Yeast Vs Baking Powder: Which Is Best For Perfect Pizza Dough?

For some, pizza is a religion. The perfect balance of a crispy and puffy crust with the sauce and toppings can be elusive. Making pizza dough from scratch can be frustratingly time-consuming since you need to wait for the yeast to work its bubbly magic on the ingredients. Baking powder is frequently an alternative to yeast in pizza dough since its leavening action is nearly instantaneous. But is baking powder really as good as yeast in getting a good rise to your pizza dough? That's the question we asked master pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani, a 13-time World Pizza Champion master pizzaiolo. "Typically, you wouldn't use baking powder when making pizza and bread," Gemignani replied. "Baking powder is fast acting, and it doesn't create much flavor. It only contributes to the rise." 

Conversely, yeast feeds on the dough's simple sugars, and during fermentation, it creates carbon dioxide and ethanol, which puffs up the pizza dough while infusing it with characteristic bready flavor. As Gemignani further explained, "Baking powder is more of a chemical that helps your cookies and cakes rise, but it is still rather dense." To compensate for baking flour's chemical flavor, you'll need to add spices and seasonings to cover it up, and since baking powder pizza dough tends to be stickier, some adjustments may be needed when preparing your pizza pan. According to Gemignani, yeast is far better for pizza dough because it yields a much lighter and digestible crust that's as aromatic as it is flavorful. 

As Tony Gemignani noted how yeast "tends to offer a much more defined texture and crumb structure," you'll need to choose the right type for the dough. Yeast's benefits to bread making were long appreciated by ancient Egyptians, although whether they used a sourdough starter or beer — another yeast alternative for pizza dough — is unknown. Before 1825, yeast was sold in blocks, but in the late 19th century, it was available in a granulated dry form and then later marketed by the Fleishmann company during World War II. Today, excluding sourdough starter, there are three types of yeast to choose from: Fresh yeast cakes, active dry yeast, and instant or rapid-rise yeast. 

Bakers prefer fresh yeast for its powerful rising effect and strong aroma and taste, and it gives Neapolitan pizza its distinctive flavor. However, fresh yeast isn't shelf-stable and may be dead when you buy it at the grocery. Active dry yeast and rapid-rise yeast are more convenient options for pizza dough. The former does need to be activated with water and allowed to "bloom" before adding it to the ingredients, as opposed to the latter, which can be added straight from the packet. However, both active dry and rapid-rise yeast should be tested before baking with them to ensure that the yeast is still alive. In the end, of course, it's your choice, but follow our pizza expert's advice for perfect pizza dough and ditch the baking powder.