Making A Pizza – It’s A Great Indoor Activity For All

Imagine a rainy or snowy day. The schools are closed and there's no motivation to go anywhere. One of the easiest ways to break the boredom is to pull the kids together and make a few pizza pies from scratch. Not only will the activity be fun, it's also a great way to learn how to make one of the most beloved foods, the infamous pizza pie. Besides, your kids will love it!

Many people think about making a pizza from scratch but few actually gather the courage to give it a try. Most are afraid of soggy crust, burnt cheese or pizza sauce that taste a bit less than authentic. This doesn't have to be the case if you decide to do a little preparation prior to baking time and if you're willing to become a bit creative.

When making a pizza at home there are several things you must consider. Making a pizza at home with store bought ingredients and a standard
conventional oven is a little different than making a pizza the way the pizza guru down at the pizza parlor goes about it.

Here's a few considerations:

Flour – What kind of flour(s) should you use? For an exciting and flavorful crust try mixing it up. Use a combination of self-rising, whole wheat and bread flour. This is something that you may not find at the local pizza parlor.

Oven temperature – Those mighty ovens at the local pizza parlor produce much hotter temperatures than most ovens found in home kitchens.

Yeast - Should you use "active dry yeast" or "instant yeast"? Active yeast tends to perform better when dissolved in warm water with a bit of sugar, instant yeast can usually be mixed right in to your dry ingredients.

Serving schedule – When do you plan to actually bake the pizza pie? This is an important consideration if you're trying to maximize pizza crust flavor. Typically, the longer the dough is allowed to sit in a cool place, the more flavorful it will become.

Pizza Stones – If you like crispy crust, a pizza stone is pretty much a must. For a flaky crust you may be able to get by without one. However, if you use a pizza stone make sure you read the instruction that were provided with the pizza stone very carefully.

Pizza peels – Unless your hands are fireproof, I strongly suggest you pick up a pizza peel.

Toppings – Just about anything goes with respect to toppings. I would however suggest that you consider the amount of relative moisture that is added to your pies as you stack on the toppings. Though a percentage of the moisture from toppings can usually absorbed in the crust during baking, generally the more toppings the more moisture content. This can have an impact on the"crispiness" of the crust as well as baking time.

Consider these and other factors when creating your infamous pizza pies and everyone in the house will be smiling from ear to ear when the first slice is ready to be served. Slide a slice of goodness in your mouth. Make a pizza from scratch and everyone in the house will grin from ear to ear!

William Lockhart is Founder of HomePizzaChef. He is also a self-proclaimed homemade pizza lover. HomePizzaChef delivers pizza recipes to subscribers email inbox. The slogan on the web site reads, "They'll Get Down On Their Knees And Beg You To Make Another". Visit William at http://www.homepizzachef.com/ or at the HPC blog http://homepizzachef.com/blog/