A good alternative to frozen pizza (most of which kinda suck):
There’s a chain in the US (and possibly elsewhere–don’t really know) called “Papa Murphy’s”. It’s a “take-and-bake” operation–they put the pizza together in the store, then you take it home and bake it. It’s better than any frozen pizza and better than a lot of pizza chains.
Regarding the previous post about Pizza Hut’s “oily” pan pizza–where I (and Ukulele Ike ) come from, good pizza is supposed to be somewhat oily. Pizza Hut may not be the best, but as far as chains go, it’s better than most.
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Lou Malnati’s is very good. If you’re ever in the area again, do check out Pequod’s Pizza on Clybourn. It’s not exactly obscure, but it often gets overshadowed by the name recognition of places like Malnati’s, Uno, Due, and Giordano’s. Pequod’s is a little bit of a modern take on the classic deep-dish. Their signature is their caramelized (frankly, it looks burnt, but it’s not) crust. Pictures here.
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Ok, you’re right there. But Dominos is a lot more “real” than the frozen cardboard pizza. You can stand there and watch them toss the dough and put on the sauce, cheese, and toppings. Real enough!
I was going to say the same thing. I don’t think anyone in this thread is making this mistake, but just in case, let it be known that it is absolutely impossible to get good pizza out of the microwave.
There is, perhaps, something to be said for leftover pizza for breakfast after an all-nighter or killer party (which is in fact the proper niche for the over-greasy cheap American chains), but even then, it’s probably better to eat it cold than to nuke it.
OK, here’s one of those poster cliches, where I come in with a tangentially related comment. I haven’t noticed frozen pizzas being discussed before. I thought I would just share this tidbit: I lost all desire to ever eat any frozen pizza after reading in Consumer’s Digest about the allowable percentage ofbug parts in all frozen pizzas.
Just think about that for a minute. There is a certain amount of dead bug legs, antennae, feces, exoskeletons, eyeballs, spleens, you name it, that it is OK to have on a pizza and still sell it to people to eat unawares.
And stuff like mouse droppings and mouse fur. That’s not just frozen pizzas, that’s standard food storage rules. Which includes about everything packackaged you’ll ever eat, and the stuff that restaurants use to prepare their food.
Best not to think too much about it. We’re omnivores.
Then I hope you have also avoided ketchup, mustard, canned veggies, canned soups, all other frozen entrees because they have bug parts in them too. I just think of all the added protein as a free bonus.
My partner and I will only buy Red Baron 4 cheese pizza (that is when we are not ordering out) it’s a thinner crust, we pre-heat a cookie sheet in the oven, top the pie with onion, fresh garlic, Italian spices, mozzarella, a little cheddar, sundried tomatoes and cook it a few minutes longer than suggested on the box so the crust is nice and crispy. Yum. Foodgasm.
Microwave resuscitation of cold pizza is heresy. Ovens and toaster ovens are the proper method. And a frozen pizza is just the beginnings of a pizza. It goes without saying that at a bare minimum, cheese must be added. I found the basic Whole Foods cheese pizzas to be surprisingly good platforms for frozen pizza making.
The latest thing where I live is coal-fired pizza, which is outrageously good (Anthony’s…!). I’d love to find a Chicago deep dish place in South Florida though.
As said above, I hope you don’t think this is a phenomenon only related to frozen pizzas ;). The FDA has a minimum allowable bug parts for all foods. I mean it is quite literally impossible to prepare anything without some bug parts in it.
Basically, those same rules apply to FRESH pizzas as well, and if you don’t think there are bug parts in your crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings then you are deluding yourself.
I go on the South Beach Diet and someone mentions coal fired pizza? The universe is laughing at me. Must…fight…urge…to eat…best pizza…ever.
Auuuuuuuuuuughhhhhh!
fishbicycle, the only alternative would be to allow food manufacturers to include as much bug parts as they wanted. Is that really what you’d prefer? And yes, I do mean that that’s the only alternative.
Quite correct. A toaster oven is a key piece of pizza restoration if you’re not into firing up the real oven all the time. However, I’ve noticed that lower heat is the key in reheating, whereas higher heat is key for the first time around.
