A deep dish pizza is exactly what it sounds likea deep, deliciously doughy dish to hold all of your favorite toppings. When making a Chicago-style deep dish pizza, special pans are used to help create a thick pizza that resembles a pie. Though the crust itself is not overly thick, it is deep, allowing it to hold a lot of sauce, cheese and toppings, making the entire pizza that much more abundant.
A special pan is often used in the making of Chicago-style deep dish pizzas, allowing the outside and edges of the crust to reach a golden brown crisp. Due to the pies thickness, deep dish pizzas take a longer time to cook, and as a result, you add their toppings in reverse order. Just imagine if you placed the cheese and other toppings on top, at the end of baking, you'd have a burnt mess of a pizza. By working in reverse, the cheese wont overcook and youll end up with a creamy top layer of sauce.
While Chicago-style deep dish pizza is stacked with several layers of tasty toppings, its important to note that it is in fact different than stuffed pizza.
Though many people place stuffed pizza under the category of deep dish pizzas, actual stuffed pizza is created with a layer of dough on top. This top layer of dough is then covered in tomato sauce before baking. Now let's dive into the secrets on how to make a deep dish pizza.
All-purpose flour is usually the go-to when making a Chicago style deep dish pizza. Though it may be a bit harder to stretch, it's high gluten content makes it an excellent choice for pizza crust. Our All-Purpose Unbleached White Flour uses the highest quality wheat and has a touch of malted barley added to enhance the rise.
If you're gluten intolerant or baking for someone who is, our Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour makes it easy to transform your traditional deep dish recipe into a delicious gluten free one. Gluten free pizza dough creates a light and crispy texture when baked and can hold a variety of different pizza topping combos. Using a unique blend of gluten free flours and starches, this can be used as a direct replacement for all-purpose baking flour.
Check out our favorite gluten free deep dish recipe that can also be converted into a vegan dish as well!
Due to their hearty nature, deep dish pizzas need to bake a bit longer than traditional pizzas. Most recipes range from 350-400F; however, it's essential to take a look at your toppings and determine what your pizza needs. If you're using a lot of moist toppings or meat, you may want to turn up the heat a bit to make sure they cook thoroughly. On the other hand, if your deep dish pizza is on the lighter side with fewer toppings, 350F should work fine. Either way, don't worry about turning the heat up too much. Unless your pizza is left in the oven for an extremely long time, it's hard to burn a Chicago-style deep dish pizza!
If you're having a hard time telling if your deep dish pizza is done, checking the temperature is a quick and accurate way to tell. Stick a thermometer into the center of your pizza until it reaches the base of the crust. If your pizza is done and ready to remove, the temperature should read upwards of 190F.
