5 reasons your homemade pizza is terrible (or meh)
If you've tried making pizza at home, odds are good that you've turned out some pretty mediocre pies.
Not disgusting pizza...just very meh pizza.
I spent years making unremarkable pizza myself, despite having a pizza stone.
And then Cook's Illustrated changed my pizza-making game.
Now I know how to produce pizzas with a browned, bubbly, chewy crust. Totally not meh!
If you're happy with your homemade pizzas, then just ignore this post.
But if your homemade pizzas kind of suck, I am here to help.
This is fixable! You too can make good pizza at home.
Here's what you are probably doing wrong.
1. Your oven is not hot enough.
You need a hot, hot, hot oven for good pizza.
350°F is not going to cut it; your pizza will be pale and flabby.
For a nice browned, bubbly crust, five hundred degrees+ is where it's at.
Basically, as hot as your oven goes is the correct heat for pizza. I bake mine at 525° and they are done in about 8 minutes.
2. You didn't preheat your pizza stone.
When I first got a pizza stone, I put my pizza dough on it cold and just stuck the whole thing in the oven.
(I want to go back and have a chat with myself about that. No wonder my pizza was meh!)
Your pizza stone needs to be piping hot by the time your pizza dough hits it. I put my stone into the cold oven, turn it on to 500°F, and leave it for an hour while the dough rises.
Then I can use a pizza peel (an overturned cookie sheet works too) to slide the pizza (on parchment paper) onto the hot stone.
(I just use a basic pizza stone, like this one. I think I got my current stone at Goodwill.)
3. You're using the wrong flour.
I've known for a long time that Gold Medal unbleached works way better for yeast doughs than store brand flour does.
But as much as I like Gold Medal flour, I have to say that it is not great for pizza. King Arthur bread flour is 100% the way to go for pizza dough.
This flour seriously improves the flavor and the texture of the finished pizza crust.
In fact, I consider it to be so essential that I will not even bother to make pizza if I don't have King Arthur bread flour on hand.
(King Arthur has no idea who I am, and I have no affiliation with them. This flour is just seriously good.)
4. You're using the wrong cheese.
Pizza is pretty minimalist when you get down to it, and as with any such dish, the quality of the ingredients really matters.
If you are using pre-shredded mozzarella or the cheap rectangles of mozzarella they sell at Aldi, you are missing out.
I like saving money as much as the next person, but when I'm making pizza, I always spring for the semi-soft one pound blocks of whole milk mozzarella.
Other mozzarella will work, but the flavor of this type of mozzarella is miles better than other mozzarella options.
A pound of it usually costs about $5-$6 in my area, but a pound will cover four homemade pizzas. That's only about $1.50 of cheese per pizza, and I think it's worth it!
5. Your sauce isn't that good.
This is another spot where quality really matters. A jar of watery store brand spaghetti sauce is going to put your pizza a little on the "meh" side of things.
I like to make a super simple no-cook sauce with canned diced tomatoes, but if you don't want to bother with that, buy a high quality jarred sauce (one that's good enough that you'd enjoy eating it by the spoonful).
Here's the recipe for the no-cook sauce I use.
Note: I know I said store-brand spaghetti sauce isn't good, but Aldi sells some decent marinara sauces. I consider Aldi to be an exception to the rule!
So.
To make great pizza, you need
- a 500°+ oven
- a thoroughly preheated pizza stone
- King Arthur bread flour
- a block of semi-soft mozzarella cheese
- a good sauce
Here's the basic pizza crust recipe I use, along with some shaping/baking instructions.
I've got a pizza YouTube video for you!
If you'd like to see me talk about this topic, plus see me make a pizza and slide it into the oven, well, I made a YouTube video.
If you have pizza tips to add to mine, please share in the comments.
P.S. If you think this post sounds like a bunch of way-too-picky pizza instructions, well, I wrote a post about why I think picky pizza instructions are important.
DelGrosso pepperoni flavored spaghetti sauce! It's a regional brand so may not be available everywhere but it is seriously delish.
@Bobi, I found DelGrosso pizza Sauce at Aldi’s
I've found the absolute best pizza sauce is Don Pepino. It makes pizza taste like it's restaurant-made. It has a very mild flavor but is so tasty.
Yes!!!!
Kristen, when you place the pizza in the oven onto the stone, do you leave it on the parchment paper or slide it off the parchment paper onto the stone? Thanks Mary
The parchment goes right onto the stone. The parchment and pizza both slide off the pizza peel together. 🙂
I think I need a pizza stone. Is it too early to start dropping hints to Santa?
@Darlene, pizza stones are ok but if you can afford one, get a baking steel. The original baking steel is really good. They are easier to clean and you can cook a lot of other foods on them. They retain more heat and do not break like a stone
Kristen,
This was very helpful!
Also, wanted to thank you for posting more than usual during this quarantine. Seeing a post from you makes me smile every time!!
Doesn’t the parchment paper that the pizza is on burn at 500 degrees?
If I leave a ring of parchment around the pizza, that does get kind of brown. But if I trim the parchment to be the shape of the pizza, all is well.
If you are feeling worried about it, you can usually slide the parchment right out from under the pizza after just a few minutes on the pizza stone. Then the pizza can just sit right on the stone for the rest of the baking time.
Your pizzas always look so yummy, but I'm afraid I am going to have to stick with a local Italian restaurant. It just looks like way to much work for me.
I think that's totally fine! No one should feel like they have to make pizza; I just offer these posts to help people who DO want to make it. 🙂
Enjoy your local pizza guilt-free.
We have read and tried and troubleshot every pizza dough recipe out there. We both love to cook and bake, make yeasted breads without any problem, but cannot make pizza dough work. It rolls out evenly but one side will expand and bubble up in the oven and the other side won't, even when we rotate the pan. Or it doesn't rise, or it expands way too much and drips all over the oven. There have been way too many ruined evenings and high tempers as a result of 'pizza night' here, so we buy the $2 premade crust (not the one in the tube) from the grocery store. Worth saving the headache and messy oven!
I think that seems like 100% the best decision! $2 is totally worth keeping the family happy, and no one should be made to feel less-than if they buy pizza crust. <3
Have you tried “docking” the dough? My wife actually sells dough dockers - they look like kinky rolling pins, but you can probably also use a fork. The point is to attach the top and bottom of the dough together to avoid bubbles. It doesn’t always work, which is why she also sells a bubble popper. 😉
Bubbles aren’t wrong. They are just something you need to manage. Sometimes they even taste better with a few bubbles.
Yep, we actually love the bubbles in the crust!
I use provolone along with mozzarella. I just break slices of it up and scatter it across the pizza before putting the mozzarella on. Love the extra flavor.
Hubby is going to have to watch as he is the pizza maker in our house. We usually buy store made pizza dough, quality sauce and cheese. The problem is with the dough. ☹️
I come from the region of "bar pizzas". I have 2 dough recipes I use. One is from America's Test Kitchen https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/10422-classic-pizza-dough I do have a copy of it if anyone would like it. My daughter likes this one too.
And I have another recipe that I have had for close to 40 yrs for dough. I always use a sharp cheddar cheese and supplement it with some mozzarella and/or parmesan.
I also have 3 well-aged pizza pans from a bar that I have used for almost 40 yrs. We have other pans and stones for when we have a family pizza gathering.
And I let my 40+ year old Kitchenaid with dough hook do the work.
I also found this site on one of my local FB pages this week about bar pizzas that kind of confirms how I do my pizzas: https://barpizzabarpizza.com/recipes/homemade-south-shore-bar-pizza-dough-recipe/?fbclid=IwAR2kBpL11g3HS7pC0xMJPmqkxXEnqgMd274o7Xgcz4xPPGG8gQqhv_La4Tw
It certainly reduces the cost of the pizza. I use quality cheese because less expensive cheeses make a pizza very greasy.
I long for a good yeasty, wheat-y pizza crust, but I'm gluten free now, so...
I make pizza on a cassava crust -- and for my husband's half (I also usually avoid tomatoes) I make pizza sauce out of organic tomato paste, Italian herb mix, and salt. A touch of red pepper would be nice, but he has lost his taste for red pepper these days. Sometimes I throw in a little garlic. Probably it's just me, but organic tomato paste tastes more like fresh tomatoes to me than non-organic.
Your pizza sounds so good, Kristen.
Is your cassava crust homemade? I've gone gluten free this past year and have been really disappointed by the pizza options. I miss real pizza dough!
I suggest trying the Fathead keto pizza dough on the Diet Doctor website, it's pretty decent (no grains at all, so GF)!
Ingredients do make a difference. I find that true when making pie crusts. You can really tell the dude with the quality flour and fat used.
I think this is especially true for dishes that don't have many ingredients. The fewer the ingredients, the more quality matters.
Once I invested in 00 flour, my pizzas went from quite good to great. Only thing holding back from fantastic now is heat. Need an oven that will get hotter. Been tempted by the pizza ovens now that the prices are within reach.
I'm also a big non-affiliated fan of KAF, but have you tried their Pizza Flour Mix - durum flour & all-purpose flour + a bit of baking powder for some rise
I use Rao's Marinara (yup - the NY restaurant with the famous meatballs)
...and a Big shout out to Paul Hollywood for introducing me to baking during COVID19
Oh, interesting! I didn't know they even had a pizza flour mix.
I would love to know where you find this! I can't even find bread flour right now, but I've never seen their pizza flour. A quick Amazon search turned up nothing.
I add garlic powder and oregano to my crust. Love the flavors it adds!
My home made pizza is better than any pizza I have bought comercially with exception of neopalitan style only be cause of the hight heat but mine is
Pretty close.
Everything you have mentioned to do it right I already have been doing without this you cant get blood out of stone, its a no brainer if you want a better product,just do it don't wish it.
ALL THESE THINGS! My pizza was Meh before your last tutorial which improved things x 1000. I pass the link to your tutorial to anyone making pizza. All these things make all the difference! I make pizza every Sunday night and that tutorial made our pizza so good I can't remember the last time we ordered out. I can't find King Arthur bread flour anymore since Covid hit, in March for my area. I can't find any bread flour actually, so I've been making it with store brand regular flour because that's all could find. Sad. Its still good bc of all the other tips, but I can't wait for the day I can find King Arthur! Thank you for sharing these awesome tips
Walmart has King Arthur Bread Flour available for delivery (or did a few weeks ago)
Unless I'm mistaken, isn't bread flour just normal flour with extra gluten added? A bag of vital wheat gluten off of Amazon will last you a long time.
I always wonder about the cost of running the oven at that temperature for so long. At that heat, it's hard to cook anything else, so I really hesitate to do it. 450 is about as high as I can muster, and I still feel like I'm being wasteful. Any thoughts?
Also, how about a few tips on making pizza on the BBQ, since summer's upon us?
cooks illustrated has a grilled pizza recipe. Its excellent.
Your electric company probably charges you about $.13 per kilowatt hour. At least that's what residential electricity costs here in San Diego. Most home ovens aren't that strong. Average is 2400 watts. Really strong oven might be 5000 watts. that means that if you run a 5,000 watt oven for 1 hour your electric bill will go up by .13x5 or 65 cents. Probably one of the least expensive parts of making the pizza. In other words a high end oven running at The highest temperature possible for 1 hour will only increase your electric bill by 65 cents. People think the things that we only use for an hour or two are what's sending up their electric bill when really it's a 100 watt light bulb that's on the garage 24 hours a day 7 days a week that starts to add up.
500f is where it is!! Cook's Country has a recipe for Chicago thin crust pizza. Its very good too.
"The hotter the better" is great and true... but with one caveat. If your pie is heavy on the toppings, you might want to reign in the heat just a little bit.
Excess sauce and toppings act like a barrier between the heat and your crust. This is especially true for the upper part of your dough in the very center of your pie. Too-high heat on a too-topped pizza can result in your cheese beginning to boil and your toppings beginning to burn, all while your center crust is still floppy!
This won't be an issue for most people, but it's worth noting for folks like my husband and I who use pizza as a clear-the-refrigerator dish. If you're making a normal pizza, go for 500° territory. If you're pizza is heaping, consider scaling it back.
Frugal Girl -
Love the post. Also - you should think about embedding the video at the bottom of the post, just a thought!
-Lanny
PS - Can't wait for pizza this weekend
Use tomato sauce, not marinara
I love this blog - very thoughtful, kind and positive, even when you are keeping it real 🙂
My first post after many years of reading.
You have inspired me to try new recipes (yogurt), reduce my food waste (big fail on that this week, but giving myself a pass as life is really upside down here), meal plan (a life saver over the years), and repurpose (painted furniture). Thank you very much.
I 100% agree on your great pizza suggestions. I recently found my new favourite pizza dough recipe on the bakingsteel website. The 72 hour pizza dough recipe that can be made anytime 3-7 days before you need it. Pull it out of the fridge 30-60 min before using. It doesn't require much kneading, mostly just a quick knead for a couple of minutes (see video) most of the mixing is done with a wooden spoon and the rise is in a large lidded container. It also doesn't require rolling - just flatten it out with your fingers and/or stretch it gently. There is also a cold rise dough recipe that takes up less room in the fridge as it doesn't rise much in the cold fridge and most of the rise happens after pulling out of the fridge 4-6 hours before using. I still use a pizza stone and parchment paper. I love using the regular rise recipe because the dough can be made on the weekend and we are still able to have homemade pizza on the table in an hour on a work night. Also for my fellow Canadians - all purpose flour in Canada has enough protein in it to use for making breads including pizza, I believe made from hard spring wheat, so no need to buy specialty bread flour when in Canada.
So glad you delurked to comment. Yay!
Olive oil is a must. Most are a mix of two or more oils get the “real virgin olive oil” if you like pepperoni get the real meat. Use fresh basil too. In your mozzarella topping add a spoonful of parmesan cheese.
My pizza tip - take a spaghetti sauce you enjoy, dump in a 6-oz can of tomato paste, a generous pinch of salt, and hit the whole thing with a stick blender (or just whisk really, really well to get the tomato paste mixed in well).
Best. Sauce. Ever.
I like starting with pretty much any tomato-based Classico sauce, but this method works well with any sauce you already know you like. The tomato paste thickens it up to pizza-sauce consistency, avoiding that watery problem.
Hi Kristen
Completely agree with you about the quality of the ingredients. I'll spring for the expensive canned tomatoes when I'm making my sauce and the good cheese.
For cooking pizza my game has been completely changed by using the Pizza Pilgrims (Posh London Pizza place that does excellent pizza) PDF instructions from their cook your pizza at home kit.
You cook the base in a screamingly hot frying pan (takes 2 min max), add the toppings and then finish it under the grill (broiler?) on the hottest setting (2 mins again):
https://www.pizzapilgrims.co.uk/fryingpanpizza/
I've had great success with Smitten Kitchen's Pizza dough- no kneading and you can mix everything up the night before and just leave it!
https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/10/lazy-pizza-dough-favorite-margarita-pizza/
Really enjoy reading your website, thanks for all the tips and recipes.
Cheers
Steph
After opening a jar of very good and very pricey sauce, I freeze what I don't need for pizza that night into small containers. This way I have exactly the quantity needed the next time we want to make pizza.
One question about freezing pizza dough. I have been using your grilled pizza dough recipe for years and always double it. I freeze half the dough for another time. The frozen dough is super good but not 100% as tasty as the freshly made dough. Any tips? As a single parent having frozen dough is a lifesaver.
I think it's important to slow rise overnight, builds much flavor and texture.
Aldi's Priano is freakin' AMAZING!!!
The hardest part about making pizza is finding a recipe for the style you have in mind. The points you made are great because they apply to most styles, but there's a lot of variation. A medium-thick American style pizza along the lines of Papa John's will do best with a 450-500 degree oven, bread flour or even high gluten, and a very dry mozzarella, while a Neopolitan style requires 700+ degree heat, 00 or AP flour, and a fresher wetter cheese. Between those extremes there's a whole spectrum of ideal combinations depending on your style, and many of the pizza failures I've had over the years were based on mixing bits of advice I'd encountered from various styles into one poorly thought out pie. I think most people reading a blog like this are looking for pizzas somewhere between American and New York styles, and the advice you're giving is great for that and avoids the pitfalls of other writers who push out rules for Neopolitan pizzas as though they're true of all pizza, leading to terrible results.
I put Italian seasoning, fresh garlic and Asiago cheese into the dough
Instead of pizza sauce, we spread garlic & herb butter on the entire crust, then top with cheese and other toppings. I like to make pizza sauce and put it on the side for dipping.
Warm low ph water with a teaspoon of sugar and added yeast has been a total game changer. Added to a high quality flour seasoned to tasted makes for a perfect crispy crust that had the perfect chew.
Hydration matter as a beginner start with e more forgiving recipie. Afterwards aim for 60% give or take. Takes that dense crust and makes it so much more flavor. High Hydration takes a little more skill to push even vs lower.
Ingredients matter.
+1 kingArthur
I use mozzarella and muenster. So delicious. I will try king Arthur flour thanks.
My pizza stone on the grill has become a staple of our pizza making Friday nights! Crust turns out fantastic.
Great information, here are the things i would suggest: 1. I use a blend of flours in my pizza--half is King Arthur bread flour, the remaining half is equal parts semolina and imported "00" flour. 2. I pre-bake my crusts for 3-5 minutes, then rub a small amount of olive oil over the whole thing before adding toppings-- this helps keep the crust from getting soggy. 3. Less is more when it comes to toppings. My pizza quality improved immeasurably when I started to go a bit lighter on toppings. 4
Once you get accustomed to making dough that you like, forget about measuring--- you will jnow by touch and sight when the dough ihas the correct hydration.and when it is ready to form into crusts. Enjoy!
Something I've started to do and it makes a huge difference is make the dough the day before, this gives the dough time to mature and it will have a much better flavor. You can leave the dough out on the counter for 24 hours or you can refrigerate it after it has risen.
Second- never use a rolling pin, you will push out the naturally formed bubbles in the dough. Learn how to stretch the dough, lots of YouTube videos online to help you out.
I prefer to use canned San Marzano tomatoes, drained, then hand crushed. I then add basil (don’t really like oregano), salt, pepper, etc. to taste. I also mix up the cheeses, using freshly shredded mozzarella, Italian fontina, parmigiana, etc.
My problem is that I cannot get the crust thin enough! I follow all the best practices for making the dough, as you recommend, using KAF, proofing overnight, not using a rolling pin. Any suggestions.
Hmm. That sounds like maybe a problem with dough that's too stiff, which could be caused by too much flour.
Another idea: have you tried rolling the dough out a bit and then letting it rest for 5-8 minutes before you do more rolling? That can help the gluten relax a bit and make the dough easier to roll out thin.
Let me know if that helps at all!
I use to use a pizza stone. No more. I have switch to cast iron. I butter it and spread parmesan cheese over the buttered cat iron. Wonderful crunchy crust.
I know you bought your flour in bulk. Did you really pay the shipping cost? The flour is $20 but the shipping is $21. That makes it more than $4 a bag. Did I miss something?
I did indeed. King Arthur flour runs that much in regular grocery stores around here, so even with the shipping, it made sense to me to buy it. It wasn't more expensive than the grocery store price, and it was actually available (at the time, stores here had no flour on the shelves).
I read all theses replies with great interest but will still go on buying the SPROUTS store here small pizzas they are very good and we don't eat pizza very often anyway--maybe once a month or so (I know I should put an apostrophe in that somewhere but I can't work out its place!)
Oh, I have never tried the Sprouts pizzas. Are they frozen? Or refrigerated?
Always add fresh basil to the pizza!
The pop ups on this page make it impossible to read any of this
King Arthur also sells a 00 pizza flour. When I make my pizza I use a poolish method. I like to use the pizza flour for the poolish and the bread flour for the final dough. Amazing taste.