There are a lot of machines that have a dough or pizza dough cycle but we’re here to find the best bread maker for pizza dough.
Of course, any bread maker can also make bread (white, whole wheat, multigrain, European, gluten free in some cases), cake, jam.
They’re versatile appliances that can do a lot of things for us. They can lessen the work we have to do in the kitchen and that’s what makes them so awesome.
If you want to understand what these appliances are capable of, I recommend checking out my reviews for cookbooks for bread machines. Unfortunately, not all bread machine cookbooks will include pizza recipes. One that does is The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger.
Contents
Best Bread Maker for Pizza Dough Reviews
Before reviewing the best bread makers for pizza dough, I just want to remind you that we can also make no knead pizza dough. I just wanted to mention this fact in case you’re just looking to buy a machine because you don’t want to knead the dough yourself.
However, if you’re making a no-knead recipe, then you have to let the dough in the fridge for 12-24 hours before you can bake your pizza. Thus, with no knead recipes it’s all about preparations in advance.
If you’re using a bread maker to make the dough, then you can bake and eat in about 2-2.5 hours.
And you don’t have to do anything other than add the yeast, flour, salt, and water to the pan. If you don’t want to add sugar or oil you don’t have to.
The real work starts when you make the sauce, roll the dough, add the toppings, and bake it.
A machine definitely makes the whole process easier since it does a bit of the work for us. And we can make a pizza in quite a short amount of time as long as we have the needed ingredients.
While there are many advantages, there’s also one major disadvantage that I want to mention.
The dough made in a maker is usually made with 3 or 4 cups of flour. That’s not a big quantity. If you have a large family to feed, this amount of dough is not going to be enough. Of course, even a stand mixer has a limited amount of cups that it kneads.
People who need to make dough from 10+ cups of flour will always have to make it by hand. Or make it in multiple sessions in a dough kneading machine.
1. Zojirushi Virtuoso BB-PDC20: Overall the Best Bread Maker for Pizza Dough
Can we really talk about the best bread machines for anything without first mentioning the Zojirushi Virtuoso?
It’s not really possible because this model is really great. One of the most popular, one of the most expensive, and one of the most complex.
Since I mentioned that it’s expensive, I also want to underline that if you don’t have the budget for it, there are many other more affordable models to choose from. They’ll all make a very good pizza dough so you don’t have to sacrifice if your budget doesn’t allow you to buy the Virtuoso.
Also, check out my reviews for the top Zojirushi bread machines if you want to see what other models from this brand offer.
Two of them are small bread machines that only make 1 pound loaves so I didn’t include them in my picks for bread makers for pizza dough because they’re so small.
15 Cycles
It has one of the highest number of settings:
- White
- Whole wheat
- European
- Multigrain
- Gluten free
- Salt free
- Sugar free
- Vegan
- Rapid white
- Rapid whole wheat
- Dough
- Sourdough starter
- Cake
- Jam
- Homemade
We get pretty much everything we might want and need from a bread machine, there are really no complaints to be had in this area.
As you can see, we only get a dough cycle. There are no separate bread dough and pizza dough cycles but that’s perfectly fine, it won’t pose any problems.
It’s one of the few machines that also makes the sourdough starter for us. Maybe some of you love sourdough pizza or you want to bake your own sourdough bread without getting through the trouble of making the starter on your own.
The homemade setting allows us to record 3 of our favorite recipes. In the recipe book for the Virtuoso, under the homemade cycle, we get the following recipes: cinnamon roll bread, party bread, marble bread, mini white bread, meatloaf miracle, homemade pasta, tomato pasta, gluten free dinner bread.
Thus, we can record whatever 3 recipes we want, including pasta, meatloaf, gluten free recipes, etc.
2 kneading paddles
Another feature that makes the Zojirushi Virtuoso stand out is the fact that it has 2 kneading paddles. Most machines only have one.
The 2 kneading paddles and the size and shape of the baking pan allow the Virtuoso to bake horizontal loaves. It’s one of the best horizontal bread machines.
The bread doesn’t exactly look like the sliced sandwich loaf we buy from supermarkets but this machine is the one that bakes bread that comes closely in shape to that one.
The 2 kneading paddles also allow it to be one of the best gluten free bread makers. And it kneads whole wheat loaves very nicely.
Features
It only bakes 2 pound loaves. Other machines will offer the option to bake loaves in different sizes but most of us end up baking 2 pound loaves anyway.
3 crusts: light, medium, dark.
But we don’t get crust control for whole wheat, European, sugar free, and homemade.
There’s also a lid heater. This is another feature that other models don’t include. If you want perfectly baked bread, the Virtuoso rises to the challenge.
The control panel is pretty easy to use. You’ll get used to it quickly. We get buttons for crust, timer, course, cycle, time setting, home made, cancel and start.
I also recommend reading the user manual so that you can understand what this machine’s all about. That applies no matter which bread maker for pizza dough you end up choosing.
Pizza dough recipes
The recipe book for the Zojirushi Virtuoso includes a few recipes, clearly indicating that it’s a fantastic bread maker for pizza dough.
Under the dough cycle, we get recipes for: butter rolls, doughnuts, breadsticks, bagels, and traditional pizza dough.
Under the traditional pizza dough, we get instructions for: thin-crust pizza, thick-crust pizza, margherita pizza, and tomato sauce.
There’s only one recipe for pizza dough, the thin-crust and thick-crust are obtained by dividing the dough into 4 or 2 balls, that’s all.
The dough is made with water, olive oil, bread flour (488g or 3 ¾ cups), sugar, salt, and rapid rise yeast.
You can skip on using olive oil and sugar. Or you can use whatever oil you prefer.
Moreover, you can use all purpose flour or bread flour. Both work.
In terms of yeast, my favorite is the SAF Red Instant Yeast. It really works for all yeasted recipes.
For the thin-crust, the dough is removed from the pan, divided into 4, shaped into balls, and the balls are covered with a towel and let to rest for about 10 minutes.
The thick-crust is obtained by dividing the dough into 2 balls and then letting it rest for 20 minutes.
The recipe for margherita is made with thick-crust pizza dough, tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and basil.
Tomato sauce is made with tomato puree, tomato ketchup, salt and pepper. I prefer making mine from San Marzano canned tomatoes and salt in a blender and that’s it.
2. Oster CKSTBRTW20
Since we’ve talked about one of the most expensive bread makers for pizza dough, let’s also cover one one of the cheapest machines.
It only weighs 8 pounds. While it takes up a bit of countertop space, the fact that it only weighs 8 pounds means that you can store it somewhere and use it just when you need it.
Thus, the Oster CKSTBRTW20 is not only affordable but it’s also great if you want a machine that you can hide in a cupboard.
If you are just looking for an affordable option to make pizza dough, this might be it. I should also mention that it makes delicious bread so it’s definitely versatile and can compete with more expensive options.
The only major thing it lacks is that it doesn’t have a gluten free cycle. It might not be of interest to many people but it’s something you should be aware of.
12 Cycles
It has a good number of settings:
- Basic
- Whole wheat
- Sweet
- French
- Expressbake 1.5 and Expressbake 2.0 (1.5 and 2 pounds loaves that are made and baked in 58 minutes)
- Quick (breads with no yeast)
- European
- Dough/pasta
- Bagel dough
- Jam
- Bake
It makes delicious loaves and it is very good at making a variety of doughs. We couldn’t ask for more.
Features
This Oster is a pretty basic bread maker but it still offers almost everything we need.
It bakes vertical loaves but that’s true for almost all makers on the market.
3 loaf sizes: 1 pound, 1.5 pounds, and 2 pounds.
3 crusts: light, medium, dark.
Pizza dough recipe
There is a pizza crust recipe in the user manual that comes with the Oster CKSTBRTW20. Overall, the recipes are not that many but they are exactly what we need.
Also, we get 2 sizes for pizza crust: 1.5 pound and 2 pound. I like that a lot. One is made with 3 cups of flour, the other with 4 cups.
The ingredients needed are: salt, all purpose flour, active dry yeast, water, oil.
Oster doesn’t advise us to remove the dough, divide it into balls, and then let the balls rest for 20-30 minutes. You can still do it though.
Or you can roll it and make your pizza as soon as the dough is done. In my opinion, both options work.
3. Cuisinart CBK-100
While I love the Cuisinart CBK-100 a lot, I also have to admit that it’s not without fault.
I think it offers the best balance between price and quality but there are also plenty of buyers who have been disappointed with how it performs. That’s why I encourage you to check out some negative reviews, too.
Overall, in my opinion, it’s one of the best bread makers for pizza dough for an affordable budget. And it offers quite a lot for the price.
We could also say that the loaves are a cross between vertical and horizontal.
12 Cycles
We will find plenty among these settings:
- Basic/white
- French/Italian
- Whole wheat
- Sweet
- Gluten free
- Packet mix
- Cake
- Dough
- Pasta dough
- Jam
- Bake-only
- Rapid bake
As you can see, this is yet another bread maker that has a general dough cycle. This is the setting under which we’ll make pizza dough.
In addition, this machine also has a pasta dough setting, which is nice for those who want to experience handmade, homemade pasta. I’ll stick to my favorite Italian pasta brands because I certainly don’t have the patience to make my own.
We also get the gluten-free setting, which is very nice considering the price for this Cuisinart.
Features
It offers pretty much anything we might want and everything that a basic machine does.
3 loaf sizes: 1 pound, 1.5 pounds and 2 pounds.
3 crusts: light, medium, dark.
We also get a 3 year warranty, while other brands only offer 1 year.
Pizza dough recipe
I must say that I’m a bit disappointed that we only get a recipe for 1.5 pound dough.
It’s made with water, honey, salt, extra virgin olive oil, bread flour, whole wheat flour, and yeast.
Surprisingly, it’s a recipe that combines both bread flour and whole wheat flour.
If that’s not to your liking, just replace the whole wheat flour with bread flour. You can also use just all purpose flour. And you can skip on the honey and oil.
If you want a recipe for a slightly bigger dough, check it out here.
4. Cuisinart CBK-200
We can’t review the CBK-100 without automatically reviewing the CBK-200, too.
The price difference between them is considerable. Plus, the CBK 200 also has its fair share of negative reviews.
I could say that I like it a lot but I don’t love it as much as I would like.
The difference between the two Cuisinart models is that the more expensive one has a few additional settings that might make it interesting for some people.
On the other hand, if we’re just looking for a bread maker for pizza dough, the Cuisinart CBK-200 doesn’t do anything special that the CBK-100 isn’t capable of doing just as well.
16 Cycles
This is the most cycles that I have come across in a bread machine:
- White
- Rapid white
- Whole wheat
- Rapid whole wheat
- French/Italian
- Rapid French/Italian
- Quick bread/cake
- Low carb
- Gluten free
- Dough/pizza dough
- Artisan dough
- Sweet breads
- Rapid sweet breads
- Jam
- Last minute loaf
- Bake only (10 min)
As you can see, the mainly interesting addition is the artisan dough cycle. The dough is made in 5 hours because a lower temperature is used during the rising phases. Then we can bake it in the oven in a Dutch oven, cloche, baking stone, etc.
All in all, of the two Cuisinart models, I prefer the cheaper one.
Pizza dough recipe
What I like is that we get 3 different recipes for pizza dough.
We get for: 2 pounds, 1.5 pounds, and 1 pound.
The 2 pound recipe is made with 3 ¼ cups. 2 ⅔ cups for 1.5 pounds. And 1 ¾ cups of flour for 1 pound pizza dough.
Cuisinart is among the few to offer all these 3 different sizes not only for breads but for pizza dough, too.
It’s also among the few brands who only offer measurements in cups and not in cups and grams.
5. Breville Bread Maker the Custom Loaf
I really can’t talk about bread makers for pizza dough without mentioning Breville.
It’s a beautiful bread maker for pizza dough. And a very expensive one. Although, it’s slightly cheaper than the Zojirushi Virtuoso.
Basically, if the Virtuoso is just slightly more than you can afford, maybe the Breville Custom Loaf is right in your range.
14 Cycles
- Custom (program 9 customized recipes)
- Basic
- Basic rapid
- Whole wheat
- Whole wheat rapid
- Gluten free
- Crusty loaf
- Sweet
- Yeast free
- Dough bread
- Dough pizza
- Pasta dough
- Bake only
- Jam
Frankly, I love that this Breville is finally the machine to have all the 3 important dough settings separate.
I love that we get separate bread dough, pizza dough, and pasta dough cycles. It’s what I’m used to using so I love it.
Features
The unique feature that this Breville boasts of is the collapsible kneading paddle. It’s a feature used when making bread, not when making dough.
When the machine is done kneading the dough, the paddle collapses and the bread is baked without the paddle inside. That leaves a smaller hole at the base of the loaf when we remove it from the pan.
We also get a fixed paddle for the jam setting.
Another interesting thing is loaf sizes. It’s pretty unheard of to come across the 2.5 pound loaf size.
4 loaf sizes: 1 pound, 1.5 pounds, 2 pounds and 2.5 pounds.
3 crust options: light, medium and dark.
The control panel might remind some people of the countertop ovens from Breville. The display is certainly similar.
I wouldn’t say that it’s as intuitive as a basic bread machine but that’s because this aims to be an intelligent bread maker, an appliance that offers more than its competitors. Some people might like that, while others will just want simplicity.
Pizza dough recipe
I love the recipe book for the Breville Custom Loaf. We get 46 recipes that sound amazing.
The recipe for pizza dough is made with 500g bread flour. There are no measurements in cups but it would be the equivalent of 3 ⅓ cups.
Once the dough is done and you hear the beeping sounds signaling the completion of the cycle, you can turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead for 1 minute to combine.
Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. You can use a dough scraper or a sharp knife.
Roll them into circles.
For a thin style pizza, we can use the balls immediately.
For a thicker style, cover the balls and allow them to rise in a warm place. 20-30 minutes should be enough.
How to make pizza dough in a bread machine
1. Measure the ingredients precisely, it’s extremely important to add the exact amounts required by the recipe. Use a scale for measuring flour. But you can also measure it in cups. Use the liquid measuring cup that comes with the machine. And the measuring spoon that is also included for yeast, salt, sugar.
2. You can skip on adding oil and sugar if you want.
3. Add the ingredients in the precise order specified by your model. Each bread maker has an order of adding the ingredients in the pan. Basically, the yeast doesn’t touch the liquids.
4. Select the dough or pizza dough cycle and press Start.
5. The dough should be done in about an hour and a half or two hours. It depends from model to model. The machine rests the ingredients, kneads them, and then rises the dough. That’s why it takes so long.
6. Remove the dough. At this point, you can divide it and roll it into the shape and thickness that you want and then add the sauce, cheese and toppings and bake it.
7. Or you can remove the dough from the machine’s pan, divide it, shape it into balls, cover the balls with a cloth and allow them to rest for about 20-30 minutes.
I would say that we can use the dough to make our pizzas directly from the pan.
But I recommend shaping the balls and letting them rest for a bit before you make your pizza.
That’s what most recipes book that come with various models will also recommend.
Best Bread Maker for Pizza Dough Buying Guide
There are just a few questions you must ask yourself when you’re looking to buy the best bread maker for pizza dough.
Settings
A very important question is whether you want to use the appliance just for making pizza dough.
Or if you also want to use it to make bread and other baked products.
As you know, bread machines are totally capable of making a variety of breads. They’re absolutely designed for making various kinds of bread from start to finish, baking and everything.
But they also make delicious dough.
Some models will include bread dough and pizza dough cycles. The pizza dough setting is separate from the bread dough cycle. These are two different recipes with different times. The pizza dough cycle is usually completed faster than the bread dough cycle.
On the other hand, most bread makers will only feature the dough cycle. In that case, under the dough cycle we can make a variety of doughs. For pizza, bread rolls, bagels, doughnuts, breadsticks, etc.
Some makers will even feature a pasta dough setting. Or maybe a bagel dough setting. The bagel one is the least frequently encountered.
What I’m getting at is that you need to decide if you want to use a bread maker only for pizza dough or if you also plan to use the machine for making bread, too.
Prices
If you want to use it for everything that it can do, to use the machine to make bread, dough, desserts, and maybe even jam, then it’s worth spending a bit more and getting a really phenomenal model.
Maybe you’ll consider spending a good amount of money and buy the Zojirushi Virtuoso because it’s the best at the moment?
On the other hand, if you just want to use your bread maker for pizza dough and only that, then maybe you’ll just look to buy a very cheap model, like the one from Oster.
Cuisinart also has two excellent models. The Cuisinart CBK-100 is one of the cheapest at the moment. The CBK-200 is significantly more expensive without offering all that much extra for the money.
Breville has a machine that is quite expensive so I’m not sure just how many people would be interested in it. I don’t think it makes much sense to spend a lot of money on a maker if you want to make just pizza dough and nothing else.
Or buy a stand mixer for pizza dough?
Bread makers, stand mixers, and even some hand mixers are all dough kneading machines. We’ll also find a few blenders that knead dough. Or a machine that makes both dough and pasta.
However, out of all these, a bread machine is the only appliance that also rises the dough so it can be used to bake delicious pizza as soon as the machine is done, which usually takes an hour and a half or two hours.
If we use a machine that only kneads the dough, like it’s the case with a stand mixer, then we have to let the dough rise and then we can make our pizza. A bread maker does all that for us.
While we could buy a bread maker for pizza dough for a price under $100 and get an excellent appliance that can last years and that can also bake bread if we want it to, it’s harder to find cheap stand mixers that are just as wonderful.
Thus, if you have a budget around $100, I absolutely recommend buying a bread machine. Or maybe you would consider getting a hand mixer for dough.
On the other hand, if you have a budget around $300-$350, you could buy a KitchenAid stand mixer that is excellent.
I think getting a mixer for pizza dough is a good idea if you also want to make lots of desserts. On the other hand, if you’re interested in making bread, baked products, then it makes much more sense to look for the best bread maker for pizza dough.
