Pizza can be as simple or as difficult as you'd like it to be, but here are 11 good, universal rules that anyone who makes pizza should follow. We asked grill master friends for advice, and then finally, we hit the sweet spot. This easy pie dough recipe doesn't require special equipment or training. Or are you in the mood for New York-style pizza, with a more substantial crunch and a layer of grated, dry mozzarella? All-purpose flour will work fine, but if you want a chewier crumb and a better hole structure, you should consider buying yourself some high protein bread flour. When grilling a pizza you want a good dough that will hold up to being transported and turned on the grill. Chalk it up to my lactose intolerance, but I’m just not the biggest fan of pizza. It’s not just an important step: it’s a crucial one. Using a scale will ensure that no matter how compressed your flour is, you'll always be using exactly the correct amount. It's an especially useful tool if grilled pizza is on your agenda. Does the pizza with four types of meat and seven different vegetables really taste better than the one that just has charred brussels sprouts and pancetta? The last thing I wanted was for a user error to derail the whole plan. It’s always an adventure! Kneading develops gluten, the network of interconnected proteins that gives structure to baked goods. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy. [Photographs: Vicky Wasik, except where noted]. I went in blind at about 1pm, so by the time my pizza slid into the Pronto after 2 I was really hungry! Some comments may be held for manual review. I try to limit it to two or three, asking myself at each step whether what I'm adding is complementing the ingredients I added before, and whether they all come together into a synergistic whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. A good, heavy, baking stone can hold tons of heat energy, releasing it rapidly into a pizza as it bakes, giving you a crisper crust and better oven spring. A rolling pin may be scoffed at by the pizza snobs, but it'll do in a pinch. As for other toppings, the urge to go crazy with them can be intense, but the best pies keep the toppings minimal and balanced. Flour is the main ingredient in pizza dough, and the type you use can have a big effect on the end result. If you're lucky, you'll even find a local pizzeria who will sell you good raw dough. Before this experiment, I made maybe only a handful of pizzas in my life. His first book,
There's more information about flour choices here. I reserve my yearning for burritos. The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science (based on his Serious Eats column of the same name) is a New York Times best-seller, recipient of a James Beard Award, and was named Cookbook of the Year in 2015 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Measure your flour by sifting it into a cup and you'll end up with about four ounces of flour when the cup is totally full. (I used store bough dough, but making dough is pretty easy! In my experience, the majority of problems people have with making good dough comes down to incorrectly measuring flour, and the absolute worst way to do it is with a cup measure. If you’re trying to watch your carbs, go easy on the dough! That's a difference of 50%! Are you looking for hardcore Neapolitan-style pizza with fresh mozzarella and a soft, crisp crust? The best pizza (and bread) recipes will call for ingredients by weight instead of by volume. You're craving fresh pizza, but you just don't have the time or inclination to make your own dough. Even if it isn’t perfect, at least you’ll still have your pizza, right? I was going to be putting together a new Pronto, and cooking a pizza right after. This ensures a more evenly heated oven. Before you grab your pitchforks and torches: I appreciate a good slice, but I don’t yearn for it like some people. You can make great pizza with almost any water. Before you grab your pitchforks and torches: I appreciate a good slice, but I don’t yearn for it like some people. A hot oven also creates a better contrast between crisp, lightly charred exterior, and soft, cloud-like interior. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Roll out your dough about 1/4 inch thick and try to keep it pretty even. And for the record, no, there's nothing special about New York water. Check out this article for more details on how to correctly use a scale. At the very least, you should be baking your pizzas as hot as your oven will go—generally in the 550°F range—but if you want to up your game even further, consider a higher heat approach like our skillet-broiler method, or—my method of choice— a Baking Steel/KettlePizza Weber grill conversion kit. Not only that, but it allows you to measure your ingredients—flour, yeast, salt, and water—directly into the same bowl, making clean-up a snap. The Baking Steel is where it's at these days. When I have the time, I'll make my dough, throw it in a zipper-lock bag, and refrigerate it for a few days because taking it out, shaping it, and allowing it to proof at room temperature before stretching and baking. Our recipes are simple enough that a complete pizza noob can make them without fail on their very first try. Once you get yourself a scale that measures in grams, you'll be throwing together batches of dough, large or small, in no time. The (optional) extended leg kit was a bit more complicated, but I got the whole thing together in just over half an hour. It cooked pretty well in the pronto anyway, but it was more dense than necessary. Of course, that's just dipping your toe into the world of pizza styles out there. I kept tearing it when I was trying to stretch it. Sounds like your first attempt went much smoother than mine did a couple years back. I use the OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Scale with a pull-out display for all of my baking. Chinese Cooking 101: How to Marinate Meat for Stir Fries. Probably not. Podemos elegir mozzarella fresca en bolas para hacerla trocitos, pero debemos escurrirla para que suelte agua o también te recomendamos rallar queso parmesano, si lo prefieres. In the tests that I've done, dough gets better and better over the course of a few days in the refrigerator, peaking at about 3 days. We have tons of help.). Making pizza is a year-round activity for me, whether it's a No-knead, no-stretch pan pizza in the winter, a grilled pizza party in the summer, or a Neapolitan pie baked in my Baking Steel and Kettle Pizza combo kit. When coupled with the metric system and its logical base-ten measures, it helps liberate you from recipes. With baker's percentages, every ingredient is represented by its proportion by weight to the flour in a recipe. J. Kenji López-Alt is a stay-at-home dad who moonlights as the Chief Culinary Consultant of Serious Eats and the Chef/Partner of Wursthall, a German-inspired California beer hall near his home in San Mateo. If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment. Sure, a stand mixer can help when you've got a lot of pizza to make, but it's not the only way to knead your dough. (And for the record, it will work with almost any dough recipe!). The first time my husband and I grilled pizza, we burned the bottom to a crisp. The ultimate homemade version of the classic green bean casserole, with fresh green beans, a rich mushroom sauce, and crispy fried shallots. Just stir together all of your ingredients, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough sit out overnight. Not to worry. It's likely because their oven is hotter than yours.