Some easy tips for homemade pizza – Pizza Clack

I've been making a lot of pizza lately, and have come up with a few tips to help you make your pizzas even better!

I have the tendency to fall into cooking ruts. For a while, I was making a big pot of curry about once a week. These days I’m doing the same with homemade pizza. It’s true what they say, practice makes perfect, and through all of my pizza making, I have learned a few tips that have really helped my pizza improve.

I figured that many of you would be putting together some homemade pizza pies for the big game coming up this Sunday, so here are some tips for you.

Don’t over-sauce: If you’re like me, you love tomato sauce. For a long time, I was a little heavy with the amount of sauce I was using on my pizzas. Sometimes, it would even leak over the side of the crust, dripping into my oven and making a big mess. Even if it doesn’t make a mess, it makes the crust kind of soggy. My advice is to go light on the sauce, and if you love it as much as I do, add some to the top of the pizza after it comes out of the oven.
Pizza stones aren’t all they are cracked up to be: I’ve always had bad luck with pizza stones. For one, they are hard to get pizza onto. You need a peel, and I just don’t have room in my kitchen for one. Plus, my pizzas have always stuck to the peel when I have used one. I’ve found that a nice pan with holes in it does a great job in getting a nice, crisp crust.
Easy on the fresh mozzarella: If you like to use fresh mozzarella, as I do, you have to be very careful with it. The stuff melts and flows like crazy. If you’re going to use it instead of the more conventional cheese, make sure that you slice it very thin and don’t cover 100% of the pizza. There is going to be some spreading of the cheese, and if you have too much on, it’s going to run off the crust and make a mess on the bottom of your oven. I usually go for 75-85% coverage and find that it works really well.
Pierce the crust: Avoid those big crust bubbles by taking a fork to the rolled out dough. It’s also a great way to work out your frustration, wildly stabbing at the dough. I love doing it, but maybe that’s just me.
Salt the crust: This is really important. Right before popping your pie into the oven, sprinkle some salt around the crust edges. The result is a tasty little surprise when you reach the end of your slice.

I hope your pizza turns out as well as mine have recently.