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I followed the recipe from Serious Eats to make Sicialian Pizza at home.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/01/easy-no-roll-no-stretch-sicilian-style-square.html

Everything was good except for the cheese.

I baked the dough with most of of the tomato sauce at 525F at the beginning for 5 minutes, to then add some more sauce and the shredded cheese (typical shredded mozzarella cheese in bags). It was supposed to bake for another 10 minutes, but the cheese got very dry and with that brownish color of dried cheese. It was not pulling as it usually pizza cheese does.

Should I be using a different cheese for pizza at home? Maybe fresh mozzarella instead of shredded?

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  • Is there any chance you spread it thinner than the recipe called for, either because you used less or you spread the pizza out more?
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented Aug 24, 2015 at 4:10

2 Answers 2

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When your pizza is ready take it out of the oven, add the cheese. Put the pizza back in the oven, turn the heat off. Don't go anywhere, just keep an eye on the cheese unlit it melts, take it out and whala.. That way cheese is melted and not dry and you can basically use any taste of cheese you prefer . Its probably because your not using a pizza oven, and its getting to much heat from top. Best cheese for pizza in my opinion is mozzarella. :) Enjoy.

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Ah; pizza; minutes to learn; lifetime to master. Many recipes on the internet leave out MANY important little details. Defer to a alton brown episode when possible, :)

This may be more of an issue than just cheese type;

  1. If you are not letting dough sit overnight you may have issues with the flour absorbing liquid while it's cooking; try overnight rest when possible.

  2. Be sure to let your dough sit and autolyse for at least 30 mins before mixing. I usually mix on low for 1 minute and let those flour molecules soak water for at least 30 while i make the sauce.

  3. If you are doing a really thick pan pizza; two things are needed; 1. pan with holes in bottom to let moisture out of bottom; sauce on top of cheese to prevent burning.

  4. Finally cheese type; low fat is famous for being bad for pizza and dry. Be sure to use whole milk mozzarella and not skim.

  5. Be sure cheese is cold! Colder the better; freeze if you are on the edge of burnt and good cheese.

  6. Try slicing or grinding your own mozzarella from a fresh ball of mozz.

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