Homemade Pizza - Tips and Tools For the Best Results

Pizza is popular, no doubt about it. It's a simple food that evolved from the fast flatbreads, or focaccia, eaten in Italy as a quick meal.

We used to have it at home on Saturday nights, or even for lunch on school days. In those days, the pizza was made from a box mix. Those remain available. You can also buy frozen dough and canned sauce separately.

We like to make our dough from scratch, and use a canned sauce for convenience. After making thousands of pizzas over the years, we've learned some tips and tricks!

For a great homemade pizza:

• Coat the dough lightly with olive oil before putting it in a bowl to rise. This prevents the surface from drying out.
• Use fresh ingredients, especially the cheese, meat and peppers.
• We like meat on pizza, but it can make it too greasy. To avoid this, precook the meat and drain well on paper towels before adding to your pizza.
• Bake in a hot oven, 500 degrees or hotter if your oven goes that high.
• Those lucky enough to have an outdoor, wood-burning oven, trying baking your pizza there. Be sure to turn the pizza during baking for even cooking.
• Use double potholders or thick oven mitts to handle the hot pizza, especially if you're using a ceramic baking stone.

If you cook much, you probably have most of the tools in your kitchen to make a pizza already. In addition to measuring cups (liquid and dry) and measuring spoons, here are tools that will help if you're just starting with homemade pizza:

• Bowl - Use a heavy Pyrex glass or ceramic bowl to retain warmth and allow your crust to rise evenly
• Cover - A clean cloth or dish towel keeps out cool drafts, and prevents the dough from drying out on the surface
• Ceramic pizza stone - best for even baking
• Metal baking sheet - light weight and easy to store
• Pizza cutter - Choose a model with guarding between the handle and the blade to prevent cuts

Armed with a few tools and easy techniques, you'll be making great pizza at home in no time!

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