So, you’re thinking of competing in a pizza contest? Welcome to a whole new world of pizza, where friends willing to help you are as necessary as remembering to bring the flour to make your dough. Competitors and the quality of pizza seen at competitions these days are getting more and more fierce. Knowing how to make your dough in potentially the weirdest of conditions could be the difference between first place and last place.

The more often you compete, the more little odds and ends you learn to be successful competing in any country. But if you’ve never done it, here’s what you need to know.

For those who have no help whatsoever, I recommend choosing a competition in your home country first.

This will give you a leg up when it comes to sourcing ingredients and being able to successfully shmooze your way into a hotel kitchen, if needed, because you already know the language and small cultural norms that foreigners always miss.

When it comes to making your dough for the first time, you want to check if the competition is supplying anything for you or if you are liable to bring everything. Competitions in the U.S. tend to have more prep items such as mixers, space in a fridge overnight and even small wares such as bowls and scales. Competitions outside of the U.S. normally will provide you with a prep area outfitted with tables, a communal sink and, occasionally, access to flour.

Depending how far you need to travel for a competition, this will determine when you need to make your dough. If the time works out correctly and you know you can keep your items cold, making your dough at home – in your known kitchen – and then transporting it in a cooler could be your best bet.

I’ve done a whole host of weird things for competitions and pissed off my fair share of hotel cleaning staff. For my first competition abroad, I arrived with flour, a can of tomatoes, the pan I needed and a prayer. I was in Italy on a Sunday – when most stores are closed – and needed to make dough. But what do you make it in? Well, this was at a time when I knew how to make dough by hand, but I hadn’t needed to do so very often. I found the smallest container possible for my starter, ruining the curtains and carpet, and ended up making my dough in the hotel trash can. Don’t worry, I washed the trash can many, many times.

Timing was crucial at this stage, and figuring out how to keep my dough cold until the competition was a main priority. Keeping dough and ingredients cold can be the hardest part. Portable coolers, ice packs and fermentation techniques will see you through. If you arrive and you do not have a mini fridge, lowering your yeast percentage or bulk fermenting can help. Don’t keep your room too hot if your dough needs to sit out, and asking for ice is always a strategy. I have shmoozed and smiled my way into many hotel kitchens. Sometimes, sharing a glass of wine with the staff could mean extra ice or even being able to store items in their fridge.

Knowing how to make dough by hand is a critical skill in competions. You never know when you will be able to make dough and where. If the desk in your hotel room is the place it needs to be made, then you sure better know how to do it.

When it comes to judging, there isn’t one golden recipe that will get you to the podium.

A winning dough is a combination of your recipe and proper execution. The first things judges look for is how well cooked the crust is. Is the coloring uneven? Has the bottom browned well? How soft or crispy is the dough, and is there a noticeable gum line? Most judges will poke and prod the pizza, first looking for any visible flaws before proceeding to the tasting portion.

The category will determine the type of bake, but in the U.S., floppy slices are a no-go these days. For some categories, such as Neapolitan, flop is not an indicator of a poor bake, so this is not always a hard and fast rule. If a contestant is trying to present a tavern style or a New York slice, crispy is the name of the game.

Waiting in line for judging can be the limiting factor that changes your pizza from crispy to floppy, and it is completely out of your control. Organizers know how troubling waiting is for hot food – and they try their best to be prompt and timely – but anticipating this with the use of a screen or checking in before you start is helpful. Once you begin, the timer starts, so checking in before you touch anything is best.

The inside crumb is a clear indicator of well stretched and well-cooked dough. The dreaded gum line is a dead giveaway for poor stretching techniques, cold dough or improper temperatures coming from ingredients or a too-hot oven. An open crumb should look like a spiderweb. Charring and bubbles aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but anything considered excessive will work against you.

One of the mistakes I see made over and over by new competitors is nerves getting the best of them. While cooking, it can be easy to let the anxiety of the situation win out. Usually, this happens in the form of pulling your pizza out of the oven too quickly when those last 30 seconds could have made the difference. There are going to be people rushing you, but remember: Your cook time is your cook time. Do not pull that pizza out until you are 100 percent sure it is done.

For tasting, judges want to see not just a well-made pizza, they want to taste and smell well-made dough.

There’s a distinct smell that comes with well-fermented dough. Young dough has a very prominent raw flour aroma, whereas a well-fermented dough has some acidity and sweetness to it. Well-rounded and cohesive flavors are preferred.

All in all, competition dough comes down to execution and a recipe. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and no competition is out of reach.

Laura Meyer is the owner of Pizzeria da Laura in Berkeley, CA.

>> Explore answers to more common pizza dough questions in Troubleshooting your Pizza Dough: What’s wrong with my pizza dough? <<

The post What You Need to Know About Competition Pizza Dough | Knead to Know appeared first on Pizza Today.

“The most important part begins even before you put your hand on your sword.”

Matsura Seizan, Famed Japanese Swordsman 1760-1841

It was 2018, at the International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas, that Lenny and Gino Ragu of Panino’s Pizzeria of Chicago presented a thin-crust, tavern style pizza to the judges. This pizza had been designed years ago by their uncles, who owned the tavern. I had never seen this type of micro-regional pizza style in competition, but the charred crust was adorned with a perfect ratio of sausage, pepperoni and bacon. Small dollops of mozzarella and the drizzle of house-made barbeque sauce made it look delicious. Lenny and Gino Ragu were trailblazers, but didn’t win. As I fast-forward to “the now,” not only is this style trending across the country, but the Ragus have also won many competitions with it.

Sound Bite: The Sounds of the Pizza Competition

“A pizza must awaken the senses to stand out in competition. Be a chef and hit the judges with some fabulous color and flavor  –  but most importantly, follow the rules,” says Domenico Crolla, chef, entrepreneur and IPC judge.

As you wander into the heart of this year’s International Pizza Expo, you’ll probably hear a mash-up of noises sounding like a rodeo, a Green Day concert and a Formula 1 race, all in unison. This is the excitement of the International Pizza Challenge and, along with the demonstrations, is at the creative core of the show. With over 600 challengers, it is an amazing competition, filled with seriousness, fun, camaraderie and delicious pizza tastings for the spectators. In this pizza competition, there are no business worries, no late employees, broken equipment, gruff customers or bad plumbing. It’s just you and the beating heart of your restaurant  –  the pizza.

Formula Win: Helpful Hints for International Pizza Challenge Competitors

“A good judge will ignore their personal likes and dislikes. Their task is to be as knowledgeable as possible about different styles and their defining characteristics and common flaws. It’s really an exercise in objectivity,” says Scott Wiener, owner of Scott’s Pizza Tours and founder of Slice Out Hunger.

Each year, I see the two types of competitors. One prepared and the other unprepared. Just like the swordsman of ancient Japan, the preparedness is the most important part of any pizza competition. This year, Scott Wiener says that the pizza judging emphasis is on traditions, innovation, flavor and technique. Each contestant and judge will be afforded the best parameters and information to alleviate any questions, hesitations and stumbling blocks. Here are some helpful hints to bring you closer to the winner’s circle in Las Vegas:

1. Bring an assistant that can help you and not hover over you with stupid comments while you make your pizza.
2. Bring your own dough or have a solid plan for both the mixer and the flour to be waiting for you at the Expo. Always have back-up dough, flour, yeast and salt.
3. Bring all the utensils you will need to make your pie with sanitation in mind. Plan locations of butcher shops, grocery stores or even cheese mongers within taxi or ride-share distance.
4. If you are flying in with dough and refrigerated toppings, do not use ice made from water for the flight. Ice is too heavy and will melt too easily, flooding your (possibly upside down) cooler in the cargo hold of a plane.
5. Register early and bring your toppings and dough immediately to the show competition floor where there are plenty of refrigerators. Always attend the pre-competition informational meetings. This could mean the difference between victory and disqualification.
6. If you are competing in a rules-based competition like the Napoletana division, you may be asked about hydration, salt percentage, how hot you baked it as well as your fermentation time and procedure.
7. Practice on an oven you know. Don’t rush or overcook your pizza. This comes from second guessing yourself and happens a lot.

Making the Cut: Trending Pizza Styles to Look for in 2025

“The best pizzas I’ve seen come from competitors that come early and stay late. They practice baking in the oven they plan to use while fine tuning their recipe. The secret to a great competition pie is a perfect bake and a balanced recipe,” says Jeremy Galvin, president of Master Pizza and IPC lead coordinator.

Some the most edgy trends in the U.S. pizza world have their origins in the International Pizza Challenge. Here are some new trending pizza styles you may see in 2025:

• Square Pies: Scott Wiener says, “Square pies are big now, with Grandma Pizzas leading the way.” Large or long Roman-style Pizza in Teglia, known for its high hydration producing airy alveoli and crisp, pan-baked crust. Detroit pizzas are still big now also.
• Tavern Style Pizzas: This thin-crust pizza is a textural bombshell. The techniques and construction of this pie exhibits how restraint and fewer toppings can still be a major player in a world series of flavor.
• Sourdough, Biga and Poolish Pre-ferments: Digestibility and deep flavors are the hallmark of these crisp and airy pizza crusts. Perfect timing of natural and/or aged direct method doughs, along with cold fermentation and medium-high baking can produce a memorable pizza. These pizzas stand out and are annulated with a cornicione, or crust, sprung with strong and waxy gluten scaffolding and a bark of shiny micro or macro blistering that tends to blow the judges away.
  
• Pizza alla Pala: Originally from Rome, this long, oval or squarish dough is presented into the oven on a pizza peel and baked in an electric oven. Usually topped with fresh ingredients that further highlight the textural complexity of the airy interior/crisp crust.
• New Flours: There are many new flours that pizzerias are trying to distinguish themselves from the herd. This happens in competition and is accepted very well by judges who may or may not tire of the same old dough platforms. The Puglian “Grano Arso,” or burnt grain, mimics the flour made from burnt wheatberries that the peasants of Puglia picked after the fields were fired. There is also the eyebrow-raising black pizza dough made with edible carbonized vegetables and coconuts. There is also the airy “Pinza” pizzas, either round or oval, from the word pinsere, meaning to press. These were originally peasants’ focaccia-type pizzsa made with barley, spelt, and millet. Modern Pinza pizzas are very airy and digestible, made with rice and soy flour mixed with 00 or spelt flours.

Meat your Maker: Topping Trend Predictions at the International Pizza Challenge

“It’s a privilege to have a front row seat to watch the best in the world compete for the right to be called World Champion Pizza Maker,” says Michael P. LaMarca, CEO of Master Pizza and IPC coordinator.

Here are some trending toppings that I expect to see at the International Pizza Challenge:

• House-made charcuterie: This meaty attribute contributes both salt, smoke and a great big dose of umami to any pizza. This great meat manipulation gets warmed up atop a pizza after the oven.
• Pickled Vegetables and fruits: These all offer a sweet or sour juxtaposition to the savory and salty cheeses, oily meats and crunchy greens but also add a fantastic visual for the judges to feast their eyes upon.
• Southwestern sauces: Spicy, cuminy, pepperish and thick, these finishers are bold and add a zing to any pie.
• Mushrooms of all types: The deep umami and meaty texture from mushrooms explode the flavor profiles on pizza, especially with beef, charcuterie, béchamel, Parmigiano and garlic.
• Vegan meats and cheeses: This has become a huge market, as exhibited by our Daiya Pizza Challenge. These different cheeses are both delicious and easily manipulated on pizza.
• Beef: Whether ground or topped as a warm finish, charred, cured or in balls, beef continues to elevate more pizzas now from the old dirt-like frozen beef topping.
• Sweet-spicy jams: Hot honey has opened the door, and many pizza makers are taking sweet-spice to new, and delicious levels. Flavored maple syrup and agave are just waiting in the wings.
• Crunchy finishes: More competitors are using the textural crunch to finish off their pizzas. Nuts, grains, brittle, frico and baked hard cheeses  –  and even dehydrated fruits and vegetables like eggplant and potato skins  –  are likely to be spotted at the IPC.

JOHN GUTEKANST owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

Go to the Pizza Expo 2025 NEWS HUB: Latest News from the World’s Largest Pizza Show 

The post Great Advice on How to Win (and Lose) at the 2025 International Pizza Challenge appeared first on Pizza Today.

Sign up to compete at Pizza and Pasta Northeast before spots fill up

Registration for the 5th annual Pizza & Pasta Northeast is now open! Don’t miss out on one of the biggest pizza trade shows taking place on October 1-2, 2023 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Register online now before prices increase!

Register to attend Pizza & Pasta Northeast now.

Pizza & Pasta Northeast showcases top suppliers for pizzerias and Italian restaurants. The two-day show features a schedule of pizza and pasta demonstrations by top chefs, seminars and workshops given by industry leaders, and special presentations from featured keynote speakers.

Presented by International Pizza Expo, the annual trade show in Las Vegas for the pizzeria industry, this event gives the region of the U.S. the highest concentration of independent and small chain Italian-concept restaurants its very own focused gathering of buyers and sellers.

Calling all Competitors!

Register for PPNE and sign up to compete before spots fill up. Pizza & Pasta Northeast competitions will crown the best pizza and pasta chefs in the region. They’ll be preparing their entries for each of our 4 competitions, which all can see in the contest areas on the exhibit hall floor, adding to the excitement of the trade show. The competitions include:

International Pizza Challenge Northeast

Divisions in this year’s International Pizza Challenge Northeast are Roman, Gluten-Free, Neapolitan/The Fiero Cup divisions, and the new America’s Best Cheese Slice. Sign up now. Spots are limited to 80 competitors in the America’s Best Cheese Slice, 30 for the Roman division, 20 for Gluten-Free, and 50 for the Neapolitan division. Learn more about competition and its rules and regulations.

Northeast Pasta Showdown

Chefs/participants in this one-day Northeast Pasta Showdown will submit a recipe for their signature pasta dish, which will be presented to the judge, along with your pasta entry. Learn more about competition and its rules and regulations.

World Calzone Championship

This one-of-kind World Calzone Championship features contestants preparing their signature calzones and presenting them to the judges. Learn more about competition and its rules and regulations.

Young Pizza Maker of the Year

Young pizza makers between the ages of 16-18 years old will compete in a Non-Traditional pizza competition to be crowned Young Pizza Maker of the Year.
Learn more about competition and its rules and regulations.

Here is a snapshot of the Competition Schedule

Saturday, Sept. 30

4 pm – Competitors meeting by registration to hand out wristbands and go back to the comp area and give access to coolers & ovens.

Sunday, Oct. 1

8 – 9 am – Competitors and Judges Meeting

9 am – 4 pm – Best Cheese Slice Division and Gluten-Free Division

4 – 5 pm – Young Pizza maker of the Year competition and Award Presentations

Monday, Oct. 2

8 – 8:30 am – Competitors Meeting

8:30 am – 3:15 pm – Roman Division and Neapolitan Division

3:30 – 4 pm – Award Presentations

Don’t get waitlisted. Sign up to compete today.

In order to compete in any of the four competitions, you must be a registered attendee of Pizza and Pasta Northeast. Competition sign-up is in the registration process. Register to attend Pizza & Pasta Northeast now.

The post Pizza and Pasta Northeast Registration Now Open! appeared first on Pizza Today.