In this episode we talk about some basic pizza terms and concepts.

Great dough makes great pizza: this may be the concept to rule them all. We can put the best ingredients available on our pizza, but if the crust isn’t good, the pizza will be mediocre. On the other hand, simple ingredients on an excellent crust will make a memorable pie.

We discuss two big pizza-making concepts: hydration and fermentation.

Hydration is simply the amount of water in a given dough. The percentage of hydration can make a big difference in the type of dough you make and how well it cooks in a home oven.

Fermentation is the technical term for what people typically call “letting the dough rise”. It’s what gives crust flavor and texture.

We also talk about a few of our favorite pizza-making tools, like a Baking Steel, pizza stone, cast-iron pizza pan, and wooden and metal peels. A full list of our recommended products is at pizzanerds.co/recommended.

Remember, there is no perfect pizza. The goal is having fun and learning!

Theme music by Dyalla Swain http://soundcloud.com/dyallas.