Introduction: Making Perfect Pizza at Home
Now this guide is very dear to me. I've made pizza at home in the kitchen for years and slowly improved the technique until I just don't think it can be bettered in a conventional oven at home.
Here are the Top 5 tips I use every time to make the very best Pizza at home in the oven.
Pizza Ovens and WFO are fantastic but not everyone has one or can use one effectively.
Following this guide to really up your home pizza making game and really impress your family and friends.
Video & Written guide to follow!
Step 1: The 5-Step Video Guide
Here's the 5 step Video Guide in full.
Read on for an illustrated point by point write-up!
For those that like the Video please subscribe to my YouTube channel. I'm always happy to sub back to like-minded Content Creators.
Step 2: Step 1: the Dough
Firstly you want your dough recipe, here's mine:
I found after quite a lot of tries, that rather than adding the yeast before mixing, it helped to make a starter with the yeast and some of the water & sugar used in the dough. Not only does this ensure you always get a good rise in your dough it make the dough altogether more consistent and stretchy, ideal for shaping your pizza.
Mix the three ingredients together (50ml of tepid water, teaspoons of sugar and fast action yeast). Leave for 30mins until you have a lovely bubbling starter, now add to the flour and make your dough as shown above.
Step 3: Step 2: the Sauce
For a good pizza sauce, you don't need to overcomplicate things. Using a passata or blended tinned tomato base is ideal, throw in some garlic, oregano and olive oil and you're away.
However to add that luxurious streak. throw a parmesan rind in the sauce and simmer for 30-45 mins. This creates a beautiful creamy texture to the sauce, and helps accentuate the toppings you use later.
Failing a Parmesan rind, sprinkle some grated parmesan onto your sauce, as soon as you've spread it on your pizza dough.
Step 4: Step 3: the Dough
Okay, now first of all it's absolutely fine to roll your dough. It's great to stretch it and flip it too but if those techniques are beyond you then get that rolling pin out and make your perfect sized pizza base.
Once rolled, use your fingers to press down about half an inch from the edge of the pizza to create a natural crust around the edge. Not only does this create a barrier for any excess sauce, it looks better and makes our last step all the more impressive.
Step 5: Step 4: Heat
A simple one maybe, but crucial all the same.
With a conventional oven you're alway going to be against it trying to achieve the same level of heat you get in from a Wood Fired Oven.
So get your pizza stone in the oven EARLY and crank up the heat to full.
The stone can retain a lot of heat so it shouldn't lose too much when it comes out the oven and it will give your pizza as crispy a base as possible.
30-60mins of high heat is required to get that stone as hot as it can be.
Step 6: Step 5: the Crust
Now we come to the pièce de résistance - the crust. You've followed all the advice given and created fantastic tasting pizza BUT, it doesn't quite look like your local restaurants or friends from their W.F.O.
Never fear, here's a great cheat to try.
Once the pizza is done take it out the oven but leave in the pizza stone or transfer to a durable chopping board.
Take out your kitchen blow-torch, turn it on and carefully start to scorch the crust of the pizza dough. Work your way all around the crust until you've effectively "coloured" the entire pizza, then make sure under the crust and near the sauce is also scorched. You can slightly burn higher parts of the crust just as a W.F.O would do it you wish but what you'll end up with is a great looking wonderful leopard-spotted pizza crust that would fool most Pizza aficionados
I hope you enjoyed this guide, please take a look at the video here if you've not already, point 5 really does look better on video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzYBBSb-xPQ
