Oh dear! I have a recipe named One Hour Pizza that uses flour and yeast and I pile it with veggies before baking in a conventional oven. Very rarely I use inexpensive frozen pizzas as a base to pile on more cheese and veggies. My daughter-in-law buys pizza bases at Trader Joes to build pizzas.

Really? I like making homemade pizza. Its just 2 of us as well. And we both like different toppings. I made heart shaped pizzas for valentines day, with extra love of course. I tend to buy either frozen bread dough for the crusts or sometimes I buy it fresh from the bakery at Publix. My SO likes lots of different types of meat on his, almost all of which have to be cooked before putting on the pizza, with the bare minimum of veggies, just a little onion and some red bell pepper. I like pepperoni, onion, mushrooms. bell peppers, green and black olives, and halved cherry tomatoes in the summertime when I can grow them myself. And some oregano on top. Lots of slicing, chopping, frying, its true. But I think its worth it.

And I will neither confirm nor deny that my favorite snack may or may not be cold leftover homemade pizza that may or may not be dunked in homemade ranch before being eaten over the sink at 2 am. Homemade pizza is way better than takeout pizza leftover, though I wouldn't turn my nose up at leftovers takeout pizza either....

To each their own though. I do VERY LITTLE that I do not want to do, both in and out of the kitchen. I am happy to leave certain things up to a restaurant as well.

I often wonder how different posters define ’making’ pizza. To me that means making a risen yeast dough from scratch, which is why I rarely ever bother. I’m too lazy and the results are not as good as a local pizzeria. I leave it to the professionals. Piling toppings on a bought base would be ‘assembling‘ rather than ’making’ to me.

My homemade pizza has a long ferment (optimally 2 days) scratch dough, and is baked on a special heated ”floor” in my regular oven. The dough is dead easy to make. It’s the planning ahead that's a buzzkill. I have recipes for 100% whole wheat and a white which requires specialty flours. Both are great, though the (freshly milled) whole wheat is best. I like them better than bought or restaurant, but I see nothing wrong with buying the dough or made up shell if that suits. If you make a sandwich with store bought bread, you still made the sandwich. Why is making pizza with store bought crust any less so? I don't call it ”pizza” if it's made on bread rather than pizza crust, but if others do, that's okay. As long as it tastes good, who cares? Pizza is awesome. And if Nancyjane wants the ease of just cooking off a pizza, rather than making it, why not? Pizza from scratch is a lot of work, and many people associate pizza with ease and comfort.

Here's a pizza I made last week:

and the wine we had with it:

I am making more today.

We do have an Ooni pizza oven, and this makes it a lot easier - and faster.

I always make two 11" diameter pizzas at a time, but you are looking at what is leftover from the second pizza. It's very good the next day - sometimes I heat it and sometimes I do not.

The dough I make uses only one cup of water and 350 grams of flour, and I weigh all the ingredients to keep the correct hydration. Since I've made so many of them, it is like second nature to make them.

For the oven we have, I only make Neapolitan style, and I add the Parmesan and basil after the pizza has been cooked and cut into pieces. I guess I could put other toppings on it, but I don't bother.

I mix the dough in a rather small plastic bowl, the smallest one in this set:

The dough does not stick to this plastic.

After the dough has rested for one hour after mixing, I divide the dough in two and then form into balls. One ball goes back into the blue plastic bowl, and the other ball goes into another plastic bowl that has a tight lid. I have to use plastic wrap on the blue bowl, but that's okay. I let the dough rise, and then I stretch it out into the 11" diameter shape, and I'm not careful to make it perfectly round. Baking time at 930° is less than a minute and a half. If I bake it in a regular oven at 550°, it takes 10 minutes and comes out very different.

I've watched a lot of YouTube videos on how to make this kind of pizza (and I've made some also), and that has helped.

I think that pizza is one of the easiest things to make, but I do have to start making the dough about three hours before we want to eat the first one, but most of that time is waiting. I've sometimes made the dough a day or two ahead of time, but I did not feel that it was any better after fermenting in the fridge for that time - at least not for the recipe that I use.

I will add that making this pizza in the Ooni oven does require a lot of accessories: a wooden peel for launching the pizza, a metal turner for turning the pizza after 15 seconds, a pair of spinners for rotating the pizza once the crust is firm, and then a perforated metal peel to remove the pizza once it is done. You could use the wooden peel for this, but we had already bought the metal peel, thinking it would be good for launching the pizza, but the wooden peel is much better for that. I use semolina flour on the wooden peel because I prefer that to cornmeal, and cornmeal will burn at 930° before the pizza is done.

Lars, it's definitely the recipe. Some, like yours, are designed to be used right away. Mine have a lot of oil, which is delicious but retards the rise and needs at least a day, One day after mixing and chilling, you have pizza, yawn. Two days is perfection of flavor and rise. Day 3 is still very good but not quite as good as day 2. Day 4, it's a little tired, a little sad, but it's still pizza and pizza is good.

I've never tried such a high heat. It sounds fantastic for entertaining. In my oven, either with the special heated pizza floor or a pizza steel on a rack, I find mine bake best, at least with toppings, at a lower temperature, 475°-500° F. It'll go to 550°, at least, but the outcome isn't as good, for what I make. But this makes each one take 9-11 minutes.

So I get why many don't want to bother. :)

I put just a tiny bit of oil in mine, 3.5 to 4 grams, but you are not supposed to put more than that when baking at high heat.

I should try baking mine at 475° in my L.A. oven, although I have on occasion used the Big Green Egg, which has its own pizza stone. I do put quite a bit of oil in my other recipe and make larger pizzas.

We're planning on trying to have another pizza party here when the pandemic is fully over, but we don't know that many people in Palm Springs. We might have to wait until October.

I have tried a bunch of times to make a pizza as good as the local Italian family owned pizza joint we have and NO WAY, not even close! I have just resolved myself to just going and getting their pizza, it's always so delicious!

I rather enjoy making pizza. I usually make enough for 2 pizzas, 1 the 1st day and bake the 2nd next day. But I usually just make veggie pizza, tossing raw veggies on top of cheese. I find it better than most of pizza places we have local.

The thing is, I bought the pizza dough from a local organic store. They had instructions, and I read some instructions from a recipe online. I followed the online recipe!

That was the problem! I didn't follow the instructions that were on the dough package! My fault!

I might try some on the grill this spring/summer.....OR I might give the take and bake business down the street some more business!

I find I get much better results with a pizza stone. Our only pizza place in town makes very second rate pizza and mine is streets better than theirs. I always make two so we have leftovers 😋

I use the crust recipe from King Arthur Flour, the crust can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, per the recipe, but I've left it for three and it was still fine.

Elery does have a small pizza oven that goes on the grill, but we seldom grill, so pizzas are more often made in the oven.

I know it's weird, but I don't really like pizza very much, so we seldom have it. When I do make it, Elery and I have separate pizzas. I dislike red sauce, whether on pizza or spaghetti or whatever. Elery likes it. He also likes lots of cheese, where I like very little or none at all. I want a light smear of olive oil, some fresh herbs, I'll take slices of garden fresh tomatoes if I have them, otherwise no tomato at all. I like a lot of vegetables on my pizza, and the vegetables get pre-cooked or they aren't done enough for me.

So, yes, it's a little time consuming, but no more than making many of the other things I make. Less time than some, like sushi or bagels. Plus I like to cook and I like to bake, which is why I hang around this little place called the Cooking Forum. (grin)

We do have pizza places in town, but "in town" is the operative phrase here. The usual suspects, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Little Caesar's, Jet's. None of them deliver out here and I'm not aware that any have a "take and bake" option. A 20 mile round trip drive to pick up a sub-par pizza isn't probably going to happen, so if we have pizza, we make our own.

Now, anything with phyllo dough? Nope, not happening, anything with phyllo is a giant pain right in the neck, so it's buy strudel or do without!

Annie

What size pizzas do you make, Colleen?

I made two 11" pizzas again today, and half of the second one is leftover, as we like to have leftovers.

We keep basil growing in a pot for our pizzas, and in the winter, we have found the best plants at Trader Joe's. I don't have to repot the plants, and they generally last for two or three months, depending on how much I pick from them.

Pillog, I didn't intend to imply people shouldn't use bought bases or dough. I was trying to clarify the terminology. People seem to mean different things when they say ”making” a pizza. No criticism was intended. I think the sandwich analogy is a red herring. Making a sandwich isn't cooking, it’s assembly. Baking a loaf isn’t an expected part of making a sandwich.

But one says, at least in California, ”I'm making sandwiches. Want one?” not ”I'm assembling sandwiches.” It is an analogy, and not a red herring (poor old hounds being led astray!). We also say, ”I'm making dinner. You can have fish sticks, mac and cheese or chicken fingers,” all of which might be made from scratch, made from frozen or boxed, brought home ready to heat, or any number of other ways to get the the table, with or without actual cooking. Whereas my sandwiches usually imply homemade bread. In other regions, they say ”fixing” rather than ”making”. Either way doesn't imply the scratchitude of the meal.

I make homemade pizza regularly. It only takes an hour for the dough to rise.

I've made some in the cast iron skillet but the crust is thicker than I like. Now I use my cast-iron pizza pan

Like Lars, I have an Ooni pizza oven though mine is only 12" wide. We keep it at the lake cabin where we are often feeding a larger crowd. I make the dough 2.5 to 3 days in advance. I usually make enough dough for 8-10 pizzas at a time. I let it rise overnight on the counter, then form individual balls, refrigerate, and let them rise for 2 days longer. The kids love making their own pizzas.

Nancyjane, in general, store bought dough has lots of extra yeast in it, so it won't die during transportationl. If you don't want to make your own dough, and don't care for the bought, you could try premade shells if you want to do your own toppings,

The pizza parlor selection in my home town is so lousy that I had to develop the skills to make it myself. I use the bread dough setting on my bread machine that was so lovingly gifted to me by Ohiomom here many moons ago! It takes about 3.5 hrs. but not a lot of hands on time. To get good pizza you need a good pizza pan, which I ended up investing in and a small roller even though I try mostly to stretch and press it out, but sometimes it gets stubborn. I have two pizza pans, make two pizzas and eat the rest as leftovers. Has worked so far, but the other dough could also be frozen I guess. Sometimes, hubs and I buy a Little Ceasars cheese pizza, which is dirt cheap, and then doll it up with all the thing we like and then warm a little more in the oven. That works great for us when we're not in the mood to clean the kitchen. That's the biggest PITA with home made pizza for me. I have a tiny kitchen and I have to roll it out on top of my flat burner stove because that is the only spot that is big enough to hold the pizza pan. I literally have to use all my tiny, limited availability counter space for the pizza, between the resting dough, kneading, stretching it out, topping prep., etc. That's why if I could get good pre-made base I would do it. I used to live near a farm market that sold pizza kits with pre-made base, sauce and grated cheese. But then we also lived near great NY style pizza parlor so rarely bothered with the make at home version.

I also realized that I really had to par bake the crust to keep it from getting soggy and doughy with all the toppings we like. So that ads another layer of fussing. Last Friday I tried to oil it and coat it with garlic and parmesean cheese and it got too crispy on top . . . sigh. Pizza has not been easy for me, despite how easy others say it is. But even my mediocre stuff is better than the soggy, bland, gummy stuff that passes for takeout around here. I think they all get their ingredients from the same restaurant supply chain, it all tastes the same . . . bad.

"I know some of you have pizza ovens, and I'm sure pizza for crowds are fun, but for just the 2 of us it was a whole bunch of work!..."

I so understand that prep frustration. We have a few meals in rotation that can get frustrating if i don't prep ahead. Pizza night is usually a friday night and prepped thursday.

Taco night is another major prep we do ahead---all the sides can be a big effort. We prep a day ahead.

Pizza for a crowd is prepped 'mise en place' the night before on 1/4 and half sheet pans----covered and in the fridge. Family gatherings it is my go-to first night as all desend from across the country at different times. All prepped ahead and custom veg or vegan is easily accomondated by a careful prep ahead. I can make a dozen in an hour and take special orders.

For the two of us i make 4-6 pizzas and freeze. 'piggy back' while i have the ingredients and the oven is hot.

Taco night is another drag needing so many side ingredients that i like to make fresh. I prep the night before or decide when i have fresh salsa and ripe avocado--"-taco night is up for tomorrow!". Some BoSaam pulled pork in the freezer helps. (quick thaw)

If you prep-ahead, do-aheads, the assembly is quick.

We like thin and crisp. Not a big baquette crust bread so many are making now.

I did buy a Boboli pizza crust many years ago and liked it, but I thought it was way too expensive. I bought it when I lived alone in Culver City, back in the early 90s. I will also make an open face pizza sandwich, made with sourdough ciabatta bread, marinara sauce (or fresh tomatoes, if I have any in my yard or from the farmers' market), olive oil, mozzarella, and basil, with the fresh basil added last. I do not put Parmesan on this sandwich, but I do heat it of course, but before I add the basil.

Regarding "making/assembling" - in Texas (and most of the South), people will say "I'm fixing dinner," which makes me what to ask them what is wrong with it. But they will also say "I'm fixing to go somewhere," and that one always confused me. Although I grew in Texas and spoke with a Southern drawl, I never used "fixing" this way.

As for phyllo dough being difficult, you can see how easy it is from this video that I made back in 2007, after a Cooking Forum phyllo class. I know Annie has already seen this video, however, but it does demonstrate how I still have traces of my Texas accent.

I use Elise's recipe for the dough, but I like Rao's pizza sauce for the topping. I also bought Pyrex glass pizza pans, which work well in my oven,475*.

Her recipe makes two thicker crust pizzas (us) or 4 thin crust. We don't like a lot of sauce, so I use 1/2 jar of Rao and freeze the rest in the jar for next time. I bake in the center of the oven until the top is the way I like it. Don't pile on too much topping and cheese, it will get soggy. If you like a lot of toppings, prebake the crust slightly.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/homemade_pizza/

I generally use canned tomatoes instead of jarred marinara sauce. My favorite canned tomato is 6-in-one, but it is often difficult to find, and so I buy large quantities when I find it.

To make the pizza sauce, I add oregano, garlic (fresh or granulated), olive oil, and thyme. If the tomato sauce is too tart, I will add a bit of sugar to balance the flavor. I do not cook this sauce, since it gets cooked enough on the pizza, and I only use a very thin layer of sauce of my crust. I have never made Detroit style pizza, but it sounds interesting.

I've been contemplating adding a place for an Ooni oven in our about-to-start backyard remodel. It always seems like a fascinating choice.

But then, I have an excellent restaurant just a few blocks away (one national expert called it one of his top 11 in the US). The guy start with a natural starter three days before baking, and uses locally sourced ingredients (some from his yard) for true neopolitan style pizza. You just can't beat such dedication and expertise.

Yes, Lars, I've watched that video. More than once. Phyllo still gets the best of me. I should have gotten you to give me lessons when you were here! Mine dries out or sticks together or tears, but it certainly never does anything that I'm trying to make it do. (sigh) I've learned to just hate the stuff.

I don't care much for any of the pre-made pizza crusts I've tried. I do like thin/crispy crust best, but wouldn't turn down the 4 corner Detroit style either. The grandkids will make "quick pizza" by putting pizza toppings on English Muffin halves and they love the homemade "hot pockets I make with bread dough and pizza flavored fillings, although that's not really pizza.

Annie

Annie, it's not you. A lot of the phyllo currently available is crap and does all those things. If you want to try again, get Fillo Factory, even if you have to get it from the big city. And keep all the bits you're not currently working covered and away from heat.

Just guesstimating, Lars, but my pizzas are about 11“ - 12” across.

Like you, I don’t have a problem working with phyllo for other baked goods, I guess either you have the knack or you don’t 🤷‍♀️

Lars, if you're interested, there's a nice discussion of ”fixing” here: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/27391/etymology-of-fixing-to

Lars, this is the definitive Detroit style pizza. Any SS 10X13 pan works fine and remember...cheese to the edges for that nice char.

https://www.seriouseats.com/detroit-style-pizza-recipe

Detroit style pizza is the easiest for me to make, but OMG, it is a heart attack in a pan! We're trying for the more thin-style loaded with veggie toppings, chewy crust light cheese version. One of the best ones I had was in Grand Rapids and used roasted squash and spinach. I think it was a wood fired oven kind. I have been trying unsuccessfully to replicate it ever since. The restaurant made smaller individual sized pizzas . . . I just can't get the texture and flavor on my squash toppings. I somehow have to figure out how to get more moisture out of the squash without burning it . . .

Edited to add that maybe the greens were arugula, which would account for the tangy taste they had. I can't usually afford arugula and always forget to plant it for the garden . . .

I remember trying to master a flavorful unsoggy ”from scratch” pizza. There are different styles of pizza crust and toppings. In the old days probably 25 or 30 years ago, I could make a crust that would rise and support decent toppings. And I learn not to put too much sauce on the top (if I were using a “pizza sauce“). But I found that too often, the typical 1 to 2 hour home made crust, was lacking depth of flavor. It wasn’t “pizza-ry” enough.

I find that the crust — whether thin, regular, whole wheat or wheat and rye makes all the difference.

My efforts often involved a pastry table, bench flour and kneading. Then there was the clean up. And while the pizza was okay, the crust looked fine, it seemed lackluster.

A few decades ago, I began making “Artisan” pizzas and also some thin crust pizzas.

We love good pizza, so we’re motivated. I began having success with the slow rising, autolysing* technique. Success. Now I can easily make four large pizza doughs with no mess and no significant clean up, in under and hour. It is easy peasy. I make at least two at a time and sometimes four, I barely need to wash my hands or clean up any flower in the kitchen. I have a KitchenAid electric mixer with a dough hook and about for simple ingredients. I let the dough rise in either a pretty bowl which is covered, or a special device called a baggie that has been lightly oiled with olive oil. The bag is never closed, and during the day it’s left on the kitchen counter or in the fridge. And every five hours or so, without my hands touching the pizza dough but working from outside the bag, I stretch, pour and fold the pizza dough, then give it a 90° turn and repeat. I leave the bag partway open so it doesn’t dry out but it doesn’t blow the pizza dough (I mean it does not exhaust the yeast). I can get other work done or do errands and not have to fuss with pizza dough rising, and it even rises in a cold refrigerator with just 1 teaspoon of yeast for 2 cups of flour. After a couple of days when the dough has risen slowly long enough, I shape the dolls into flat dish and using the same baggie, tie the bag and put it in the freezer. I found it shaping them into a disk makes them defrost faster when it’s time to use them. So I don’t need much preparation after this to make a really nice pizza for dinner or friends. I don’t fuss a lot with toppings either – – they flavorful and simple to put together.

I can explain how I do this and if you can measure flour and plug in an electric mixer such as a KitchenAid, then you can make it to without any trouble.

I have little counter space & I’m usually short on time. I don’t knead this dough by hand the way one thinks with typical or bread making.

I use Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour (widely available), Fleischmann’s instant yeast, fine sea salt, water and a bit of California extra Virgin olive oil for the baggies or the glass bowls (thin coat).

My pizza doughs, beginning to slowly rise in the oiled bags. Above in background is Bob’s Red Mill Artisan bread flour, and my mixer.

The recipe is on the side of the flour bag. I use a bit more water, almost a Cup. I keep my flour in a cold cupboard.

Artichoke pizza with plum tomatoes and basil

Pizza with thinly sliced plum tomatoes, par cooked fresh mushrooms, cooked sausage pieces, (Parmesan, mozzarella, bit of garlic powder, bit of thyme, sage, basil — put on after pizza is cooked.

I bake the pizza on a large heavy gauge aluminum pizza pan that has been lightly coated with EVOO and dusted with fine cornmeal.

Electric oven with fan is preheated to 550 deg F. Pizza pan is positioned at lower part of oven. Depening on oven, it usually takes about 7 to 10 minues for pizza to cook. I attend it.

Check bottom of pizza crust (metal fish spatula and peek). Exhaust fan turned ”on.”

When pizza is done baking, I use a spatula to gently lift up crust and allow trapped steam to escape (so that cooked crust stays crisp, no sog). Add fresh basil leaves at this time.

I let cooked pizza rest for about 8 minutes before slicing it.

That's it, we need a Pizza camp! I would happily go to one. I've liked the idea of the no knead bread dough for the pizza, but I don't have room for it in the fridge. I didn't think about leaving it out on the counter and punching it down every so often. Since right now I'm home, I could manage that on selected days . . . my attempts at sourdough were less than stellar however . . . I've had good luck with freezing some precooked pizza toppings so that all I have to do is take them out and put on top, saves me stovetop space when actually making the pizza.

Pink, if its just you, you can make 1/2 the recipe. Maybe make two thin crust pizzas from it (stretch the pizza dough thinly on pan. and no need to make a round crust — stretch dogh out into an oval or free dorm organic shape. I used thinly slice fresh plum tomatoes, but you can make a simple tomato-based pizza sauce (it often has a bit of oregano in it. Most people suggest not adding too much sauce. Before adding toppings, I make a bit of a ”barrier layer” with olive oil/any oil nf a pastry brush or fingers/spoon. That helps prevent the dough from getting too wet/damp/soggy. Cook for less time, keep an eye on it.

On e when grilling a pizza ougside, it rolled and stuck together. I let it. I ened up with a rather yummy ”calzone.”

Petalique, I love, love your witty writing and detail!

For me, baking temperature makes all the difference.

When I bake a Neapolitan style pizza at 930°F, it gets done in less than one and a half minutes, has a great flavor with a puffy edge crust, and is never soggy.

When I bake pizza in a regular oven at 450°, I often parbake the crust with some cheese only on it, and then the crust is never soggy. I generally use a pizza screen for the first bake but not the second. I also cook the toppings before adding them to the pizza, which is mainly sautéed mushrooms and/or bell pepper or onion. I don't cook olives, however, if I use them.

Annie, do you use the King Arthur pizza crust recipe that uses bread flour, or the one for Ap flour.?

I had to go look, LOL. I should have known, though, that I use the one with AP flour because I just never buy bread flour. The AP flour works just find for bread, cinnamon rolls, whatever, so I just use that.

Annie

Adding to this thread. I just thawed homemade pizza dough straight from the freezer, ‘in the microwave’

Made up a simple tomato base, olves,

anchovies and mozzarella and it turned out like normal pizza.

I hadn’t thought to thaw in the microwave before but as it was late I couldn’t wait for the usual thaw so I thought I’d give the defrost function a go.

Thank you, jasdip, that’s kind of you to say.

Lars, I envy you that pizza oven. Your pizzas always look so delicious. You know that if you grow tired of it, you can ship it to me. It’s wood fired, yes? I look at your hot oven baked pizza and have to look away before the drool gets too serious.

I spotted another brand on sale a few weeks ago. Still too dear. How long ahed must you get the coals ready or preheat it?

I remember there was someone here who cooker her bread and pizzas in a home-made earthen oven. Not portable, but very nice.

Neely, I have sometimes thawed my frozen doughs in a microwave, but,as you know, easy does it. During warm summer weather, I can thaw mine frozen dough on a warm porch or in an attic.

I want to make a white CLAM pizza (Rhode Island style). I believe I created one some years ago, ad hoc, but didnt jot down what I did. Anyone here got a tried and true that maintains a crisp crust?

Meanwhile, I need to invest in a metal pizza peel.