Let's be honest, takeout pizza can't beat homemade pizza. Over the years, we have taught many pizza making classes to bakers of all skill levels. Here are the top 6 pizza making mistakes we see all the time.
Too Much Cheese
You might think that there is no such thing as too much cheese (we used to think that too) but when it comes to pizza, a heavy hand with the cheese can mean bad things: 1) too much cheese normally means a lot of grease; 2) a pizza can only hold so much cheese. Add just enough to cover the sauce or the pizza is going to fall apart under the weight of all that dairy.
Too Many Toppings
Just like too much cheese can create pizza problems, so can adding too many toppings. Not only will the pizza be too heavy for the dough, it can also mean uneven cooking. The more toppings the more time they’ll take to cook. Meanwhile, the crust will cook at its normal cooking time. This means an overly cooked crust (aka burned) or undercooked toppings.
Thin Dough
In making a thin crust, there is the desire to roll out pizza dough as thin as it will possibly go. The risk to this is that rolling dough so thin that it will either tear before it’s topped, or that it just won’t support the sauce, cheese and toppings after it is baked. Roll out the dough carefully and stop before it begins to look weak.
Soggy Dough
Soggy pizza can happen for a number of reasons (adding toppings that release too much water, for example). The number one reason, however, is that the pizza wasn’t baked in a hot enough oven. Give the oven time to heat up to 500 degrees, or as close to that as possible. The hotter the oven the better the pizza will be and the faster it will cook.
Jumping the Gun
As soon the pizza is in the oven, the whole kitchen fills with the amazing aroma of homemade pizza. It’s tempting to eat it right away. Keep in mind that a pizza generally needs about 3-4 minutes more in the oven after it looks done. Make sure that the dough underneath the toppings is completely cooked through.
Not Allowing to Cool
Patience is not a virtue everyone possesses, especially when it comes to pizza. Two to three minutes of cooling after it comes out of the oven, it will make all the difference. Not only will the cheese have time to set, but you also can avoid burning the roof of your mouth! Just like anything, the more you practice the more confident you will be when it comes to throwing together a homemade pizza. Remember these 6 common mistakes next time you return to the kitchen to whip up a pizza.
