Saturday, February 12, 2011

Preparing And Cooking Pizza In An Outdoor Pizza Oven

By Daniel Caliguire


Now that pizza has just about become the number 1 favorite food in America, many people have taken to making their own pizzas and cooking them in their own outdoor pizza ovens. If you already have an outdoor pizza oven you know the difference in taste you get from cooking your pizzas in one of these ovens.

The main key in making a pizza is to be sure that you only use the freshest ingredients. And yes I know it is easier to just run down to the store and grab pre made doughs and sauces, but when you use only fresh ingredients, you will be able to taste the freshness in the pizza.

Alright, before we get started you will need to heat up your outdoor pizza oven if you have one, if not heat up your kitchen oven. When it comes to cooking a pizza the key is to cook the pizza at a high temperature like 550 degrees for a short amount of time. Many traditional kitchen ovens will not heat to 550 degrees so if you are using an regular oven, heat it up as hot as you can, and you will have to keep a close eye on the pizza.

When forming the crust, be sure that it is at room temperature, this will make the dough easier to shape. If you notice that no matter how much you stretch the dough it keeps pulling back into a smaller shape, stretch the dough as best as you can and let it set for 5 to 10 minutes. Then go back and it should stretch out to where you want it.

Now when it comes to adding the sauce, this is all about personal preference While some people like a lot of sauce on their pies, other people prefer a smaller amount of sauce. This is all about taste, so the choice is yours.

While mozzarella cheese is the traditional cheese to add to your pizza, you can use any type of cheese you want. I like to get fresh mozzarella, slice it very thin and place it on the pizza. Then I will take just a little cheddar cheese and grate it over the top of the mozzarella. It gives the mozzarella a nice little kick. Of course you can add any kind of cheese you want.

OK, now for baking the pizza. If you are using your outdoor pizza oven, you should have it heated to about 550 degrees, this is the perfect temperature for cooking a thin crusted pizza. Once you place your thin crust pizza in the oven, it should only take about 8 minutes to cook. If you are cooking a thick crust pizza you will need to lower the temperature and bake the pizza a little longer. You need to understand that no matter what type of oven you are using, whether it is a wood burning outdoor pizza oven, or your kitchen oven, each oven will cook pizzas differently so be sure to keep your eye on the pie.




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