Chemists Reveal A Couple Small Tweaks To Make Pizza Taste Much Better

Food science is a fascinating subject for home cooks who want to leverage a bit of kitchen chemistry to improve their meals. For those who prefer to make their pizza at home but find that it lacks a bit something, scientists are here with "a couple of small chemistry tweaks" that they say will turn a bad pizza into a great one.

At its core, pizza is a very simple dish: it is made with a bread crust, a tomato sauce, cheese, and perhaps some other toppings like vegetables and meat. The video kicks off discussing arguably the most important part of a pizza: the crust, which can end up dense, doughy, or like cardboard, depending on how it is (incorrectly) made.

Video host Sam Jones, Ph.D., explains the chemical process behind the creation of pizza dough, detailing the reactions that take place when you allow the dough to sit in the fridge overnight rather than using it immediately. Chiming in with some key details is Peter Reinhart, professor of baking at Johnson & Wales University.

Another key change to your pizza-cooking process is getting the oven hot enough — rather than setting it at the lower temperatures most people use, you'll want to get your oven to 500F or 550F, depending on the appliance. The chemical processes that take place while cooking are also discussed, including what happens to the amino acids, sugars, and starches.

The result, the video explains, is a crispy, properly baked pizza crust that doesn't dry out before it reaches the level of crispiness most people expect. The end result is a drastically improved pizza experience as the other ingredients are assembled upon a hot, crispy, and yet moist foundation of properly-prepared bread.