Whether you’re a pizza fanatic or have never touched pizza before, one of the biggest debates is whether or not there are eggs in your pizza crust! Some say yes, some say no, and it totally depends on which style pizza you like and what kind of taste you want to detect.
If you love crispy, hard-boiled egg toppings, then yes, that can be an ingredient in most thin-and-crispy pizza varieties. Others may prefer soft, custardy toppings, so they skip the raw egg altogether.
The truth about the presence of eggs in pizza crust comes down to how much baking time each part gets. If you bake the dough long enough, the yeast will break down all of the nutrients and minerals from the flour and use them as ingredients to grow more yeast. This process happens rapidly, so don’t worry about overcooking the dough!
This article will discuss two different theories about why people believe the word “pizza” in “has chicken or olive oil in it” applies to anything called “thick-style pizza.
What is the difference between wheat and wheat flour based crusts?
While some believe that the dough for pizza includes an egg to give it rise, this is not true! That layer of white we often see in thin-ish pizzas is usually just water or milk instead of an actual cooked omelette spread across the dough.
Thicker style pizzas have a crispy, sometimes browned, crunchy shell or crust that is made from baking powder and/or breadcrumbs that are mixed into the dough before cooking. This type of crust will depend heavily on how dry the toppings are, and what kind of texture you want! If your sauce has bits of meat in it, then having a solid crust could make it tough to enjoy the food.
Some people may also include olive oil or other oils in their dough as a way to promote soft, fluffy buns, but this is only done when the dough is being mixed – adding the oil later is unnecessary.
What about gluten?
While some have suggested that pizza crust does not need to contain an ingredient called “dough,” most agree that it is essential to the recipe.
Just like any other kind of bread or pasta, there are three main components of a pizza dough- butter, yeast, and wheat flour.
The butter can be either salted or unsalted, but they both work well in the baking process. The yeast and wheat flour are more specific types of food!
You will usually use around one teaspoon of active dry yeast for every two cups of warm water you mix into a solution. Then, you should whisk this mixture until it forms a foam texture – this means it has activated the yeast!
After this step, you can add your olive oil and milk to create your rising agent or liquid component. Once mixed together, these ingredients should combine and grow very quickly! This reaction is what creates the air bubbles that rise during cooking, ensuring an adequate rise in the oven.
At this stage, you can also add your solid pieces such as dried fruits, nuts, or meats to make your own toppings. When baking the pizza, these textures will cook down slightly and give flavor to the finished product.
Overall, when making our pizza recipes with no added oils, waters, or dairy products, we lose out on one important element: growth.
What about yeast?
Whilst some believe that the crispy texture of pizza is due to baking powder, which includes baking soda as well as plain old rising agents like Yeast, most agree that the crunch comes from an ingredient called “dough” or “crumb”.
This is because the grill/oven in which your pizza is cooked usually features very hot, circulated air which makes the dough dry and crisp as it bakes. The trick is to have a thin, fluffy crust with no hard bits!
So what kind of flours do we use to make our own pizzas at home? Almost all breads are made using three main ingredients: wheat flour, milk and salt.
Wheat flour is the base material for almost every type of food including bread, pasta and even chocolate! It produces starch, which helps foods stay solid so that you can eat them. When cooking rice or noodles, part of the recipe is to add more water until it forms a soft state- this is how the starch in the wheat flour acts.
By adding milk into the mix, the wheat flour is mixed together and shaped into a gel – this gives the dough its shape and consistency. Salt has many functions within recipes, but one important one is to balance out the moisture in the dough. If there was no salt, the dough would be too wet and not firm enough to take shape properly.
What about the egg?
While some pizza crusts do not contain an ingredient called “pizza crumb” or “breadcrumbs,” that does not mean they are free of all eggs!
Many thin-and-crispy pizzas have crispy toppings like cheese or chicken that require an extra step to prepare because the hard item will break down when heated.
These steps include toasting or melting the topping, which requires additional time and energy for the oven. If these things sound familiar, you may be wondering what kind of pizza has an uncooked, melted cheese top.
That is where we must warn you: there’s one very popular thin and crisp pizza that doesn’t look quite right.
What about the cheese?
When most people think of pizza, they imagine thin, crispy crust with tomato sauce and cheese stacked high. But that doesn’t describe every style of pizza!
Thicker, heavier toppings can be piled onto either fluffy or bread-like crusts, making them more like pasta dishes than pizza.
What about the oil?
While some say that the crust of pizza is made from dough, melted cheese, and an olive or vegetable oil to help it cook, there is no proof that this process actually involves using any kind of bread.
Most likely, the oily layer we see coming out of pizza restaurants comes from the dripping cheese that has been spread onto the pan. The grease left over from baking the dough also contributes to the look of the crispy edge.
The easiest way to eliminate this myth is to just make your own pizza! You can use fresh ingredients and bake them in a hot oven with little to no extra oils.
What about the sauce?
While some people may not include the crust in their pizza diet, most certainly do! Most of us know that the toppings on our pizzas make up part of the nutritional value, but what about the thin layer of dough called the pizza “crust”?
Some nutritionists believe that the crispy outer shell is an integral part of the overall meal quality due to its taste and texture. After all, you can’t eat the toppings without eating the crust first!
In fact, according to Harvard Health, “The calories in the crust are usually less than half a cup—and sometimes much less.” The website goes on to describe the crust as being high in nutrients such as vitamin C, zinc, and iron.
However, it should be noted that one individual slice of pizza typically has over 200 calories so one really cannot say with certainty whether or not the crust adds onto your daily intake.
Does it matter?
As we mentioned before, most pizza doughs are usually made with butter or oil as a rising agent. These fats play an integral part in creating crispy crusts and ensuring that the dough will stick to the pan when baking.
But what about the thin layer of cheese you place on top of your pie? Many people believe that this soft, creamy topping does not need to contain any dairy products, especially since some brands say they do not use milk!
Does it really make a difference? Well, yes! It depends on which flavor toppings you choose and whether or not you like these flavors paired with dairy.
If you love pepperoni then sure, skip the cream sauce and go for low-fat mozzarella shreds instead. Or if you cannot bear spicy food, opt for lower-fat provolone or gorgonzola instead of regular old Swiss cheese.
And just because something says “no cow” doesn’t mean there’s no chance it could still have traces of casein, the protein found in milk.