As much as I enjoy having the emergency frozen pizza on hand, nothing beats a freshly baked pie. Unfortunately, the high heat required for stunningly delicious thin crust makes home baking a difficult challenge. However, that same limitation proves to be an asset when considering the deep-dish pizza pie. Yes, a hot oven is still necessary, but it is not essential to the final product. Home baked deep-dish pizza is the way to go.
Of course, the right tools make all the difference. If you try baking a deep-dish pizza with a regular sheet pan, well, you can tell just from the shape that is not going to work. I have had good results from cast iron and pie pans, but for a big pizza meant for sharing; look into this Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza Set.
Measuring almost 2 inches high, with a 12-inch diameter, the deep-dish pan is made of heavyweight nonstick aluminized steel. Also included in the set is a spatula and recipes from UNO Chicago Pizzeria. Both the deep-dish pan and the spatula are dishwasher safe.
With a little practice and delicious experimentation, home baked deep-dish pizza pies are as close as the kitchen. Considering the quality of some supposed deep-dish pizzerias out there, the home cook has nothing to lose.
