This Is My Secret for Making Perfectly Crisp Pizza Every Time (Better Than a Pizzeria!)

As much as I love ordering pizza to be delivered right to my front door, I also really enjoy making it at home. Sometimes I make my own dough, but usually I just use the premade doughs at Trader Joe’s. When you have your dough ready, making pizza is super speedy — and I love that. But the one issue I’ve always had with homemade pizza nights? The pan. Most of the time, I use one of my baking sheets, which means I’ve had to get used to making rectangular pizzas (which isn’t the end of the world, but it’s not the vision, you know?). But recently I found the solution in the form of the most gorgeous griddle. 

Smithey’s No. 10 Flat-Top Griddle is now the pan I use for pizza nights. It’s circular, so I can get the shape I’m after; it gives my pizzas a nice crisp on the bottom; and it cleans easily. In other words, it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for when it comes to baking up perfect pies. 

Smithey’s No. 10 Flat-Top Griddle is a great option if you’ve been wanting to get a griddle for yourself, but don’t have room for an electric or double-burner griddle. You can just pop this one right onto your stove. And unlike an electric griddle, this one can also make itself at home in your oven, too! Plus, because this griddle is made of cast iron, it’s super durable.  

This pan also happens to be pre-seasoned, which I love. But let me tell you where I made a mistake. The instructions suggested that when I first used this pan, I should opt to cook foods that need to be moved around the pan a decent amount and utilize plenty of oil to really help set up that seasoning properly throughout the pan. I did use it like this once before making pizza with it, but I fear I might not have used enough oil and probably should have done this a few times before making pizza. And so, the second time I used my pan, I made pizza and the dough did stick some. But I’m willing to call that user error here. So take it from me: Follow the brand’s instructions to properly set up your pan before diving into making pizza.

The very first thing I loved about Smithey’s Flat-Top Griddle is its pretty copper-toned cook surface. It’s nice and shiny, which is just so stunning. And that leads me to the next thing I love about this pan: the cleanup! Knowing that I would have to hand-wash this, I was concerned that I might find myself scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing to get the pan clean. But you know what? It wasn’t like that. That nice, shiny surface actually made getting all the residual oil and bits super easy to wash off. And given that I will not use a pan again if it’s difficult to clean, this passed that test no problem. 

And of course, I love this for my pizzas. Once it was seasoned properly, it gave me delicious, crispy personal pies — and it will be the pan I use for my pizzas for the foreseeable future. I’m also excited to make pancakes on this griddle, too! 

Whether you, too, are looking for a good griddle to make homemade pizzas in or you just want a beautiful, space-conscious model for your own kitchen, this one from Smithey is an investment — but it’s worth it, in my opinion. This is the kind of pan that you can pass down within your family, so you can expect to use it for a long time to come. And because of how pretty and easy to clean it is, you’ll definitely want to!

Buy: Smithey No. 10 Flat-Top Griddle, $120