What's the secret to a perfect pizza?

It’s a different story for us, dustypilot11; my oldest won't touch pizza from a local shop, she'll only eat it at home when I make it myself 🙂

cosmicstag52 said:Hands-on work—it’s all about getting into the groove and just enjoying the process. Once you really dive in, things start looking sharper and feeling smoother... which honestly makes it a win for everyone involved. ☕

I honestly feel like this applies to pretty much any dish you make, because everything just tastes so much more delicious when you actually cook with love... 😁

frozenangler12 said:It’s a different story for us, dustypilot11; my oldest won't touch pizza from a local shop, she'll only eat it at home when I make it myself 🙂

But it shouldn't be that different! 🙂 😁

One of the best pizzas I've had was at Fianona, specifically Fianona.
It has this certain flair to it, and I think it's a really great, unique combination. 😁

Well, she’s just a bit scattered, so I suppose it's only natural... 🤣

1. If you actually want to make decent pizza, start by binge-watching this YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/vitoiacopelli/videos

2. Getting the dough right is all about precision. Use this calculator to make sure your ingredient ratios aren't a disaster:

https://www.stadlermade.com/pizza-dough-calculator/

3. Don't even bother trying to make something edible using low-grade flour, cheese, sauce, or ham from your local grocery store. It’s a waste of time. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to drop links here, but this company imports high-end ingredients—I've personally ordered both my flour and tomato sauce from them...

https://laretofood.com/shop/

4. You need extreme heat. Crank that oven up as high as it goes and make sure you use a pizza stone. You absolutely have to preheat the stone for at least an hour before you even think about sliding a pie in...

Ingredients, obviously... you need dough that’s actually pliable enough to work with. It’s all about how you blend the flours—you really need a specific type of high-quality flour for this.
Then there's the tomatoes. Most stuff out there is just bland, tasteless junk. You want those special ones from a local farm, or better yet, some authentic San Marzano. I haven't been able to track those down at my local Walmart lately.🕺
Cheese?! Look, mozzarella is non-negotiable. But if you can get your hands on buffalo mozzarella? Man, it's a total game changer—the flavor is on a whole different level.
Ham?! Yeah, real ham. None of that processed substitute crap that doesn't even look remotely real...
I could go on forever with additions.
And you absolutely need the right temperature. My oven isn't exactly the hottest thing on the market, but hey, whatever. As long as that pizza stone gets screaming hot, we're good.
And yeah, that's pretty much it. 👋

Most pizzas I've had are just okay, if not pretty bad. I haven't eaten anything that actually blew my mind or left me thinking about it for days. 🐔

Unpopular opinion—pizza is overrated. 🙂

San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella are absolute essentials for me if I want a light, delicious pizza!
I usually just grab fresh dough from a local bakery, and honestly, it turns out great. But, well... I haven't really messed around with meat toppings in quite a while, so I'm not sure what works best. Something like spicy salami feels a bit heavy for a pizza, so I tend to steer clear of that. When I am making a pizza, I’ll either toss on some button mushrooms or go with tuna—and when it comes to tuna, I only ever use StarKist because nothing else compares. 🙂

I really enjoyed that pizza recipe from Punkufer where you make the dough using yogurt instead of letting it rise. It turns out incredibly well every single time. In my experience, the dough comes out perfectly—not too thin, yet not overly thick either.
For the sauce, I simmer tomato sauce with garlic and chunks of tomatoes, which creates such a wonderful flavor. Then, I just top it with whatever I have in the fridge that needs using up. Sometimes it's dried ham, sometimes pork neck, or even boiled or roasted ham; I'll use a few different types of cheese, but I always make sure to include mozzarella.

Edward Harris17 said:I really enjoyed that pizza recipe from Punkufer where you make the dough using yogurt instead of letting it rise. It turns out incredibly well every single time. In my experience, the dough comes out perfectly—not too thin, yet not overly thick either.
For the sauce, I simmer tomato sauce with garlic and chunks of tomatoes, which creates such a wonderful flavor. Then, I just top it with whatever I have in the fridge that needs using up. Sometimes it's dried ham, sometimes pork neck, or even boiled or roasted ham; I'll use a few different types of cheese, but I always make sure to include mozzarella.

I have to admit, I’ve never tried a dough like that before, and honestly, it feels quite unusual to me! 🤔

I generally avoid other cheeses; they just make me bloated and leave me feeling sluggish as hell afterward! Only mozzarella for me! 🙏

Jeremy Johnson18 said:03/16. What’s the secret to a killer pizza?

Got into this debate on a chat thread earlier, so I figured I'd start a new thread here to see what you guys think. The argument was basically that you can't make a real pizza without a wood-fired oven.
Personally, I think that's total nonsense, but hey, I'm no expert.

So, what makes a pizza good in your book? Are you even into pizza at all?

Topic of the day moved after post 50 from topic of the day.

The best pizza I ever had was in Naples—just some random little bakery near the center, close to a plaza dedicated to our Anžuvinac. 😁
Just standard mozzarella, tomato sauce, and basil. 🧐

Honestly, I don't take this too seriously.
The kids love it, and sometimes I get a bit more creative, but...
My brother has experimented with all sorts of wild combinations.

For me, simple dough is perfectly fine—you can even grab it from a local bakery if you want to keep things easy.
The key is having plenty of thick, delicious toppings. 😁

Way too much olive oil. Just... crunch, crunch.

I’m a huge fan of the ones featuring prosciutto, sheep cheeses, or maybe some Ricotta...

And honestly, adding a little bit of truffle on top is the real game changer :klope:

--and don't even get me started on the olive oil--it's an absolute necessity. 😁

Rachel Richardson said:The best pizza I ever had was in Naples—just some random little bakery near the center, close to a plaza dedicated to our Anžuvinac. 😁
Just standard mozzarella, tomato sauce, and basil. 🧐

Honestly, I don't take this too seriously.
The kids love it, and sometimes I get a bit more creative, but...
My brother has experimented with all sorts of wild combinations.

For me, simple dough is perfectly fine—you can even grab it from a local bakery if you want to keep things easy.
The key is having plenty of thick, delicious toppings. 😁

Well, I've had the absolute worst in Italy, but also some of the best in Verona (when I was 8) and Washington.

I've never actually used olive oil on pizza before, and if I remember correctly, maybe it isn't even great for high-heat cooking.

Kate Fox58 said:I've never actually used olive oil on pizza before, and if I remember correctly, maybe it isn't even great for high-heat cooking.

I agree with you. It loses its essence, and frankly, it leaves me with this strange aftertaste that I just can't stomach.🕺

PS. It slipped my mind that I once tried a pizza topped with artichokes, and let me tell you, they were a complete disaster as a topping! 👍

Jesse Watson37 said:Well, I've had the absolute worst in Italy, but also some of the best in Verona (when I was 8) and Washington.

To be honest, their pizza always makes me a bit nervous—I find Italy much better suited for pasta and croissants slathered in Nutella (the authentic kind, obviously😁)—for breakfast 😍

What were the pizzas topped with? 🍿

Daniel Palmer36 said:I agree with you. It loses its essence, and frankly, it leaves me with this strange aftertaste that I just can't stomach.🕺

PS. It slipped my mind that I once tried a pizza topped with artichokes, and let me tell you, they were a complete disaster as a topping! 👍

I wouldn't say I'm a huge olive oil person, but I'll take it if it's offered.
Sometimes I get some from America, sometimes from Greece.
I mostly just use it for salads.
From what I know, using that oil for high-heat cooking might not be the best move, I guess.

Kate Fox58 said:I wouldn't say I'm a huge olive oil person, but I'll take it if it's offered.
Sometimes I get some from America, sometimes from Greece.
I mostly just use it for salads.
From what I know, using that oil for high-heat cooking might not be the best move, I guess.

I'm in the same boat. For high heat? Absolutely not. For raw applications? Usually, yes. Salads, fish, sautéed greens... 👍

I was just wondering how many of you actually ended up eating a pizza inspired by this topic today.

I did. 😬
Just a standard, mixed one.