Crispy pizza at home: tips for the perfect crust (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a crispy pizza crust? ›

To achieve a more crispy crust, you'll need to add more water to the dough formula. This allows the dough to be a little more fluid and expand more readily during those first few critical minutes in the oven.

By baking the pizza directly on a preheated surface that provides concentrated, constant heat, you give the thinly-stretched dough the right environment to rise and bake through from the bottom while the top cooks from the ambient heat of the oven.

High heat for quick cooking is one of the best ways to get a good crispy pizza crust, so pre-heating your pizza stone or pan will help a lot. Take care when placing your pizza on a hot surface. Use the wrong type of cheese on a pizza and it can really affect your pizza base.

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, spread a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil over your pizza pan. This will help the pizza crust crisp up in the oven and also add a nice flavor.

If you don't have a baking steel or stone, you can bake your pizza on a preheated metal half-sheet pan. By preheating, the pan absorbs heat, allowing it to deliver it to the bottom of your pizza when the dough is placed on top.

The best oven temperature for pizza is between 450 and 500 degrees F (250 to 260 degrees C). Pizza ovens cook at temperatures between 800 and 900 degrees F. You can't get that hot in your home oven, but the higher you can go, the better. Place a pizza stone on a lower oven rack.

For Crispy and Chewy Pizza Crust, Use 00 Flour

00 flour is finely ground Italian flour that contains about 12% protein, or 12% gluten. It's the traditional flour used to make Neapolitan-style pizza.

A nibbed pizza pan also speeds up the baking time for pizza dough and makes the crust crispier than a standard solid pan. Perforated Pizza Pan - A perforated pizza pan has holes that allow air and heat to hit the crust directly for a crispier crust. This pan style also makes baking times much shorter.

How do I make my pizza crust more crispy? ›

As you are rolling out and topping your first pizza, switch your oven to broil. Right before you launch, swtich your oven back to bake or convection bake 500F. The idea is to get your Steel even hotter than 500 F for this thin crust bake. It really helps crisp up that bottom.

Bake: Bake pizza in the 475°F oven, one at a time, until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more cheese.

For Crispy and Chewy Pizza Crust, Use 00 Flour

00 flour is finely ground Italian flour that contains about 12% protein, or 12% gluten. It's the traditional flour used to make Neapolitan-style pizza. Since its gluten content is similar to bread flour, it also produces a pizza crust with chew.

A preheated pizza stone puts the crust in contact with a hot surface right away, giving it an immediate surge of heat energy. Combined with the moisture reduction, the crust should end up crispier than it would without the stone.

A: Eggs, as either whole eggs or as egg whites, have been added to pizza dough for many years and for different reasons. Whole eggs can be added to the dough to provide better browning characteristics to the dough. To some extent, they also provide a richer flavor.