Have you ever put in an entire day’s worth of effort into making a pizza, only to discover that it fell woefully short of your expectations? Or maybe you have a hankering for a slice of pie from your go-to pizza joint, but for some reason, getting your hands on that delicious morsel is just out of reach. Even worse, it’s possible that you resorted to a frozen pizza in the end, only to be left with a bitter taste in your mouth because of how it turned out.
There are a few specific reasons why your slices are not up to the standard of a five-star restaurant, which is the goal that you are striving for in your own kitchen. The baking process is where all of the best pizza pies are made, so mastering this step is absolutely essential. There’s no denying the significance of the components, but the oven is where the real magic happens. Therefore, continue reading about the baking techniques that distinguish restaurant pizza from homemade pizza.
The Real Story Behind Pizza Served in Restaurants
If you do your homework on any quality pizzeria or restaurants that excel at making drool-worthy pizza pie, you’ll find that they are baking their pizzas at around 800 – 900 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the recommended temperature range for baking pizzas. Sadly, the majority of home ovens are not constructed to reach temperatures of that magnitude. In a situation like this, a pizza oven dome is your best option.
The extremely high temperatures reached in professional pizza ovens produce the best results for cooking pizza. Additionally, because the dome enables the high heat to circulate around your pie, you will achieve perfect cooking that is uniform throughout. When a pizza is cooked in a dome oven, it ends up having that signature crisp exterior with a chewy interior, bubbly cheese, and toppings that have just the right amount of char.
Reasons Why Your Oven Can’t Decipher the Pizza Secret Code
As was previously mentioned, baking pizza at extremely high temperatures is essential to producing a product that is worthy of being served in a restaurant. Ovens designed for home use can reach temperatures of up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, at best, depending on the brand. Therefore, if you want to achieve that mouth-watering crust and gooey, caramelized cheese quality, your regular oven will never be able to reach the coveted 850-degree mark necessary to do so.
It’s likely that you’re cooking your pizza for a longer period of time in order to compensate for the normal oven’s low temperatures. As a direct result of this, the dough will become saturated with the juice that is produced by the sauce and toppings that you use. This results in a pizza that is drenched in liquid and is not very satisfying.
On the other hand, a professional pizza oven that is equipped with a dome can bake a pie at an extremely high temperature in just a few short minutes. This results in that traditional crust, which has a center that is incredibly soft and a browning effect on the cheese that is reminiscent of leopard spots, which is highly desired.
The Technique Behind Sensational Flavor
In addition, an oven designed for home use cannot achieve the same level of flavor mastery as an oven designed for commercial use. To explain, some of the most delicious pies are produced in award-winning pizzerias that have dome-shaped pizza ovens that contain a fire. Additionally, some of the best and most prized pizzas in restaurants are made with wood as the fuel for the fires in their ovens.
In either scenario, the flavor of the pizza is improved by the presence of that flame. In addition, a fire-baked pizza gives your pie the ideal char, which is one of the things that makes traditional pizza served in restaurants so irresistible.
Flame-fueled professional ovens are simply in a league of their own, and conventional home ovens just can’t compete. Even if you have access to a gas oven, you won’t be able to achieve the same mouthwatering flavor and silky smooth texture that comes from cooking in a conventional pizza dome oven.
What’s a Pizza Enthusiast to Do, Anyway?
According to a number of surveys and studies, pizza is the most popular dish in the United States. It is not surprising at all. Pizza has exploded in popularity all over the world since its humble beginnings in Naples, Italy, in the 18th century. If you and the members of your family are among the majority of people who would gladly eat pizza every night of the week, you can still make that dream a reality in the comfort of your own home.
When it comes to making a perfect pizza, your home oven just isn’t up to the task, and we’re sorry to be the bearers of such disappointing news. But this does not mean that it is completely out of reach. If you and your loved ones are true pizza aficionados, then you and your family can have your cake and eat it too by investing in a commercial pizza oven of the highest quality.
These ovens are built to produce a superior pizza that, no matter the circumstances, will always emerge from the oven in perfect condition. Additionally, a pizza oven has the capability of baking a wide variety of pizzas, making it a very flexible piece of cooking equipment. A professional pizza oven can cook pizza in a variety of styles, including Neapolitan, deep dish, thin-crust, and Margherita. It will reliably provide you and your family with drool-worthy slices, which will result in smiles all around the dinner table.