Pizza Dough Balls or Part-Baked Bases, Which Is The Right Choice For You?
Our goal at Homemade Pizza Club is to help you create outstanding pizzas and give you all the tools you need to win the day and become a true pizza hero!
That starts with deciding what you are going to use as your base to create your pizzas. And there are 3 options.
Option 1. Make the dough yourself.
Option 2. Use a pre-made pizza dough ball.
Option 3. Use a part-baked pizza base.
Let’s have a look at each of these options so we can help you decide which is right for you. The first thing to say here is that there are NO right or wrong choices. Only what is right for you personally, and that will depend on a few different factors. And you may even find that different choices are right for different occasions. What matters is what will give you the best results for whatever situation you are in and whatever your goals are for your pizza making.
OPTION 1: MAKING THE DOUGH YOURSELF
Many home pizza makers make their own dough and get great results by doing so. There’s such a vast amount of information online now that can teach you everything from what type of flour to use (a big subject in itself!) to mixing techniques, fermentation times and many more. Making dough is a real skill and can be incredibly satisfying to do. What’s more, by making your own dough, you can experiment with many different styles, techniques and recipes to come up with your own signature dough.
Whilst we would never discourage anybody from making their own dough, it does come with some considerations. The first one is that it takes time and quite a bit of forward planning. It does also require some practise to really master the factors that go into producing a great pizza dough and to get it right every time. Everything from your choice of flour, the temperature in your kitchen and even the humidity on the day you’re making your dough has an impact on the final result. You’ll also need a good quality mixer, which can be a significant investment.
In summary, making your own dough requires skill, practise and some patience. But it can also provide you with the satisfaction of learning to master it over time and the ability to experiment with different styles and ideas.
OPTION 2: USING A PRE-MADE PIZZA DOUGH BALL
There are now many pre-bought dough ball options available to you as a home pizza maker, including in the supermarket and online from more specialist producers such as us. But is a pre-bought dough ball the right choice for you and if so, how do you choose the best ones to buy from the many options available?
A pre-made dough ball offers you several benefits over making your own dough. The hard part of pizza making is always going to be getting the dough right. Using a pre-made dough ball gives you more consistency and can save you a lot of time. It doesn’t require any special equipment. Having a stock of good quality pizza dough balls in the freezer also reduces the need for forward planning. You don’t need to keep a stock of other ingredients, simply remove the dough balls from the freezer and hey presto, your dough can be ready to go in a matter of hours.
So if you feel a pre-made dough ball is for you, how do you choose which ones are the best?
Look for a dough ball made with high quality flour. This means a higher protein content which means you can ferment your dough for longer, giving it a much better taste and texture. A dough made with lower strength flour won’t hold up to longer fermentation and will lack the strength required to make a great pizza. Whilst it’s not always possible to find out what strength of flour has been used by the manufacturer when buying a dough ball in the supermarket or online, you’ll know if it’s been made with a poor-quality flour as it’ll likely be prone to tearing, lacking in texture and will collapse if fermented for any long period of time.
The other big factor is how the dough has been mixed. A great quality dough needs time for the gluten structure to develop properly. For many dough producers, it’s tempting to mix for less time to increase output. You’ll know if this is the case as the dough will lack strength and will be difficult to shape without tearing.
At Homemade Pizza Club, all our pizza dough balls are made with high quality flours that mean our dough is nice and strong and able to stand up to long fermentation periods. We mix our dough for a minimum of 12 minutes, which is the perfect amount of time to develop the gluten structure required to make a great quality pizza. It’s then divided into balls and put through a state-of-the-art rounding machine, which creates a smooth and tight dough ball. Our team take great care in producing our dough and we aim to get every batch consistently excellent, so we provide you with the best starting point possible for your pizza making.
In summary, using a pre-made pizza dough ball can be a great choice if you’re looking for a consistent and hassle-free option for your pizza making. It can be a much quicker way to make your pizzas and allow you to focus on creating delicious topping combinations.
OPTION 3: USING A PART-BAKED PIZZA BASE
A part-baked base is one where the making of the dough, the fermentation, the stretching and shaping of it and some of the baking has already been done for you. Again, there are many options available and there are several factors that will decide whether this route is the right one for you.
Using a part-baked base is without doubt the easiest and quickest way to make a delicious pizza. There is no dough preparation or fermentation to worry about and no special skills or equipment required. You can simply remove them from the freezer, defrost in minutes and top with sauce, cheese and your choice of toppings.
A part-baked base will work well in both indoor and outdoor ovens, meaning at times of year when it’s less desirable to be cooking in your outdoor pizza oven, you can always make delicious pizza using your indoor oven instead. Fresh dough doesn’t always work very well in indoor ovens due to the temperatures in them being too low.
Another occasion when part-baked bases come into their own is if you’re throwing a pizza party and need to get a higher number of pizzas cooked quickly. Most outdoor ovens don’t cope that well with repeated numbers of pizzas being cooked in them in a short space of time. A part-baked base will not only save you a lot of time stretching and shaping dough, but will cook more quickly in your oven, leaving you more time to host your guests and enjoy your party. Even if you’re the most committed dough making expert, using part-baked bases for occasions such as these can be a great option.
The downside of part-baked pizza bases is that they are a more expensive option than making your own dough or buying a pre-bought dough ball. A part-baked base naturally has more time and energy put into making it and so attracts a higher price. This does mean you’ll pay more for the convenience.
The other main downside is that although a part-baked base will still make a great quality pizza, it’s perhaps never going to be quite as good as a freshly made one.
At Homemade Pizza Club, our hand-stretched Romana pizza bases are a great option if you are looking for a high-quality part-baked pizza base and feel this is the right option for you. They’re made with a blend of high-quality flour before being fermented for a minimum of 24 hours before being stretched by hand and cooked on hot stones at a high temperature, giving great taste and texture.
In summary, a part-baked base can be a superb option for those just starting their home pizza making journey, or the more experienced pizza maker looking for an easy way to cater for a pizza party.
Hopefully this guide has helped you give some thought as to what options are the best for you, helping you go boldly forth in your mission to becoming a true pizza hero!
If it's helped you to decide which direction is best for you, check out our range of pizza dough and hand-stretched bases here:
