Have you ever made pizza at home, but been disappointed by a soggy or undercooked crust? There are tools and tricks to make homemade pizza just as good as delivery, whether you like thin or thick crust.
Using a Baking Stone
A baking stone, or pizza stone, is a large piece of thick, ceramic tile that sits on the rack of your oven. By preheating the stone along with the oven to a high temperature—think in the 450°F to 500°F range—it picks up and retains a ton of heat that provides exceptional browning for your bottom crust.
Using a baking stone works for all pizza styles, but is essential for thin-crust recipes.
Pizza is generally laden with some kind of sauce, cheese, and possibly additional toppings, all of which apply weight and moisture to the pizza dough. You may have tried to bake pizza on a baking sheet before, only to be disappointed by tough edges and a floppy or even raw center. This happens when the pizza receives most of its heat from the top, cooking through the toppings before the crust has a chance to rise and bake.
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. Remember, especially with thin crust pizza, it’s better to be conservative on the toppings so as not to weigh the dough down. A little sauce goes a long way!
