A Flat Flop - Pizza Crust Product Testing

There are things that seem like really good ideas but just don't turn out quite how you'd hope.

Sometimes that's a blog post that you prep on Wednesday still not making it online until Sunday. Sometimes it's the thing that's the subject of the blog post simply not turning out as you'd like.

This is (mainly) about the latter.

So, yeah. I was walking through the grocery store the other day, buying the crescent roll dough for last week's post, when I saw a new pizza crust available in the refrigerated case. We've tried a few of them in the past - trying to make at least slightly healthier versions of the preservative-filled frozen versions - and we're frequently on the lookout for new crusts.

The Wewalka crust looked promising.

A nice size (about 11.5" round), and rolled in the same way that you get rolled pie crusts, so there's no mess of rolling it out, etc. 

Even Fiona was interested in how it would turn out.

It's rolled in parchment paper, so it's incredibly easy to work with. I was impressed - and very hopeful. 

And it fit perfectly into our 12.5" pizza pan (which fits perfectly into our toaster oven).

Again, I was happy to see the parchment - it means that you don't have to worry about it sticking to the pan. 

So, crust taken care of, it was time to work on the toppings. 

I started with an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce, which I doctored up with oregano, garlic, pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, and just the slightest bit of sugar. 

I opted to spread it all the way to the outer edge of the crust (no point in ending up with the annoying dry/hard edge that you get with most store-bought pizzas).

I put down a base layer of some of the 6-cheese Italian blend that I had left over from the pepperoni crescent pinwheels.

A layer of pepperoni...

...and some good-quality blue cheese.

We really like this brand. It's made in Minnesota and has a creamy, tangy flavor that pairs well with spice.

And, yeah, I topped it with a bit more cheese, just because.

And into the toaster oven we go!

My hopes were so high at this point. This pizza had everything going for it: tailor-made sauce, just the right toppings...

And, with a little time, it came out looking amazing.

Great thing about using parchment paper is that you don't have to worry about this sticking to the pan. And, as long as you stay below 450 degrees, the paper won't combust.

On inspection, it looked like everything had gone right. The pizza was cooked to the edge, and the toppings had all blended together.

But, no, it didn't look blurry in real life. 

I did not hesitate to move it to a cutting board and dive in.

It looked great. And so we served up to dig in.

Somewhere around the second bite, though, I started to realize that the crust was... chewy. Not thick-crust chewy, but chewy none-the-less.

I don't know if you can see in the photo, but the crust seemed to kind of have two layers that weren't quite right.

Would it have been better if we'd baked it on a baking stone or a pizza pan with a perforated bottom? Maybe, but that would kind of defeat the purpose of baking it on the parchment paper.

The flavor wasn't too bad - and the crust didn't stop us from eating our dinner - but long before we were done we had already decided that we wouldn't be trying it again. 

Guess it's back to the drawing board - or at least a pizza delivery or two - for now.

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Are there any products you've seen on the grocery store shelves that you weren't sure you wanted to try - but you wish someone else would? Let me know, and if I can find it - and if it's not too nasty looking - I'll see what I can do!