This oven-baked method will ensure your pork has a delicious crust and a perfectly cooked interior. Just follow these simple rules and prepare yourself to reconsider everything you know about this weeknight-friendly cut.
For pizza makers, experimenting with different styles of pizza crust and/or staying true to different styles of pizza crusts that define classic pies helps with menu expansion. Customers love tradition as much as they do new offerings.
Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.
Steve Jobs
So, how do you create pizza that generates buzz and satisfies customers? Let’s take a look at perennially popular thin and thick crust pizzas, and what makes them so appealing.
Thin Crust
Thin, stretched centers and crunchy, doughy edges are the typical hallmarks of thin crust pizza. Of the different styles of pizza crust, they are least capable of supporting weight and most do best with fewer toppings — but that doesn’t limit options:
Neapolitan Pizza
According to popular belief, the first pizza was made in Naples, Italy, sometime during the 1800s. The storied history gives Neapolitan pizza the reputation of being the “original” Italian pizza.
To achieve its signature light, slightly crispy texture, Neapolitan pizza must meet a very specific set of requirements. A true Neapolitan dough is hand-kneaded (mechanical preparation is prohibited), no more than 35 centimeters in diameter, and no more than one-third of a centimeter thick at the center. It is baked in a wood-fired, domed oven.
Margherita and Marinara are classic Neapolitan pizza styles, showcasing the impossible-to-replicate, “authentic Italian pizza” flavor and texture of Neapolitan crust baked in a wood-fired oven.
RELATED ALIVE & KICKIN’ PRODUCT: Classic Neapolitan Dough Balls
New York Style Pizza
Often sold by the slice in big, wide wedges, New York style pizza is probably among the most recognizable of the different styles of pizza crust. It’s been the trademark pizza of the Big Apple and the entire Northeast U.S. since the early 1900s, with regional variations found across the country.
New York style crust is slightly crispy on the outside, yet thin and pliable so big slices can be folded in half for easy, utensil-free eating. New York style pizza crust gets its unique flavor and texture from high-gluten bread flour and the minerals present in New York City water (a not-so-secret ingredient that some out-of-state pizza makers actually “import” for authenticity).
RELATED ALIVE & KICKIN’ PRODUCT: New York Style Dough Balls
Of all the different styles of pizza crusts and popular pies, which are best for your operation? Get up to speed on crust types, performance characteristics, and applications using our Pizza Crust Types Comparison Guide. Click the button below to download your copy now!
