Frozen Pizza tip

I know that the term "frozen pizza" is considered blasphemy among the pizzarati, and indeed finding an absolutely horrid frozen pizza is not hard to find, to say the least. I'll wholeheartedly admit that I'll always opt for an in-restaurant pie, preferably in a Chicago establishment, but I also admit that there have been nights when my after-work laziness inspires me to check out what quick fixes are in the freezer.

About a year ago when I was still in college, a friend/roommate of mine informed me about making better frozen pizza by sticking the pie not on a pan, but directly on the oven rack. For some reason, I didn't really notice the difference in taste at the time. After doing this for the past three months or so, however, it's become my default way of preparing any frozen pizza. I'm not saying that there's a dramatic change in taste a la cardboard to straight-from-Sicily, but it certainly makes for a better overall experience.

Everyone might know all of that by now, but I just thought I'd share for the uninformed. On a side note, I find it works best on thin-crust pizzas; Palmerro's (sp?), Home Run Inn, and California Pizza Kitchen pies are all recommended.

A fingertip spritz of water followed by a light drizzle of olive oil works wonders too. All 4 seasons I bake mine on somw unglazed tiles on my Weber gas grill. I'll try your method on a rainy day. Thanks.

Frozen pizza is frozen pizza.....

It aint Lou Malnatis....

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig. Frozen pizza? No way. Ech! Yech!!!

Actually, I've gotta tell you.... frozen pizza isn't that bad if you cook it right. You'll think I'm full of beans, but you know that fancy-schmancy home pizza cooker that spins the pizza between two heat lamps? It's the greatest thing ever invented. My Beloved and I take a DiGiorno pizza (we like the spinach, garlic and shroom variety) and it satisfies our pizza cravings. Other brands we've tried weren't as good IMO, but still better than they were using the conventional oven.

It seems like a lot of the packages instruct you to put the pizza directly on the oven rack - that's how I always cook ours.

frozen pizzas usually include cooking directions for putting it directly on the rack. so it's not too novel, but thanks for the nugget UrbanSpaceman.

In an ideal world, we'd all make our pizza from scratch, including the dough. Or, we'd only get pizza from the local independent pizza shop. But, we live a more hectic world, where time seems to be short, even though we have a plethora of things that supposedly help us save time. Frozen pizza cooks in about 25-35 mins. IF I buy my dough pre-made, the mozzarella, the tomato and the basil, I can throw a pizza together in under 10 minutes. By then, my oven and pizza stone is hot. 15-20 minutes later, the pizza is cooked. Total time is about the same. So, in reality, there's hardly a need for frozen pizza. A lot of the cooking time for the frozen pizza is simply thawing the thing.

On the other hand, with frozen pizza, there's no left over ingredients, clean up is a sinch, and there's no grating of cheese or kneeding dough - leaving more time to get other work done whilst the thing is cooking. work such as: checking email, posting on roadfood.com and seeing if one has anymore friends on myspace.com.

several frozen pizza's are better than Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Little Ceasar and the like - so if you live in an area where only chain pizza places deliver, the frozen pizza can be a better alternative. If cooking it directly on the rack improves the situation, I say, we should all know about it.

pizza screens and a cheap pizza peel work really well for all frozen pizzas, tend to keep the oven cleaner and make it a lot easier getting the pies in and out of the oven.

dancinhomer, you're absolutely right. I've had my pizza cooker for about five years now, and using it, I'll take a good frozen pizza over Papa John's or Domino's every time.
Yes, I know that good frozen pizza is an oxymoron. Then again, so is good delivery pizza, at least in this part of the country.