How to run pizza-making classes as a pizzaiolo

A pizza-making class works when the dough is ready before anyone arrives and the group fits your oven. Prepare dough balls in advance — the long fermentation can't happen during a two-hour class — and use the session for what people can learn in that time: understanding the dough, stretching by hand, topping with restraint and managing the bake. Size the group so pizzas come out of the oven at a steady rhythm, and finish by eating together. Classes fill quiet evenings and turn guests into regulars who understand your craft.

Good dough takes hours or days of fermentation, so prepare the balls you'll use in class beforehand. During the class, show how the dough is mixed and let participants knead a small batch to take home with instructions, so they understand the process from start to finish without waiting for it.

The oven sets the pace. A wood-fired oven that bakes a pizza in a minute or two can handle a bigger group than a domestic-style oven that takes longer. Count how many pizzas you can bake in the time allowed, add workstations with space to stretch, and set the maximum from there. Keep a helper if the group is large, to manage the oven while you teach.

Pizza classes suit children well: dough is fun to touch and the result is quick. Shorten the class, simplify the steps, keep children away from the oven mouth, and ask for one adult per few children. Birthday groups can be booked as a private class.

Teams, friends and families may want the whole class to themselves. Agree the date, headcount and any dietary needs, and price it as a package. Allergies and intolerances matter here: ask in advance, and prepare separate dough or keep separate utensils if you offer alternatives.

A dough ball kneaded in class, a printed recipe with quantities and fermentation times, and tips for baking in a home oven — hottest setting, a preheated stone or steel, a short bake. Participants who succeed at home remember where they learned, and come back to eat the real thing.

Once a basic class runs well, add variations: Roman-style pizza in a tray, calzone and fried pizza, dessert pizzas, or a class on flours and long fermentation for enthusiasts. A small programme gives past participants a reason to book again.

Run classes on days the pizzeria is closed or before evening service, so the oven and your attention aren't split. Plan set-up time to prepare stations and bring the oven to temperature, and cleaning time after.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. Create a service for adult classes and one for children's classes, and open slots with a capacity equal to your number of places; each participant books one place, and a full class disappears from your page. In the service description, say what's included — dough to take home, food and drinks — and ask participants to write allergies in the optional note. For private groups, book the slot yourself from your calendar and enter the number of people.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. Participants can't move bookings online: they contact you, you reschedule or cancel from your bookings list and tell them yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.