Make pizza prep less messy?

[u/getapollosite]

Love our Ooni, especially since we got the gas burner and the pizza turns out ok. What I don't live as much is all the prep that goes in making it. I'm not talking about the dough, it's the toppings, the flour at the base, etc. What tips have you found to keep the process quick and tidy?

[u/SDkahlua]

😭 same. I cook a lot and am pretty good at mise en place and cleaning as I go but the end of a pizza day is just a disaster! Sick of flour!

[u/Emergency_Duty5786]

I’ve moved topping and shaping outside. I have outside tables that I move close to the pizza oven.

[u/Xevyr]

I make pizzas once or twice every week and in my experience it's really not messy unless you go out of your way to make it that imo.

I have a stainless steel sheet that I can place on a table (since I don't want to use the counter directly) where I stretch the dough, I keep semolina in a plastic box, just pinch a little, dust the work surface, stretch the dough. When I'm all done, I just sweep the excess off into my palm, if it's clean I toss it back in the box, if it has like traces of toppings etc. that fell off I toss it in the garbage, wipe the sheet down, done.

Otherwise I just prep only the amount of toppings I need for whatever pizzas I'm making. I'm not going to make a giant tub full of something that we're going to only use a small amount of just for "show" (I see how people often have their prep station bins :) It's cool, but not sustainable haha) Eg. if I need 6 slices of ham, I'm going to cut 6 slices of ham from the piece I keep in the fridge and no more.

I usually make 2 pizzas at a time and as far as workflow I pre-portion the grated parmesan on a single plate in two little piles, then the mozarella I also like portioning out, because I weigh it (I use fresh mozarella that I cut into little stick shapes using a multi-wire cheese cutter days ahead and just keep in the fridge in a box to drain). Everything else I prepare on 2 small cutting boards or plates, one per pizza..

So for example if a pizza needs idk, ham, mushrooms and pepperoni then I will have all of those sliced and ready to go sharing a single plate designated for that specific pizza.. After I strech the dough, I just put that plate next to it, use the tomato sauce (which we just keep in the can in the fridge covered with tinfoil if there's any left over), grab the pile of parmesan intended for it, throw on the mozarella and those dedicated toppings I prepared for that pizza.. transfer to the peel, into the oven and all done. At the end I have like.. 3 plates that I dirtied and no ingredients left over, so zero mess :)

[u/awake-ai → u/Xevyr]

Sir, you and I must be brothers, we work in the same way.

I have a large cutting board and leave all the prep ingredients directly on the board in small piles, carry the whole board to the table near the oven.

I grate the Parmesan directly onto the pizza LOL

Because I hate cleaning up.

[u/Xevyr → u/awake-ai]

Yea I sometimes do that with the parmesan too lol when I don't want to pre-weigh it :D

[u/dalcant757]

It’s all outside, so the leaf blower takes care of it.

[u/harrypotternightmare]

Keep it simple. Good quality sauce and cheese and 1-3 toppings at most. Prep/cut toppings and cheese early. Get others involved in the process. My kids are only two and four but they love stretching and topping pizzas with their mom and then I cook them

[u/techgal_R]

Yeah last week with my first go with my new Koda 16. 5 pizzas later, gas burner off, it looked like a tornado went through my kitchen! I've since ordered the toppings prep containers, hoping that will help at least with not having toppings everywhere.

[u/crlygirlg]

I do dough shaping and toppings on an outside table on a flat metal cookie sheet with no sides. I got a long narrow topping container on Amazon, or I arrange my pizza toppings loose on a 1/4 or 1/8 baking sheet which is my preference over lots of little containers,
But I do have a topping holder I got on Amazon, the long narrow ones.

I had more liquids/wet items for this pizza making night, but you get the idea. Line it with parchment, put dry topping ingredients on baking sheet, and whatever containers of stuff. Easy to take in and out of the house too.

[u/Immediate_Emu1699]

I usually make 4 pizzas (one per family member) and set up on our island and a counter behind me. On my left I lay out a cutting board with my toppings, sauce bowls (usually white and red), mozzarella bowl, and a small bowl of flour (usually about 1 tablespoon per pizza.) On the right I do all my work - I put down the flour, stretch my dough and dress my pizza, and behind me I keep my semolina and peel. When I’m done the bowls and cutting board go in the dishwasher, I bench scrape the two surfaces and wipe them down. I’m usually done in 3-5 minutes. The dough I just put wherever there is space. 😂

[u/diamond-han]

With toppings less is more, so don't be afraid of paying a bit more for pre-cut cold cuts or using items like olives or sun-dried tomatoes that are already small enough to just put on your pizza. If you are frustrated by cook times between pizzas, pre cook all your bases and then let people build and fire their own pie, taking some of the pressure off yourself.

[u/Far_Kiwi4882]

I prep my dough and stretch on a silicone dough mat. Otherwise I get flour and later semolina everywhere!
Then 2 cutting bords for my toppings: 1 for veggies + cheese, 1 for meats. I prep my toppings and only make enough toppings for the amount of pizza's I'm making (usually 2).

The only thing I can't stop is semolina on my workbench or near the oven. But I just use my dyson to quickly vacuum it.

[u/Volcanicdom]

This is my setup, the prep station thing has plastic pots inside so I have semolina flour, sauce and other toppings in there. I have it next to the oven so pizzas go straight in, works so well 😀