Theres a brand around here called Tony’s. Its similar to the rising crust brands, and I’ve always liked the cheese/meat/sauce/crust ratio unlike most of the frozen brands. At a Bulls game a few years back there was a contest where by some such means a seating section was selected as a winner, it happened to be my section. The prize was a free Tony’s pizza. They passed out these books of manufacturers coupons from each aisle, and I happened to be sitting in the middle where they came to meet. When they got to me there were two half stacks of these coupons with no place to go. Major score for a poor college kid, I claimed these stacks and foraged for a few more that were left behind after the game and made off with nearly 40 coupons. Luckily that summer on campus there was a Gas Station next to the shithole apartment I subleased which carried these goodies. Needless to say I subsisted entirely on those things and beer for 3 months. Still kinda like 'em too, so that must say something.
I really miss the Pepperidge Farm frozen Croissant Crust pizzas. They were only out in the storeas for about a year before Pepperidge Farm stopped making them. Man, they made the Stouffer’s French Bread pizza seem rank-amateur by comparison.
I’ve tried them all and hated them all.
The best FRESH pizza I’ve ever had was in Rome. And the worst was also in Rome. Go figure.
The best I got that you can bake at home had cheese in the middle of the crust. yummm. I forgot the brand though. Those Tombstones are really cheaply made pizzas. ick
Baskety wrote:
What you’re describing is a “cheese pull shot.” It is physically impossible to do with a normally-prepared pizza.
What they have to do to get these pictures is cut a slice of pizza out of the rest of the pie before cooking it, then insert little pieces of cheese in those 2 little grooves between the pizza slice and the rest of the pizza. Then bake the pizza normally. When a spatula is slid under this specially-prepared slice and the slice pulled away, the extra cheese inserted into the gaps before baking gets stretched out while still attached to both the slice and the rest of the pizza.
It’s roughly like a come-shot in a pornographic movie, and just as contrived.
[hijack]
This is a side question, but the people here might know the answer.
How come Hormel can make non-frozen things like stew, that stay good in the cupboard, but there are no shelf-packaged pizzas?
Wouldn’t they be hot sellers for every dorm room with a hot plate but no fridge?
(Can I get a patent? 
)
[/hijack]
I like frozen pizza. In fact, I like it better than any of the shit I’ve had delivered. I like most brands too, but Trade Winds is my favorite followed by Jacks and then Tombstone (I’m not sure, but, does Tombstone [kraft] make Jacks?) Trade Winds are really good and at 5 for a sawbuck with a coupon the price is right.
Up until 1986 there was a frozen pizza made here (Milwaukee) called “Papa Rons”. “Papa” Ron set up business in his own house making pizzas and selling them to local supermarkets. Those pizzas were AWESOME! He used a beef sausage instead of pork and called it “paparoni” instead of pepperoni. It was truely delicious! Sadly Papa Ron died at 43, taking his excellent pizza recipe with him. Sigh:(
I said:
Strike that–I meant Mama Celeste’s.
I agree with the Jacks rising crust being a decent pizza. I haven’t had **Scwann’s **pizza for awhile but I remember it as good. Most of their food is real good.
At the moment I like Orv’s pizza which just appeared recently(last couple months). Nice spicy sauce.
Jimmy Boy used to be the best thing going and was the best frozen pizza I have ever had by leaps and bounds. I am convinced that some jackass bought the company and ran it into the ground. They went from an excellent pizza, to a shoddy pizza, to non-existant in the stores and gas stations. Whoever you are that ruined that pizza I’ll kick your ass if I ever meet you!!
Tracer-isn’t that true of any commercials? Like the burgers in MickeyD’s commercials-they’re all made of rubber and paint and clay and glue…and held together with pins?
My dad works in advertising and my step-mom is a photographer for the same agency.
Whatever food is being advertised must be the actual food. If they are advertising chocolate syrup, the “ice cream” it gets poured over is most likely mashed potatoes, and the “milk” in a cereal bowl for a cereal ad is usually watered-down glue.
They do doctor up some things, like using baby oil to make stuff look juicy, and creating fake grill marks on meats, but in the 70’s, advertisers got in a lot of trouble for really “enhancing” the pictures. Campbell’s soups used to put marbles in soup bowls to make all the veggies or noodles rise up and make it look like the soup was just chock-full of veggies and stuff.
But, yes, stuff like a burger with the works is held together with pins, and it is meticulously pieced together like a puzzle and the cheese is melted with a hair dryer. And the stringy-cheese thing is done regularly.
Back to the OP, there used to be a pizza called Elio’s. You got a 3 neat rectangles of plain cheese pizza, each of which broke into three smaller rectangles and fit perfectly in a toaster oven. I think it took about 20 minutes to bake. It wasn’t great, but it was pretty darn good, considering it was cheap and frozen. It made a great TV-time snack. I haven’t seen it in years.
The best frozen pizza I’ve ever had is Freshetta. It kicks my ass, especially the three meat variety. What I like is, it tastes like fresh pizza. And that’s important to me; I’m a pizza afficinado. I practically live on the stuff.
im with pkbites. I love frozen pizza, and most frozen foods. The texture they acquire great. The trick is to cook them correctly- you want to microwave them for a while, till they are warm and soggy, then oven them till they get a hot and recover a bit of their integrity.
I’m with JBirdman12. Fresceta is OK for frozen. But why not make pizza yourself? It only takes 90 minutes tops. And as much cheese and pepperoni 
as you like.
I like Red Baron, but only if they have Pepperoni and Sausage. The others seem to be lacking toppings.
I’m with you, too. I love to make my own pizza. But sometimes it’s nice to be lazy and go the prepackaged route.