Rare Pizza - Can You Eat It and What to Do?

Pizzas are fairly easy to assemble, but they can be a bit tricky to cook.

A pizza is basically a set of ingredients placed on a layer of dough. It’s the perfect way to customize your food just the way you like it. It just takes a little imagination and experimentation to build the perfect pizza.

But when it comes to cooking it, the more ingredients you add, the more careful you have to be when cooking the cake.

A pizza is usually cooked simultaneously in layers or stages. First come the ingredients, which acquire that distinctive touch, and then come the dough and the edges of the pizza.

What do you do with an undercooked pizza?

Half-baked pies may be edible, but they will be harder to digest and can also pose various health risks, especially if the ingredients are left uncooked as well. Fortunately, a pizza can easily be recooked or reheated until all the ingredients are fully cooked. 

How to tell if a pizza is undercooked

Eating an uncooked pizza can be an unpleasant experience and can even be harmful to your health.

Just like pizzas are easy to make, it can also be very easy to get undercooked. But luckily it is a very forgiving food and there are many ways to remedy this problem.

The pizzas do not require as much cooking time and, in general, the ingredients that are added on top of the pizzas are pre-cooked.

However, if you are going to use raw protein and other uncooked ingredients, your cake can pose a particularly serious health risk.

The good thing about pizzas is that they are very versatile. They can be cooked with multiple methods, but the best way to cook them is in a traditional brick oven.

Of course, not everyone has access to brick ovens, so people get by with other means of cooking, such as electric tabletop ovens or even stovetops.

Here’s the difference between a cooked and an uncooked pizza:

The secret to cooking a great cake lies in the temperature and cooking time. Here are some things to keep in mind to cook the perfect pizza.

constant temperature

Pizzas are designed to be cooked at high temperatures.

That’s why most pies are usually baked in brick ovens that can easily reach temperatures of up to 500°C or over 900°F.  This is due to the closed shape of the brick oven and the wood that is burned and used to heat it.

Similarly, most home ovens can also be used in their highest position to cook a cake.

A pizza at home will take about 10-15 minutes at 250°C or the highest possible setting in an electric oven. This high temperature is necessary to obtain the necessary characteristics that we have commented on in the previous table.

Pizza dough cooks quickly and chars quickly, especially if it’s near a heat source.

Commercially, pizzas are made in large brick ovens that can cook multiple pies at once. A pizza in a large brick oven can take anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes as a worker spins it rapidly with a pizza turner.

The tart will cook quickly and be ready to eat in no time. However, things can be a little different at home. Regular ovens can take time to preheat and some countertop ovens are not large enough to cook more than two pies at a time.

Typically cooking a pizza in an oven requires 10-15 minutes to cook properly. Of course, there are a few things you can do to make this process even more accurate, efficient, and effective.

Distance from heat source

One of the best ways to ensure a cooked pizza is to control the distance between the pie and the heat source.

In traditional brick ovens, pizza makers typically place the pizza next to the fire and slowly rotate it so that it cooks on all sides.  Brick ovens dissipate heat evenly, making them a great option for quickly cooking pizzas.

However, when making pizza at home, you should make sure that your oven has at least two heating elements.

Most ovens have multiple heating elements located on the top, bottom, and side of the oven. For example, a typical home electric oven will have a heating element at the top and bottom of the oven.

This makes it easy to bake the cake on both sides.

Also, we suggest that you first keep the pie on the center rack so that it cooks slowly from the top and bottom. You can then bring the cake closer to the top so that the ingredients are cooked and that characteristic crunchy texture is achieved.

This strategy works best in all types of ovens, but requires some attention.

For best results, we recommend that you stay close to the oven and keep an eye on the pie to make sure it doesn’t burn, especially if you hold it near the top of the oven.

As soon as the cake has a golden brown texture and the cheese begins to bubble, remove it from the heat and quickly slice it and serve it hot.

The type of dough you use will have a big impact on cooking time and also the technique you use to cook a pizza.

Fresh dough vs. frozen

Using fresh dough is the best way to ensure a tasty, well-cooked pie. This is because a fresh dough will be more airy and you will have great control over its texture and flavor.

A fresh homemade dough will be easier to work with and will cook quickly since it is thawed and ready.

If you’re using frozen dough, you’ll need to thaw it first, then assemble the pizza while making sure the dough cooks well.

Store-bought and pre-made pizza crusts can be difficult to work with, as they can be bulky and even have lots of unwanted toppings.

Stabilizers and bread improvers are added to pizza crusts to make them last a long time and also cook evenly. However, when pizza dough freezes, it naturally hardens and retains a lot of moisture.

All that added moisture translates into increased cooking time, since you’ll first have to evaporate the water from the dough to cook it properly. This is why frozen doughs are not preferred for making pizza.

However, the convenience of having a pre-made dough is what attracts many customers, as even people who don’t know how to cook can easily assemble a pizza on a blank canvas.

Also, frozen pizzas can be placed directly on the typical oven rack, while fresh dough requires a pizza stone or a solid base so the dough doesn’t slide down the gaps in the oven rack/tray. 

As for the frozen/cooked dough, as long as you thaw it in the microwave and cook it on high in the oven, you should be fine.

Dough thickness

Finally, the thickness of the dough will also determine the cooking time of the cake.

Typically the pizzas are flat or pan. Traditionally, pizzas are usually made with a flat dough that only rises over the edges.

However, many people also prefer pan-fried pizzas, with a thick crust and a more bakery texture.

Some artisan pizzerias may even offer super-deep pizzas that have an unusually voluminous crust with lots of cheese and toppings. When making a pizza, be sure to choose a thickness of dough that you are familiar with.

Flatbread pizzas cook quickly and have the texture and appearance of naan bread. This type of pizza cooks in 5-8 minutes on high heat, while a pan pizza can take up to 10-15 minutes to fully cook. 

Remember, when cooking both types of pizza in an electric oven at home, start on the middle rack and then move the pie closer to the heat source to get that distinctive color on the pie.

How to fix an undercooked pizza

If you see that the pizza is undercooked, you just have to reheat the oven and cook it for 4-5 more minutes on high heat.

Make sure you are near the oven so you can inspect the cake. You should only cook a pizza until it meets all the required characteristics of a cooked cake (already discussed).

If you eat a pizza without cooking, you could have digestive problems. As long as the ingredients are precooked and heated properly, you shouldn’t have a problem. However, something very important to keep in mind here is not to consume raw meat.

Some people like to put pieces of marinated chicken on top of their pie and cook it along with the pizza. This method is wrong and should be avoided as it can pose a great health risk.

Cheese, dough, and even vegetables will cook faster than meat, so you risk overcooking the entire pizza or undercooking the meat.

That is why it is important that you pre-cook the meat that you are going to use as a topping and then assemble the pizza.

In general, once the pizza has bubbly cheese and is browned around the edges, take it out of the oven and serve it hot. When it comes to rare pizzas, you can put it on the top or center rack, depending on how rare the pie is.

If the pie has unmelted cheese and the crust is visibly raw, bake it on the middle rack, then transfer it to the top rack for finishing touches.

If the crust has cooked properly but the cheese has not yet melted, then you can cook the pie on the top rack at the highest possible temperature.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the pie as it cooks near the top of the oven.

Things to keep in mind

There are many techniques you can use to improve the look and taste of your pizza.

For example, if you’re using fresh homemade dough, a simple egg wash on the outer edges of the pizza will give it a shiny, golden texture.

It will also help the dough to crisp up and give it that characteristic subtle crunch. Also, in order for the base to cook evenly, we recommend that you use a pizza stone, which is basically a circular base where you place the pizza. 

For best results, place the pizza stone in the oven while it preheats so that the bottom heats up as well. This way the pizza crust will cook evenly and also get that nice golden, crispy texture.

You can use any dough recipe to make pizza dough at home.

However, if you are a person who knows nothing about baking or cooking, we recommend that you choose a brand of pizza dough that makes a high-quality, soft pre-baked crust.

Doughs made with high-quality ingredients are a good starting point. You can even opt for fully cooked frozen pizzas, like those made by the “Totino’s” brand.

These pizzas are usually easy to cook, as you just have to follow the instructions on the back of the package.

Frozen pizzas are easy to use and you can also reheat or overcook them if you think they are undercooked. You just have to follow the same strategy that we have previously discussed to cook frozen and pre-cooked pizzas again.

Related questions

Now that we’ve gone over what to do if your pizza is undercooked, let’s look at some related questions!

Are rare pizzas edible?

Not necessarily.

Although you can get away with eating a slightly undercooked pizza with only a few temporary digestion issues, we do not recommend that you eat any pizza that has raw or uncooked meat ingredients. 

Always use pre-cooked or semi-cooked meat in the pizza ingredients to avoid serious health problems.

Can undercooked pizza make you sick?

Yes. There is a good chance that a pizza with raw dough and raw toppings will cause a lot of stomach problems. A pizza should always be well cooked before being eaten.

As it is very easy to cook a pizza again, we recommend that you cook it for an additional 5-8 minutes instead of eating an undercooked pie.

Are the frozen pizzas precooked?

Frozen pizza dough is usually half-baked or fully pre-baked. All you have to do is assemble the pizza by putting the sauce, cheese and ingredients.

You’ll basically be cooking the toppings with store-bought dough and not the whole pizza.

If in doubt, follow the back of the frozen pizza dough package for more information on how to cook it. The same goes for frozen pre-made pizzas.