There’s a reason most of us prefer pizzeria pizza over homemade, and it isn’t always because we don’t feel like cooking. The primary reason is heat: Commercial pizza ovens reach temperatures far beyond home ovens, which typically max out at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The wood-fired oven at that trendy pizza place across town, on the…
So how can you replicate this in a home oven that lacks the heat capacity, stone floor, and domed roof of a commercial model? A simple workaround can give you some of the best homemade pizza you’ve ever tasted with minimal fuss and investment.
Restaurant-Quality Home Oven Pizza
First, you must replicate the floor — or hearth — of a commercial oven. For that, you’ll need a pizza stone or steel large enough to hold the biggest pizza you plan to cook. While a steel is more expensive, it’s more durable and arguably more effective. Place it in your oven at its maximum temperature (usually 500 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least 30 minutes before baking.
To recreate the tomato-blistering, cheese-browning top-down heat of a commercial oven, switch from the bake setting to the broiler. Your elements ordinarily heat the oven’s air, and it’s the air that heats the food. Your broiler uses infrared radiation from the red-hot element (usually a metal coil) to cook the surface of the food directly.
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The Best Homemade Pizza, Step by Step
Preheat the hearth: Put the pizza steel or stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees Fahrenheit (or as high as your oven will go) for at least 30 minutes.
Prepare the pie: Assemble your pizza and add your desired toppings.
Switch to the broiler: Once the oven is preheated, turn it off and immediately switch to the broil setting. If your broiler offers both high and low settings, select high.
Slide and bake: Carefully slide the pizza onto the hot stone or steel. Using cornmeal — or better yet, semolina flour — under the dough makes this easier. Take care not to burn yourself (a pizza peel is especially handy for this step). Broil until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is browned, then remove the pizza from the oven.
