Start Up Equipment for Making Pizza

A few things you need to get started…

Before we start on the basic dough recipe, we need to have the equipment to make the dough.

Kitchen Aid Mixer I prefer a Kitchen Aid mixer – Pro line is best, a mixer with a metal gear box (nylon gears tend to strip out when mixing more than 8 cups of flour.)

You don’t have to spend a lot to get a Kitchen Aid, it doesn’t have to be new. Go to Kitchenaid.com and look at refurbished units.

The food processor or a bread machine can also be used to make a small 4-cup dough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

pizza dough risingDough Containers-

You’ll need one or two Tupperware type containers to place each dough ball in to rise before roll out. I recommend 4-5 quart containers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wooden Rolling Pin for Pizza CrustRolling Pin -

You will need a good rolling pin. I prefer a wooden one that is 16-18 inches wide with ball bearing handles., but you can use a plastic, wooden, or ceramic rolling pen (which doesn’t have the ball bearings) to roll out the dough. Remember, you will be rolling out a 16-18 inch wide circle to press into your pizza pan.

 

 

 

 

 

The Pizza Pan –

Probably the single biggest  factor in making your crust turn out professionally.

I use American Metalcraft CAR 16s. These are commercial grade, heavy duty pans used by Pizza Hut in the 1970s.  I have had six  of these pans for 33 years. The only problem is a 16 inch pan (CAR 16) is it is too large for some ovens. I would recommend a seasoned 14” commercial pan – CAR14 (which is now considered a LARGE pizza) for most home pizza use.

The pans can also be used for biscuits, sandwiches, cookies, etc – it is a great heavy duty pan and doesn’t have to be used only for pizza.

I have found hundreds of pizza pans available online, but none compare to the CAR14 pans and none are pre-seasoned (Used)

I recently found seasoned CAR 14 pans from a pizzeria in Texas and I bought the entire stock. They will be offered on Amazon soon for less than you can buy a new CAR14 with shipping.

 

Channel Lock Pliers and Oven Mitts

To get the pizza out of the oven, a pair of channel lock pliers from your toolbox can be used to grip the side of the pan to remove from the oven (if you are using the sturdy  CAR 14 pan). With pliers, you don't ever have to worry about the heat going through a thin spot of your pot holders. It's easy to get burned using pot holders.

It is not necessary to use pliers; just be careful with pot holders or mitts,

 

Pizza Equipment-cutterPizza Cutter

I use a pizza wheel with a 4-5 inch diameter wheel. It fits nicely in a kitchen drawer and is less expensive than a pizza blade or double-handled pizza knife which is 18-20 inches long, is hard to store and is expensive.

The long handled pizza knife does a great job on thick crust, though.

A wooden handled pizza cutter with a large wheel is hard to find. Bed Bath and Beyond has a good variety of acrylic pizza cutters that work fine. If I fine a source for a good wooden handle pizza cutter, I will post it later.

 

 

 

Pizza Tray

Serving Tray

When you search on line for a pizza pan, a serving tray is what shows up most of the time. Pizza is not meant to be cooked on this. You will need as least one 16” aluminum serving tray.

The pizza goes directly from the oven (having been cooked in a seasoned pizza pan) to the serving tray. I lift the hot cooked pizza out of the pan with my pizza cutter, by wedging it under the crust, and tilting the pan, and letting the pizza slide onto the serving tray.

I slice the pizza into pieces on the serving tray.

TS