If you’re a pizza lover, you know that oven pizza has supreme taste and can’t compare to anything else. The only question is how to cook an oven pizza.
When cooking an oven pizza, you should heat the oven to 450-500 °F before you put the pizza inside. You should also use a pizza stone to get better results. Once you’ve made the dough and added some toppings, put the pizza onto the hot stone with a peel. The pizza is done once the crust gets slightly brown and the cheese melts.
As traditional wood fuel ovens are expensive and not very practical, people usually don’t have them at home. These are mostly used in restaurants and professional pizzerias when they are built and cost over $3,500. If you are trying to cook pizza in an oven on your own, you have a different solution. First, you can build this professional oven at your home and learn how to use it or find a similar portable electric version as a compromise. Lastly, you can use your classic oven and learn how to bake pizza inside of it.
Learn How to Cook an Oven Pizza at Home
Pizza is one of everybody’s favorite meals, so learning how to make it at home can be more than useful. You won’t need to rely on busy restaurants and available takeout options. There are a few steps you need to go through if you want to make a perfect pizza at home. Sure, it is essential that you know how to cook it, but you should also know how to make pizza crust, sauce, and toppings.
The First Step Is Heating the Oven
Generally speaking, pizza always turns out better when placed in a preheated oven. Heat a pizza oven at a temperature between 450 and 500 °F (250 to 260 °C). Some ovens can even reach temperatures of 800 to 900 °F. It is impossible to get a temperature that high at a regular home oven, but the more you can heat it up, the better.
Using Pizza Stone Is Recommended
One of the best tips for home-making pizza lovers is to at least invest in a good stone. This can help you achieve a similar taste to a professional built-in wood oven. You can get decent pizza stones at Amazon for approximately $30 to $40.
Place the stone on a lower rack and preheat the oven to 450 to 500 °F, as recommended. It is essential that the stone heats up while the oven is heating as well. For larger pizzas with a thick crust, it is best to keep the temperature around 400 °F so that the crust gets completely cooked before the toppings burn.
Next, You Want to Form the Pizza Dough
Forming pizza dough is the next step. You can top it with oil in order to achieve a golden crust and take your pizza peel. This instrument, which looks like a little shovel for your kitchen, should help you unpeel the pizza from the kitchen counter with ease. Once you get the pizza onto the peel, it is time to place it in the oven.
Slip the Pizza on the Preheated Stone
One of the tips you can use to prevent your dough from sticking to the peel is to jiggle it, which is why you’re maneuvering it from the kitchen counter into the oven. This will help the pizza to slide from the peel more easily.
First, gently place the peel’s tip on the back edge of the stone. With a swift motion, remove the peel from under the pizza, and it should land on the stone perfectly. Once you place it at the center of the stone, you can close the oven and let your masterpiece bake.
You Should Check the Pizza After Five Minutes
After five minutes, it is recommended that you check the progress and how the pizza is baking. If some parts turn brown faster than others, you can move the pizza using a spatula or put it back on the peel, rotate it, and then put it back on the stone. At this point, it shouldn’t be sticky, so there is nothing to worry about.
You can also remove the pizza halfway through baking to add more oil to the crust – this will make it even tastier and darken the crust. If you want to achieve the supreme garlic taste, adding oil with minced garlic is also a good idea.
The Pizza Is Done Once the Cheese Is Melted
How to know when your pizza is ready? The color usually means flavor. You can usually tell if it’s well done depending on the color of the cheese. If it’s melted and light brown, this means your pizza is done and ready for serving.
Once you believe the pizza is done, you should carefully remove it using the peel and let it cool off. You can also add some fresh toppings. Don’t forget to cut it into nice triangle pieces while it’s hot – it will be easier to serve later.
Just to make sure you didn’t miss any of the necessary steps, take a quick look at this table.
| Step 1 | Preheat the oven and the stone |
| Step 2 | Form the pizza dough |
| Step 3 | Put the pizza on the hot stone |
| Step 4 | Check the progress after 5 minutes |
| Step 5 | Take out the pizza when the cheese gets browny and melts down |
Now That You Know How to Cook Pizza at Home, You Can Experiment With Different Flavors
Apart from being one of the most popular dishes in the world, pizza is also the coolest because it leaves you with so much space for experimenting. Once you master the cooking part, you can start trying out different recipes. Try achieving different crusts by changing the thickness and oven temperature and adding some interesting new toppings you never tried before.
This will leave you excited to try new things every day. Just don’t forget to preheat your oven and stone. If you follow the basic heating rules and have all the necessary equipment that can replace a traditional wooden oven, every pizza should turn out nicely baked.