Have you ever gotten into the dilemma of having your mother ask you if her homemade pizza is better than the famous pizzerias? We’re usually stumped to answer this question because on one hand we love our moms and their cooking, but they just doesn’t have the secret sauce to everything does she?
Well if you’re a good boy/girl like the entire Alf Hana staff, you can’t to lie to your mother about her homemade pizza. If you hate to disappoint her, you can now change that by giving her some tips and secrets for a successful homemade Italian pizza just like the one you order from restaurants. So the next time she asks, you don’t have to make the verbal acrobatics of minding her sensitivities and just send her here…
Making the perfect homemade pizza has never been so simple
As we all know, pizza has always been one of our favorite foods to have, suitable for any type of outing like a date, a quick order, or a friendly hang out. We’ve all dreamt of making the perfect homemade pizza, and our mothers have all claimed to make it better than akl el shaware3.
Well, to finally be able to wholeheartedly reassure your mom about the quality of her usually doughy homemade pizza, here are 6 secrets that can make a huge difference for THE tastiest homemade pizza without destroying your whole kitchen for a pizza oven.
Keep it Warm
To get the softest possible kneadable dough, prepare the dough in a warm environment for an hour to be exact. This process helps you shape the dough as you please and get the thickness you like. If you don’t have a warm environment to support that, then simply turn on your stove and place the dough on it for a few seconds after you prepare it. Don’t go over a few seconds though, as you don’t want to knead semi-cooked dough.
Mind Your Yeast
The yeast is what makes or breaks the pizza-dough. Yeast is one of this forgettable kitchen ingredients that can hang around in a cupboard for years untouched. So make sure your yeast is not too old or expired because you don’t want too much rise on your homemade pizza. With the right amount and state of yeast, you can get that right mixture and consistency of your pizza dough. Don’t underestimate what such a small thing can give your pizza.
Use Lukewarm Water
It’s probably obvious by now how important temperature is for a perfect pizza. Adding some lukewarm water to your flour will further help your yeast react with the dough and give you a perfectly kneadable homemade pizza. However, remember to never use water that is cold or boiling hot. Yeast multiplies at 35-45 degrees Celsius, meaning that using lukewarm or slightly above room temperature water is how you get the perfect yeast environment for your dough. If you use boiling water, well you’re killing your yeast along with your chances of getting pizzeria-grade results.
You Don’t Need to Knead
We know it sounds counterintuitive to tell you not to knead your dough. We’ve been telling you to prepare it for kneading throughout this list. What we’re saying here is that you shouldn’t knead the dough right after making it. Just make sure to cut it into circles and let it rest for the appropriate amount of time until you’re ready to spread it, then flip and knead away!
Turn Up the Heat
Ok so once you’re done with the dough, the homemade pizza making is just a piece of cake. All you need is to add your sauce and prepared toppings and into the oven. Just make sure to turn the oven WAY up to the highest temperature for about 10 minutes before placing your pizza. Then turn it down JUUST a little bit when you place your pizza. That will get you a really crunchy crust, just like how the Napolitanos make it.
Use A Thin Pan
You know in all these pizza making videos we slober over hoping to learn the secrets of the trade, they just push the dough into a stone oven unsupported. If you’re like us normal middle class chefs, you probably can’t afford a whole authentic pizza oven for your homemade pizza endeavors. To not get chubby dough, and for the closest thing to original pizza consistency, try using a thin, almost infinitesimal pan.
After following these six golden rules for a delicious Italian pizza, you can add whatever toppings you’d like and stuff it however you prefer. Use these tips and thank us later. And as always, Alf Hana!