Pizza

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I'll eat and I think it's fine, but I feel like a rare person that actually would prefer no meat on a pizza. I'd rather just have mushrooms and diced tomatoes or something. On a good pizza I always feel like it overwhelms the flavor.

[AKCheesehead]

I agree that the pre-cooked, pre-formed puppy kibble looking sausage is garbage. I’m talking about pizza made with raw Italian sausage, pinched and placed by hand. To me that blows out of the water whatever a pepperoni pizza is trying to be.

 

I’ll admit I like the two together pretty well (even with bad pepperoni) but pepperoni as the only meat topping to me is flimsy and boring. Pizza as a food is generally not very healthy or friendly to the waist line. So when I treat myself to it it needs to be good.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I'm a huge fan of sausage in general (and strongly recommend checking out Bavaria Sausage Inc. in Fitchburg or online) so I agree it is better than pepperoni. I'm not a vegetarian or anything. I just always want to enjoy the crust, sauce and cheese on a pizza and think meat often overtakes those elements. To me the sauce on a pizza is 3/4 of the battle.

[patrickgpe]

Most frozen pizza toppings are bland anyway. I love a fresh hand pinched sausage or when you get the crispy pepperoni that folds over. yum.

[FVBrewerFan]

I'm a huge fan of sausage in general (and strongly recommend checking out Bavaria Sausage Inc. in Fitchburg or online) so I agree it is better than pepperoni. I'm not a vegetarian or anything. I just always want to enjoy the crust, sauce and cheese on a pizza and think meat often overtakes those elements. To me the sauce on a pizza is 3/4 of the battle.

 

You're close. Half is the sauce, half is the crust, 25% of the rest is the cheese and toppings.

[CheezWizHed]

I consider the sauce as equal to any single topping on the pizza. Keep it light so it doesn't drip everywhere then pair the flavor balanced with the toppings. Pizza is not spaghetti drowning in sauce.

 

The dough is as much about the texture as it is flavor. No rock-hard carboard, no doughy-goo (looking at you, Rocky Rococo) with crispy (not crunchy) crust edges or preferably no solo crust "edge" at all (toppings go to the edge).

 

I mean, it is pizza, so I'll eat just about anything...but those are my preferences.

[FVBrewerFan]

I consider the sauce as equal to any single topping on the pizza. Keep it light so it doesn't drip everywhere then pair the flavor balanced with the toppings. Pizza is not spaghetti drowning in sauce.

 

The dough is as much about the texture as it is flavor. No rock-hard carboard, no doughy-goo (looking at you, Rocky Rococo) with crispy (not crunchy) crust edges or preferably no solo crust "edge" at all (toppings go to the edge).

 

I mean, it is pizza, so I'll eat just about anything...but those are my preferences.

 

You are so close, but you need a Milwaukee crust around the edge. Just a light crispy crust to sprinkle in between all the cheesy/saucy bites. Mmmmm

[GAME05]

I had a Wal-Mart thin crust yesterday and it was pretty good. I forgot the price so that makes it hard to call it good/bad. Tasted good, but if I paid $7, it didn't taste THAT good.

 

I may be slowly turning toward the sausage preference, too. I love the caraway flavor. And the pepperoni on a lot of brands is way too spicy.

[MrTPlush]

Alright, I thought Little Ceasers was the worst pizza I have ever had (at least when you don't order it fresh)...but the Pizza Hut Detroit Style? Wow, absolutely disgusting. First off the cheese didn't go to the edge and crisp, which is probably the best part of a Detroit style (I wouldn't actually know I have never had a real one). The worst part, the sauce. The premium red sauce is the worst sauce I have ever had on a pizza. Pizza Hut tried 8 different sauces before coming the the conclusion that nasty stuff was the best choice. It was as bad as the city it is named after. 

Real Detroit style cannot possibly be that bad.

[homer]

I think if you want decent Detroit style from a chain you gotta wait for a Jet's to open up by you. There's one in Fondy one in Green Bay and the rest are around Milwaukee I think.

 

I had Rocky Rococo for the first time in decades the other day. Good stuff. They have really good sausage.

[MrTPlush]

20 hours ago, homer said:

I think if you want decent Detroit style from a chain you gotta wait for a Jet's to open up by you. There's one in Fondy one in Green Bay and the rest are around Milwaukee I think.

I remember hearing about it when I lived towards Chicago...but most people I knew made fun of it. To be fair, I don't think they ever actually had it. I think their pizza ego was just as deep as a Lou Malnati's sausage deep dish. 

[AKCheesehead]

Of course the pizza thread comes to life on a fasting day ? Now I just might have to make a trip to Moose's Tooth when I fly to Anchorage this weekend. 

[sveumrules]

On 9/28/2022 at 11:15 AM, MrTPlush said:

Alright, I thought Little Ceasers was the worst pizza I have ever had (at least when you don't order it fresh)...but the Pizza Hut Detroit Style? Wow, absolutely disgusting. First off the cheese didn't go to the edge and crisp, which is probably the best part of a Detroit style (I wouldn't actually know I have never had a real one). The worst part, the sauce. The premium red sauce is the worst sauce I have ever had on a pizza. Pizza Hut tried 8 different sauces before coming the the conclusion that nasty stuff was the best choice. It was as bad as the city it is named after. 

Real Detroit style cannot possibly be that bad.

If you are around Milwaukee at all Classic Slice in Bay View has a really good Detroit Style.

[Jimbo]

Any recs in the Eau Claire area?  I'm too lazy to go through 18 pages of posts.  A friend's daughter suggested Sammy's.

Ditto on Classic Slice.  Ate there this past Friday for the first time in 10+ years (after a brewerfan.net softball game) and better than remembered.

[MrTPlush]

8 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Any recs in the Eau Claire area?  I'm too lazy to go through 18 pages of posts.  A friend's daughter suggested Sammy's.

Ditto on Classic Slice.  Ate there this past Friday for the first time in 10+ years (after a brewerfan.net softball game) and better than remembered.

Sammy’s is the best in my opinion. 

[homer]

On 9/29/2022 at 3:11 PM, sveumrules said:

If you are around Milwaukee at all Classic Slice in Bay View has a really good Detroit Style.

Well I guess I know what I'm getting while the wife is out for girl's night on Friday...even though we made pizza last night.

edit:. there goes that idea

Speaking of homemade pizza, Naan bread makes for a darn good crust.

[LouisEly]

On 9/28/2022 at 11:15 AM, MrTPlush said:

Alright, I thought Little Ceasers was the worst pizza I have ever had (at least when you don't order it fresh)...but the Pizza Hut Detroit Style? Wow, absolutely disgusting. First off the cheese didn't go to the edge and crisp, which is probably the best part of a Detroit style (I wouldn't actually know I have never had a real one). The worst part, the sauce. The premium red sauce is the worst sauce I have ever had on a pizza. Pizza Hut tried 8 different sauces before coming the the conclusion that nasty stuff was the best choice. It was as bad as the city it is named after. 

Real Detroit style cannot possibly be that bad.

There can be a surprisingly high amount of variability in quality in franchised restaurants.  The few I've heard from who have had it from Pizza Hut have had good things to say about it.

[LouisEly]

On 9/28/2022 at 6:20 PM, homer said:

I had Rocky Rococo for the first time in decades the other day. Good stuff. They have really good sausage.

Slightly off-topic, but on the topic of Madison staples, I had La Bamba's for the first time in decades today.  Good stuff as well.  Sucks that the downtown Chicago location isn't open on weekends.

[AKCheesehead]

On 9/30/2022 at 5:30 AM, homer said:

Well I guess I know what I'm getting while the wife is out for girl's night on Friday...even though we made pizza last night.

edit:. there goes that idea

Speaking of homemade pizza, Naan bread makes for a darn good crust.

Over the weekend I created probably my best homemade pizza ever, and happened to be using naan bread for the crust.  The thing I did differently is I cut up I believe 6 cloves of garlic and slow and low cooked them in olive oil until tender and sweet.  Topped the pizza with the garlic, some minced pickled jalapenos, thick slices of Johnsonville Italian meatballs, and thick sliced mushrooms.  Drizzled the top with the garlic oil from the pan. It was ridiculously good.

[Hopper]

7 hours ago, AKCheesehead said:

Over the weekend I created probably my best homemade pizza ever, and happened to be using naan bread for the crust.  The thing I did differently is I cut up I believe 6 cloves of garlic and slow and low cooked them in olive oil until tender and sweet.  Topped the pizza with the garlic, some minced pickled jalapenos, thick slices of Johnsonville Italian meatballs, and thick sliced mushrooms.  Drizzled the top with the garlic oil from the pan. It was ridiculously good.

You had me until you mentioned mushrooms.

?

[CheezWizHed]

On 9/30/2022 at 10:20 PM, LouisEly said:

There can be a surprisingly high amount of variability in quality in franchised restaurants.  The few I've heard from who have had it from Pizza Hut have had good things to say about it.

I think there is a higher variability in people's taste... ?.  While I haven't eaten at PH for over 5 years (its ok, but we have better options IMO), one thing about these 18 pages of pizza discussion is that everyone has very different tastes.  Including this crazy @Hopper person that doesn't like mushrooms! ?

@AKCheesehead, that sounded great to me.  Almost good enough to fly up for a visit. 

[CheezWizHed]

On 9/28/2022 at 11:15 AM, MrTPlush said:

Alright, I thought Little Ceasers was the worst pizza I have ever had (at least when you don't order it fresh)...but the Pizza Hut Detroit Style? Wow, absolutely disgusting. First off the cheese didn't go to the edge and crisp, which is probably the best part of a Detroit style (I wouldn't actually know I have never had a real one). The worst part, the sauce. The premium red sauce is the worst sauce I have ever had on a pizza. Pizza Hut tried 8 different sauces before coming the the conclusion that nasty stuff was the best choice. It was as bad as the city it is named after. 

Real Detroit style cannot possibly be that bad.

For a non-restaurant alternative, my family loves the Costco Detroit-style frozen pizza.  Very well done for a frozen pizza.  The pan it comes in gives it the crispy edges and it has very good pepperoni.  But it only comes in pepperoni (hoping for a supreme myself).  Probably the one frozen pizza my entire family (8 in total) likes.

[AKCheesehead]

On 11/8/2022 at 4:57 PM, Hopper said:

You had me until you mentioned mushrooms.

?

Hopper I was the same way for the first roughly 28 years of my life, so I understand where you're coming from.  But then for me it gradually turned from gag reflex to love.  Morels were the spark, portabellos fanned the flames, and then there was no turning back.

[Hopper]

I recently discovered a pretty darn good frozen, thin crust, cheap pizza.

Donz peperoni, I think it is only available at kwik trip, but I could be wrong.  They go on sale for 2 for $5 and rival Jacks before Jacks got so expensive. (relatively speaking)

Anyway, if you are looking for a cheap frozen pizza, give Donz a try.

[Hopper]

On 11/10/2022 at 9:20 PM, AKCheesehead said:

Hopper I was the same way for the first roughly 28 years of my life, so I understand where you're coming from.  But then for me it gradually turned from gag reflex to love.  Morels were the spark, portabellos fanned the flames, and then there was no turning back.

Well, I'm deep in my 50's, and have hated shrooms all my life, so something tells me it isn't going to change for me.  lol