The Pizza Topping Mistake That Can Lead To Serious Consequences

Making pizza at home can be very simple. The key ingredients are dough, sauce, cheese, and a few toppings of your choice. Once you have your dough ready, just throw on whatever toppings you want with your pizza base, and stick the pie in the oven until the dough bakes and the cheese gets melty. In reality, this really only works for a simple cheese pizza. If you plan on adding meat, don't just assume you can add uncooked meat to your pizza hoping it will cook properly in the oven along with the rest of the pie. Doing so puts you and others at risk for Salmonella and other foodborne illnesses.

When dealing with meat such as chicken, sausage, beef, or bacon, it's crucial to cook it beforehand. Especially if the pieces you have are on the thicker side. Pre-cooking the meat ensures a successful, non-burnt, and safe pie.

The reason you can't put raw meat on pizza is because pizza usually doesn't take that long to cook. Depending on the thickness of the crust, pizza usually only takes 10 to 15 minutes. A boneless, skinless chicken breast, on the other hand, can take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to cook. Although ground sausage doesn't take too long to brown, it's recommended to pre-cook it beforehand for safety (also for less grease and extra crispiness) and the same applies to bacon.

If you're worried about overcooking the meat, you can always slightly undercook it and then let it finish when the pizza is baking. Just keep in mind that it must be cooked at least halfway before putting it on your pizza and throwing it in the oven.

If you're worried about time, you can get creative by using rotisserie chicken and shredding it, buying bacon bits, or simply buying your meat pre-cooked. Of course, this whole conversation excludes the cured and pre-cooked classic choice of pepperoni, one of the most popular toppings. From a meat lover's pie to your next barbeque chicken pizza, always ensure your meat is cooked beforehand.