How Can You Make Store Bought Pizza Crust Crispy

Are you trying to figure out how you can make your premade pizza crust turn out crispy after making pizza?

This write-up is here for your redemption. Today, I’ll explain the best ways to make your pizza crispy. Here we go…! 

Key Take Aways

• Use high-quality pre-made pizza dough.
• Avoid excessive moisture in the pizza dough or toppings.
• Pre-bake the pizza crust for a few minutes before adding toppings.
• Use a pizza stone or steel.
• Use thick pizza sauce.
• Opt for a thin pizza crust and stretch it well.
• Don’t use too much olive oil.
• Reduce toppings to get crispier pizza in a shorter time.
• Use pizza steel instead of pizza stone.

What Causes Soggy Pizza Curst from a Store-Bought Dough? Let’s Figure Out.

Several factors can contribute to the base of pre-made pizza dough becoming soggy instead of achieving a crispy texture. Understanding these factors and making adjustments during the pizza-making process can help you enjoy a delicious, crispy crust. Here are some common reasons why your pizza dough might end up soggy:

1. Low-Quality Dough

Using low-quality or cheap pre-made pizza dough can result in a lackluster crust. Some doughs might not be designed to achieve a crispy texture. So, invest in high-quality pre-made pizza dough, preferably one with positive user reviews, to ensure a better outcome.

2. Excessive Moisture

Too much moisture in the pizza dough or toppings can lead to a soggy crust. This moisture might come from sauces, cheeses, or watery toppings. If that’s the reason, opt for thicker pizza sauces, drain excess liquid from toppings like vegetables, and be mindful of the amount of cheese used. Pre-baking the crust for a few minutes before adding toppings can also help eliminate excess moisture.

3. Inadequate Pre-Baking

Skipping or insufficient pre-baking of the pizza dough can prevent it from crisping up properly during the final baking. Pre-bake the pizza dough for a short duration (about 5-6 minutes) before adding toppings. This process helps remove excess moisture from the dough, setting the stage for a crispier crust.

4. Wrong Temperature

Temperature plays a crucial role in providing a well-baked crispy crust pizza. Here is the ideal temperature guide for baking pizza in various oven types:

• The average temperature to cook a pizza in a wood-fired oven is 850-900F. 
• In contrast, the temperature should be around 600F to 700F to bake the pizza in the brick oven. 
• For baking pizza in a toaster oven, 400F is advisable. Additionally, preheating the oven is essential.
• To cook pizza in a convection oven, the 450-500F temperature is recommended.

So, the high temperature is the secret of a crispy dough pizza. The oven should also be preheated to increase the temperature. 

5. Thick Pizza Crust

A thick pizza crust takes longer to cook and might not achieve the desired crispiness. Aim for a thin pizza crust, as it cooks faster and has a better chance of becoming crispy. Thin crusts tend to crisp up more effectively in high-temperature ovens.

6. Too Many Toppings

Overloading your pizza with toppings can lead to excess moisture and prevent the crust from crisping up.

Use a moderate amount of toppings, especially those with high water content. This allows the crust to bake evenly without becoming soggy.

7. Cheese Moisture

Cheese with high moisture content can release water during baking, contributing to a soggy crust.

If using cheese liberally, consider draining it beforehand by placing slices in a bowl in the refrigerator overnight. This helps reduce excess moisture.

Understanding and addressing these factors can significantly improve the chances of achieving a crispy base with pre-made pizza dough. Experimenting with different techniques and finding the right balance for your preferred taste and texture can enhance your homemade pizza experience.

How Should You Use Pre-Made Pizza Dough to Get a Crispy Crust?

Here is a step-by-step process to make pizza using store-bought dough in your electric oven.

1. Oven-Baked Pizza

The oven-baked pizza is the most famous and straightforward manner to make pizza at home. Nowadays, people prefer oven-baked pizza instead of brick stove pizza or pan pizza. 

Here are the points to making crispy crust pizza with store-bought pizza dough.  

2. Unwrap The Pizza Dough 

The first step is taking the store-bought dough out of the bag. You’ll have to defrost the frozen dough to make a crispy crust. So, unwrap the dough and place it at room temperature until it becomes fluffy and easy to use. 

3. Form the Dough Ball Using Flour

The second step is making a dough ball by kneading the store-bought dough. Many people make a mistake here by kneading the moist dough and making a damp ball. 

To make the dough crispy, you should dust a considerable amount of flour to make an excellent dry ball. After making the dough ball, dust off the excess flour.  

4. Wrap the Dough Ball for a Rise

Keeping the covered dough ball aside for some time will enhance the taste of the pizza crust. So, cover the dough with a plastic wrapper and keep it aside for at least an hour. In this period, the yeast present in the dough will work to raise the dough. 

5. Blend the Dough Again

When you see that the dough is nicely stimulated, it’s time to knead it again. The kneading and stretching of dough will help you mold the pizza base into your desired shape. Therefore, knead the dough and prepare it to form the pizza base.  

6. Form a Thin Pizza Base

The most common shape of the pizza crust is a round shape, but you can also make the shape you want. When forming the pizza base, many people make a mistake by making the pizza dough thick. 

When you keep the thick pizza dough in the oven for baking, it’ll become even denser and not crispy. Hence, to make a crispy pizza crust, you should make a thin base. Additionally, the narrow base will give you the desired crisp taste. 

7. Add the Toppings of Your Choice

At this step, you can add the toppings to your pizza base to make it more delicious. Firstly, put some pizza sauce on the bottom but keep in mind that the spice of pizza should be thick. Now add some cheese with chicken and vegetables according to your choice. 

8. Preheat the Oven with Pizza Stone or Baking Steel

The most crucial step while making pizza at home is preheating the oven at 450 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit with a pizza stone or baking steel in it. When you want the pizza dough to be crispy, like in restaurants, you should put the pizza in the oven when the range is extremely hot. 

So, preheat the oven for a few minutes before baking the pizza.   

9. Place Pizza in the Oven 

Now it’s time to place the pizza in the oven and let it cook for 12 to 15 minutes. Check it halfway and rotate it to help the crust cook evenly.

10. Enjoy your Pizza

When you get your desired pizza crust, take the pizza out of the oven and rest it. Your crispy crust pizza made with store-bought dough is ready to eat. Enjoy your meal. 

Additional Tips to Make Frozen Pizza Crust Crispy

Do you think you know how to make store-bought pizza crust crispy? You might be unaware of many factors that need to be used or avoided while making a crispy pizza at home. 

So, spare a few minutes to learn about the significant factors that make your pizza crust crispier. 

1. Bake your Thick Pizza Crust Before Adding Toppings

When you head to add toppings to your pizza dough, you don’t need to prebake it.

Yet, if you love thick pizza crust or a stuffed pizza crust, you must pre-bake it in your preheated oven for 5-6 minutes. 

When you see the pizza crust puffing, baking the pizza base will convert all the excess water into vapors. This step will help you to enjoy the crispier pizza crust when you bake it to make pizza. 

2. Use a Pizza Stone or Steel

The use of pizza steel or pizza stone will bring the taste of your pizza to the next level. In restaurants, most chefs use any of these two tools to make their pizza more crunchy. Nevertheless, the ovens at home are shorter in size than those in restaurants, so you should get a pizza stone or steel and also season your pizza stone or steel.

3. Use Thick Pizza Sauce

Thick pizza sauces have less water content as compared with thin sauces while making pizza. The seasonings with a watery consistency lead to moist pizza dough with no crispiness. So, ensure you use the thick sauces to prevent the sogginess of the dough. 

4. Opt for a Thin Pizza Crust and Stretch it Well.

It would be best if you avoid the formation of a thick pizza crust. When you make a thick, stuffy pizza base, it’ll remain undercooked or may hold some moisture in it. The thick pizza crust will not become crispy at any temperature. 

Therefore, try to make a thin pizza base that can be quickly toasted at the oven’s temperature. The thin pizza crust can be easily made crispier. 

FAQs 

Do you use olive oil to make crispy crust pizza?

If you’re a pizza lover, you might be aware of the importance of olive oil in the pizza. The excessive usage of olive oil will lead your pizza crust to become soggy and fluffy. 

The use of olive oil will prevent the pizza crust from sticking to the pan and give your pizza an excellent brownish shade. 

Olive oil will not make your pizza dough fluffy; it’ll give a crispy crust pizza. 

Why does my pizza take so long to crisp?

A lot of toppings to be added to the pizza base take more time and thus increase the pizza baking time significantly. 

To your surprise, in such a situation, no one can tell you how long you should bake your pizza. It’s really unpredictable!

To prevent this, reduce toppings to get crispier pizza in a meager time. 

Why is a pizza steel a better option than a pizza stone?

You might be thinking that if you’ve set up the pizza stone at your home for pizza, why bother yourself with pizza steel? So, let me clarify that Pizza Steel will give you even better and crispy pizza than pizza stone.

You all know that metal/steel is the best conductor of heat. You have to preheat the pizza stone for an hour, but the pizza steel doesn’t need to be preheated. Likewise, the pizza steel also saves you money by being more durable.

Final Words

We hope we have cleared all of your doubts about making homemade pizza with a crispy crust, no matter if it is store-bought out of fresh dough. Hence, you don’t need to be bothered anymore. You have to open this writeup and get all the information to bake a crispy-crust pizza at home. 

Enjoy the yummy pizza!