Pizza Crust with Football-Like Bounce

Published on Thursday, January 21, 2010, by James Norton / Edit Post

California Pizza Kitchen Rising Crust Pizzas

California Pizza Kitchen Rising Crust Pizzas

I Paid: $7.59 for a 24.2-ounce pizza (prices may vary by region)

Taste: 4 stars

Marketing: 4 stars

Let’s be clear on something: The only rules governing the way you eat during the Super Bowl are the ones you draw up and follow yourself. If you want to celebrate this year’s clash of the titans by grazing on a fennel and Parmesan salad, that’s your right. However, there are certain social norms that seem to dominate on this holiest of holy sports days: meat. Cheese. Carbs. Salt. These are things that are anticipated, expected. On that front, frozen pizza is a good way to hit all the bases without putting forth even the slightest bit of non-football-related effort.

With a new “rising crust” option, California Pizza Kitchen offers the possibility of kicking the frozen pizza experience up from the lovably wretched to the actually palatable. I pitted the new self-rising BBQ Recipe Chicken pizza (which comes topped with mozzarella, smoked Gouda, chicken, barbecue sauce, and red onions) against CPK’s identically topped regular version. The self-rising product (which has partially raw dough that actually bakes and rises, rather than simply reheating) requires an extra few minutes of oven time, but in return you get a soft, chewy, flavorful crust that cradles the cheese and sauce, and far more fully integrates with the pie as a whole. By contrast, the regular thin crust is a cracker, a mere disposable platform for the toppings.

If you’ve ever been to a real pizzeria, you’re not going to be confused by the self-rising CPK pie; it lacks both the flavor and the rich, crispy-chewy texture that distinguishes a truly great pizza. But that said, it’s a step ahead of its nonrising brethren and other conventional frozen choices (Tombstone, for example). For the truly lazy man or woman on Super Bowl Sunday, this may be the magic bullet. And there’s no harm in doubling up on the four essential food groups by preparing some Chili-Cheese Nachos, too.

James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. For his Supertaster column, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. You can follow him on Twitter and fan him on Facebook. His wife, Becca Dilley, takes the photographs for Supertaster. She specializes in weddings and food photography, and is the coauthor of and photographer for the book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers.

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POST A COMMENT |11 Comments

COMMENT

  • "For his Supertaster column, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus."

    Where do you see "review" and "food critic"? There is a gargantuan humor deficit evidenced by some here. If you don't like it, please don't read the column. Comprehension, is apparently not your strong suit.

    Mr Norton, please keep doing what you do. There are things that you sample that no sane...+READ

    "For his Supertaster column, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus."

    Where do you see "review" and "food critic"? There is a gargantuan humor deficit evidenced by some here. If you don't like it, please don't read the column. Comprehension, is apparently not your strong suit.

    Mr Norton, please keep doing what you do. There are things that you sample that no sane person would (which is the point). There are many who not only "get it", but find you entertaining and gastrointenstinally brave.-COLLAPSE

  • freshwhippedmike--if "mike" is a nickname for Michelle, then maybe--otherwise, we could hang out and have a beer instead!

  • drmoze, don't marry me, but very well put. All I can get from this "review" is CRUST GOOD.

  • drmoze, will you marry me?

  • "Food critic"? "Review"? I beg to differ. This post has little to do with either. It reads more like a marketing blurb and a party plan. Where are the specific comments regarding the taste, texture, quality/appearance of individual ingredients? Is the chicken in small chunks or big, moist or dry? Is there a lot or little bbq sauce, and does it blend with the other flavors? Is the cheese melty and...+READ

    "Food critic"? "Review"? I beg to differ. This post has little to do with either. It reads more like a marketing blurb and a party plan. Where are the specific comments regarding the taste, texture, quality/appearance of individual ingredients? Is the chicken in small chunks or big, moist or dry? Is there a lot or little bbq sauce, and does it blend with the other flavors? Is the cheese melty and chewy, or more like plastic? Is it better or worse than the CPK take-out? I still don't know any of these things after reading this. If the frozen pizza was "pitted against" the take-out version, where is the comparison?

    As a review or critique of the pizza, this post (like many other Supertaster 'reviews') is a FAIL.-COLLAPSE

  • fattening crap

  • I think this food critic guy is high.

  • I have no trouble at all believing that a frozen pizza can be very good. Where I live, a local pizzeria expanded into frozen pizzas, and made a very good one - not as good as their fresh, but still.

  • Perhaps the pizza itself tasted good, but the crust was a bit rubbery? Personally, I prefer the very thin, crispy crust when I buy frozen, then, using Jazz Hands, zazz it up with some fresher toppings before putting it on the IR broiler.

    Also, I love Red onions. The only onion I could take a bit out of and not regret it deeply.

  • And with this single review, supertaster Tim Whopton far outdoes his Nabisco debacle.

    Four dots for CPK pizza? My God! Do you have any dignity left as a food critic at all?

  • Sounds not bad except for the red onions. I cannot understand why virtually all frozen pizzas are afflicted with the accursed things.