Why Pizza Is Almost Always Better At A Restaurant Than At Home
Sometimes cooking feels therapeutic. Other times, it feels like a party in the kitchen, especially when it comes to making pizza. It's a type of dish that's fun for kids and adults alike because who wouldn't love getting creative with all kinds of toppings, sauces, and no-knead pizza dough? Fun times aside, few can argue that pizza is flat-out craveable. WTOP News explains it's due to multiple elements all working in cohesion, like the lengthy rise time of the dough, the stretchy pull of the cheese, and the textural contrast between the crust and the sauce.
Now, sure, pizza tastes amazing no matter who makes it. But there's something different about dining on, say, a Calabrian-style pizza at a restaurant or local pizza chain versus making it at home. The crust, the taste, heck, even the presentation just seems better. So here's why pizza tastes more "supreme" in restaurants versus at home.
The type of oven matters
Normal ovens can certainly cook a pizza just fine, but for even better results, it's best to use a pizza oven. Since these are not common in many homes, don't blame yourself if your artistic pizza creation doesn't match the pies made by restaurants.
Brooklyn Pizza Lover explains that this type of cooking vessel relies on radiant heat, which, for the most part, comes from what the site describes as, "fire burning on the floor of the oven, inside an enclosed chamber," which makes it similar to a grill sans grill plates. There are also many types of pizza ovens, like a commercial model, a black oven, and the classic arch-shaped oven. Some ovens are also fitted with a chimney or constructed into a visually-appealing Pompeii model, which consists of firebricks, per Forno Bravo.
But the real secret of pizza ovens lies in how hot they get. While regular ovens reach temperatures of 475-500 degrees F, via The Physics Factbook, Forno Piombo notes that pizza ovens can climb to 1000 degrees F. These scorching temperatures are more than enough to cook several pizzas at once in a matter of minutes, which also yields more evenly-cooked pizzas that have crusts that Forno Piombo describes as "lighter and fluffier" with notes of crispiness and chewiness.
So while it's fun to whip up a California-style pizza at home, it's also perfectly fine to indulge in the magic of pizza ovens at restaurants.