Actually Crispy Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Relies On These 2 Pro Tips

If you've ever visited one of Chicago's 10 best pizzerias, you've likely fallen in love with the flavors and textures of the city's magnum opus, the deep-dish pizza. Recreating that substantial pie-like crust when you're back home is heaps of fun, but it can be equally as disheartening when you open the oven to find that the base of your pizza is doughy but the toppings overcooked. The solution? According to cookbook author and TV personality Molley Yeh, a truly crispy Chicago deep-dish pizza can be replicated at home with a couple of pro tips.

In an interview with Tasting Table, Yeh recommends baking your pizza at the very bottom of the oven versus a rack in the center. This move allows the heat that's emanating from the base of the appliance to hit the crust directly, causing it to develop a golden color and crisp exterior. This burst of heat also triggers the dough into rising up the sides and creates those delicious pockets of air that lend it a distinctive texture. 

You can safely place a pizza pan on the base of the oven, or bake your pie in a cast iron skillet as Yeh does. Cast iron is an awesome distributor of heat, which helps the crust to get golden and toasty rather than remaining doughy or soggy. Yeh's second tip is to top your pizza "with things that can handle a lot of time in the oven while the crust crisps up."

Chicago deep dish pizza crusts are far heftier than a classic pizza crust by nature because they have to hold the abundance of toppings, cheese, and sauce piled inside. This means that the dough needs more time to fully cook through than a thinner New York-style pizza, which can be ready in mere minutes (or even seconds in a super-hot pizzeria oven). The trouble is that giving the crust the time it needs to rise and set into a solid structure with high sides means fresher toppings can overcook. Taking Yeh's advice and selecting ingredients that can handle that extra time solves the problem. Toppings that are naturally fatty, such as sausage meat or mini meatballs, are excellent options because they won't dry out or burn as the crust cooks. Sautéing moisture-rich veggies, such as mushrooms and spinach, beforehand will also prevent the inside of the pie from getting soggy.

If you've got plenty of time on your hands, some people say that the secret to a restaurant-worthy deep-dish pizza is to cook it in your slow cooker. This might sound unusual, but the longer cook time actually allows the exterior of the pie to become golden and crispy while the middle retains its fluffiness.

Disclaimer: Tasting Table is a sister site to Daily Meal.