What would be the best way to freeze and reheat home-made pizza
I have been baking home-made pizza (home-made dough, toppings etc.). with great results, using a pizza steel and a ripping hot regular domestic oven. The base is crispy with leopard spots, and the crust puffy and chewey. The end result is far better than any of the pre-packaged supermarket varieties.
I'd now like to freeze individual pizzas so they could be reheated from frozen in a regular oven without a pizza steel for friends and family etc. What would be the best way to do this to get a pizza close to the original? I'm guessing the best approach would be to part-bake the base, leave it to cool, then add the cold toppings and freeze. My pizzas only need 4 minutes to fully bake, maybe 5 if I am baking a lot as the oven temperature falls.
I'm thinking of part-baking the base for 2 minutes. Would I need to do anything else for best results, including pricking the base or using pie weights to stop the dough rising? Is it worth adding a thin layer of olive oil to stop the dough drying out in the middle of the pie? Are there any toppings that would not freeze/reheat well? As to reheat times, I'm assuming 20 minutes in a 220C fan oven will be adequate, but advice much appreciated.
The dough recipe I use is a regular twice-proved one (4 hours max), with bread flour, water, salt, sugar, yeast and olive oil. I don't use a poolish or long fermentation times, and knead this for 10 minutes in a stand mixer.
Best Answer
Based on personal experience with both my own pizzas, made in a pizza oven and reheated in a regular one, and professionally made high-quality frozen pizzas from a wood-fired oven (Vicolo in San Francisco and Renata in Portland):
Cook the pizza 80-90%; that, is, a "light bake", but almost all the way done, with toppings. Freeze, vacuum-packed.
Instruct your recipients to heat a baking stone, broiling pan, or heavy, inverted sheet pan near the bottom of their oven to 225C/450F without convection for at least 20 minutes, long enough for the oven and the stone/pan to be hot. Slide the still-frozen pizza onto this stone/pan, and heat for 4 to 25 minutes, depending on thickness (4 = Italian thin-crust, 25 = deep-dish).
This gives the reheated pizza a nice toastiness of the crust without overcooking the toppings or drying it out.
As for toppings that work poorly: anything with high water content. Thick slices of zucchini, fresh peppers, chunks of tomato, whole shrimp, etc. Any of these will give off water each time they are handled and make the top of the pizza slimy and damp.
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To freeze leftover pizza, separate it into individual slices and wrap each one in plastic wrap, bringing the wrap around twice to make sure it's extra secure. Next, add a layer of aluminium foil, pressing down lightly to prevent gapping.Can you freeze cooked pizza and reheat?
I am going to show you step by step how to store leftover pizza in the freezer. You should skip the idea of stuffing your leftover pizzas into Ziploc bags and putting them straight into the freezer. It will still freeze your leftover pizzas, but they will become soggy when reheated because of freezer burn.How do you reheat frozen homemade pizza?
If you bought some frozen pizza and you're now ready to reheat it, you can cook it in the oven. To reheat frozen pizza, place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 325 degrees. If your oven has a convection fan feature, make sure you turn it off.What is the best way to freeze leftover pizza?
The Best Way to Store Pizza for the FreezerWrap the slices individually in plastic wrap and then freeze these wrapped slices in a single layer in the freezer on a baking sheet. Then move the frozen pizza slices to an airtight container or zip-top bag for long-term storage.How do you reheat homemade pizza?
Place a piece of tin foil directly on your oven rack. Put the pizza on the foil. Bake for five minutes at 450 degrees. For a softer crust, try ten minutes at 350 degrees.How to Freeze Leftover Pizza
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