Are you trying to figure out the best way to cook pizza? Not sure how your favorite Italian restaurants get their pizza to have that perfect crunch?
Then you’d be surprised to learn that there are more ways to make pizza than baking it on an oven rack. This is especially helpful to know if you don’t have an oven or are out camping and find yourself craving pizza.
In fact, the way pizza is baked will change its taste and texture, even if you use the same recipe!
So whether you’re baking pizza at home or just want to know how your favorite restaurants do it, you’ll be sure to learn something new about this popular food.
To learn more about the different cooking methods for this delightful dish, keep reading. Below, we cover 5 of the top ways to cook pizza.
- Regular Oven
Let’s start with the way that most people cook their pizza: in the oven.
However, this method isn’t boring. In fact, your pizza will come out differently depending on the temperature setting, baking time, and what you place your pizza on.
First of all, you can bake your pizza on different surfaces. These include baking sheets, aerated pans, and pizza stones.
Aerated pans help your pizza bake more evenly by letting heat enter the bottom of the pan.
Pizza stones also help the heat distribute across your pizza. They’re also good for holding heat and giving your pizza a crisp crust.
You can also bake your pizza in a toaster oven as long as the oven is big enough. This is a great way to bake mini pizzas for the kids, for example.
You can also use a convection oven for thinner pizzas. This will get you a crispy crust. If you’re using a convection oven, bake it at 25 or so degrees below the recommended heat setting so you don’t make your pizza dry.
- Specialty Pizza Oven
Most restaurants that specialize in pizza use specialty ovens. You’ve probably seen those cool wood-fired pizzas that chefs use at restaurants.
These chefs lift the pizza out of the fire with wooden spatulas for a perfect pizza that has a crispy crust and a deliciously gooey middle.
These specialty ovens are often made out of mortar and bricks. With wood-fired pizza ovens, the chef will light a fire in the back of the oven, which conducts heat to the dome of the oven.
These ovens can keep cooking pizza even after the flame is extinguished, which means you can cook dozens of pizzas in one burn of firewood.
Oven fired pizza can also be made in a special stone deck oven, which is more environmentally friendly and still makes delicious pizzas.
- Stovetop
If you don’t have an oven or your oven is broken, you might be surprised that you can cook your pizza on the stovetop.
When cooking pizza on the stovetop, make sure to get a pan that radiates heat and has a lid. Cast-iron pans work best for making pizza on the stove as they conduct heat well.
If you’re using a cast-iron pan, make sure to add plenty of oil to the bottom so your pizza doesn’t stick.
To cook the best pizza on the stovetop, you want to cook the dough on both sides first. Then, you’ll add your toppings and cover the pan with the lid. This process takes about 8-10 minutes, so it’s great if you’re short on time.
When cooking pizza on the stove, it’s a good idea to use pre-cooked vegetables as you won’t be cooking the pizza on the stove for too long.
- Grill or Barbecue
If you’re out camping or are hosting a backyard party and are wondering how to cook pizza, then grilling a pizza is a very popular option.
This is because you can get your grill or barbecue much hotter than you can get your oven. The high heat will give you results most similar to a specialty pizza oven. It will also give the pizza that slightly charred look that specialty pizza ovens give.
You can use a propane or charcoal grill to make pizza this way.
To grill pizza, you can get a special pizza grill pan so that your pizza doesn’t fall through the grates. You can also start cooking your pizza on the stove and then transfer your cast-iron skillet to the grill.
When grilling pizza, cook it for less than you think as it is easy to burn. This way, you can return it to the grill if you need to cook it for longer.
- Deep Frying
If you love crunchy dough, then deep-fried pizzas might be one of the best types of pizza for you.
Now, deep-fried pizza doesn’t mean that someone dumped an entire pizza into a vat of oil. This wouldn’t even work because the cheese would melt into liquid fat.
Instead, cooking pizza in this way means you cook the dough in the deep fryer. Then, you take the dough out and place it on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
Finally, you can add toppings and finish your pizza in the oven. This method creates pizza that is puffy and crispy. This type of dough would be perfect as party finger food, a snack, or mini pizzas for guests.
To make it easier to fry the dough, stick to a personal pizza size so each person can have their own pizza.
The Best Way To Cook Pizza: Which Is Your Favorite?
Now that you’re more familiar with all the different cooking techniques, you can decide on the best way to cook pizza, whether it’s for yourself or for guests.
And if you’ve only ever cooked frozen pizza in your oven, why not try out some of these alternative cooking methods? You might find that you love the crust and texture even more!
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