Frozen pizza on hot stone?

[warrax]

From time to time, I don't have a time&energy to make my own dough, and in this case, I've been using frozen pizza. Now I have a standart pizza stone. It is safe to put it on the hot stone? If not, does it help, when I take frozen pizza from freezer 1 hour before, to let it melt down partialy?

Now second, similiar question - what about refrigated dough/pizza? Not frozen, just refrigated.

Please, write down your experience with frozen/refrigated pizza dough, and tips&tricks, how to solve this problems. Maybe baking paper will help a little? Like put frozen pizza on baking paper sheet, and after 2 minutes, just take him out from the oven.

[The Dough Doctor]

The only raw dough frozen pizzas that I'm aware of at the supermarket is the bake to rise type. These pizzas are leavened using both yeast and chemical leavening and for the most part they are designed to go directly from freezer to the oven. The package directions for baking should confirm this. As for a refrigerated pizza, there is a deli pizza from the supermarket, typically sold by the pound. These are made on a refrigerated, yeast leavened dough skin. This type of pizza can benefit from being allowed to temper at room temperature for up to about an hour before going into the oven. The other refrigerated pizza is the take and bake type of pizza, like you might get from Papa Murphy's. The dough that these are made from seems to be all over the board. Some are formulated with both yeast and chemical leavening, like the bake to rise pizza mentioned above, while others are made from a dough that is leavened only with yeast. This means that you might need to experiment with the brand of your choosing to see how it bakes the best. If it is from one of the big box pizza chains it can probably go straight from the fridge to the oven, but if it is from an independent pizzeria it might perform better if allowed to temper AT room temperature for a while prior to baking. Also, be sure to watch the bottom of the crust with any of these pizzas as they tend to be formulated with fairly high sugar levels to improve the baking properties in a conventional home oven without a pizza stone. If you get too much browning or burning, you may need to reduce the oven temperature when using your stone.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[warrax]

Thanks for you reply. But I don't get it a little bit.
By frozen pizza, I mean something like Dr. Oetker http://www.oetker.co.uk/oetker_uk/our_product_range/pizza_ristorante_range.html
There is many brands in our country. Pizza is stored at -18 C. I am afraid, when I put such pizza on hot stone, it can crack up. That's why I've asked, if it is better, to let it melt in room temperature, for about half hour.
Or some tips, from people, that solve similiar problem.

By refrigated dough/pizza, I mean eighter pizza stored at +2 - +8 C, or just a dough. In our supermarket, you can buy refrigated dough, so you just put tomato sauce, and cheese on it, and you can bake it.

I've read manual for my pizza stone http://www.pricemania.sk/katalog/hrnce-panvice-a-pekace/baumatic-bps2-pizza-kamen-gulaty-384458/galeria/
And it has 2 sides, one with lines (on the picture), and second flat. In manual, there is note, that lined side should be used for frozen food. While flat, for non-frozen. Maybe that lines help to reduce the thermal shock. Well, I have feeling, that ideally, frozen pizza should be first put to the lined side, and after 2 minutes on the flat side. Ideal would be to have 2 stones in oven. On the top, one with lined side up, and on the bottom, one with flat side. Maybe, when I buy second stone, I will do this solution.

[petef]

Please, write down your experience with frozen/refrigated pizza dough, and tips&tricks, how to solve this problems. Maybe baking paper will help a little? Like put frozen pizza on baking paper sheet, and after 2 minutes, just take him out from the oven.

When I bake pizza I usualy make several pies and freeze them. So I'm often eating frozen pizza. For 1 smal slice, I microwave it on high power about 35 seconds (plain cheese) or 50 sec (sausage & mushroom) until the slice is totally thawed and cheese is beginning to bubble at the edges. Then I place the slice on a hand held wire grill and hold it over a high flame on my gas stove. I keep it moving in a manner that applies extreme heat evenly. From about 2 to 6 inches over the flame. You will hear it sizzleing. I flame grill it anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds, depending upon many factors, such as thickness, toppings, etc.. With practice you get a good feel for how much time to flame grill it. It's the closest thing to fresh baked.

This technique works for lots of different kinds of food that don't reheat well in the microwave alone because they become rubbery. I do frozen onion rings, frozen french fries, frozen or leftover egg rolls, frozen pretzels and more. Microwave to heat them up thoroughly being careful not to over cook (over cooked = leathery) and then crispen using the flame grill technique. Things like pretzels require you hold  the grill a much higher from the flame to provide a lower temperature bake.

---pete---

[The Dough Doctor]

Warrax;
You described the type of pizzas that I was referring to in my response. The cracking that you mention is why you will need to experiment a little with your baking stone. The bake to rise type of pizzas are designed specifically to go from freezer to oven. If you experience cracking with your type of frozen pizzas, I would suggest that you experiment with different thawing times. Begin with 15-minutes, and then progress longer in 15-minute increments until the problem no longer exists. When using a pre-made refrigerated dough skin it is usually beneficial to allow the dough skin some time to temper AT room temperature before baking. In this case you can either go by time, typically about 60 to 90-minutes at room temperature, or you can go by temperature. Look for a dough temperature of about 50F/10C before placing it into the oven.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[warrax]

Thank for you reply. Now I am armed with knowledge, only my experience is needed.

Hail to the crispy pizza, Dough Doctor! And others!

[petef]

Thank for you reply. Now I am armed with knowledge, only my experience is needed.

Hail to the crispy pizza, Dough Doctor! And others!

Thank you, it would be interesting to hear how you make out.
Good luck!

---pete---

[warrax]

Allright, today, I've tried it to bake frozen pizza.
First, I've modified my oven a little bit. Original oven was able to reach maximum temperature 230 degrees of celsius. When I've put the stone into it, the maximum temperature raised to 245 degrees. But, when I've put aluminium foil from all sides, and metal sheet at the top of the oven (with aluminium foil at the bottom of the sheet to reflect warmth back), the maximum temperature raised to 300 degrees, with same time of pre-heating (1 hour). I was very happy.
Frozen pizza was really awesome in such modified oven, stone didn't crack. Really best frozen pizza I ever had. :-) Just look at images:

[img=http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/3157/img0001clo.th.jpg]
[img=http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/669/img0004ot.th.jpg]
[img=http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2903/img0007al.th.jpg]
[img=http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6189/img0008rh.th.jpg]
[img=http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/4269/img0009om.th.jpg]

[petef]

Allright, today, I've tried it to bake frozen pizza.

Thanks for results and the pics!

I have not made store bought frozen pizza n over 20 years. Does the pizza you bake come fully or partially baked and you are just kind of reheating it, or are you giving it the full bake starting with an unbaked product? How long do you bake it?

---pete---

[warrax]

Thanks for results and the pics!

I have not made store bought frozen pizza n over 20 years. Does the pizza you bake come fully or partially baked and you are just kind of reheating it, or are you giving it the full bake starting with an unbaked product? How long do you bake it?

---pete---

Yes, I make frozen pizza only from time to time, when I just return home completly tired, hungry. I am living alone, so no woman can wait me with hot dinner :-). And when I have taste for pizza, frozen is good, as you can have it stored for long time for such cases. I have opinion, that worst thing you can do, when you are completly fatiqued, hungry or negatively mooded, is to start to prepare meal. Frozen pizza serves good for this reason, at least, for me. Well, spagghetti or other pasta is even better, but pizza is pizza. :-)
I didn't check, if the pizza is pre-baked, but I saw some ones, that are. I just look at recomended baking time, and in half, starting to check it optically, to consider, wheater it is made, or not. My stone is new, I have it only one week, so I've used it only 2 times on pizza. At first, it took 8 minutes, but it was too long, as it was burned from bottom. At second attempt, I've let it 7 minutes there, and you see result on pictures. I think, pizza from fresh dough will be in 6, or even in 5 minutes, as dough is not frozen.