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No more confusing thoughts about what kind of cheese do professional pizzerias use. It’s time that you learn to create a unique and unforgettable taste at home!
People who are passionate about cooking will always have questions, is it possible to make a restaurant-like pizza at home? What kind of cheese do they use? I’ve asked these questions too.
Cheese is one of the primary ingredients of making a pizza successful. You can’t just go about using any kind of cheese you want in your pizza.
It’ll never result in the way you want it to. There are already a few limitations we can’t arrange that restaurants can. Ovens that reach 1000 degrees F is one thing, for starters.
However, it’s not entirely impossible to make a pizza like pizzerias make. You only need the proper recipe and a little guidance from me. Let’s get started, shall we?
What Are The Best Cheese Types for Homemade Pizza
When it comes to pizza toppings, there can’t be a better cheese than mozzarella. It’s primarily famous because of its straightforwardness, creamy texture, browned top, and mild flavor.
It’s the most appropriate cheese kind to do experiments with. Mozzarella is perfect for mingling with any type of pizza topping.
You can get two types of mozzarella-
- Fresh and
- Low-moisture
Both these kinds of cheese have their upsides. If you get low-moisture mozzarella cheese, you can store it comparatively longer than fresh mozzarella. It also melts quickly and offers stronger flavors.
Fresh mozzarella, on the other hand, is comparatively creamier. However, it does not come with a long shelf life as low-moisture mozzarella does.
It’s not a confusing choice to make. Both cheese kinds mingle perfectly with other ingredients to give you the best flavors and textures. They don’t vary much from one another.
Other kinds of cheese also go to homemade pizza toppings. But, mozzarella is the most common and popular one among others. Sometimes, chefs mix up different cheese variants, but mozzarella is always the dominant one in proportion.
What Kind Of Cheese Do Professional Pizzerias Use?
Professional pizzerias usually have a mixture of multiple kinds of cheese to balance the texture and the flavors. Mozzarella is always the primary cheese choice for them. But they mingle it with other types of cheese to add textures and flavors.
What they mix depends on the chef. There are different kinds of cheese they mix depending on the pizza. Using the mozzarella as a base, they mix it with cheddar. Provolone, parmesan, and a lot of others to give the flavors a bump.
When only using mozzarella to make Margherita, greek, and Neapolitan pizzas, they slice the cheese thinly and make sure there isn’t any moisture on the cheese. Usually, low-moisture mozzarella is used.
Also Read: Best Cheese For Roast Beef Sandwich – Top 5 Picks
What Are The Special Things that Professional Pizzerias Do to Make Pizza
Making the perfect pizza requires the delicate hand of a passionate chef. Professionals make sure all the steps necessary to make a pizza are done without flaws to result in a beautiful pizza on a plate.
- They use ovens with high heat retention capabilities. Stone ovens reaching up to 800 degrees to 1000 degrees play an essential role in creating a perfect pizza.
- They use a variety of cheese to create beautiful and unique flavors. Perfect cheese that blends all other ingredients is important.
- Using fresh tomatoes for making the sauce is bothersome, lengthy, and costly. Canned tomatoes are more economical. However, chefs blend the sauce instead of cooking it. I’ve discussed it later.
- Professionals let their dough sit for a long time to create the perfect pizza crust. The slower the flour rises, the better the flavor will be.
- Pizzerias don’t usually use a roller pin to shape the pizza dough. And they don’t make it super thin. The general idea is to cook the pizza using super high heat and fast to make a perfect pizza free from any burnt ingredients.
- Making a gourmet pizza doesn’t always mean going for extravagant toppings. Keeping the ingredients classy and straightforward results in a perfect restaurant pizza.
Related: How To Season A Pizza Stone For The First Use Like A Pro
What Are The Most Popular Cheeses for Pizza – Types of Cheese
Pizzas can feature a wide range of cheese types. I’ve only included the most popular ones below.
Mozzarella
As I said, mozzarella is the most common type of cheese to use on pizzas. When they mix it with other cheese types, the proportion is 80/20 or 80/10/10.
Using mozzarella without any other cheese also does wonders on a pizza. It blends well, browns beautifully, and creates the perfect texture you want in your pizza.
Provolone
It’s an Italian cheese, semi-harden in texture. It’s the second most popular pizza cheese type. The taste of provolone cheese depends on its age.
When you’re seeking sweet flavors on your pizza, it’s suggested to go for provolone cheese that’s not been aged for long. In comparison, if you want a sharper taste, more aged provolone will be a proper choice.
Cheddar
Cheddar cheese is primarily famous as a second cheese to mix with the primary cheese. It has a strong and flavorful taste that blends perfectly with both mild and spicy ingredients.
Parmesan
Parmesan cheese is famous for its use as a garnish. If you bake it, the taste won’t be the same. The flavorful and dryness requires you to use it as a finishing touch to your pizza rather than putting it in the oven.
Other kinds of cheese like gouda, goat cheese, ricotta, gruyere, smoked mozzarella, romano, gorgonzola, etc., are mainly used for mixing with the base cheese for flavors.
Best Mix Of Cheese To Put On Your Pizza
The best cheese mix depends on what you want in your pizza. Different cheese types will result in different features, but most of them blend finely with mozzarella.
For example, cheese types like cheddar have low elasticity. That means cheddar won’t easily form blisters when you put it in the oven.
Provolone, on the other hand, prevents moisture evaporation, resulting in less brownness. So, you can use a variety of mixtures, depending on the outcome you’re expecting. Use cheddar if you want fewer blisters and provolone for reduced brownness.
Secrets To Making Restaurant Pizza at Home
Indeed, some features can’t be achieved because restaurants come with a few extra benefits. However, you can perfect your pizza at home by using the resources you have. Let’s see how.
- The Dough
Most people let their dough sit for about an hour before making the base. If you intend to make a professional-level pizza, you’ll have to change your methods as the pizzerias do.
The longer you’ll allow your dough to sit, the better. It makes the dough more perfect for your base when you let the flour rise slowly using the yeast.
The dough also plays an essential role in making the crust flavorful and tasty. So, pay attention to it.
- The Sauce
If you don’t know what you’ve been doing wrong with the pizza sauce, let me tell you a secret. Professionals do not cook the sauce. They use canned uncooked tomatoes to make the sauce.
Strain the tomatoes and squeeze out more juices. Add other ingredients according to your preference, and blend them.
It’s also essential that you don’t put too much sauce on the pizza. It can make the pizza wet and soggy, ruining all the effort you put into the dough.
- The Cheese
As I’ve mentioned earlier, professional pizzerias use low-moisture mozzarella as their base cheese. Using fresh mozzarella can cause the base to become wet. Also, they grate the pizza themselves. I recommend you do the same.
If you buy pre-grated pizza, chances are, they’ll be coated with cornstarch to prevent sticking. Cornstarch or any other powder like that can make the cheese difficult to melt and tamper with time management.
- The Oven
Professionals use high and fast heat to cook pizza. That’s the proper way. Pizzerias have ovens that can go up to 1000 degrees F. It’s highly unlikely that anyone will have an oven like that at home.
However, it’s recommended to use the highest heat setting the oven can provide. Nothing less than that.
A Few Exclusive Tips for Homemade Pizza
To make your pizza-making process easier, quicker, and effective, make sure to follow the tips I’ve added. You’ll be surprised by the differences these instructions can make.
Preheat The Surface
You should go for something that can retain heat for a long time with efficiency. For example, you can use a pizza stone, baking sheet, or an iron skillet to make your pizza.
Place the container in your oven and preheat it for at least half an hour.
Use High Temperature
As I said before, pizza requires high and quick heat. If your oven can reach up to 500 degrees F, there is no reason you should use 400 degrees to bake your pizza. The higher, the better.
Parchment Paper Is Always a Good Idea
Many people will use cornmeal as a dusting powder so that the pizza will come off from the surface easily. As effective as it, parchment paper works better. It prevents any ingredient from falling and making a mess inside your oven.
Avoid Using Too Much Sauce or Topping
It becomes tough to resist putting too much sauce and toppings on your pizza. But trust me, the result isn’t as you want it to be.
Too much sauce will make your pizza soggy, ruining all the hard work you did on the base. Over-topping your pizza, on the other hand, will keep your crust from getting cooked perfectly.
Season Your Pizza
Use the basic seasoning spices for your pizza too. Salt and pepper. However, make sure you don’t use too much, especially if the toppings are already salty.
Experiment With Your Sauce
Most people like to stick to the basic sauces for their pizzas. But it’s actually a pretty good place to get creative. Consider using BBQ sauce, pesto, salsa, ketchup, Alfredo sauce, etc., to mix it up a bit.
Mix Up Cheese Types
Well, that’s what the whole article has been about. Do not hold yourself back when mixing different types of cheese. Keeping the mozzarella for the base, add sharply flavored cheese types like cheddar, parmesan, goat cheese, etc. It’ll lift the flavor significantly.
Top 5 Pizzas in America
Let me introduce you to the top 5 pizzas in America. If you’re making a list to give them a try, it’s an excellent list to get started.
The Detroiter From Via 313: The Detroiter uses two pepperoni types. Also, it features two types of cheese put together in a rectangular auto pan. It’s famous for its deep-dish size that features a cheesy and extra crispy crust.
White Clam Pie: Frank Pepe’s white clam pie has been delighting the customers since 1940. Cherrystone clams are used to make this signature pizza of theirs. Moreover, specially milled flour combined with a coal-fired oven creates a taste that makes the pizza stand out.
Pizza Margherita: The chef makes this whole pizza by hand using a wood-fired oven. All ingredients are imported from Italy, including buffalo mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and fresh basil.
Italian Sausage Pan Pizza: Featuring a layer of cheese, sauce, and sausage, this cast-iron pan-made is famous for its taste and consistency. Its cheesy crust always leaves the customers wanting more.
Mushroom and Pepperoni Pie: The owner keeps the recipe a secret, including how its dough is made. However, the pizza is made using a coal-fired oven. The known ingredients include- Parmesan dusting, mozzarella, fresh mushrooms, pepperoni, sauce, and extra virgin olive oil.
The Five Largest Pizza Chains In The United States
- Domino’s Pizza
Domino’s makes a gross annual sales of 12.25 billion dollars. Globally, it’s the largest pizza chain in terms of revenue and the second-largest pizza chain in terms of stores opened.
Domino’s is consistently dominating the pizza market with more than 15,900 stores across 85 countries. They were the first to introduce the delivery idea of a “30 minutes or less” promise.
Interestingly, Domino’s does not make its primary revenue from selling pizzas. 81% of their revenue comes from the ingredient-selling side of their business.
The reason why customers prefer Domino’s is because they’re very prompt to customer responses and flawless when it comes to delivery.
- Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut makes a gross annual sales of 12.03 billion dollars. Like Domino’s, Pizza Hut dominates more than half of the US’s pizza market. In 1958, the Carney brothers used the absence of pizzerias in the local community to start Pizza Hut.
They now have 18,703 stores around the world that make Pizza Hut the most prolific pizza chain. They offer novelty and affordability to get an advantage over their competitor, Domino’s. Pizza Hut always tries to stay ahead in the market by developing novelty pizza concepts.
Customers are drawn to pizza hut because they find innovation and an affordable price range at the same time, unlike Domino’s.
- Little Caesars
Little Caesars makes a gross annual sales of 4 billion dollars. Their competitive advantage is the affordability as well as the pizza delivery speed. They focus on less fancy ingredients and feature smaller stores that allow them to offer pizzas to the customers at half less the price of other stores.
The iconic catchphrase “Pizza! Pizza!” initially promoted the chain’s “two pizzas for the price of one” deal. It’s the most popular pizza chain in Louisiana and Kansas.
- Papa John’s Pizza
Papa John’s Pizza makes a gross annual sales of 3.695 billion dollars. It was founded in 1984, comparatively later than most other pizza chains. They reached 5,199 stores as of early 2021.
Papa John’s Pizza was the first chain to offer online ordering that created a large fan base. Especially those who didn’t want to visit a store. Papa John’s also focused on the growing consumer trend towards green and fresh ingredients.
They advertise their green ingredients with “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza” rather than focusing on affordability.
- California Pizza Kitchen
California Pizza Kitchen makes a gross annual sales of 840 million dollars. It popularized unique concepts like Thai and BBQ chicken pizzas. Even though they come far below where gross revenue is concerned, the chain’s loyal customers can’t get enough of their novelty flavors. They also differ in store settings. They have restaurant settings instead of traditional order and takeout stores.
Conclusion
I guess that was all on that topic. Now it’s your time to spread the knowledge. Next time someone asks, what kind of cheese do professional pizzerias use, don’t be shy to explain them elaborately.
It doesn’t matter whether you wish to open your own store or just giving it a try at home, make sure you do everything right. Pizza is a versatile food to experiment with. Who knows, maybe you’ll invent a unique recipe that’ll exceed restaurant-grade pizzas. Call upon your inner chef, and get started!
