Prevent Homemade Pizza Dough From Sticking To Your Pan Using One Simple Tip

We all love good homemade pizza. That crunchy and airy crust, the delicious marinara sauce seasoned with some garlic, oregano and basil, as well as the gooey, fresh mozzarella melted to perfection — it's everything that makes this traditional Italian dish undeniably delicious. Even when following all the tips for making the best homemade pizza, though, homemade dough can easily stick to the pan if you're not careful, turning your cozy pizza night into a complete disaster.

Even though a light dusting of flour or a bit of olive oil can help prevent adhesion (the process that causes the dough to stick to the surface), both can affect how the crust turns out. Put too much flour underneath your pizza dough, and it'll make the crust powdery, soft, or even bitter. On the other hand, adding olive oil to the dough's base will result in a crust that's greasy. It will likely even burn it later if you bake your pizza at higher temperatures. Which brings us to baking paper — the ultimate solution you didn't know your pizza needed.

Laying a sheet of baking paper on your prep board before adding your toppings will create a barrier that will keep the wet dough from sticking to the surface. This is especially helpful for stuffed-crust pizzas or when you're using high-moisture toppings such as mushrooms, tomatoes, or spinach, which can quickly make the dough soggy.

Once you try it out, this simple solution could easily turn into yet another parchment paper cooking hack you'll use forever. Another reason supporting this is that baking paper also helps ensure a smooth, stress-free transfer into a hot oven or onto a baking stone. All you have to do is simply move the dough onto a sheet of baking paper once you stretch it and add all of your favorite pizza toppings. Then simply slide the whole thing onto the pan or your preheated stone, without worrying about the toppings falling off or the dough ripping.

On that note, because baking paper is moisture and heat-resistant, it can limit moisture evaporation from the dough's base. So it's important to remove it before the cheese begins to bubble to prevent the bottom of the crust from becoming soggy or undercooked. To do this, simply use a pair of tongs or your fingers (being careful not to burn yourself) to grab one edge of the baking paper and gently slide it out from under the pizza. Then just continue baking it directly on the pan or the stone.

Plus, if the baking paper was mostly covered and didn't burn, you can reuse it one more time. Just make sure not to let excess parchment paper dangle in the oven. It could easily come into contact with the oven's heating elements and potentially catch fire or turn your kitchen into a smoky mess.