Think Twice Before Using Parchment Paper With Your Next Homemade Pizza

Even seasoned home cooks make mistakes. When creating a mouthwatering homemade pizza, people commonly use parchment paper during cooking. Some fret over whether it will burn in the oven, but the real issue is that it's the wrong tool for the job and can result in a sub-par pie.

The reason this technique is so common is that many folks don't have a pizza peeler, and they want to rest assured that they can remove the dish from the oven without it tearing apart. But according to Nicole Bean, owner of Pizaro's Pizza Napoletana, putting parchment paper under your pizza when it goes in the oven will leave you disappointed after eating that first slice. She's been producing pizzas professionally for over 10 years and knows a thing or two about the process. About baking with parchment paper she says, "[It] will trap moisture during the bake and can cause the crust to be too wet/soggy." 

There's nothing worse than creating an Italian meal full of potential and biting into a doughy, soggy mess of a crust. Whether you are cooking a deep-dish in a cast iron skillet or making a uniquely thin Brooklyn-style pizza, ditching the parchment paper is essential to achieving a crispy structure for the pie. Thankfully, there are ways to remove it from the heat without ruining the crust. There is also a good use for the parchment paper, but it doesn't involve the oven.

While you want to avoid using parchment paper to cook your pizza — which can also sabotage your roasted vegetables – Nicole Bean says it can serve a purpose in the preparation stage. Although she advises against using it to cook the pie, says "you could use parchment in the initial roll out phase to help lift or flip the dough onto the pan." This can reduce the mess on the countertop and save you from tearing your dough during transfer. 

Removing the parchment paper from the cooking phase may seem intimidating if you're used to having it there. But just like taking the training wheels off a bike, you eventually learn to adapt and overcome the challenge of cleanly transferring the dish once it's baked. 

If you use a pizza stone to cook your pies, lightly dusting it with flour or cornmeal will keep the dough from sticking to the stone while it heats. If you don't have a pizza stone, use a preheated baking sheet turned upside down to attain the perfect consistency. Brush on a light layer of olive oil before setting down the dough, and it should keep it from sticking to the baking sheet. It will also give you the perfect crispy crust for your work of art. With some practice, cooking homemade pizza without parchment paper will become second nature, and the results will speak for themselves.