The cheese you choose can make a massive difference to your pizza and transform it into something really special. There are a lot of really great options whether you want something classic, adventurous or gourmet. Of course mozzarella is the world’s most popular pizza cheese, whether you eat in Naples or New York. And with good reason. It’s great on pizza! But mozzarella varies a lot in style and quality.

Fresh Italian buffalo mozzarella is the number one choice for purists. This is a beautifully creamy and flavorsome cheese. Unfortunately, because it is a fresh cheese, it may not be an option for everyone. When it comes to buffalo mozzarella, the general rule is the fresher the better. And because it is packed in water, sitting in that water too long can cause the cheese to lose its texture and flavour quite quickly. This makes it difficult to find great buffalo mozzarella outside of Italy. Even in Europe, although it is available, it is not exactly common. Grab it if you can, especially for a classic Neapolitan or Margherita.

The next choice is fresh cow’s milk mozzarella which is widely available for most. However, in many cases, this has little more flavour than regular grated or shredded supermarket mozzarella. In fact, grated mozzarella gives excellent results on most pizzas and is still a good choice. Of course there is more to pizza than mozzarella. There are lots of other great options. Parmesan and Grana Padano both work really well on pizza, combined with other milder cheeses or on their own. Fontina is mild, nutty and melts beautifully. Try it with wild mushrooms for a really special gourmet pizza. Taleggio is another cheese that melts well and is full of flavor. It’s great with onions, peppers or tomatoes. Ricotta is great on pizza, especially combined with mozzarella or parmesan. It adds a light, freshness to your pizza and is great with any summer vegetables.

In today’s economic slump, more and more people are looking to get started with their own business. As people turn to running their own business to help themselves, many people ask what’s involved in setting up their own business. One major franchise which people turn to is pizza.

Opening a pizza place is no easy task, which is why you should do all of your necessary research beforehand. While there are no specific guides for how to open a pizza place, getting into contact with the franchise board and buying a share to open your own franchise in your location is the first few steps. From there, you’ll need to have a building ready to move into. When dealing with a franchise, you have to purchase all of your food products from them. Franchises are tightly regulated, so you will need to understand this before deciding to open up a pizza place under a franchise.

If you do not want to open under a franchise, but you want to try and go at it yourself, you won’t be as tightly regulated in what you can serve, but people will also be unfamiliar with your name. You’ll also need to purchase a building and have an oven, a prep station, and a dough making station, with several different kinds of equipment in order to create your own dough and spread it for your pizzas. Pizza places that create their own dough usually have the most success, so if you decide to open your own pizza place, this is something you will want to consider as well.

As with any business, you’ll have quite a bit of overhead when opening a business. You will need to be able to stay afloat for a few months while your business gets its legs and people get used to you being in town. Hardly any business is profitable within the first year, and many extend this way further into three or four years. Understanding this when getting started with your own pizza place will help guarantee your success, meaning you will understand the risks associated with opening your own business.

No matter whether you decide to join a franchise or go at it alone, you’ll need to establish a name for yourself. People will want your name associated with quality customer service and great tasting food, which means in the long run, your business will thrive. You can make sure this happens by maintaining quality ingredients and a great customer service that will keep people coming back week after week. Establishing a strong customer base once you have set up operations will be the key to your success. Learning how to set up your own pizza place is an arduous task, but if you commit yourself to it, you should see success and in the end, you’ll be happy with your new business.