Notes

First off the dough recipe, Alton Brown's Pizza Dough recipe is the only one you'll ever need. Usually this is enough for one very big doughy pizza, or 2 normal sized pizzas. If going the 2 normal sized, cut the dough in half once done, put in separate containers to rise, and let rise for a few hours on the counter. I always let my dough rise in the fridge overnight, as at altitude the dough rises better overnight in the fridge. If at sea level you are good with a few hours covered by cling wrap and left on the counter

Once you have your dough made, assemble the ingredients. If you want a tomato based recipe, San Marzano tomatos are all you need. Make sure you get the can that says CERTIFIED, that means they guarantee these tomatoes are from Italy, they beat the pants off Roma's or other generic American tomatoes.

For the sauce, drain the tomatoes from the liquid, trust me don't keep the liquid they are packed in, it adds a weird texture. One big can should be enough for 1 pizza, little expensive but the flavor is ridiculous. Take the drained tomatoes and place them into a food processor (if you don't have one, smash them and dice them up as fine as you can humanly get), add seasonings as you feel. I add 1 TBSP oregano, 1 TSP onion and garlic powder, 1 TSP kosher salt, 1/2 TSP fresh black pepper, and any other fragrances like fresh Thyme/Rosemary. Be very cautious of adding too much rosemary, it's a bold flavor only 10-20 Rosemary leaves is enough, always start with less and go more.

If you are doing a bbq based pizza sauce, get either Stubbs or Sweet Baby Ray's, those are the only ones I've used, as is the reason for me suggesting them. I can confirm they cook up amazingly!

Once you have your dough and sauce, get your other ingredients like Cheese. I do 1:1:1 ratio of Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Smoked Gouda and Fresh Mozzarella (don't buy ANY pre-grated cheese, always buy block and grate it yourself, pre-grated cheeses have stuff in them to keep them from clumping, it also affects how it cooks up). Once grated, start assembling everything.

Key to an awesome pizza is have a screaming hot oven. Turn that bitch on as high as it can go, mine goes to 550 then broil, I set it to 550 and once pre-heated, I let it sit for 5-10 more minutes to ensure as much heat is in as possible. Once you open the door to throw the pizza in, temp drops 50+ degrees, be quick. I make my pizza now on a pizza pan and not a pizza stone or cast iron, I've found it ends up just as good. If using a pizza stone, let it heat up with the oven. Same thing for cast iron, that pan should be 550 degrees when you take it out to start assembling, it helps start the crust cooking and leads to a nice brown crust. If you don't, it will not get any color and will not be sturdy, it's not what you want.

Assemble your pizza accordingly: dough, sauce, cheese, toppings. If you want to do dough, sauce, toppings, then cheese you are free to do what you want! Once assembled drizzle some olive oil ontop to ensure the cooking starts quickly, in addition I always brush the crust with 1-2 TBSP butter. It makes the crust nice and golden and my rule of thumb is if you screw up the pizza, and they eat it all including the crust, then you didn't screw up anything.

Cook @550 for 6-7 minutes, sometimes 8-9. Once you are passed the 5 minute mark, pop open the oven every 45 seconds (very quickly to not lose temp) and make sure it doesn't burn. There is a very very fine line between perfect and overdone, trust me don't leave the kitchen at this point. Take out, let cool for however you want and eat!