freezing pizzas?
 

I normally wouldn't think of doing this. But my wife here in the Blue
Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, is having an exhibition of
her paintings and ceramics this October 6 (at the Hat Hill Gallery in
Blackheath, from 3 pm if there are any locals reading this.....) and
I'll be cooking for the party afterwards ...
I'm thinking of doing around a dozen mixed pizzas, using my usual high-
protein flour thin-crust base -- salami and vegetarian -- but I can't
see how I could do that many AND be at the gallery at the same time
for support etc. It's a small gallery so I'll be serving drinks
anyway...
I've never tried freezing pizza, hence the question -- how
satisfactory would it be to partially-cook all the pizzas in advance
and then freeze them, and pop them into the oven for a final high-temp
5 minute blast on the night? Or should I prepare, do all the toppings,
and then freeze uncooked?
Any practical advice would be really welcome ... I know this smacks of
compromise, but it's going to be a hectic afternoon and night!

freezing pizzas?
 

I think you should be able to get away with part cooking then freezing then
a quick zap before serving. We make our pizzas and I often end up freezing
the left overs and reheating and they taste fine and the base gets crispy
again if I reheat on the pizza stone. Usually I do it in the microwave. If
you can make your task easier for the exhibition, go for it - sounds like
you'll have your hands full!

Good luck with the exhibition and the snacks! I love Blackheath - we're in
Sydney.

"anthony" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I normally wouldn't think of doing this. But my wife here in the Blue
> Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, is having an exhibition of
> her paintings and ceramics this October 6 (at the Hat Hill Gallery in
> Blackheath, from 3 pm if there are any locals reading this.....) and
> I'll be cooking for the party afterwards ...
> I'm thinking of doing around a dozen mixed pizzas, using my usual high-
> protein flour thin-crust base -- salami and vegetarian -- but I can't
> see how I could do that many AND be at the gallery at the same time
> for support etc. It's a small gallery so I'll be serving drinks
> anyway...
> I've never tried freezing pizza, hence the question -- how
> satisfactory would it be to partially-cook all the pizzas in advance
> and then freeze them, and pop them into the oven for a final high-temp
> 5 minute blast on the night? Or should I prepare, do all the toppings,
> and then freeze uncooked?
> Any practical advice would be really welcome ... I know this smacks of
> compromise, but it's going to be a hectic afternoon and night!
>

freezing pizzas?
 

On 2007-09-21, anthony > wrote:
[...]
> I've never tried freezing pizza, hence the question -- how
> satisfactory would it be to partially-cook all the pizzas in advance
> and then freeze them, and pop them into the oven for a final high-temp
> 5 minute blast on the night? Or should I prepare, do all the toppings,
> and then freeze uncooked?

Freezing is how I store leftover pizza. I usually just reheat a slice
at a time in a countertop toaster oven, which is OK. It comes out a
bit more dry than when it was fresh, and the flavors tend to be a bit
muddled, but the crust is crisp. Microwaves do bad things to bread
and crusts. I think reheating on a stone is a good idea, but only
after it has mostly thawed, so you need to thaw some other way --
maybe on a pan on a rack above the stone?

Freezing it uncooked will likely affect the crust texture, as it tends
to degrade the gluten bonds. I'm not sure if it would be better to
thaw first or put the frozen raw pizza straight in the oven. I think,
if you have time, that you might experiment a bit to see what works.
Make two pizzas -- freeze one raw, bake one. Slice and freeze the
baked one, and test different ways of reheating the next day, then
test baking the frozen raw one. Make a couple of frozen raw ones and
test different thaw/reheat methods on that, too, if you have the time
and enough stomachs to dispose of the finished product.

--
Randall

freezing pizzas?
 

On Sep 21, 8:19 pm, "Viviane" > wrote:
> I think you should be able to get away with part cooking then freezing then
> a quick zap before serving. We make our pizzas and I often end up freezing
> the left overs and reheating and they taste fine and the base gets crispy
> again if I reheat on the pizza stone. Usually I do it in the microwave. If
> you can make your task easier for the exhibition, go for it - sounds like
> you'll have your hands full!
>
> Good luck with the exhibition and the snacks! I love Blackheath - we're in
> Sydney.

Thanks Viviane -- that's all the reassurance I need. We love
Blackheath too of course --arrived 4 years ago from Sydney (Paddington
and Rushcutters Bay) and have never looked back .....

freezing pizzas?
 

"anthony" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I normally wouldn't think of doing this. But my wife here in the Blue
> Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, is having an exhibition of
> her paintings and ceramics this October 6 (at the Hat Hill Gallery in
> Blackheath, from 3 pm if there are any locals reading this.....) and
> I'll be cooking for the party afterwards ...
> I'm thinking of doing around a dozen mixed pizzas, using my usual high-
> protein flour thin-crust base -- salami and vegetarian -- but I can't
> see how I could do that many AND be at the gallery at the same time
> for support etc. It's a small gallery so I'll be serving drinks
> anyway...
> I've never tried freezing pizza, hence the question -- how
> satisfactory would it be to partially-cook all the pizzas in advance
> and then freeze them, and pop them into the oven for a final high-temp
> 5 minute blast on the night? Or should I prepare, do all the toppings,
> and then freeze uncooked?
> Any practical advice would be really welcome ... I know this smacks of
> compromise, but it's going to be a hectic afternoon and night!
>
>
This isn't quite what you asked for, but, I do the following. After you make
your dough
and rise it and make your round, you bake it at the highest temp. your oven
will go for 90 seconds.
Take that out, punch the middle, not the edges, down, wrap it in foil, and
stick that in the freezer.
When you want a pizza, you thaw the round, apply your tomato, cheese, and
the rest, and bake it as you would initially.
All of this has to be done on a preheated pizza stone.
I don't think you can really freeze or new composed pizza leftover pizza and
make it work.

Kent

freezing pizzas?
 

On Oct 6, 5:06 pm, "Kent" > wrote:
> "anthony" > wrote in message
>
> oups.com...
>
> >I normally wouldn't think of doing this. But my wife here in the Blue
> > Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, is having an exhibition of
> > her paintings and ceramics this October 6 (at the Hat Hill Gallery in
> > Blackheath, from 3 pm if there are any locals reading this.....) and
> > I'll be cooking for the party afterwards ...
> > I'm thinking of doing around a dozen mixed pizzas, using my usual high-
> > protein flour thin-crust base -- salami and vegetarian -- but I can't
> > see how I could do that many AND be at the gallery at the same time
> > for support etc. It's a small gallery so I'll be serving drinks
> > anyway...
> > I've never tried freezing pizza, hence the question -- how
> > satisfactory would it be to partially-cook all the pizzas in advance
> > and then freeze them, and pop them into the oven for a final high-temp
> > 5 minute blast on the night? Or should I prepare, do all the toppings,
> > and then freeze uncooked?
> > Any practical advice would be really welcome ... I know this smacks of
> > compromise, but it's going to be a hectic afternoon and night!
>
> This isn't quite what you asked for, but, I do the following. After you make
> your dough
> and rise it and make your round, you bake it at the highest temp. your oven
> will go for 90 seconds.
> Take that out, punch the middle, not the edges, down, wrap it in foil, and
> stick that in the freezer.
> When you want a pizza, you thaw the round, apply your tomato, cheese, and
> the rest, and bake it as you would initially.
> All of this has to be done on a preheated pizza stone.
> I don't think you can really freeze or new composed pizza leftover pizza and
> make it work.
>
> Kent

Thought I'd report on the result. I spent a couple of hours one
Saturday night ahead of my wife's art exhibition making 12 pizzas (14
really, but two were for immediate consumption!) -- very simple, just
a smear of tomato paste, mozzarella, some artichoke hearts and
marinated sheep's fetta for the vegetarian pizzas and some tasty
salami for the standard, and then sprinkled with parmesan and fresh
herbs (oregano and basil).
Cooked them in hot oven for six minutes -- everyting bound together
nicely. Let cool right down before packing baking paper between each
pizza and then wrapping in gladwrap. Then into the freezer.
Came the night a week later -- we ate at the gallery after the show,
which had a good big oven. I popped in my oven stones, and as soon as
the oven reached heat, simply slid in each pizza, two at a time, for
just five minutes. They came out crisp on the bottom, no sign of
freezer-sogginess, and looked and tasted as if they'd been freshly
cooked in one step. And they were being eaten faster than I could keep
turning them out. With just a 5-minute cycle in between pizzas, I was
finished cooking in just half an hour, and ready to get onto
exploration of some good Australian shiraz!
Cheers