Is there anything better than a fresh slice of pizza pie? The melty cheese, flavorful crust and delectable toppings all meld together to create the ultimate comfort food that’s as good leftover as it is hot.
Have you ever tried to make pizza in your oven and it kinda just turned out okay? The crust was too crusty and the cheese was greasy and weird. In the end, you wished you had ordered in.
The truth is, you don’t have to go to your local pizza parlor for your next great slice. If you want to learn how to make pizza at home, you just need the right equipment. Follow our guide below and you’ll be throwing an unforgettable make-your-own pizza night at home ASAP.
This guide will cover:
- Making easy pizza dough
- Cooking pizza perfectly and the best pizza makers for beginners
- Storing leftovers for optimal freshness
Step 1: Making Your Pizza Dough
There are tons of websites and recipes for pizza dough out there that you can follow when using any of these tools. Grab your favorite, mix together a little flour, olive oil and yeast and let’s get to work.
One of the most under-appreciated tools in the kitchen is the scale. There are many chefs out there who prefer it to the measuring cup for one reason: accuracy. It’s unparalleled in accuracy, especially when it comes to measurements for baking. This is especially important when making dough that will rise properly and has the right texture. All DIY pizza makers should invest in a cooking scale, like this top-rated one from Ozeri.
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Ozeri Digital Multifunction Kitchen and Food Scale
It has options for converting between five different units of measurement and clearly displays all results in an LCD screen.
Buy a Dough Scraper
When mixing, rolling and tossing around your dough (fun!), you’ll want a pizza dough scraper. They’ll help you make sure no bit of delicious dough gets left behind and all ingredients get mixed in properly.
This pizza dough scraper is flexible to allow for easy scraping in bowls and has good grips for clearing every nook and crevice. Use the flat edge or rounded edge depending on the surface. For home pizza makers, this tool is about to be your new best friend.
Make Sure You’ve Got a Mixer With a Dough Attachment
If you do even a little bit of baking, then an electric mixer is a worthwhile addition to your kitchen arsenal. It can save you a lot of time and energy when mixing large amounts of thick dough — like pizza dough.
This mixer is affordable, and with 300 watts of power, it can handle even the stickiest of pizza doughs. It’s got two beaters, two whisks and two dough attachments so you’ll be ready to take on any and all recipes.
Step 2: Cooking Your Pizza
There are a few different options for cooking dough successfully in your kitchen without having an actual stone fire pizza oven.
Pizza stones are the latest and greatest addition to trendy pizza making. They take your “fine” baking-sheet-in-oven pizza and elevate it to new levels by providing more even heat distribution. There are two different types of pizza stones — ceramic and steel. We’ll talk through both and give our favorite options.
Unicook Heavy Duty Ceramic Pizza Stone
This ceramic pizza stone from Amazon can handle temperatures up to a toasty 1,450℉ and will evenly cook your pizza crust to perfection in any oven. It’s made of FDA approved Cordierite stone and has prime thermal shock resistance. It’s a must-have for any aspiring home pizza chef. To use a pizza stone properly, simply sprinkle the top with a light layer of cornmeal before popping your creation in the oven.
Baking Steel Original Ultra Conductive Pizza Steel
Now, a pizza steel is a slightly different tool. It’s made from ultra-conductive steel and cooks your pizzas a little faster. The drawback is some say they don’t cook as evenly as ceramic stone, but if speed is what you’re looking for, this one’s great.
The Best Pizza Makers for At-Home Slices
Beyond pizza stones for your oven, there are a few other pizza-specific kitchen appliances you can purchase. If you’re a bonafide pizza lover who wants to learn how to make pizza at home, then consider investing in a pizza maker. The best pizza makers help you whip up a tasty pizza with minimal effort.
Pizzacraft Pizzeria Pronto Stovetop Pizza Oven
This stovetop pizza oven uses your burners to heat to up to 600℉ in 15 minutes and cooks pizzas in six. It’s got a pizza stone built right in to cook crust to perfection, doors to keep the heat in and silicone grips to protect your hands when it’s ready.
Courant Pizza Maker
If you’re looking for something to plug into your wall instead, check out this easy-to-use pizza maker. It’s like a panini press for pizzas, and it’s made with non-stick metal. This pizza maker self-regulates its temperature so that your crust is cooked to perfection every time.
OXO Good Grips Pizza Cutter
Once you’ve made a perfect pie, you’ll want to make sure it’s sliced correctly. For this very important job, we recommend OXO Good Grip’s pizza cutter. It’s easy to use, cuts right through on the first try and easy to clean.
Step 3: Storing Leftovers Properly
One of the best parts of enjoying pizza is saving some for later. Leftover pizza makes a great snack after a night out or even breakfast the morning after. (You know you’ve done it too…)
Silicook Transparent Food Storage Container
For keeping your pizza as fresh as possible, slice it up and throw it in a well-sealed transparent plastic container, like this one from Silicook.
The flat shape is ideal for pizza, and it will also help optimize space in your fridge for easy storage.