Bread machine pizza is a type of pizza in which the dough is made in a bread machine, rather than by manually combining ingredients and kneading the dough. This makes such pizza quite a bit simpler and faster to make, since it requires less direct effort and time expenditure from the person making the pizza. Different bread machines can be used to make this type of pizza, each with different settings and methods in which it can be made. Bread machine pizza still typically bakes in the oven like any other type of pizza, and can be prepared with various toppings according to personal taste.
The major difference between bread machine pizza and other types of pizza is the way the dough is made. Standard pizza dough usually requires several hours of work and monitoring for proper preparation. This begins with a combination of the proper ingredients, usually flour, yeast, water, sugar, and salt, though other ingredients including herbs and spices and parmesan cheese can be added as well. These are combined in an appropriate order, by hand, to create the dough, which is then placed on a counter or board and kneaded extensively.
Bread machine pizza, however, does not require nearly as much effort. Different bread machines can have different settings and instructions for making pizza dough in them, though in general the same ingredients used in standard pizza dough can be placed within the bread machine. These machines often have a setting for pizza dough, or for kneading dough, which can be used to have the bread machine automatically knead the dough. Other steps required for the dough to rise and proof may still be necessary, though this can often happen in the bread machine as well, which eliminates the need for multiple steps and bowls when making bread machine pizza.
Once the bread machine pizza dough is ready, it can be removed from the machine and prepared for baking. This pizza can be baked on a pan or prepared on a peel and placed into a brick oven or onto a pizza stone within a standard oven. It is rolled out relatively flat like any other type of pizza and topped the same way. Common toppings for bread machine pizza include sauce and cheese, as well as pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, peppers, olives, and bacon.