I'm a Self-Taught Chef. Here's What Pizza Dough Taught Me.

People ask me all the time, “Where's your restaurant?” Or, “Where did you go to culinary school?” Sometimes they follow that with, “Your food is too good for you not to have done one of those.”

I'm self-taught.

I've learned by cooking, paying attention, asking questions, and listening to people who knew something I didn't. I've made plenty of mistakes along the way. Those experiences helped shape the chef I am today, and pizza is a good example.

Travel has been part of that education, too. When I lived in New York, I practically lived on pizza and bagels. And when I went to Italy, I probably ate more pizza than I should have. It was delicious. Sometimes you visit a country, eat the food it's known for, and think, “Okay, it really does taste better here.” I was happy to keep checking that theory, one pizza at a time.

It started with a Big Green Egg

I bought my first Big Green Egg from a friend who was moving to Australia. I didn't know a thing about cooking on one. And I'll tell you, I failed miserably in the beginning.

I wasn't someone who watched a bunch of YouTube videos before trying something. I was learning as I went, and there were steps I didn't even realize I was missing.

One of those was getting pizza dough ready to stretch. I could have the dough, the toppings, and the cooker ready, but still find myself fighting to make a circle.

It took time, and a few people along the way, for me to understand what the dough needed.

A lesson before the festival rush

Before I started teaching classes, I was making pizzas with Big Green Egg at a food festival in Midtown Atlanta. I was cooking the pizzas, and the person working alongside me was shaping them. He had worked in a pizzeria.

We had a bunch of Publix dough, and he recognized right away that it wasn't ready. The portions were too big for what we were making, and the dough needed some preparation before we got busy.

He divided it into smaller portions, shaped them into balls, dusted them with flour, and gave them time to rest. When the rush came, he could stretch them much more easily.

I remembered that. Getting ready to make pizza starts well before you put your hands into the dough to stretch it.

Then I got to teach that same lesson

Eventually, I taught a pizza class for about fifty people at the Big Green Egg Headquarters Culinary Center near Spaghetti Junction. We had a whole lineup of Eggs ready, dough I had prepared for the class, and everyone made a pizza.

Later, I taught a smaller class at Cook's Warehouse, with roughly sixteen people. We worked with homemade dough and store-bought dough from Publix and Whole Foods.

The store-bought dough gave us a chance to talk about a step people often miss. We shaped it into balls, covered it, and gave it time to warm up and relax before stretching.

Once it was ready, it spread so much more easily and held its round shape better. People said, “Oh, I didn't know that whole step.”

I understood that reaction because I hadn't known it either.

Give your dough a chance

For the pizzas I like to make, I generally start with eight to ten ounces of dough. Your portion can vary with the size of your pizza, your cooker, and the crust you want. You don't have to use an entire package of store-bought dough for one pizza.

I find cold dough easier to portion and shape into a ball. After that, I keep it covered and let it warm up and relax before stretching. Covering it helps keep the surface from drying out.

The important part is learning to recognize when it's ready. If it keeps pulling back as you stretch it, cover it again and give it more time. Don't keep forcing it wider.

When it's relaxed, the job gets easier. Start in the center and work outward gently, leaving a little more dough around the edge if you want a fuller crust. Turn it as you work so you stretch it evenly.

A round dough ball gives you a good starting point. Patience helps you keep that shape.

Still learning, still making pizza

Recently, I made about twenty-one pizzas for a catering party. While I was thinking about my new YouTube Short, I realized how much of this preparation I do now without stopping to explain it.

But these are exactly the steps worth sharing. They can change how someone's next pizza turns out.

That's also what I love about teaching cooking lessons. I get to pass along something I learned through experience and watch someone put it to work right in front of me.

Being self-taught has meant learning everywhere I could. Sometimes that was through a mistake on my own Big Green Egg. Sometimes it was listening to a pizzeria worker while we got ready for a busy festival. And sometimes teaching a class helped me understand how to explain a technique better.

If you've ever wondered why your pizza dough won't cooperate, my pizza dough Short shows the preparation that made the difference for me: shape the ball, keep it covered, and give it time before you stretch.

And if you'd like to make pizza together, I'd love to help you learn through a private cooking lesson with Chef D.Mart.

Explore cooking lessons and private dining at ChefDMart.com