Ask Suzanne Lee, owner of Jalando Pizza Ovens in Preston, what the best cheese for pizza is. The answer comes back fast: mozzarella, every time. To explain why, spoke with JC from Campoli Foods. They’re a Reservoir-based Italian ingredients wholesaler that has supplied the Melbourne trade for three generations. The full conversation is below.
| Cheese | Role on the pizza | Key tip |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-shredded mozzarella | Base, everyday choice | Spreads evenly, melts cleanly, no preparation needed. |
| Fior di latte (fresh mozzarella) | Base, special occasions | Pat dry before use. Any moisture turns to steam and makes the base soggy. |
| Buffalo mozzarella | Base, premium upgrade | Wetter than fior di latte. Dry it thoroughly and use sparingly. |
| Provolone | Flavour blend with mozzarella | Adds a saltier, more complex finish. Never use alone. |
| Tasty cheese (mild cheddar) | Flavour blend with mozzarella | Creates the classic ‘pizza blend’. Never use alone. |
| Parmesan, pecorino | Finishing cheese | Grate over the pizza after it comes out of the oven. Never as a base. |
Mozzarella works as the base for pizza for three reasons: it stretches when hot, melts evenly, and stays soft as the pizza cools. Other cheeses can do one or two of those things. Mozzarella does all three. Without it, the cheese layer hardens into a crust once the pizza leaves the oven and loses the stringy texture that defines a pizza.
For most home cooks, pre-shredded white mozzarella is the practical choice. It spreads evenly, melts cleanly in a wood-fired oven, and needs no preparation
Fresh mozzarella, or fior di latte (fresh Italian mozzarella sold in water), is the upgrade for special occasions. But there’s one step you cannot skip. Tear the cheese into pieces, place them on paper towel, and pat them dry. Press out as much moisture as you can. A wood-fired oven runs at 400°C or higher, and any water left in the cheese turns to steam. That steam pools on the dough and leaves you with a soggy base.
Hard cheeses like parmesan and pecorino do not work as your main cheese layer. They break apart instead of stretching when they hit high heat, and they dry out before the pizza is done. Use them as a finishing cheese instead. Grate them over the pizza after it comes out of the oven for sharpness mozzarella alone can’t give you.
Mozzarella is the base, but it doesn’t have to do all the work. Provolone mixed through the mozzarella adds a saltier, more complex finish. Tasty cheese, the Australian name for mild cheddar, gives you the classic ‘pizza blend’ some home cooks prefer.
The golden rule from JC: keep mozzarella as the majority. Provolone or tasty cheese on their own form a hard crust as they cool, the same way parmesan does. Mozzarella is the only cheese that keeps the layer soft and stretchy once the pizza is off the heat.
Yes, but treat it the same way as fior di latte. Buffalo mozzarella holds more water than cow’s milk mozzarella, so the drying step matters more, not less. Tear it, press it dry, and use it sparingly on a pizza you plan to eat straight from the oven.
Two common causes. The first is the wrong cheese, often a hard cheese used as the main layer rather than mozzarella. The second is overcooking. In a 400°C oven a mozzarella pizza only needs around 90 seconds. Any longer and the cheese loses moisture and tightens up.
For a 30 cm pizza, around 80 to 100 grams of mozzarella is the sweet spot. Less and the cheese gets lost under the toppings. More and the pizza risks going soggy or the cheese sliding off as you cut it.
Suzanne is the owner of Jalando Pizza Ovens, which she founded in 2014 and named after her two sons James and Orlando. The Preston-based business supplies Australian-designed wood-fired, gas, hybrid, and DIY-kit ovens through a national retailer network and online. Jalando ovens featured on The Block 2024.
JC appears in the video on behalf of Campoli Foods, a Reservoir-based Italian pizza ingredients wholesaler founded by the Ieraci family in 1952 and now in its third generation. The business supplies pizza shops, chains, and restaurants across Melbourne and regional Victoria, and operates a commercial cheese grating and shredding plant built specifically for the pizza industry.
Great cheese deserves an oven that does it justice. Jalando’s wood-fired range hits the temperatures fior di latte needs to cook fast and stay crisp underneath. Visit the Preston showroom or browse the full range online to find the model that suits your space.
