[cardguy]

I love pizza. But the only good pizzas I have are when I go to a nice pizza restaurant.

Here in the UK - the supermarket pizzas are not very good.

Now - I am sure this is a common problem. So - I was wondering how you guys tackled the problem of making good pizza at home?

I just made up my first ever pizza sauce - and put it on a plain pizza base I bought. But - the recipe was lacking - and the results were not good enough to justify the extra preparation time.

There are a bunch of other (and more complex) recipes which I will try out at some point. Although - I am pretty lazy...

Anyway - like I say. I think this is something most of us have thought about.

Do any of you have good tips for making pizzas at home taste good?

[STLMO]

You will need MSG if you want your sauce to taste like the shite you know from Sainsbury's or Pizza Hut. Had to give up pizza for myself for the game. Mexican food is easy to cook really authentically and healthier. It's my go to, I am going to fuck you date. Come over to my place for homemade arroz Mexicano and pollo BBQ. Your mex is shite in England too, so it would be good for you in that regard

[cardguy]

Here in the UK - the best pizza restaurants are Pizza Express and Zizzis. With Zizzis being my personal favourite.

And you get some nice independent restaurants in places like London.

Now - I haven't visited the US - but here in the UK, Pizza Hut is a joke. And I don't think you have Pizza Expree or Zizzis over there.

Indeed - I always sensed - that since America is so big - the best pizza restaurants were local ones which are famous in particular states. It seems as if a premium pizza restaurant has yet to expand across the country. Although I may be wrong - this is just the impression I got when I tried to research this in the past.

[STLMO]

No, we have kick ass pizza here mate.

[TheKantian]

I make my own dough and sauce.

How did you make your sauce?

[BadWolf]

Best Pizza in Guangzhou

Pizza 2 Pizza

Nothing else like it in the entire world.

[STLMO]

You need a bad ass oven to make great pizza, hard to do at home. A good BBQ kettle can replicate a nice pizza oven better than a typical indoor oven

[cardguy]

This is the recipe I used. Was pretty boring. And my hands now smell of garlic - which is irritating me...

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/veget...mato-sauce

And I am a really lazy cook. So - I tend to look for simple recipes if I am trying to cook something for the first time.

[cardguy]

Also - I have a weird thing. I get annoyed if something takes a lot longer to cook than it does to eat. Which is why I often resort to just buying something from a supermarket and heating it up. Yeah it is dumb - but I just don't see the point of spending an hour cooking something which will take me 7 minutes to eat...

[cardguy]

I agree about the oven. But - to be honest - I am okay with the bases and how they cook in my oven. It isn't as good as a restaurant - but I don't mind - since it is just bread at the end of the day...

For me - it is the tomato sauce which is the most important factor. And that is something that I should be able to make at home to a pretty good standard.

[cardguy]

I came across this somewhere. It offfers some interesting tips for ways to spice up your pizza sauce:

------------------
The pizza spices used varies. If you want tasty pizza sauce, use fennel seeds and laurel leaves. If you want an even stronger flavor, use lots of parsley or you can use the laurel bark; however, be sure to remove the laurel bark and the laurel leaves after cooking the pizza. If you want a spicy pizza sauce, however, add some cayenne pepper or some paprika to your pizza sauce mixture.
------------------

Alas - I don't own any of these ingredients.

[STLMO]

That is about water temp. At the pizza place I worked at as a youth, we had to have the water around 119 fahrenheit to make a chewy crust with our flour mix. It is hard to replicate top notch at home. Mexican food mate. Learn how to cook Mexican rice, tortillas and pollo asado under the broiler.

[STLMO]

Water temp is key in dough making, for sauce seek the Internet. And don't go crazy with fennel and laurel. Salt, oregano, parsley, tomatoes red pepper and not much else I imagine. Use fancy cheeses for flavor too.

[cardguy]

What cheeses would be good for pizza? I always thought mozzarella is a little bland - although it is nice enough in good pizza restaurants.

As for the sauce - I am going to try a simple approach next time to the sauce.

Tinned plummed tomatoes. Chuck em in a pot - add some tomatoe puree. Stir in with a bunch of seasoning and squash the plum tomatoes into the sauce.

Take out and sieve out the sauce in a colander into a bowl.

Place sauce from the bowl back in to the pan and simmer for as long as possible in order to make the flavours more vivid.

Then place the sauce on to some pizza bases...

Can't get much simpler - just hope it tastes okay. I am not trying to win no awards here...

[Gator_McKlusky]

Tip: most pizza places will sell you raw dough for just a few bucks. $5 from the place up the street gets me a large size portion of fresh whole wheat dough. Then all you have to do it corn meal up a pan, roll it out and bake it. Pick up a pizza stone if you really want to go top quality. Homemade pizza night competition always makes for a good date night too.

[kosko]

Warm water and good yeast is key for a good dough. Also I spike my sauce with sugar as many "pizzas" we are used to in restos and stores have fairly sweet sauces. It's also a good tip to boil down the sauce a bit to concentrate the taste.

It will be trial and error but once you get a good sauce and dough combo down its a easy meal to make if you have the stuff on hand. It impresses women a lot to because 90% of the pizza they eat is bought or shitty pizza disc pizza. Homemade stuff is so much better.

[cardguy]

Thanks for the tip!

Also - anyone got any thought on my pizza sauce idea? I know it is simple - but I know nothing about cooking (my mum never learned to cook).

How long should you let a pizza sauce simmer for? I have read about people doing this for a hour?!!

[WesternCancer]

My fuck do I ever love pizza.

To me a good pizza has

Crispy bottom tp the crust with a doughy top, no more than half an inch thick.

Thin layer of sauce, but enough to taste it in every bite. Not so much that it drips.

Delicious toppings that are crunchy or well seasoned.

Not super picky on the cheese I prefer less than more cheese, unless it is a cheese pizza then I want tons. It should be melted but crisp on top.

If I ever make homemade pizza I make some baking powder biscuit dough. Roll it out so it puffs up to the correct thickness. Throw down some tomato paste that has been slightly thinned with water. Season then put a thin layer of cheese then toppings. Cook for 15 minutes or whatever.

Best mix of cheese to me would be cheddar, mozzarella, and gouda or edam

Also about the smell of garlic on your fingers. Wash them in cold water while rubbing them on stainless steel

[cardguy]

I love pizza. But I just cannot bear the supermarket pizzas anymore.

Also - the pizza sauces you buy from the supermarkets all taste really bad (I am probably pretty picky I guess). So even though I am a lazy cook - as a pizza lover I am forced to start making my own shit.

[EisenBarde]

Costco pizza is my go-to about to be hungover food, which is why I've had to reel in my binge drinking.

[BoiBoi]

When making the dough, add a little bit of honey. Pro tip I got from an Italian chef.

[PhoenixEye]

(05-02-2013 08:07 PM)kosko Wrote:  

Also I spike my sauce with sugar as many "pizzas" we are used to in restos and stores have fairly sweet sauces. It's also a good tip to boil down the sauce a bit to concentrate the taste.

I do something similar except I add small amounts of honey instead of sugar. Works like a charm.

[Fitzgerald]

Homemade dough is key. It's easy, though a little time consuming, but I learned to do it when I was 13. I like a nice risen crust, where the dough makes a fat handle for the slice. As far as sauce goes, it's not necessary to have the typical pizza sauce. Fresh tomatoes puréed with olive oil, sea salt, a few herbs, and even cinnamon works great. Cinnamon adds a spicy sweetness, and also helps keep blood sugar lowered. Stone trays are great for baking, you can find them made for pizzas, or get a slab of granite.

I know it sounds weird, but if you like a white sauce, try ranch dressing instead of an Alfredo type sauce. It's really very good. I first had it this way at a little pizza hole in the wall in Tacoma WA.

[Power_Ranger]

(05-02-2013 07:20 PM)cardguy Wrote:  

I love pizza. But the only good pizzas I have are when I go to a nice pizza restaurant.

Here in the UK - the supermarket pizzas are not very good.

Now - I am sure this is a common problem. So - I was wondering how you guys tackled the problem of making good pizza at home?

I just made up my first ever pizza sauce - and put it on a plain pizza base I bought. But - the recipe was lacking - and the results were not good enough to justify the extra preparation time.

There are a bunch of other (and more complex) recipes which I will try out at some point. Although - I am pretty lazy...

Anyway - like I say. I think this is something most of us have thought about.

Do any of you have good tips for making pizzas at home taste good?

The thing about supermarket pizza and the likes of Dominoes, Pizza hut and italian is the effort and ingredients.

Supermarket - Mass produced, cheap ingredients and lots of fillers

Made to order - Expensive due to energy consumption and better ingredients however not that much better. Sort of like concessions in cinemas

Making your own - If you can make a base, which isn't very hard once you've done a few trial and errors, you will be flying.

An example of mine is

- Make 18" base or two
- Market bought meat & veg
- 20 minutes in oven

Voila!

These two pizzas easily last me 3 days and I eat a lot more than normal people do. They'd last somebody a week if stored correctly.

[cardguy]

Do you think it is a mistake to use tomato puree in the sauce?

I like the idea of giving a kick to the flavour - but wonder if this defeats the point of making a fresh sauce?