Tips for cooks who prepare their own pizzas!

Hey Steemheads, you probably already make a great pizza, but I have a couple tips you can experiment with! I grew up in a little city called Windsor, the pizza capital of the world! Windsor takes on a very distinct style of pizza, and because I was lucky enough to work in a few pizzerias growing up, I learned a lot of trade practices!

This blog post is going to be lean and to the point. I assume you already have the basics down, I only want to share potentially new information! I'll outline common mistakes I've made over the years I both do myself and see others doing.

#1 - Proof your dough in dough balls, not all together at once! If you are struggling to make your pizza round, it's likely because you didn't start with a dough ball, but something oblong shaped from cutting a giant dough ball in half! The slower you proof your dough, the more complex the flavour profile. Cold fermentation has advantages over warm, but I honestly do both depending on the situation.

#2 - Do not buy prepacked 'pizza' toppings. Go to a deli, ask for some spicy salami or sausage. These are both cheaper and superior quality to packaged pepperoni.

#3 - Factor in how wet your toppings are. Mushrooms, pineapple, and tomato have a lot of water content and slow the cooking phase. If the oven isn't hot enough, the water will soak into the dough instead of evaporating. Consider using less sauce, and less wet toppings. Less is more when it comes to pizza.

#4 - Oven temp should be as high as possible or safe. I have made stellar pizza in a generic electric oven many times, don't blame the tools! Add corn meal to the pizza pan underneath the dough to help crisp it up and prevent it from sticking.

#4 - Timers do not work with pizza. Toppings create variables in cooking time. The only way to know if a pizza is done is to thoroughly observe the colour on the bottom of the crust. Sit in front of your oven and pretend it is a TV, because a perfectly cooked pizza is a small window of time!

#5 - Pizza is more than sauce, cheese, and meat. Consider crushed fennel seed, fresh chiffonade basil (once out of the oven), homemade pizza sauce, and fresh garlic! You wouldn't believe how many spices and ingredients you already have that can enhance a basic pizza!

Pizza is difficult to make perfectly, it takes a lot of focus and control over the variables. I am often not satisfied with one of my pizzas, I am always critical and find that I typically sabotage myself by rushing. Enjoy these pictures!