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..

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[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