One is a pie you eat with a fork. The other is crisp enough to snap. A practical guide to choosing your crust.
Ask ten people what pizza should be and you will get two camps. One wants a thin, crisp base that carries a few good toppings. The other wants height: a thick wall of crust and enough cheese to need cutlery. We make both, and we get asked every day which is better. Neither. They are different meals.
What deep dish really is
Chicago-style deep dish is baked in a round, high-sided pan. The dough has butter worked into it, so the crust is closer to a savoury pastry than to bread. It is pressed up the sides of the pan, and then the pizza is built upside down: cheese goes in first, toppings in the middle and chunky tomato sauce on top. The reason is practical. A deep dish needs about 25 minutes in the oven, and cheese left on top for that long would burn. The sauce protects it.
The result is a tall slice with a thick seam of mozzarella. It is rich, heavy and very satisfying. One Regular deep dish will feed two people.
What thin crust is for
Thin crust is the opposite idea. The dough is stretched until it is almost translucent in the centre and baked hot and fast. It comes out crisp, with a little char, and it puts the toppings in front. You taste the sauce and the basil rather than the bread. It is also lighter, so it suits a second pizza, a lunch or a table that wants to try several flavours.
Hand-tossed, the middle path
Our standard Hand-Tossed crust sits between the two: an airy, chewy rim and a soft centre. If you are not sure, this is the one to order. Pan crust is thicker and buttery, and Cheese Burst hides a layer of molten cheese inside the base.
How to choose
Pick deep dish when pizza is the whole event, when it is cold outside, or when you are sharing with one other hungry person. Pick thin crust when you want to taste delicate toppings such as the Herb Garden Supreme or Mushroom Mafia, or when you are ordering three or four pizzas for a group. Pick Hand-Tossed for loaded pizzas such as Veggie Overdrive or Non-Veg Mayhem, which need a base that can carry weight.
One rule
Do not order deep dish in a hurry. It takes 25 minutes to bake and it should. Order it, pour a drink, and let the oven do its work.
