If you were to freeze homemade pizza....

[StephandOwen]

how would you do it?

A) bake crust a little, top with sauce, cheese and toppings and then freeze

B) bake crust a little but freeze without any sauce or toppings (freeze those in separate containers to make a pizza "kit")

C) don't bake crust but top as normal and then freeze

D) don't bake crust but freeze without any sauce or toppings (freeze those separately to make a pizza "kit")

E) something else I'm not thinking of

Also, do you need to defrost the pizza before baking it? Or just stick it in the oven from the freezer? How long should you bake it for?

Thanks!!

[mnnice]

I have done A and it worked fine.  DS1 liked it.  "Mom it takes just like frozen pizza." like it was a gaint complement.  I was less impressed.

What I usully do is a variation of D. I make the components in batches large enough for several meals and freeze those.  I make a big batch of sauce and freeze it in muffin tins and then put the frozen "pucks" in a large freezer bag.  Two pucks is enough sauce for a single medium pizza.  I brown a lb of sausage use half half on the current pizza and save the other half for later.  I usually just freeze dough uncookd in balls and then thaw on the counter or in the microwave.  I have used both grated cheese or grated it ahead of time and froze it.

Usually I have to make one major component (sauce, dough, meat) and have the others in the freezer.  We also use black olives and anchovies which I have in self-stable cans.

[StephandOwen]

Thanks! When you're making the crust to freeze in balls do you mix it up, let it rise, punch it down and then divide it into the dough balls and freeze? I might try a couple different ways and see which we like best.

I do have to laugh at your ds's comment though. That's too funny!

[Mpenny1001]

Originally Posted by StephandOwen 

Thanks! When you're making the crust to freeze in balls do you mix it up, let it rise, punch it down and then divide it into the dough balls and freeze? I might try a couple different ways and see which we like best.

I do have to laugh at your ds's comment though. That's too funny!

Yep, that's how we do it.  I just move the dough and the sauce from the freezer to the fridge the morning we want to eat it. It's all thawed by dinner time.  I have also par-baked the dough (since I always bake the dough for about 10 minutes before we put the toppings on) and that also worked well, but it was more of a hassle to have this big flat thing in the freezer than a little disk of dough.

Even with having to roll out the dough and put on the toppings, it still only takes 30 minutes, and that is with DD "helping" me with it.  I'm sure I could have it done in 20 if I did it by myself, lol!

[greenmulberry]

I do A, because DH likes the convenience of bake and serve frozen pizzas and he isn't going to assemble anything on his own. He can bake it right on the rack in the oven and it comes out crispy.

[noahs.mom06]

I have done A as well. I used to have pizza at least once, usually twice a month on my monthly meal plan, and the first time I made it, I would always make two and freeze one, so the second time I was just pulling the already made pizza out of the freezer to cook. It was great for those nights when I just really didn't feel like making anything!

And actually, thinking about it now,  I'm pretty sure I did C, and made up the pizza without baking the crust at all, and then freezing.

[Chamomile Girl]

We eat pizza here once a week and we use a variation of D. I take the frozen crust out and let it defrost on the countertop for most of the day. I drop a bag of sauce down into the fridge and then by dinner time both are ready to go. Our "usual" is cheeze, olive, sun-dried tomato and artichoke heart, all of which we get at Costco in large quantities (except for the tomatoes which I make myself. Sauce is made every other time...one can of tomato paste, some H20, garlic, fennel and oregano. One can of paste is enough for two pizzas (I'm too lazy to boil down my homegrown tomatoes into paste...maybe this year).

Its really yummy and super fast to make.

[artemis33]

I make up the dough, divide into two 1lb balls, and freeze one just like that.  When I want to use it, I pull it out in the morning to let it defrost and rise, then pat out, let rise a little more, and use.

[velochic]

I usually just make the dough ahead of time if I make anything ahead of time.  I freeze the ball of dough and let it thaw in the fridge when needed.  My sauce is, in the authentic Italian style, just crushed canned San Marzano tomatoes, so there's nothing to prepare ahead for that.

If I did want to go the freezer route, I'd par-bake the crust, add toppings, then freeze the whole thing, assuming convenience is key.  At some point, there is going to be a trade-off that you can spend another 10 minutes to make it fresh and then the taste difference is night and day.  Pizza is so quick anyway, that you might as well make it fresh unless it's just "pop-in-the-oven" convenient.

(I don't rise my crust, FTR, as we like the typical thin individual pizzas you find in Italy, so there's no rising time involved, which makes it pretty fast.)

[StephandOwen]

Thanks everyone!! I finally got around to it last night. I made 3 small (individual) pizzas and baked the crust slight, topped and froze. Those are for my super easy meals when dh is gone on work (I find that when dh is away on work I often get so busy I forget to eat so I've started freezing individual meals for myself that I can just take out and cook super fast). I also did 1 big pizza where I froze the crust in a ball and sauce in another bag