Frozen Pizza... shorter and hotter or longer and cooler?

[TomatoBob]

Since I discovered what a great job my smoker does cooking frozen pizza, I have not used the house oven for that purpose in months. One question keeps coming up, however. Most of the time when the top of my pizzas are done, some of the crust remains a little undercooked. I am certain that this is a function of time and temperature but have not yet found the perfect settings.

To make sure the crust is fully cooked without burning the top or bottom, should I cook at a higher temp for a shorter period of time or a lower temp for longer? I have tried temps between 375 and 425 so far.

Any suggestions?

Bob

 

[Roaniecowpony]

My suggestion is, If you're cooking on a stone or steel, get it hotter, then drop the temperature of the dome for slower cooking the topping. I'd try getting a stone at least 50-75F hotter than you do the topping cook.

You might also poke around on Pizzamaking.com forum. There's a lot of knowledge about pizza over there.

 

[sdynak]

Have you tried to thaw them out first? That is what I do even using the pizza attachment on frozen pizzas. Have not cooked a pizza otherwise without the attachment on my Bull so just a thought.

 

[Gonefishin]

Do you cook on a stone or some such? do you wait for said stone to come up to temp? I set my RT at 475 or 500 and check the stone with a cheap Amazon IR temp gun like this https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lasergrip-1080-Non-Contact-Thermometer/dp/B00DMI632G/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2C6PEADA18HPN&keywords=ir+temp+gun&qid=1647548480&sprefix=IR+temp+,aps,258&sr=8-3

When it gets to temp I through on the pizza. Same goes in the house oven.

Oops, I just noticed this is for frozen, my comments are for home made so it may or may not pertain.

 

[FastEddie]

A pizza screen works good as well.
LINK

 

[TomatoBob]

I do not use a stone. I started out just cooking the pizzas on the metal grate. Lately, I have been cooking them on GrillGrate panels which get hotter than the smoker but do not burn the bottom of the pizza if you rotate a few inches every five minutes.

All the visible parts of the pizza is cooked perfectly. It is just the interior of the crust that is not fully cooked. The oven cooking instructions say to put the frozen pizza in the oven grates.

I suspect that if I fully thaw the pizza before cooking, it might get overdone or dry. For tonight's attempt I will partially thaw the pizza and see what happens.

 

[chadinsc]

i use a perforated pizza pan and cook at 500. a 16in averages 12min.

 

[TomatoBob]

Maybe I will up the temp to 500 as well.

 

[TomatoBob]

Cooking at 500 degrees brings up another question. When cooking at high temps, there is not a lot of smoke produced. I was thinking that when the pizza is close to done, turn the smoker to a low temp for a few smoke-filled minutes to increase the smoke flavor. What do you think?

 

[Roaniecowpony]

If you use your pellet grill for meats and fish, running it up to high temps will generate smoke from the oils that burn off. That will not likely be what flavors you're after.

The guys that use an accessory (oven) that fits into the drum, don't heat the drum as much and therefore they are less likely to get meat oil smoke.

 

[IPlayWithMeat]

I usually bump the temperature up 25-50 degrees above whatever it says in the instructions, but it depends on how crispy you like the crust. Hotter will yield a crisper crust and edges.

 

[TomatoBob]

So I let the pizza thaw a bit and raised the temp to 500. That combination did the trick. The dough was perfectly cooked this time.

Some have asked me which brand of frozen pizza is best. I am sure that everyone has their own preference but for me, Scream'n Sicilian tops the list. IMO, this brand has the best sauce of all the store-bought brands. I also like Di Giorno Hand Tossed for the smoker. Their Croissant Crust is my favorite in the regular oven.

 

[WooPigFoodie]

Since I discovered what a great job my smoker does cooking frozen pizza, I have not used the house oven for that purpose in months. One question keeps coming up, however. Most of the time when the top of my pizzas are done, some of the crust remains a little undercooked. I am certain that this is a function of time and temperature but have not yet found the perfect settings.

To make sure the crust is fully cooked without burning the top or bottom, should I cook at a higher temp for a shorter period of time or a lower temp for longer? I have tried temps between 375 and 425 so far.

Any suggestions?

Bob

I always do the exact temp as the pizza box but go three minutes longer.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I know this is a bit off the OP's question, but the answers have pretty much bled out.

I have yet to find a commercial frozen pizza that I thought was enjoyable. I've looked at all the internet stuff and tried various techniques from cooking in the oven on the rack, stones, steels, grills and my pizza oven.

I've seen some post that you should buy your favorite take-out pizza and freeze it. I may do that. But we've reduced our pizza intake to a trickle as we get older. Still, it may be a better way to go for you out there thinking about frozen pizza cooking.

 

[Curtis Mabe]

Hello Tomatobob, just after getting my bullseye beta at the "RECTEC" fest in 2020, I decided to do pizza, didn't want to do it on the Bull or Trailblazer because the Bullseye is faster to heat and smaller.
I just followed the instructions on the box from frozen to grill at 500 degrees. I'm posting step by step photos of how I did it. I would check just about 5 minutes before the prescribed time to see if the crust is browned to your liking. I did put corn meal under them for texture and turned the grill grate flat side up. I love the smoky taste the pellets imparted. Used premium pellets from Rectec of course.

Happy cooking!

 

[Curtis Mabe]

Roaniecowpony, I tend to agree, however, we find that DiGiorno makes a great pizza and that is what I used here.​

Now to your point, I get fresh pizza dough from my local store and or flat breads as Chef Greg does. these I do on the trailblazer for more smoke flavor!

You can put what ever healthy toppings you like and still enjoy pizza, in my opinion, one of the most delicious of all things delicious...

Enjoy your cooks!

 

[Drake]

I did a frozen ultra thin Home Run Inn today and tried using the instructions from the box. 450 for 8-12 using oak and putting a mesh pizza pan on the grate during preheat. The pizza took 22 min to get to what I thought was done, but also tasted FANTASTIC!!! I probably could have done 20 if I had not been checking it every 2 min after the 1st 10.

So don’t believe the article… https://www.recteq.com/blogs/recteq-cooks/pellet-smoked-pizza
But do give this a try.
For any curious about my mesh pad… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CIEJZG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[TomatoBob]

Thanks for all the great replies. Posts like this prove that for most questions, there a many answers that will be correct or at least partially correct. For me, with the Screem'n Sicilian brand, I have settled on 420 degrees. I cook on the Grill Grates and rotate the pizza several times during the process. I do not time the process. I just pay attention to the color and feel of the crust. This seems to be the sweet spot for that brand of pizza.

I also like the Di Giorno croissant style. Unfortunately, this style does not do well on the smoker but is great in the oven. Not sure why.