Tips On Crafting The Perfect Pizza Crust

When it comes to pizza, crust is everything. Making your own crust is a bit tricky at first. It's a bit like baking your own bread. You'll get it wrong several times before you get it right. But trial and error is how you learn to make it perfectly, and crust made from scratch tastes so good it'll be well worth your efforts.

Making Your Own Dough

It takes time to make dough. Lots of people make extra and then flash freeze it for the next time they want to make pizza. This way, you only have to defrost it and it's ready to bake.

There are lots of different recipes for dough, but the basics are yeast, warm water, flour and a bit of olive oil and salt. One of the biggest mistakes people make when they do their own dough is that they try to 'eyeball' the ingredients. You should measure everything out carefully and follow the recipe perfectly.

You don't need to toss your dough all over the place like they do in the Italian restaurants. All you really need to do is to stretch it out and let gravity do its thing. The goal is to pull it down without smashing all the little air pockets that are going to provide the tastiness.

Taking your time and kneading your dough slowly will let it relax and it won't be so tough. It's especially important when you're new at making crust to take your time.

Rolling the Dough

Once your dough is all stretched out, take a roller to it. Roll the dough so that it's nice and thin. If the dough springs back while you're trying to shape it, that means it's not quite ready; let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the gluten will relax and then start working on it again.

Be gentle with your roller and don't obsess over getting it into a perfectly round shape. The shape doesn't influence the flavor, and an irregularly shaped pizza has rustic appeal!

One more step that you shouldn't forget is to pierce the dough with a fork. Put little holes all over the dough so that it won't all rise up into one huge bubble in the oven.

Enhancing Your Crust

When you get better at making your own crust, start experimenting by adding herbs to it while you're kneading. Great herbs include basil, garlic, oregano, parsley and rosemary. You can also try infusing ham into the crust.

You're not going to get it perfect the first time you try. Remember that it takes time and patience in order to bake the perfect pizza crust. But once you get the hang of it, your homemade pizza will taste much better than anything you can get carry out!

By: Andrew Stratton

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For pizza Crystal City residents call the shop that satisfies their appetite with world class pies. For locations and delivery information, check out www.pizzapaisanos.com/.