Jiffy is one of the most well-known staples in American kitchens. The company is regarded as having one of the best cornbread mixes on the market. However, many people don’t know that Jiffy also has its own pre-boxed dry pizza crust mix sold in the traditional white and blue box.
Jiffy’s pizza crust mix is a quick and easy way to make a simple, great-tasting pizza. It’s an American classic that’s been around for decades and has become a household staple. While it can’t beat the flavor you’d get from baking your own authentic Neapolitan-style pizza dough, it still makes for a soft, delicious pizza dough that’s close enough to the real deal.
I’ve had a number of my readers ask me my opinion on premade pizza dough mixes, so I decided that I would try out the most popular brand and report back to everybody. After a couple of hours of research, I landed on Jiffy’s old-fashioned pizza crust in a box. Below, you’ll find my honest opinion on this American classic.
Jiffy Pizza Crust: Flip or Flop?
Now, I’m somewhat of a pizza snob, so my opinion is certainly objective. I grew up in a family where homemade pizza was a regular thing. In fact, by the time I was a teenager, I was so sick of pizza that I took a five-year break from it during college. Since then, my love for the traditional Italian dish has returned, but I’ve focused almost exclusively on handmade, traditional techniques.
So, that being said, here is my opinion on the matter.
Dough Consistency
Making the dough is quite simple. You just add one pack of Jiffy crust mix to ½ cup of warm water. Then, you’ll either hand-stir or use a blender until the mixture turns into a thick dough. As long as your measurements were correct (mine were), the dough consistency should be thick and bouncy.
Now, compared to the traditional handmade crusts that I’m used to making, I have to say that Jiffy’s pizza crust seemed a bit flatter than I’m used to. The dough isn’t as thick and has a consistency that’s similar to biscuit dough.
Crispyness and Crust Texture
Once I finished adding my toppings and baking the pizza (I just made a simple mozzarella and pepperoni pizza), it was time to try the masterpiece that I had created…
To my surprise, it was actually quite delicious. Definitely not exactly what I’m used to, but the crust did have this wonderful flakiness that I’m not used to in traditional Italian-style pizza. This explains why the dough was somewhat biscuit-like.
If you want to ensure that your crust texture is the best, I definitely recommend using a clay pizza stone or a carbon pizza steel. These create a platform for the pizza crust where the heat will be evenly transferred across the dough surface and will result in a crispier, better-tasting pizza crust.
Flavor
Admittedly, the flavor of the Jiffy pizza crust could have been better. While the consistency was great, I found the flavor to be a bit lifeless. It tastes like a decent, bready dough. However, it lacks that extra depth that comes from using a higher-quality flour mixture with more grain proteins.
I’m also a fan of mixing in some herbs like rosemary into my homemade crusts. While I guess I could have done that, I wanted to give an unadulterated review without me modifying the recipe any. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t great.
Do I Need To Add Yeast To Jiffy Crust Mix?
Nope! I have to say; this is one of the things I really did like about Jiffy’s crust mix. The dried yeast is already pre-mixed into the flour mixture. After your combine your mix packet with warm water and whisk, the warm water will wake the yeast and cause it to activate and start eating the dough.
Is Jiffy Pizza Crust Healthy?
A box of Jiffy pizza crust has 700 calories, which is about average for 184 grams of dough mixture. The company has also made efforts to reduce its fat levels. In the late-90s, Jiffy pizza crust mix had a higher percentage of trans fats (unhealthy fats which clog arteries). Today, however, Jiffy’s pizza crust mix has 0grams of trans fat.
How Much Pizza Will One Box Of Jiffy Crust Make?
With my single box of Jiffy pizza crust mix, I was able to make a 9-inch pizza that had an average thickness. This surprised me a bit, as I thought it would be enough to make a full 12-inch-wide pizza. Unless you’re making a super-thin-crust pizza, though, you’ll have to be content with a personal pizza. You can always double the mixture if you want a large family pizza, though.