Papa Murphy's Pizza
Both of us were spent yesterday, albeit from doing different things. Connie didn't want to cook dinner so suggested ordering a pizza. We did a short back and forth as to where to get one and decided on Papa Murphy's in Henderson Center.
I haven't been much a fan of Papa Murpy's in the past. My main beef is their crust as it's almost worthless the next day if you have any pizza left over- too soft and spongy. It's been a long time, though, and though I'd prefer to get a takeout from the Leonardi's at Winco, I didn't want to drive that far.
We had a coupon for a large Chicken Garlic from Papa Murphy's so Connie called it in so I wouldn't have to wait. Probably a good thing since they said it would be 25 minutes. I waited about 20 and then drove to Henderson Center.
I was quite surprised when I got there. I hadn't realized how big that place is. It seems pretty small just driving by, but it was a fairly large place with probably seven people working there. Most of them were all making pizzas, with one or another moving to handle customers as needed. I guess the girl working on the pizza nearest the cash register is supposed to greet customers. Every time someone came in the door she'd say hello to them.
And they had customers. There was one guy ahead of me when I got there. By the time I moved to the front there was four or five in line behind me, with more coming, going and parking outside. Of course, it was early Friday evening, but I was still surprised as I'd never seen more than one person coming or going from there when I'd drive by.
I gave the guy my name, he grabbed my pizza from a rack on the wall and it was just $11.00. That's what the coupon we had said it would be but I'd expected to pay more for one thing or another. Not a bad price.
I get home and we put the pizza aside until I'd taken a shower. When Connie tried to slide it off that cardboard tray it came on and put it on our pizza pan, it wouldn't slide off. It seemed stuck to the tray. Oh well, the cardboard thing is meant to handle ovens, anyway. We just put the whole thing on our metal pizza tray and baked it.
Once done we chomped down. It was ok. The dough didn't see as soft and squishy as the last time we had one. Maybe our metal pizza tray helped? We went through it quick enough and I felt almost satisfied. I realized a bit later I just didn't feel as full as I'd like to feel after eating a pizza. It's almost if that was pizza lite.
Oh well. It was just one pizza. Whether we'll get another one I suppose depends on circumstances. The guy did give us one of their Take "N' Bake Club cards. One of those things where if you buy 12 pizzas you get a free pizza. They're just offering a free one topping, though. I don't know that I'll go out of my way to work on that. We'll just consider Papa Murphy's an option when we don't have the energy for anything else. It was pretty convenient.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 10:16 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
We do Murphy's once in a while although Big Louie's is my favorite. Fred, have you ever tried a pizza stone? They help to crisp up the crust. They sell them at Shaffer's for about $20 (I think) and they come with a handy broad tool (spatula?) for lifting the pizza.
Heat the pizza stone under the broiler for at least 45 minutes. Then toss the pie on it for 2 minutes then 2 minutes under the broiler.
Perfect everytime.
I don't think I've ever tried a pizza stone, although I've heard of them. Might certainly be worth a try. I prefer Leonardi's to Papa Murphy's, but Leonardi's crust isn't all that much better than Murphy's,imo. Maybe the stone would help?
It's nowhere near the hassle to go the PM's than it is to Winco. Might make PM's more acceptable for me, although PM's still doesn't fill me up as much.
For instance, I could have probably eaten that whole Large PM pizza myself, or most of it. When we do Two on Tuesdays at Angelo's, I usually can't finish a medium combo myself.
I don't buy from Papa Murphy's anymore. I signed up for their e-coupons, but when I tried to redeem a special offer, I was, and I won't mince words, I was strongly discouraged over the phone from obtaining the special deal. They went so far as to talk up how bad the pizza was (less than normal sauce and cheese, etc... a deal 'corporate' was making them do). I had ordered the same deal the week before without conflict and the pizza was fine.
I. was. floored.
FWIW, it wasn't at the Henderson Center location.
I now buy Smug's, but eat pizza less often because it's more expensive. I simply don't like how Papa Murphy's treated me. It was shameful.
Cooking a pizza on a metal pan will always result in a less crisp, more dough-y pizza. You really should cook it on the tray Papa Murphy's gives you. It's amazing you shifted it to a metal tray without the pizza coming apart because it's all still just fresh dough.
FYI, you'll also notice in the heating instructions for a frozen pizza that you're supposed to place the pizza directly on the oven rack without a pan. To remove, I stab the pizza with a fork and slide it out onto a pan or large plate). Metal pizza pans serve no legitimate purpose, except to hold a pizza once it comes out of an oven (or to make dough-y pizzas for weirdos).
I think the cooking instructions for Papa Murphy's pizzas also differ depending on whether you get a normal or 'deLITE' pizza... the difference being how close (vertically) to the middle of the oven you're supposed to place the pizza.
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