12 Tips for Making Great Home Made Pizza and Jazzing Up Dough

Now making pizza at home is easier than ever. Your local grocery store sells ready-made pizza crust that makes pizza making easy as saying pie. You don't need any special skills, just follow a few easy tips and you can save big bucks from ordering restaurant specialty pizzas, and have fun with the family making your own custom created hot tasty pizza.

Here are some pizza making tips before you get started:

1. Always preheat your oven before baking your pizza.

2. A simple two-topping pizza in a 12 inch diameter pizza pan bakes evenly and thoroughly at about 400 degrees on the center rack in your oven.

3. Always place your pan in the center of the oven rack.

4. Always use oven mitts when handling hot pizza pans.

5. Lay your hot pizza pan on a flat surface for easiest and even cutting. Lay on a large wooden board, or an opened large dish towel.

6. To tell if you pizza is finished cooking, look to see if the cheese is melted, and is beginning to become golden brown. The edge of the crust should be medium golden brown, and when you lift the bottom edge of the crust the dough should look evenly browned.

7. Using ready made pizza dough is a bland dough, so you can spice it up by sprinkling on your desired seasons, whether it be Italian seasonings, garlic powder, Creole seasonings or sesame seeds. You can infuse your favorite ethnic tastes by sprinkling your favorite spices on the rolled dough.

8. Brush your pizza baking span with a little olive oil so the pizza doesn't stick. The crust will also pick up some of the olive oil flavor.

9. Lightly dust your tabletop or a large cutting board with a little flour. This is where you will roll out your dough. Rolling your dough puts the control of the desired pizza thickness in your hands.

10. Roll dough from the center outwards so the dough spreads evenly.

11. Place the rolled dough into your pizza pan. The dough should be a little bigger than your pan and you can use a knife to cut the excess or else use your thumbs to curl and roll the extra dough inward to create a thicker crust. Your thumb can press indentations, creating a fluted design, like in pie crusts.

12. Use a toothpick to poke several little holes along the crust, much like you would a baked potato. This keeps your pizza crust from bubbling up in one section. The air will circulate evenly while baking.

Now you are ready to top your pizza and make it the masterpiece your mouth desires. Keep in mind that if you are using sauce, it is better to go lighter on the sauce so your pizza doesn't become soggy. A little pizza sauce goes a long way. If you like things spicy, you can dab on a few sprinkles of hot sauce. If you like white cream sauce, you can use some jar alfredo sauce as a basis. You can mix shredded cheeses instead of just using mozzarella. Maybe pepper jack cheese is what will kick it off for you. Making home made pizzas are a great way to use leftovers too. If you have some leftover baked chicken, or ground beef or an open jar of artichoke hearts or a small zucchini, or a couple of fresh mushrooms or part of a bell pepper, think about embellishing your pizza with what you already have on hand. The key to a great pizza is to not overdo the toppings. Keep it light so the flavors are infused and enhanced rather than overpowered. You can top off your pizza with some grated parmesan cheese or crushed red hot pepper too, if you like.