What Makes Pizza Greasy? Reasons Explained!

Who doesn’t love pizza right? We all do. But making the perfect pizza isn’t always a piece of cake.

Because sometimes, we can mess it up. The most annoying part is when you see grease on your pizza. But you don’t know where it came from.

Hence you want to know what makes pizza greasy?

Well, the main reason is excess cheese. Or you may have used the wrong cheese. The reason can be excess oil on your pizza. Also, the dough can be wet and not kneaded properly. As a result, you’ve got a greasy pizza.

Well, that’s not all. To know more about the reason and solution, keep reading.

Is Your Pizza Too Greasy?

You might think that your pizza is too greasy. But actually, that might not be the case. So how would you understand if your pizza is fine or it’s just too greasy?

Well, we’ll tell you how to understand that. First, just see if the cheese and oil are overflowing. If yes, it’s a greasy pizza. Secondly, lightly touch the upper layer of the pizza. Check if your finger turns super oily.

is your pizza too greasy — Source: spoonuniversity.com

Finally, take a very small bite. And see if the pizza crust is soft when you bite it. Because grease can soften hard pizza crust. So if one or all the factors are correct, understand that the pizza is greasy.

But do you know how it turned out to be greasy? If not then that’s what the next segment is about.

What Causes Grease on Pizza?

There’s a lot of things that can cause a greasy pizza. So it’s important that you know the reason behind the grease. So that it’s easier to avoid the next time.

So check what is the reason for the grease on your pizza.

Improper Cheese

Some cheeses are naturally fattier. The cheeses that aren’t made with whole milk are more oily.

So when you heat them, the high level of the fat melts and makes the pizza greasy. So you may not be careful when choosing the cheese. That can be the reason for greasy pizza

If you add cheese to the crust, the pizza becomes oily overall.

Excessive Oil

The excessive oil comes from the oiling we do. Or maybe the oil you put on the dough before baking was a bit more than needed.

What we sometimes do is make our pizza a bit oily. We do that to ensure that the pizza doesn’t get hard to chew. But while doing so, we sometimes end up making the pizza greasy.

That’s why you should always stick to the recipe. And don’t end up adding extra oil to the pizza.

Wet Dough

One thing that causes greasy pizza is wet dough. You might have poured water at once while making the dough, which you shouldn’t. Because then the dough might turn out to be watery.

The watery dough is the reason why your pizza feels greasy. Now you may think that some of the water will evaporate while you bake it. That is true for the most part. But a huge portion of the water still remains inside the dough making it greasy.

Dough Wasn’t Kneaded Well

If you don’t knead your dough well, the water and dry ingredients won’t get a good mix. As a result, when you place it on a pan, some portion of the dough will be moist. And some parts of it will remain dry.

But the parts that have moisture will be greasy and sticky. So it’s important to knead the dough for 15 minutes at least. Also, stretch while you knead, otherwise, the dough will stick to the pan. It will become greasy once you bake it.

Kept The Dough too Long after Adding Toppings

One thing we do is, try to change the taste of the dough. Because a lot of us don’t really like the basic doughy flavor. So to enhance the flavor we brush butter and herbs to the dough. We also generally add toppings.

But you shouldn’t wait for more than 10 minutes after putting the toppings. Otherwise, the ingredients will cause the dough to be soggy. That will also result in grease.

Incorrect Baking Method

The cooking method can also be why the pizza gets greasy. When in the oven, the heat comes from both top and bottom so the pizza gets greasy.

If the heat is only from the top, it’ll only melt the cheese. Thus, the pizza won’t be greasy. That is the reason why most people use conveyor-style ovens. Because in those ovens the heat always comes from the above.

So the pizza won’t be overheated from both top and bottom heat. If you’ve put in it an oven where heat gets from the bottom as well, the pizza will be greasy. Because heat from the bottom breaks down the butter in cheese. And the fat liquefies to become like oil.

baking pizza — Source: simplyrecipes.com

Hence the pizza gets greasy.

Now that we’ve been talking about greasy pizza, is it bad for you?

Well, to be honest, it is. Too much oily food is bad for your health. If you have heart or liver disease, oily food is a big no. So, you should avoid the greasy pizza.

How to Make Pizza Less Greasy? -5 Solutions!

As you know that greasy pizza is bad, you may want to make your pizzas less greasy. So here are a few tips on doing that.

Use Low Moisture Cheese

You need to use low moisture cheese to make the pizza less greasy. Because that sort of cheese is low in the water. So it doesn’t make the pizza sloppy.

You can either buy the cheese. There’s a lot of options while buying low moisture cheese. So here’ our favorite ones.

Mozzarella Cheese Whole Milk Low-Moisture

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Amazon Brand – Happy Belly Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

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You can buy these from the nearest grocery shop. Or you can make low moisture cheese at home.

Bake at A High Temperature

Pizza is often baked at high temperatures. It is to ensure that the cheese melts and the dough also cook at the same time. It also makes the dough a bit crispier when you cook it at a high temperature.

So there’s no chance of a soggy pizza if you bake it at a high temperature. For instance, try to bake it at 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Go for Thick Crust

Well, there’s another tip to make less greasy pizza. You can make a thick crust. And then just bake it on a conveyor oven. But do check if the oven only gets heated from the top.

So that the pizza doesn’t get greasy all over. The thick crust takes time to get cooked. So in the meantime, it won’t overcook the cheese so that the pizza becomes greasy.

Use Pre Cooked Pepperoni

Pepperoni isn’t the healthiest topping as it’s mostly made up of natural fat. Have you ever found a sort of orange oil on the pizza?

If yes, that oil is from the pepperoni. When you bake the pizza, the pepperoni gets cooked and releases the oil within itself.

So you need to precook the pepperoni and wipe away excess oil. After that, use the pepperoni as your pizza topping and bake.

Serve on A Clean Surface

Another thing you need to do is serve the pizza in a clean pan. That means, do not keep the pizza on the pan you just made.

Because that pan can be oily, cheesy, and greasy. So after you bake the pizza, take it out from the pan.

Place it on a clean plate to serve. You’ll see that there’s no extra grease on the pizza.

With it, the article ends today. Hope you learned what makes pizza greasy.

FAQs

Question: Can I eat a greasy pizza?

Answer: Yes, you can eat a greasy pizza. But it doesn’t taste that good. The taste of it is oily and not the ideal pizza flavor you crave for.

Question: Can I reduce the fattiness after the pizza is been made?

Answer: Well, you can spoon out some of the cheese. If the crust is oily, you can wipe that with a paper towel. So that you can reduce a bit of greasiness.

Question: Does adding sausage to the pizza makes it more greasy?

Answer: As meat has natural fat in it, sausages are a great example. Because sausages are highly fatty. So if you add them uncooked on the pizza, the pizza will be greasy.

Bottom Line

Just like that, we’re at the end of the article. So you know what makes pizza greasy and you can improve the pizza texture from next on.

And do share your pizza pictures with us in the comments section.

Thank you.

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Leah Greenstein

Leah Greenstein is a passionate food blogger who has dedicated her life to sharing her love for cooking with the world. Growing up in a family of foodies, Leah was introduced to the joys of cooking at a very young age. Her mother, a professional chef, instilled in her a deep appreciation for the art of cooking and the importance of using high-quality ingredients.

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