evenly. Before adding your toppings we recommend precooking your pizza crust for 3 to 5 minutes so that it can start to crisp up. A preheated 425 degree F oven is a good temperature for a pizza pan, but if you are using a pizza stone you also have the option to cook your pizza at the highest setting. In most cases, the highest temperature an oven can reach is 500 degrees F.
After you precook the crust, take it out and add your favorite toppings. Since it is your pizza, you can make it however you like it. Pepperoni is always a classic topping, as well as Canadian bacon, sausage, olives, green peppers, mushrooms, and of course cheese. Bake it for another 12 to 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven or for another 5 to 7 minutes in a 500 degree oven.
We hope you have enjoyed learning more about how to make a homemade pizza dough. Don’t be afraid to try it out. Even though a homemade pizza will take longer than ordering out, it is very satisfying to make your own food from scratch.