If there’s one thing that most all people—generally speaking—have in common when it comes to food, is a real love for pizza. It has always been the go-to for weekend movie nights, kids’ sleepovers, homemade pizza contests, etc. and those times when you just want carbs.

Although the traditional pies such as pepperoni and cheese will always be pizza flavor staples, they can get kinda old to be honest. Putting a unique spin on them can change the whole experience.

Check this one out…

Yes, you can change the toppings, but how you cook your pizza can change the taste drastically.

Aside from the oven, you have more options when it comes to methods to make pizza than you probably think.

If you haven’t tried it yet, take your dressed pizza out to the grill and put it on the grates with the burgers.

You’ll love the taste, not to mention the grill marks give it a nice, crispy crust. If you have a smoker box, even better. Smoking gives your pizza such a nice depth of flavor, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been smoking pizza until now. For real.

Let’s not forget the pizza ovens for both inside and outside. Those are great because it generates very high heat from the top and bottom, which cooks it comparable to restaurant pizza.

The truth is, at the end of the day your regular kitchen oven will do a great job. They key is getting it HOT as hell. Kick it up to 500 degrees and let it stay hot for about 20 minutes before you put the pizza in. Yes, the kitchen will be warm, but not that warm.

Another tip? Grate the cheese yourself. Most packaged shredded cheeses have preservatives that prevent the cheese from melting properly and it still looks like cheese strands even after it’s done. Not very pizzalicious, at least to me.

Ready to make pizza? Go here to see all of my 15 Homemade Pizza Recipes that are so much better than delivery.

This article has been edited, and was originally published on Parade Food & Wine 6/15/2020 by me.