Papa Johns 23 cent Pizza

[mountain]

23 cent pizza

Pretty crazy. The deal actually was in effect for Columbus as well. I heard on the radio that people were waiting in line for over 2 hours. Someone here at work said they called to place an order and got a message saying they were closed.

[Hoopz]

I wouldn't eat their crappy pizza if they paid me!

And it was idiotic for a local store to do that in the first place.

[Ginsu Victim]

Had a Papa Johns in our town for a short period. It was horrible and closed down within a year.

[AtomSmasher]

I like papa johns better then any of the other chain pizza places (dominos, pizza hut, little ceasar, etc.), although thats not saying much.

[shmokes]

Yeah . . . I'd probably agree there.  Better than any other national chain that I can think of.  But still worse than virtually every non-chain.  Here's some funny trivia.  Papa John's was running an ad that said that they used fresher ingredients than Pizza Hut.  Pizza Hut sued them in California.  And lost!  A court of law actually declared that Papa John's in fact uses fresher ingredients than Pizza Hut.  LMAO!  Talk about your ultimate backfires.

[Singapura]

Since the Canadian 241 outlet disappeared from Geylang I've given up on ready made pizza. Making the best pizza from scratch is easier, much faster and muuuch tastier anyway    The trick is on the crust. To get a really crunchy crust do the following:

Get a 500g bag of all purpose flour (not breadflour). Put half of the flour in a mixing bowl and add 1 teaspoon of yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, some pepper and 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix it all in thoroughly. Now add lukewarm water (I use Singaporean "cold" tap water which is warm enough). Keep stirring and make sure you don't add too much water. You'll know it's ready when the dough is thick but not dry. Add a bit more flour untill the outside of the dough isn't sticky anymore. I don't use exact measurements anymore because the result is much better if I use my own judgement.

Now comes the best trick: cover the bowl and keep it in the fridge for at least a day. Some people insist on keeping it in a warm place first to let it rise but that depends on your preference of fluffiness. The dough will become elastic like clay when cooled properly.

I'm using a special pizzapan but you can just spread out the dough (thinly) on a baking sheet. It's best to use a non-stick sheet or to use baking paper since oil tends to make the dough soggy. Any leftover dough can be frozen in a bag.

Now for the topping.

The base of every good pizza is a good tomato sauce. I use fresh, chopped tomatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, sugar, pepper and salt. heat it up in a pan and add a splash of balsamico vinegar. Simmer until thick and cool.

Spread a bit of the sauce on the pizza, starting from the center and spread outwards.

Now you can put anything you like as a topping. Great to get rid of that roasted chicken,  or chinese sausage. Vegetables, mushrooms, corn, anything that's not too wet can be used as topping. Don't pile on too much because it will cook unevenly.

A pizza wouldn't be a pizza without cheese. I love blue cheese but you can put on Gouda, Mozarella (more authentic) or even those horrible plastic slices they sell at 7/11 (not recommended).

Heat the oven to 250 Celcius, put in the pizza for 30 minutes and enjoy!

[AtomSmasher]

The last semi-complicated thing I tried to make was rice crispy treats and I somehow ruined those, so I think I'll stick to ordering my pizza 

The only things I'm good at cooking are breakfast and barbeque.

[Singapura]

The last semi-complicated thing I tried to make was rice crispy treats and I somehow ruined those

Doesn't matter, you're excellent at designing and making cabs. Since my (upcoming) cab is at least 50% based on your design and the CP more then 80% I'll make you a pizza if you ever in the neighbourhood 

[lanman31337]

BYOAC is now officially BYOP - Build Your Own Pizza!

[shmokes]

Okay . . . I can buy the taster part.  But did you say that making your own was also faster and easier?   

[Jdurg]

I've never had a problem with homemade pizza crust.  i've always had problems with the cheese.  It usually forms a solid mass that just slides right off and isn't stringy like chain restaurant pizzas are.  The problem is that grocery stores typically get the worst grades of cheese on earth, so it is almost impossible to get good cheeses.  You have to go to a specialty dairy store to get high grade cheese and make a good pizza with it.  For me, that's just more expensive than going to a chain restaurant.  

Think about it.  How much money are you spending on your oven, ingredients, equipment etc.?  Compare that to $10 for a large pizza at these chain places.  If your argument for homemade pizza is that it's cheaper, then you're wrong.

If your argument is that homemade pizza tastes better, then well yeah.  That's a pretty easy victory there.  

The problem I've found is that non-chain restaurant pizzas are all starting to taste exactly the same to me.  Very little variety.  I don't find certain frozen pizzas or certain chain-pizza places bad at all.  In fact, there are times where I crave a Dominos pizza or a Papa John's pizza over a local place.  (Though there aren't any Papa John's pizza places here in Southeast CT.  ZILCH).

My personal favorite pizzas are some of the pizza places in and around Manhattan, and a pizza place up in Plainfield that is owned by a guy who started up in Brooklyn.  They have this insanely good Caesar Salad Pizza.  It's a pizza with garlic, parmesean, basil, etc. that is cooked, then after it gets out of the oven they put romain lettuce on top and drizzle it with a homemade Caesar Dressing.  Mmmmmm............

[Hoopz]

Papa Murphys is the best pizza you can by thats a chain.

[billf]

Okay . . . I can buy the taster part.  But did you say that making your own was also faster and easier?   

That's exactly what I was thinking when reading it.  Don't really think its faster/easier, but definitely tastier.  My wife and I used to make our own pizza when we had the bread machine going constantly.  We made the dough in the bread machine and then topped the pizza with our own ingredients.

[shardian]

Singapura, I find it hilarious that you go thru that outrageous process for gourmet pizza, then throw frikkin leftovers on it!

Foreign countries do pizza completely different than Americans. In America, shredded mozzarella is the main pizza cheese. I've seen international gourmet pizzas with 4 big hunks of some random gourmet cheese just thrown on it with some mushrooms.

I make my own pizza crusts occasionally. Basically I make the dough standard, but add a liberal amount of italian seasoning and parmesan directly to the mix. I use standard off-shelf pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce. I mix mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Lastly, I use Turkey pepperoni. It tastes exactly like regular pepperoni, but without the grease puddles.

[Justin Z]

Papa Murphys is the best pizza you can buy thats a chain.

[mountain]

Papa Murphys is the best pizza you can buy thats a chain.

Yeah, that's good Pizza. I think they may be a regional chain. I love Donatos Pizza. I believe they may be regional too.

[shmokes]

Is that the stuff you take home and bake in your own oven?  I've never thought it was very good.

[Hoopz]

I've had probably 10 or so different Papa Murphys pies and like almost all of em.  The dough is much, much better than most of the other chains by far.  Sauce actually has flavor and ingredients are great.  I won't by it from anywhere else except Donatos.  Not sure if either/both are regional though.  Donatos is owned by McDonalds Corp though.

I like the "take and bake" concept too. 

I love the little dive places that are essentially mom and pop joints that have just damn good pizza.  I travel quite a bit for work and I work with a teenage boys group.  I have plenty of time to find good places for pizza.

[Jdurg]

Pizza is the one thing I'm willing to drive almost anywhere for.  I routinely drive the 30 minutes or so to Plainfield for the Pizza joint they have up there, and on occassion I'll make the trip down to Sally's and Pepe's in New Haven for some good pizza.  Pizza truly is the best food on earth.

[IronBuddha]

Doesn't matter how good any pizza is chain or not, either way it's not what pizza originally was. When pizza was first made (and still is made in Italy) it use to just be dough with tomato, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella and cooked in a wood burning stove. The ingredients represented the colors of the Italian flag. When pizza was brought here in the states just about 100 years ago, it wasn't accepted and changes were made to what it's currently is. Hell pizza wasn't even originally round.

[Jdurg]

Doesn't matter how good any pizza is chain or not, either way it's not what pizza originally was. When pizza was first made (and still is made in Italy) it use to just be dough with tomato, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella and cooked in a wood burning stove. The ingredients represented the colors of the Italian flag. When pizza was brought here in the states just about 100 years ago, it wasn't accepted and changes were made to what it's currently is. Hell pizza wasn't even originally round.

Not entirely true.  What you just described is the Margherita Pizza which was named after Queen Margherita of Savoy.  She liked the version of the flatbread with Tomatos, Fresh Mozzerella and Basil because it had the same color as the Italian Flag.  Here in the US it supposedly arrived in NY with Italian Immigrants in the late 1890's.  It was baked in copper drums with charcoal in the bottom to cook it and keep it warm.  All sorts of toppings were put onto it because it was an inexpensive way to use leftover meats and vegetables.  The inexpensive food became very popular across all socioeconomic groups and pizza as we knew it exploded.  It wasn't until pizza got here in the US that it became what we typically see today which is the sauce, cheese, then toppings.  It was initially just bread, sauce, herbs and olive oil.  Cheese was considered a "topping" and not a standard ingredient.

As for the original shape, it depended upon the oven/stove used to cook it.  The round shape was popularized here in the US because the dough was typically cooked and stored in round metal barrels and you could cook more pizzas if they were round in shape as opposed to rectangular.

[Singapura]

Singapura, I find it hilarious that you go thru that outrageous process for gourmet pizza, then throw frikkin leftovers on it!

Pizza originally was meant to get rid of leftovers not as a gourmet meal. Like I said, if you like to put  Mozzarella di bufala campana and prosciutto flown in from Parma  on it that's completely up to you. The fact that you find making a simple dough and tomato sauce outrageous shows how much exposure you've had to real gourmet food  The great thing about food is that recipes don't mean squat. It's the end result that counts. Anyway, making the dough takes probably 10 minutes (if I make it on a spur, I don't put it in the fridge, but it will be harder), the sauce I make while the dough is "resting". All in all it takes less time then waiting for the pizza guy to deliver.

[shardian]

All this talk of pizza made us decide to go to the best pizza place in the whole area: Husson's. It is a small, family owned franchise. They have 3-4 restaurants all together. Their pizza is awesome and huge. Their Small pizza is 14". Nothing beats playing some pinball & Ms. Pacman, and then eating some great pizza.

[SirPeale]

We make pizza in our house as standard fare on Fridays. 

Tonight was the first night I've made home made sauce, though.  Usually I just use this stuff from a can I've had good luck with.

Started with whole canned tomatoes.  Two cans of that.  Seeded them.  Took a medium onion and diced.  Couple tablespoons of olive oil, started sweating some garlic.  Added the onion and sweated that. Put the tomatoes on top.  Added basil.  Would have used fresh, but didn't have any.  Turned up the heat and cooked until the tomatoes were cooked thru.  Then grabbed my stick blender and pureed it. 

At first I thought something was wrong, it was turning paler than the tomatoes, until I realized it was the onions doing that.  It was damn tasty.  I don't think I'd do that every time, but it's good to know I can.

Crust...here's my recipe:

1 1/3c water
1 TB yeast
2 TB sugar

Mix to combine, allow to sit a few minutes.  Then:

1 TB salt
3 cups of AP flour.

You may need more flour, or less.  I need to experiment with weight of flour, not cup measurements, because of how flour compacts.

Rising in the fridge yields the *best* flavor, but I'm not that picky.  I just let it rise on the counter in a bowl.  I divide this recipe into two dough balls, and place them into separate bowls, and cover them with plastic cling wrap.  In an hour the dough is ready.

Cheese...I'll agree, only the good stuff.  I get mine from the co-op.  $5.05 a pound, and worth it.  The stuff from the chain stores has a plastic consistency I don't like.

Oh, and I'd say one of the most important things: a baking stone.  Let it heat in your oven for an hour at baking temperature.  I was using a marble floor tile, but I recently started using an old cutting board made of marble I had lying around.  Since I'll never cut anything on it (never use a knife on anything but wood or plastic!) it went into the oven as the tile replacement.

Buddy of mine recommends using a fireplace stone.  When I find a supply I'll have to try one.