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Why does Frozen Pizza instructions always say to cook directly on the rack. Who actually does this and why???

SpankyDoodle

SpankyDoodle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,082
I'm sure this'll set a bunch of people off

y'all cooking shit in aluminum foil and not worried about it leeching into your food?

Team Right on the Rack all DAY! ;p
 
Vonocourt

Vonocourt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,632
wrowa said:
Is parchment paper not a thing in the US?
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It's very much a thing. Use it all the time for homemade dough on a pizza stone.

Frozen pizza gets put on a rack, occasionally will switch it to a pizza stone to finish the last five minutes or so if I remember to put it in during pre-heat.
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,353
I get what the OP is going for since I'm guessing he cleans his trays after each use vs. the rack which isn't. If your racks are disgusting for whatever reason tho, clean them lol. Those cleaning bags are awesome for the oven blitz.
lunarworks said:
I put it directly on the rack, but my wife uses a pizza tray:

EVFWbpn.jpg


I can get it for like $3 at Dollarama.
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This is what I use tho and turns out great.
 
Shackleton

Shackleton

Banned
Mar 19, 2021
116
Cooking pizza directly on the rack gives it a much crisper base.
the reason for this is there will be some water (steam) evaporating from the base while the pizza is cooked. If you place the pizza on something the water can't escape and will therefore keep the crust most. If you place it directly on the track the water can escape really =crisper base.
 
bobeth

bobeth

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,302
You do it on the rack. If you preheat properly there is little to no spillage, that's how you get a crispy bottom!
 
AstronaughtE

AstronaughtE

Member
Nov 26, 2017
10,259
I'll throw some foil underneath if I'm afraid of drippings. It's never been a problem. Also, with tombstones, I keep the cardboard in the freezer while the pizza is cooking. It keeps it nice and rigid, and gives me time to make it to the counter without burning my fingers.
 

Deleted member 52442

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 24, 2019
10,774
I really want to see pictures of these frozen pizzas coming out better on the rack

I believe yall but where the pics
 
Euler007

Euler007

Member
Jan 10, 2018
5,045
Any bacteria that can survive an oven self cleaning cycle deserves to live inside of you.
 
Ruisu

Ruisu

Banned
Aug 1, 2019
5,535
Brasil
Ehh, I don't want the oven to get dirty with cheese falling off the sides anyway, if I want pizza with a perfect crispy crust I'll just buy one that's already ready to eat instead of frozen.
Frozen pizza is usually pretty slim and crappy anyway.
 
Petruccis Biceps

Petruccis Biceps

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,540
For years I used a round metal oven pan and I never followed the directly on the rack suggestion. I tried it once and godamn, it cooks the pizza correctly and crisps up the bottom good too. It's the superior way to do it by far and I'll never go back.

Only problem is dripping cheese into the bottom of the oven but this is solved by just putting some aluminum foil on a tray on the bottom rack
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,429
OP the oven being at 400 degrees will kill everything in there prior to putting the pizza on the rack.
 
Surakian

Surakian

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
10,895
Uh, every time I tried cooking my pizza on the rack, it would decide that it was time to bend and slide down and make a mess on both the rack and the bottom of the oven so I feel OP.

I cook it on a tray or on some foil or parchment paper.
 
TOM 2

TOM 2

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,362
Ghost Planet Spaceship
I've did both. Tray and rack. They're both about the same.

Funny story also: We once bought a ready-cooked whole pizza from Speedway up in Michigan, and when we got it home, we realized that they left their metal perforated pizza tray in the box. We used it for quite awhile after, and it's kind of the best of both ways.
 

Deleted member 17092

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
20,360
Convection oven pizza right on the rack at 420 degrees is the way to go. Bottom and top come out perfect.
 
CrunchyFrog

CrunchyFrog

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,460
Like others said, bacteria is a complete non-issue and baking on the rack crisps the bottom crust (the worst pizza ever is the one with soggy/mushy crust). Just grab the loose bits before you put it in and sweep em to the middle. I usually end up having to redistribute the pepperoni's anyway
 
Reszo

Reszo

Member
Oct 31, 2017
876
I did it once. But I was stumped on how I was supposed to get it off the rack while it was hot? I let it cool a bit and then pulled it out but I'm fine with sticking to putting it on a pan and then in the oven.
 
Greendomo

Greendomo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
484
Put the pizza on the rack and an empty oven tray on the rack below it just for safety purposes. Works for me.
 
Dark Knight

Dark Knight

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,340
Not to change subjects but to all the people who use foil: I've read this isn't good for you, especially with acidic food. Probably better to go with parchment paper.
 
Tbm24

Tbm24

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
16,329
Just put foil on the rack under it. Why would you openly think the instructions are trolling you?
 
Milk

Milk

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
3,826
Gotta say, I never expected there to be people scared of rack-made pizza. Lmao.
 
SpankyDoodle

SpankyDoodle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,082
Surakian said:
Uh, every time I tried cooking my pizza on the rack, it would decide that it was time to bend and slide down and make a mess on both the rack and the bottom of the oven so I feel OP.

I cook it on a tray or on some foil or parchment paper.
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Pay attention to where you're setting the pizza. All racks have at least one beam running horizontally while the rest run vertically. Unless you're setting your pizza down so that the edges are floating into space between the vertical beams this isn't an issue. I've had this issue with square pizzas where the corners droop and it's because I wasn't looking at where the corners were sitting on the beams when I set the pizza on them. Once I started paying attention to that it never happened again!

Dark Knight said:
Not to change subjects but to all the people who use foil: I've read this isn't good for you, especially with acidic food. Probably better to go with parchment paper.
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I tried, I even got the top of the page, I don't think anyone cares. Once I found out about aluminum leeching into food I stopped using it entirely, except for putting it below food to catch drippings. Parchment paper all da way
 
Dark Knight

Dark Knight

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,340
WordAssassin said:
I tried, I even got the top of the page, I don't think anyone cares. Once I found out about aluminum leeching into food I stopped using it entirely, except for putting it below food to catch drippings. Parchment paper all da way
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For sure! I fully switched to parchment once I read that. The only thing I'll use foil for now is if I need to a) store something in the fridge(probably okay if its touching food in a cold setting), or b) trap in heat/moisture into something in the oven. Like make a foil dome over something I'm slower cooking like tenderloins or something like that. As far as I know it's fine to cover things as long as the foil isn't actually touching the food.
 
SpankyDoodle

SpankyDoodle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,082
Dark Knight said:
For sure! I fully switched to parchment once I read that. The only thing I'll use foil for now is if I need to a) store something in the fridge(probably okay if its touching food in a cold setting), or b) trap in heat/moisture into something in the oven. Like make a foil dome over something I'm slower cooking like tenderloins or something like that. As far as I know it's fine to cover things as long as the foil isn't actually touching the food.
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Yep! And so far I haven't come across a single recipe that *required* foil that couldn't be cooked the same or better another way. But you are correct from what I've read about using it on cold stuff, it's specifically the heat iirc that causes the leeching. I also replaced all of my pans with cast iron, glass, and ceramic once I found out lol. Be gone vile beast!
 
Pwnz

Pwnz

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Oct 28, 2017
14,279
Places
Yeah fuck that always use a pan. Good chance it'll create a mess and a small chance it could set off a smoke alarm I'd the dough drips off into the floor which I've seen happen.

Also while I won't pretend pizza is cooking, once you've become skilled at cooking you adapt recipes constantly because it's clear the recipe author doesn't know what the fuck they're doing. Countless times I've fortified or substituted olive oil in high heat recipes. That's not a high heat oil in the slightest.
 
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Robin

Robin

Restless Insomniac
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,503
Oh god Im just thinking of these floppy ass pizzas people are eating because their afraid a little char is going to touch their pizza? Come to New Haven where your pizza isn't shit unless it's partially scorched.

Pizza stone people, yes, you can use those for a frozen pizza but it's also somewhat unnecessary.
 
SpankyDoodle

SpankyDoodle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,082
Pwnz said:
Yeah fuck that always use a pan. Good chance it'll create a mess and a small chance it could set off a smoke alarm I'd the dough drips off into the floor which I've seen happen.
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Literally impossible with a frozen pizza, the dough is par baked and not dripping anywhere.

If you're making a pizza from scratch then yes by all means you need to use a stone or tray, but unless you prefer soft crust, frozen pizzas go on the rack.

How on earth did this "it'll melt through the rack" bs even start, you folks know you aren't supposed to thaw the pizzas out first right? You're not putting the frozen pizza into a cold oven and cooking it while it preheats are you? You preheat the oven and then put the pizza straight from the freezer onto the rack.
 
Commedieu

Commedieu

Banned
Nov 11, 2017
15,025
i put foil on the bottom of oven, just in case a fixin or 2 falls off, and i don't feel like cleaning up charcoal stuff.
Need to preheat or check oven. Maybe its not hitting right temp?

frozen pizzas don't melt...
 

Sanguine

Member
Jun 10, 2018
1,276
I've always cooked it on a pizza stone (not sure if it actually has a name as it's a hand me down from my mom - it's just a round baking sheet made of stone...).
 
Pwnz

Pwnz

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Oct 28, 2017
14,279
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WordAssassin said:
Literally impossible with a frozen pizza, the dough is par baked and not dripping anywhere.

If you're making a pizza from scratch then yes by all means you need to use a stone or tray, but unless you prefer soft crust, frozen pizzas go on the rack.

How on earth did this "it'll melt through the rack" bs even start, you folks know you aren't supposed to thaw the pizzas out first right? You're not putting the frozen pizza into a cold oven and cooking it while it preheats are you? You preheat the oven and then put the pizza straight from the freezer onto the rack.
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Rental property where the rack wasn't consistent and there was a gap.

It was digorno or freschetta which is a giant slap of dough.
 
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