What is the secret to a good pizza crust?

There are many tricks to achieving a tasty, homemade pizza dough that rises into a beautiful pizza crust, such as making sure your ingredients are at right temperature , using half bread flour for a stronger dough and half all-purpose flour for a nice rise, substituting honey for sugar to help caramelize the crust and ...

What is the most important ingredient in pizza dough?

Flour is the main ingredient in pizza dough , and the type you use can have a big effect on the end result. All-purpose flour will work fine, but if you want a chewier crumb and a better hole structure, you should consider buying yourself some high protein bread flour.

Do you put olive oil on pizza dough before baking?

Adding oil to your pizza dough makes it crispier once baked . The oil creates an impermeable layer that moisture, such as that present in tomato sauce, cannot easily penetrate. In other words, olive oil in pizza dough prevents sauce from absorbing into the dough and making it floppy.

What makes pizza crust taste better?

Oil brushed – Brushing the dough with garlic butter is a popular and easy starting point that has improved the taste of many pizza crusts.

What makes pizza dough more crispy?

The secret to a more crispy pizza crust is probably not what you think. You might assume that less water will result in a crispier crust. But you'd be wrong. To achieve a more crispy crust, you'll need to add more water to the dough formula .

What can I add to pizza crust to make it better?

A little bit of salt goes a long way. Salt adds flavor, strengthens the gluten (creating a chewier crust), and slows down fermentation (resulting in a better rise).

How long should pizza dough rest at room temperature?

Place the dough in our Baking Steel Dough Container or a bowl and cover with a damp, clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out and developing a skin. Place on counter and let sit 12-24 hours at room temperature.

Which 2 types of flour make the best pizza dough?

The best flour for making Deep-Dish Pizza Dough is all-purpose flour . In bakeries and pizzerias, Pizza Flour is often used because it is a high-protein flour that produces a light and airy crust. However, all-purpose flour will also work well for Deep-Dish Pizza Dough.

What makes pizza dough rise more?

You can use a few methods to help pizza dough rise faster. One is to use baking soda and a warm water mixture . Another is to use a warm environment, such as an oven with a light or microwave. Finally, adding yeast and sugar can help the dough rise.

How long should pizza dough rest before being stretched?

If your pizza dough is quickly snapping back or difficult to stretch, your dough is too tight. Cover your dough with plastic wrap and let it sit for 10-15 minutes . After a bit of rest, the gluten in the dough will relax, making the process of stretching much easier.

What temperature should you cook pizza dough at?

The best oven temperature for pizza is between 450 and 500 degrees F (250 to 260 degrees C). Pizza ovens cook at temperatures between 800 and 900 degrees F. You can't get that hot in your home oven, but the higher you can go, the better. Place a pizza stone on a lower oven rack.

Why add sugar to pizza dough?

Sugar not only adds flavor, but is helpful in the fermentation of the yeast . It will also give your dough that lovely golden brown color diners are looking for. Additionally, sugar increases the moisture retention of your dough, tenderizing the crust.

The Perfect Pizza Crust Recipe: How To Make It (2024)

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We've made the perfect pizza crust!! After countless flours, countless recipes, and countless methods of preparation, we've done it! The search is over! And what is the secret? As the many Italian pizzerias will attest to, it's the flour! Ever since we've started using the "00" flour we've found that our pizza comes out exactly as we want it -- thin, crispy, and chewy. We want to taste the wonderful sauce, cheese, and toppings. Let us show you how to make the perfect pizza crust recipe.

For this recipe you will need: Italian "00" flour, instant yeast, olive oil, water, sea salt.

The Perfect Pizza Crust Recipe: How To Make It (1)

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The secret for the perfect pizza crust recipe
How to form the easy pizza crust
How to Make The Perfect Pizza Crust Recipe
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

The secret for the perfect pizza crust recipe

The secret is in the flour. The Caputo flour is imported from Italy and Italian flour is best for pizza crust and pasta. It's classified as 1 . . . .0 . . . .or 00.

This refers to how finely ground it is and how much of the bran and germ have been removed. The 00 is the most highly refined and it's perfect for making authentic Italian pizzas. You know, the pizzas that have a light crisp crust with a nice tender bite.

The Perfect Pizza Crust Recipe: How To Make It (2)

Have you ever tried to roll out pizza dough and it's a fight between you and that white ball?!

What do you do? If you were me before I found this flour, you let it rest, you cajole it, you even curse it. But still, no luck, it stubbornly retracts into a small round circle.

Not this dough! It's so relaxed, just hanging out to make the perfect crust for the pizza.

Where did we get the 10- 2-pound bags of Italian 00 flour? Where we normally get unusual items --Amazon. This particular vendor had free shipping so that's the way we went.

The Perfect Pizza Crust Recipe: How To Make It (3)

This Italian 00 flour isn't just for pizza dough, you can also use it for fresh pasta. We make lots of fresh pasta. Nothing beats homemade, that's for sure.

If you like fresh pasta here are some recipes...

Lamb Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce

Homemade Italian Ravioli with Meat and Cheese Sauce

Italian Spinach Ricotta Beef Ravioli

Triple Mushroom Ravioli With Cheese

Those little delicious pockets of pasta are scrumptious. Try them out!

How to form the easy pizza crust

Now for the pizza, oncewe rolled out the dough, weplaced it on a peel, or you can put it onthe back of a cookie sheet, sprinkled with corn meal.

We lightly coated the surface of the doughwith olive oil then dressed it with our homemade pizza/dipping sauce with basil.

We added the fresh mozzarella slices on top and sprinkled a few arugula leaves on it.

You can add whatever toppings you like -- the pizza dough bottom holds the toppings and compliments whatever you put on it. We love personalizing pizzas and making them to everyone's taste.

Chef note:

If you can't find "00" flour, use all-purpose flour in the same quantity. Our flour of choice is King Arthur flour but you can use another good quality flour.

Tutti a tavola è pronto!

Un caro saluto e alla prossima.

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This is similar to the Caputo "00" Flour that we get from Amazon. If you're lucky enough to have an Italian Market nearby you'll probably be able to find it there. Unfortunately we'd love to have a lot of Italian products near us. I'd be at the store all of the time! Let me know if you have an Italian store near you. What is your favorite thing to buy there?

The Perfect Pizza Crust Recipe: How To Make It (5)

The Perfect Pizza Crust Recipe: How To Make It (6)

The Perfect Pizza Crust Recipe: How To Make It (7)

How to Make The Perfect Pizza Crust Recipe

Once you make this recipe you'll know that this is the only recipe you'll ever need or want. It's easy to work with and produces an amazing crust. It won't wimp out under your toppings. In fact, it is the ideal foundation for what ever pizza you want to build. We know you'll love it as much as we do.

If you like this recipe, please consider giving it a 5-star rating.

📖 Recipe

The Perfect Pizza Crust {Il Perfetto Crosta di Pizza}

Authentic type Napoletana pizza crust made with Caputo 00 flour and following the Caputo Pizza dough recipe. The crust is light and crisp with a tender bite. It holds up beautifully to all of your toppings.

4.94 from 83 votes

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Course: Casual Dinner, Lunch Dish

Equipment Needed

Ingredients

4 cups Caputo Tipo 00 Flour (500 grams) Use all-purpose flour if you can't find the "00".
1 ½ Cups Water (355 grams) Approximate
1 ½ Teaspoons Sea Salt ( 9 ⅛ grams) If using table salt, use 1 ¼ tsp.
½ Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast (2 grams)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin Olive Oil (27 grams)
Pinch of Sugar

Instructions

There are several methods of mixing up the dough: food processor {method we use}, table mixer, by hand.
Food Processor: mix the flour, salt, yeast, sugar in bowl. Pulse a few times. Put the olive oil into 1 ½ cups of water. Slowly start the processor and add the liquid. If the dough seems too dry add more water -- a little at a time until it forms a smooth soft dough. Form into a ball.
Table Mixer -- Mix the ingredients together in the mixing bowl to form a soft dough. The dough will still be tacky. Time varies but the dough comes off the sides of the bowl. Let rest for 10 minutes, then knead for 5 minutes.
By Hand -- Mix all the ingredients together to form a soft dough. Let it rest for 10 minutes, then knead for 7 to 8 minutes until smooth.
Once you've kneaded the dough, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise for 1 ½ hours to 2 hours or until the dough doubles in size. Punch the dough to de-gas it and divide it into 3 equal sized balls and place each in a zip lock bag that has been coated with vegetable spray.
Keep in the refrigerator overnight. The next day you can either freeze the dough or make it into a pizza. Before using the dough be sure to let it warm to room temperature (72F or more) -- this is a must. Think of a pizza kitchen and how warm it is.
When ready to bake - preheat oven to 550 ℉ or the highest your oven will bake. Bake your favorite pizza for 7-10 minutes or until the crust is done to your likeness. Every oven will bake differently so keep an eye on it.

Notes

We have not been compensated by Caputo in any way.

Nutrition

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This recipe has been updated from the original April 2014 version in order to provide a better experience for our readers. Last update May 2019.