Most foodies agree that crust can make or break a pizza. If you have a pizza with yummy toppings and flavorful sauce, it still disappoints if the crust is bland, hard or soggy. The perfect pizza crust is chewy, crisp and flavorful. There are plenty of recipes available for homemade pizza dough, and most of them are filled with the same basic ingredients. You can use these pizza crust tips to turn your favorite dough recipe into something truly exceptional.
Plan Ahead
The perfect pizza crust needs time to be chilled before it is baked. Plan ahead, and mix together the dough ingredients the day before you want to enjoy your pizza. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl in the refrigerator so that it can chill overnight. Chilling the dough relaxes the gluten, which makes the dough more stretchy and workable. Remove the dough from the refrigerator about an hour or two before you want to roll it out the next day. This will give the dough time to return to room temperature.
Start with Less Flour
Because wet dough can be challenging to work with, many cooks add too much flour when they are mixing their pizza dough. However, the perfect pizza crust needs to be wet and sticky. This is especially true of thin crust pizza. Adding too much flour keeps the dough from stretching easily. If your pizza crust normally comes out too heavy, try adding a little less flour next time. When your dough is too wet to work with, add a small amount of flour back at a time until you reach your desired consistency. 
Consider Adding Flavor
If you want to add some zing to your pizza crust, consider flavoring the dough. The following seasonings are delicious additions to pizza dough. You can use them alone or in combinations. Enjoy experimenting until you find the perfect flavor.
- Garlic
- Oregano
- Italian Seasoning
- Parmesan Cheese
- Onion Powder
- Cheddar Cheese Powder
- Basil
- Chives
- Marjoram
Use Your Hands
Most people roll out doughs of any type with a rolling pin. This works well for many of your favorite cookie recipes, but the rolling pin is the enemy of excellent pizza dough. When you use a rolling pin to flatten out your dough, the pin agitates the dough’s gluten and makes it retract each time you try to expand it.
You already own the best tools for stretching and shaping pizza dough: your hands! Start the process by dusting your work surface and your hands with flour. Press the dough down to form a wide circle. You can grip the edges of the dough to gently pull it outward and get the thickness you desire.
Deep dish pizza is delicious, but it is important to make sure that your pizza crust is not too thick or it will be too doughy in the middle when baked. Taking a little precaution with your dough can turn a good pizza into a fabulous meal.
