All About Baking a Pizza

Introduction

There are many ways to bake a pizza at home but they all have the same goal: very hot base so moisture is not trapped between the crust and the heating surface.

Pan Pizza Method

This is my favorite method. It is easy, little cleanup, and the crust turns out nice and crisp.

This is ready to go into the oven. I can't wait!

Put the pan on the bottom rack at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese is slightly brown.

Pizza Stone Method

This is the type of pizza stone I use. The goal of a pizza stone is to emulate the pizzeria oven which has a hot, hot, hot stone base (really made from sand) that gives pizza its crisp, brown bottom.

The stone needs to be on the lowest rack and preheated at 400 degrees for a 30 minutes so it is nice and hot when the pizza goes on it. I sprinkle some cornmeal on it to prevent sticking.

Slide the pizza on the hot stone in the oven with a pizza peel. Cook the pizza until the cheese is slightly brown.il the cheese is slightly brown.

Pizza Pan Method

The pizza is placed on a pan which in turn is placed on an oven rack. Typically, the pizza is cooked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so. This method is best for frozen pizzas and not homemade ones since the results are marginal.