Important! Frozen Pizza Questions!

[same_sky]

Okay, this has bothered me for years so please don't ignore this question just because it's Friday and LJ is slow on Fridays.

When you look at the directions for frozen pizza, they almost always tell you to place the pizza directly on the oven rack. In a small sidenote, it will say something about how you can put it on a cookie sheet for a softer crust. What I want to know is... does anyone put their pizza directly on the oven rack?

If you do, I would also like to know: does it not bother you that oven racks are not cleaned? Or do you acually clean your oven racks more than I clean mine? Or that pizza cheese and toppings are likely to slide off the edge and burn onto the bottom of the oven, if not during cooking then during transport? And okay, I can see how you could put a frozen pizza INTO the oven and onto a rack successfully, but how would one remove it? I guess that you could use a pizza peel but if you have one of those out where it's easily accessible are you really making that many frozen pizzas? Or maybe you remove the whole oven rack. But still, I am thinking of all the burnt-on places on my pizza pans. Doesn't it stick? And/or create a big mess? Why would you do this in the first place anyway?

Also, does anyone ever fix a frozen pizza without adding more cheese? I personally add more cheese, green peppers and onions (pre-chopped from the freezer, usually) and pepperoni. I recently bought some Freschetta pizzas (on sale, with coupons) and they could probably be used without adding more toppings. I refuse to pay premium frozen pizza prices, though, so maybe that's the difference in adding more toppings.

There are a lot of really important things going on in my head, as you can clearly see. Please given me more frozen pizza information because I seriously want to know.

Comments

[carrieb.livejournal.com]

We don't cook frozen pizzas, ever. When we are in Oregon we will get Papa Murphey pizza and cook it directly on the rack for the last few minutes. My mom has a self-cleaning oven that she runs occasionally so it's no big deal. Also, the oven is hot so I feel it doesn't harbor germs. The pizza just slides right off the rack. We pull it out a bit, stick the cardboard under it, and use a metal spatula to push it out. Yum.

[darcymcgowan.livejournal.com]

I always use a cookie sheet, however, I preheat the sheet and that is pretty much the same as putting it on the rack..

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Cookie sheet users are apparently in the minority. I shall try preheating the pan sometime, thanks. :)

[dbrus.livejournal.com]

I just started putting it directly on the rack and it is MUCH better! Crispier, less doughy, more like a real pizza. I leave a sheet of foil at the bottom of my oven at all times to catch spills in general. I just pull the rack halfway out when it is done, slide a spatula under and voila, dump it right on a cutting board for cooling. I never have any residue on the rack afterwards. Granted, I a mostly making "pizza for one" siae pizzas (bad mom!), somne brands of larger pizzas may pose a greater challenge depending on the topping load.

I don't add extra cheese. We usually sprinkle grated parmesan over when eating.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Really? I have a hard time imagining the difference in quality. Maybe I'll have to try it sometime. Or maybe I'll just say that I will and then never do it. Yeah... that sounds more like my style. ;)

[courtesy.livejournal.com]

Dear Stubborn Person (Kisha), please try the directly on the rack method for this intriguing comparison in quality and report back. Yours sincerely, ADRC.

(Another Direct Rack Cooker)

[yoritomo-reiko.livejournal.com]

I always put my pizzas directly on the rack. It's how I was always taught to do it. (If I had fresh pizza, I'd start using a pizza stone, I think.)

Most of the time, getting it out is pretty easy. I just take a spatula and just slide it toward me. Not a problem in the least. And I rarely put any more toppings on because we get frozen pizza when we're either going to be in a rush (like class nights for me) or when we're just too tired to make anything else.

[e11en.livejournal.com]

I have done it but I mostly don't because I did have more occasions where the sauce or cheese dripped over so I mostly use one of those pizza pans with holes in the bottom so the air gets through but the mess is pretty well contained.

We usually get Freschetta pizzas because those are the kind that Anders will eat. I think they are the best of the frozen ones anyway but I will eat the others, whereas Anders is pretty picky (yes, I know where he got it from). Since we're mostly making it for the kids to eat as well as us, we leave it unadorned. I sometimes would add a few frozen broccoli florets on one half but then we can't send the leftovers in with Anders for lunch so it's usually plain.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

The Freschettas were really quite good... too saucy for me but still good. I love the crust. I bought one just to try it and M really liked it and so we bought a bunch of them. We still paid more than I would normally want to spend on frozen pizza but it's still a pretty cheap meal so I just went with it. (We have an upright freezer in the basement.)

Broccoli on pizza... now that is something I've never tried. :)

Apparently we are in the minority on anti-direct-rack baking.

[blue-eyed-girl.livejournal.com]

I always bake frozen pizzas directly on the rack. I don't think about the messiness at all, really, but if I did, I'd figure that the oven was hot enough to kill of any lingering nasties. As far as getting it out of the oven, I just slip a plate under it and pull it out ... if I need to, I'll pull it onto the plate with a fork or a spatula.

I never add any extras to frozen pizzas ... I make them when I'm looking for a quick and easy, no-fuss meal. Having to doctor them up would take away the no-fuss factor.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm not so much worried about germs as actual crusty foodstuffs.

Slipping aplate under it and pulling it out is smart. I guess that might work, were I not sorta opposed to the whole rack thing in the first place, of course. ;)

[helloheather.livejournal.com]

1. I do not put my frozen pizza directly on the oven rack. I use a round pizza pan that has lots of little 1 cm holes in it. I toe the line, baby.

2. I have never once in my life thought about whether or not my oven racks get cleaned. That is not my reason for not putting pizza on them. My reasons are A. The pizza sags between the bars, and B. It drips cheese onto the bottom of the oven, which then burns and makes a bad smell.

3. I do not know anyone who has ever cleaned an oven rack. (Wow...do you want to come over to my house for dinner?)

4. I don't know what a pizza peel is. When I have DONE the directly-on-the-rack method, it is a giant pain to get the piping hot pizza out of the oven. I generally hold a pizza sheet under it, with one hand, and I reach the other hand into the hot oven with my pizza cutter, and sort of try to shove the scalding hot flexible pizza towards the front. Where my body is. I really really do not like this method.

5. Removing the whole oven rack? That's a really good idea. I never thought of that.

6. I never add more cheese or toppings, but I usually buy DiGiorno pizzas. But even with less fancy pizzas, I still don't add anything. I feel like that is cheating. Just kidding. Usually, if I'm making a frozen pizza, it's because I don't have anything good and edible in the house. Like pizza toppings.

7. I never ate frozen pizza with any frequency until we went solo-income. So all of my experience is within like the last two years or so.

[e11en.livejournal.com]

Likewise, my frozen pizza experience is only since not living in New York.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Yay, someone else who does not put it on the oven rack! Apparently I was way off and everyone else does this. Who knew? That is why they invented the internet, I bet. So that we could find out the answers to these burning questions.

I have never cleaned my oven rack either... but then, I don't eat pizza from them. ;) As for removing the whole rack, I think it sounds good in theory but once you have it out, where are you going to put it? On the stovetop maybe but then it would be tippy and weird. Or maybe someone with countertops that wouldn't burn?

Also, that is interesting that you didn't have frozen pizza frequency before solo income. Did you just have delivery before?

[helloheather.livejournal.com]

Yep. Well, we'd order and pick it up. Delivery always took like 45 minutes, where pickup would be like 20. Impatient, yes.

[ms-jacket.livejournal.com]

I love crispy crusts and I even reheat my pizza in the oven without anything. Lately though I bought a pizza stone when I make my own pizza because that's the only way to achieve a truly crispy crust. In that case, then yes I use a peel.

For a Pappy Murphy's or frozen one, I just slide it on the rack and maybe a random topping might fall off but you can grab it up with a wet papertowel or something. You can also put some aluminum foil underneath to catch anything that falls. I do clean my oven so I'm not worried about cleanliness.

I have a gas oven so the middle of the oven is just metal, no element or anything that can't get kak on it. Does this make sense?

[e11en.livejournal.com]

Yes, big difference with a gas stove. If I had a gas oven, I would be more inclined to put it right on the rack. If I had a gas stove I also might not hate cooking as much as I do.

[ms-jacket.livejournal.com]

So now you won't respect me when I say I did this even with my electric stove. I had two racks and I put aluminum foil on the rack under the one with the pizza. This way it was still crispy but there was less crap on the oven. I had other stuff that could spill and I got tired of smelling burnt stuff on that element. Cobblers and pies can really spill too.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

You know what? I have never seen the inside of a gas stove in person before, now that you mention it. But, I can envision it anyway.

Maybe a difference here is that I have never been a big fan of crispy crusts. I like softer crusts. Maybe if I was a crispy fan I would do it that way anyway.

[kapuhi.livejournal.com]

Ah, a topic so close to my heart!

1. The husband puts them directly on the rack, with foil on the rack below to catch drips. I like my pizza soft (I know, weird) so I microwave mine! Sometimes I'll compromise by putting it on a piece of foil or parchment on the rack, though.

2. I don't clean my oven racks. Pizza is literally the only thing that ever gets on them, and a good scraping fixes that. It's an oven, not a showroom. :)

3. My Mom does pull out her racks and clean them often. It didn't trickle down to me.

4. I used pizza peels when I worked at Round Table (4 years -- though we called it the paddle). They're good but you do some shoving to get them pizza unstuck.

5. Removing the whole oven rack.. sounds hot and burny!

6. We add all sorts of things to our pizzas.. depends on what we have in the fridge. I particularly like to sprinkle bacon bits on it. Real ones, not the fake red ones. Canned salad shrimp is yummy too.

7. I would seriously eat pizza for every meal of my life if allowed, and frozen is just one of the versions I adore!

[grain-damaged.livejournal.com]

Well I'm sort of out on this one - I wish I could just buy a pizza and stick it in the oven!
DH on the other hand has a pizza stone that he preheats the oven with then chucks his frozen pizza on the stone. All the crispness, none of the mess of bits falling off and through the racks.

I wondering too how often you clean your oven. You can PM if you want. I'm embarrassed to say how often we clean ours! lol

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not proud of it, but I never clean my oven. That is what concerns me about placing pizzas directly on oven racks! ;)

We used to have a pizza stone that we left in our oven at all times. It was an Alton Brown trick to help regulate the temperature in the oven, but it made the thing heat up sooo slowly. We kept it in there for years but then finally got fed up at how ugly it was and tossed it. I think. If we didn't throw it out then I have no idea where it is. Maybe the oven fairies ate it.

[grain-damaged.livejournal.com]

We do an annual cleaning in the summer when it burns all the crap in the oven and smokes up the whole house... 0.o Once a year is good enough, right? lol