Few things taste as good as homemade pizza. Though making it requires some effort, a delicious, crisp-chewy crust is worth it. If you're going to put in the time and effort to make pizza from scratch, you want to protect the crust from turning soggy. With a little knowledge, you can keep your pizza crisp, whether you're baking it for the first time or reheating leftovers.
Step 1
Weigh your flour using a digital food scale. According to the food writer Michael Ruhlman, even small variations in a simple dough -- one that generally requires nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast -- can throw off the recipe. Slightly too little flour could make your dough soggy. If your recipe doesn't list flour by weight, you can use one of the many conversion calculators available online.
Step 2
Parbake your dough. Tomato sauce, cheese, olives and many other toppings release moisture during baking. If you put the toppings on your raw dough, that moisture will seep out into the dough and water-log it. "Cook's Illustrated" magazine recommends partially baking the dough before adding the toppings; thin-crust pizza dough should get seven to eight minutes, while traditional style pizza needs nine to 10 minutes.
Step 3
Bake your pizza on a pizza stone. A ceramic pizza stone duplicates the traditional brick ovens in use in Italy for thousands of years. Ceramic radiates heat and, in direct contact with your pizza dough, helps crisp the crust. You will, however, have to preheat the oven for 10 to 20 minutes longer than usual, since ceramic takes time to heat up. Using an oven thermometer will help ensure your oven gets to the right temperature.
Step 4
Cool your pizza on a cooling rack. Racks allow air to circulate under the dough, keeping condensation from settling on the hot crust and turning it soggy. This trick also works for frozen pizza.
Tips and Warnings
- To reheat pizza, use a nonstick skillet on the stove; the nonstick coating repels moisture and crisps the crust before steam can get to it. You can use ceramic tiles or a ceramic saucer instead of a pizza stone, as long as the material is unglazed terra cotta. Glaze can contain toxic ingredients; never cook with glazed ceramics.
- Store leftover pizza in the fridge to prevent toppings or cheese from going bad.
Things You'll Need
- Food scale
- Pizza stone
- Oven thermometer (optional)
- Cooling rack
References
- "Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking;" Michael Ruhlman; 2009
- "Cook's Illustrated"; Pizza Dough; May 1995
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