Perfect Pan Pizza by Peter Reinhart – Hardback Cookbook

Perfect Pan Pizza is a hardback cookbook by bread legend Peter Reinhart that teaches you to bake Detroit, Sicilian, Roman and grandma-style square pies and focaccia in an ordinary home oven. No stone, no peel, no special oven: just a pan, a long cold-fermented dough and a bit of patience.

The crunchy-bottomed pizza you can nail at home

Reinhart has spent decades teaching people how to bake bread, and here he turns that know-how on the pan pizza. The pan does the hard work: it protects the dough and lets the base fry in oil, so you get a golden, crackly undercrust without wrestling a pizza peel. Food Network named it one of the best cookbooks of its year.

What's inside

It opens with three master doughs made with commercial yeast, plus a short introduction to sourdough starters, with step-by-step photographs for stretching, folding and panning. From there it works through the styles: Detroit-style deep pan, Sicilian, Roman, grandma pies, focaccia and schiacciata.

The showpiece is the Detroit-style pepperoni pie, with cubed cheese pressed right to the edges of the pan so it caramelises into a lacy frico crust. Beyond the classics there's a Reuben pizza, a Philly-style roast pork and broccoli rabe pie, bacon and egg with tomato and rocket, and a blue cheese, balsamic onion marmalade and walnut focaccia.

Who it's for

Home cooks who want great pizza without buying a pizza oven, and bread bakers hunting for their next project. Plenty of beginner-friendly FAQs run through the book, and it's a smart second string if you already own an outdoor oven and want another style up your sleeve.

About Peter Reinhart

Peter Reinhart is one of America's most respected bread teachers and a long-time baking instructor at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. His books include Crust & Crumb and Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads, both James Beard Award winners, and American Pie, his earlier deep dive into pizza.

The Rub Smuggler's Verdict

Every pizza night needs a plan B that beats plan A, and this is it: a masterclass in square pies baked in a humble tin, from Detroit to Sicily to Rome. The frico edge on Reinhart's Detroit-style pepperoni pie is the stuff of legend in Darryl's galley. Don't overthink it, just add it to the cart, because your Friday nights depend on it. Read it next to Mastering Pizza for Marc Vetri's take on dough and Pizza Czar for a world tour of styles, and finish every square with a drizzle of Proud Phoenix Crunchy Garlic Chilli Oil.

Questions answered

Who wrote Perfect Pan Pizza?

Perfect Pan Pizza was written by Peter Reinhart, a bread baker, teacher and James Beard Award-winning author.

What's inside Perfect Pan Pizza?

Three master doughs, an introduction to sourdough starters and step-by-step photos, then recipes for Detroit, Sicilian, Roman and grandma pies, focaccia and schiacciata.

Do I need a pizza oven for Perfect Pan Pizza?

No. The book is built around baking pan pizzas in an ordinary home oven, with no stone, peel or specialty oven required.

Is Perfect Pan Pizza good for beginners?

Yes. It includes beginner FAQs and step-by-step photos, and the pan method is more forgiving than sliding a pizza off a peel.

Is Perfect Pan Pizza a hardback, and how many pages?

Yes. It's a 192-page hardback published by Ten Speed Press in 2019.