Mis-Directions

I love frozen pizza.  Not frozen, of course.  I bake it to perfection.  I'm able to bake it to perfection because I treat the cooking directions as a suggestion.  Not all the time.  Tombstone, one of my favorite pizzas, puts good directions on their pizzas.  Who doesn't?  DiGiorno.  Their rising crust pizzas may be the best frozen pizza you can buy.  You know their TV ads, "it's not delivery; it's DiGiorno."  True, their pizza beats many you'll get delivered, and for far less money too. 

My issue with DiGiorno is the cooking directions on their pizzas.  I'll use the Supreme as an example, but it's true for all their varieties.  For a softer crust, they say, "Preheat & bake at 425F.  Place pizza on cookie sheet on center rack.  Bake 25 to 28 min."  Since my home is more than 7,000 feet above sea level, I'm interested in the high altitude directions which read, "Preheat & bake at 375F.  Place pizza on cookie sheet on center rack.  Bake 23 to 25 min."

Wait!  How can you bake a pizza in an oven that's fifty degrees cooler for two to three minutes less time?

You can't.  Not unless you like half-baked, soggy pizza.  When you lower the temperature, you need to increase the cooking time.  That's just plain common sense.  Well, maybe for you and me.  Not the folks at DiGiorno, however.

I e-mailed them to point out the error in their cooking directions (DiGiorno is owned by Kraft Foods), and they were not appreciative.  They told me that their directions were correct, because they refine them in their "test kitchens."  Test kitchens?  Do you really expect me to believe they have a high-altitude test kitchen?  More likely  they just use the upper oven.

Anyway, like I said at the beginning, cooking directions are really just guidelines.  A starting point, if you will.  If you really like pizza, you ought to purchase a pizza stone and cook your pizzas on that.  The results can not be beat.