Behind the Scenes: How We Shape and Bake Our Par-Baked Pizza Crusts

Whenever we launch a new item for our online farmer's market, I love pulling back the kitchen curtain to show you exactly how it’s made. Today, we’re talking all about our new Artisan Personal Pizza Crusts.

While I’ll be sharing my go-to pizza dough recipe in a separate post soon, the real transformation of a perfect par-baked crust actually happens after the dough leaves the mixer.

From the first rise to the final pizza box, here is the exact process we use right here on the homestead to get these 6- 8 inch crusts perfectly airy, flat, and ready for your kitchen!

Step 1: The Bulk Rise (Patience in a Bowl)

Once the dough finishes kneading in our heavy-duty mixer, the gluten is incredibly tight and tense. If we tried to shape it right away, it would snap back like a rubber band.

First, we turn the dough out, shape it into a smooth round, and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. We cover it up and let it rest at room temperature for about 1 hour until it has doubled in size. This gives the yeast time to work its magic, creating those beautiful, airy pockets.

Step 2: Portioning & The "Relax" Rest

After the first rise, we gently punch the dough down and divide it into individual portions. For a perfect 6-inch personal pizza, we aim for dough balls that are about 6.5 to 7 ounces each (roughly the size of a fresh peach).

We roll each portion into a tight, smooth little ball, place them on a tray, cover them loosely, and let them rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

The Secret to Easy Shaping: That quick 20-minute rest lets the gluten relax completely. Skip this step, and you’ll find yourself fighting the dough to get it flat. Let it rest, and it will stretch like a dream!

Step 3: Shaping on the Pan (No Stone Required!)

We’ve learned over the years that keeping things simple yields the best results. Instead of preheating a heavy baking stone for an hour, we bake these crusts on room-temperature aluminum baking sheets. It saves time, energy, and makes the process incredibly low-stress.

• We lightly dust our dry, un-oiled baking sheets with cornmeal (or a blend of cornmeal and flour). This keeps the dough from sticking and gives the bottom of the crust a classic, rustic crunch.

• We gently stretch our relaxed dough balls into 6-inch rounds by hand and lay them directly onto the prepared sheets.

• The Golden Rule: We take a fork and "dock" (poke holes) all over the center of the rounds. Because there are no heavy toppings on the dough yet, this lets steam escape so the crusts bake beautifully flat instead of ballooning up like pitas!

Step 4: The Par-Bake (The "85% Rule")

We slide our room-temperature pans right into a preheated 425°F oven.

Because these are "ready-to-use" crusts meant to be finished in your oven at home, we only bake them to about 85% doneness. We bake them for just 5 to 7 minutes—just long enough for the crust to puff, set its structure, and show the barest hint of pale golden color. This ensures they won't dry out or burn when you bake them with toppings later!

Step 5: The "Crust-in-Box" Packaging

Once they come out of the oven, they head straight to a wire cooling rack. We let them cool completely to room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour to ensure absolutely zero warmth remains. (If you package warm bread, condensation forms inside the packaging, making the crusts soggy!)

Finally, we wrap them each in saran wrap to lock in the freshness, and place the crusts inside one of our classic personal pizza boxes.

Ready for Pizza Night?

And there you have it! A lot of love, patience, and a few simple techniques go into making sure these personal crusts are perfect and ready for your next quick weeknight dinner.

Keep an eye out for our next post, where we'll share the actual dough recipe we use for these crusts! In the meantime, you can find these ready-to-go boxes on our online market page for next market's pickup.

What's your absolute favorite pizza topping combination? Let us know in the comments below!

• Behind the Scenes

• Homestead Kitchen

• Artisan Pizza Dough

• Par-Baked Crust Process

• Rhodes House Homestead

• Pizza Shaping Techniques

• Small Business Baking

• How It's Made

• Farmer's Market Prep

• Pizza Night Kits