How to Cook a Frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza
If you’re in the mood for pizza and have a frozen Papa Murphy’s pizza on hand, don’t worry! Cooking a frozen pizza can be just as delicious as cooking a fresh one. In this article, we will go through step by step how to cook a frozen Papa Murphy’s pizza to perfection.
Why Cook a Frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza?
If you’re short on time or prefer to have meals ready at home, then cooking a frozen Papa Murphy’s pizza could be an excellent option. The benefits of having a frozen pizza on hand include:
- Convenience: You can have a homemade dinner quickly and easily.
- Availability: You can always have one available for unexpected guests or last-minute meals.
- Budget-friendly: Frozen pizzas are often less expensive than buying all the ingredients separately.
Plus, it takes away any stress of having to prepare your own dough, sauce, toppings, and often getting them from different parts of the grocery store.
Preparing to Cook a Frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza
Before you start cooking your frozen Papa Murphy’s pizza, there are essential steps you need to take for success:
Preheat the Oven
Preheating is crucial when cooking any type of pizza. It ensures that the oven reaches the right temperature before placing the pizza inside. To preheat your oven, simply turn it on and wait until it reaches 425°F (218°C).
Prepare Your Pizza for Cooking
The first thing you want to do when preparing your pizza is to remove any wrapping material carefully. Next, place your frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza on top of its original cardboard tray.
Choose Your Toppings
An advantage of buying Papa Murphy’s take-and-bake pizzas is that they offer many tasty combinations in one convenient package. If desired, feel free to add additional toppings like cheese or meat at this stage.
Brushing Olive Oil
For taste and to make your pizza look better, you can brush a small amount of olive oil on the edges. This will help it brown evenly and prevent the edges from burning.
Transfer Your Pizza to the Oven
Before placing it in the oven, carefully remove your pizza from the cardboard tray, which would absorb heat and may cause uneven browning. You want to transfer your frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza directly onto the oven rack or use a pizza stone.
Using a Pizza Stone
A pizza stone helps distribute heat more evenly than an oven rack. To use a pizza stone:
- Put it onto the middle/upper-third level of your oven.
- Preheat it with the same temperature (425°F) for at least 20 minutes before putting your pizza inside.
- Place your frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza directly onto the preheated pizza stone.
- When you use a pizza peel to take out pizzas from under the broiler, flour heavily to avoid sticking.
Once you’ve transferred your frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza into your preheated oven or onto a preheated pizza stone, it is time to cooke it!
Cooking a Frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza
When cooking any food, timing is everything. Pizzas are no exception- If you cook them too long or short for some ingredients; they may come uncooked or burnt. Here’s how to ensure that doesn’t happen:
Ideal Temperature
Papa Murphy’s recommends using an oven that can reach anywhere between 425° F – 450° F (220°C – 232°C).
Cook Time:
Cooking time refers to how long it will take for all ingredients on top of the frozen Papa Murphy’s pizza to get cooked fully. For most flavors available, this takes around 12-18 minutes.
Example: How Long To cook Veggie Pizza?
For instance, assume we’re cooking a large Veggie pizza with 8 toppings:
- Preheat your oven to 425°F (218°C).
- When ready, place the frozen pizza directly on the center rack.
- Bake 12–18 minutes or until lightly browned and desired doneness is reached.
As ovens vary, check your pizza midway through the baking time so you can make sure it’s not over – or undercooked. To do this, take the tray out of the oven gently and open its lid before checking if the food looks evenly cooked.
If you think it needs more time, return the tray to the oven and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Otherwise, you may remove the tray from the oven and set it aside to cool for a couple of minutes before serving.
Checking for Doneness
To ensure that your frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza is cooked thoroughly:
- Check around crust corners; they should become golden brown. This indicates that your entire pizza is now crisp and well-cooked.
- Check the bottom finish/texture. Should be dry and crispy—not soggy nor undercooked
- If in doubt, use a meat thermometer.
Using a Meat Thermometer
For thicker pizzas with high piled toppings such as meats or veggies, using a food thermometer can help keep track of whether they’re cooked through. However, measurements here are different from when cooking meat alone! Read on:
- Measuring Internal Temperature For Cooked Meat:
- Beef: 145°F (medium-rare), 160°F (medium), or 170°F (well-done)
- Chicken: 165°F
- Measuring Internal Temperature For Cooked Pizza
- The entire pizza should register at least 145°F.
By following these temperature guidelines, you will avoid consuming any uncooked areas in your pizza.
Tips for Cooking a Frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza
Here are additional tips for making your frozen Papa Murphy’s pizza taste even better.
Adding Extra Cheese
If you are a cheese enthusiast, you can sprinkle on extra cheese to add more flavor. But keep in mind that too much cheese may result in soaking the crust.
Adding Additional Toppings
To make your pizza more filling or personalized, feel free to add some extra toppings. Popular additional toppings include meatballs, pepperoni, sausage, bacon bits, and vegetables depending on the pizza’s original toppings available in your fridge.
Storing Leftover Pizza
Suppose you’re not planning on eating the whole pizza all at once. In that case, wrap up any leftover slices individually using cling wrap or aluminum foil before refrigerating them. You can then quickly reheat it later at around 375°F (190°C) for 5-10 minutes, or till crisp.
Thawing a Frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza
There is no necessary need for thawing a frozen Papa Murphy’s takes-and-bake pizza beforehand since they are precooked and safely made to store in a freezer before baking. Just like the previously discussed recipe approach to cooking your pizza immediately after removing it from its original tray wrapping holder.
However, if desired, two ways you could use to defrost a frozen option are:
Overnight Refrigeration Method
To go ahead with this method:
- Take out your frozen Papa Murphy’s takes–and–bake pizza from their original packaging
- Lay this flat onto an oiled plate.
- Cover this tightly with some plastic wraps only to ensure it won’t dry out unnecessary before laying in your refrigerator.
- Place your plate inside this refrigerator overnight since this process relies solely on the time for thawing it completely and ensuring that the crust stays firm enough during cooking time.
Room Temperature Method
If you’re short pressed of time and prefer quicker options,
- Remove this wrapped-on tray from your freezer.
- Break this free and carefully remove pizza toppings from a plastic wrap.
- Lay down this pizza into any thin pan or tray that fits into the oven correctly.
- Preheat that oven to 425°F (218°C) until ready.
- Place the pan onto an oven rack before baking it for about 12-18 minutes or till lightly browned and desired doneness is reached.
Troubleshooting
If you experience any of these issues while cooking your frozen pizza, try some of these quick fixes:
Burnt edges:
You can avoid burnt edges by brushing olive oil on them to protect them from being directly exposed to heat.
Soggy crusts:
Soggy crusts may occur if not preheated properly or if too much sauce has been added. Add more flour before cooking to ensure a crispier crust.
Undercooked Pizzas:
Under-cooked pizzas are caused because the oven hasn’t been preheated long enough before cooking time begins. Let your oven preheat for at least 20 minutes before placing your pizza in it.
Conclusion
Cooking a frozen Papa Murphy’s Pizza is very easy and requires very little effort on your part! By following the step-by-step guide given above, prepping all ingredients, such as topping up with more cheese to make the recipe taste even better will add more appeal once you take it out of the oven.
Remember, always discard any packages that come with frozen pizzas and transfer them to another tray suitable for baking/pizza stone before placing them inside an oven which could guarantee evenly-cooked fillings without overheating one side considering tips stated earlier.
In closing, preparing frozen Papa Murphy pizzas successfully in just a few minutes means individuals spending less time making dinner easier and more enjoyable right within the comfort of their homes.
