This article will explain how I make up pizza and then freeze it for later use. We like to take the frozen pizzas with us in the RV on our outings and bake it on an outside cooker and this method does work well for us. Of course, it will work just as well in the home oven.
The size I will be making is what I would call a “personal size” pizza and I usually make these about 8 to 9 inches in diameter. Me and Jan will usually split one as they are loaded up and a half pizza will make a good meal.
One of the best methods for making the dough is in a 2 pound bread machine with a dough only cycle. Most of them are good for about 3-1/2 cups of flour and this amount will make a couple of 12-14 inch pizzas or four 8-9 inch pizzas. The secret in these machines is it uses a very small amount of heat thru out the total process and this makes for a better product than most other dough methods.
I use a standard pizza recipe although I usually add a few herbs to the dough as I feel it improves the final product.
My inexpensive bread maker will make the dough and have it ready to go in about 90 minutes.
While the machine is making the dough, I get some of the rest of the items ready.
This is 1.31 pounds of my homemade super spicy Italian sausage which is one of the meats I will use in the 4 pizzas.
I brown the meat in a black iron skillet.
I blanch all my fresh vegetables for about 2 minutes and plunge them into cold water. Any other vegetable that comes out of a can like maybe black olives or mushrooms can be used straight up.
My onions and bell peppers in the boiling blanch water.
My dough is ready and I cut it into 4 equal pieces.
Next step is to form it into my 4 pizza crusts. I then put them into the oven for a 6 minutes pre-bake at 375 degrees. One of the problems with the frozen pizzas is getting the dough done before cremating the stuff on top baking from a frozen state. The pre-baking really helps as the dough is already close to half done.
The crusts just out of the oven.
I brush all the outside edges with olive oil which will help with the color and browning.
I start out with a layer of sliced mozzarella cheese. Again, one of the problems with the frozen pizzas is getting the crust done right before cremating the top from a frozen state and this layer of sliced mozzarella will prevent most of the liquid from the items on the pizza from going into the crust and making it soggy which would increase the baking time.
The pizza sauce.
My homemade Italian sausage going onto the pizza.
Next up is some onions and bell peppers.
I finish up with some shredded mozzarella and I add some smoked peppers and some pepperoni slices.
The finished pizza ready for the freezer.
I freeze the pizza on the sheets for about 6 hours.
They come out of the freezer and I wrap them in a couple layers of plastic wrap.
They are then wrapped again in tin foil and they go back into the freezer for future use.
I know it’s a little more trouble but these pizzas are so much better than any frozen pizza on the market. Also nice to make them with just my preferred toppings.
I decided to try baking one of these frozen pizzas on my Cobb Grill. The top temperature I have been able to obtain on this cooker is about 365 degrees. These pizzas are best baked at about 425 to 450 degrees. Figured it would take longer but I think it will work. Bread does come out fine on this little cooker.
I purchased a couple of 8-1/2 “ hearth stones and this is the setup I used with the new stone.
I maxed out the charcoal basket with that great Ozark Oak lump.
Got the pizza out of the freezer and unwrapped and got it ready for the cooker.
I preheated the hearth stone for about 30 minutes and then loaded the pizza.
It did take a little longer but did produce a fine pizza.
Man, this thing is “Money”.
