So last night we got two of the new Papa Johns Pan Pizzas. I got home with them and we could immediately tell the dough just under the toppings and sauce was undercooked and even raw in some places. I took it back and the guy asked if I had ever had Papa Johns Pan before which I hadn't and he said it was meant to be "chewy" in the middle. I showed him the raw dough and he said they would re-do it. We got home with the new pizza, it was somewhat better but still had undercooked dough in the middle.
Today, I go online and look up some reviews and sure enough, they all mention the dough being undercooked.
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2016/10/10/lets-try-papa-johns-new-pan-pizza.html
One even had a good picture:
http://www.brandeating.com/2016/10/review-papa-johns-pan-pizza.html
http://www.theimpulsivebuy.com/wordpress/2016/12/07/review-papa-johns-pan-pizza/
I even found an article describing how the pizza is made and they describe it as having a doughy center:
http://www.businessinsider.com/papa-johns-reveals-how-pan-pizza-is-made-2016-10
So I've had pan pizza before, but this is Papa Johns either A) trying to get their people to cook a pizza in a way they don't understand and it leaves it undercooked most of the time or B) Papa John trying to sell undercooked pizza.
It's quite possibly the worst pan pizza I've had.
Today, I go online and look up some reviews and sure enough, they all mention the dough being undercooked.
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2016/10/10/lets-try-papa-johns-new-pan-pizza.html
The center of the pie was very doughy and the outside of the crust was all but blackened. You want a crispy outside with a chewy inside on a pan pizza, but this was a little extreme on both ends of that spectrum. This made me wonder whether the employees have quite figured out how to cook this product yet.
One even had a good picture:
http://www.brandeating.com/2016/10/review-papa-johns-pan-pizza.html
While the toppings and sauce were quite nice, the crust itself was disappointing. It was crunchy but dry at the surface like toast. I'd guess that they don't brush it with much oil or butter before cooking. Either a reasonable sweep of olive oil or butter (or buttery spread more like) would have also helped in the taste department as it was pretty blah there. It probably didn't help that it was also undercooked and doughy just under the topping and sauce. It was more cooked through at the edges, where the airy, spongy dough was more defined but still very plain.
http://www.theimpulsivebuy.com/wordpress/2016/12/07/review-papa-johns-pan-pizza/
Imma be real with you Papa Johns hand-tossed crust is not my favorite. It always seems a little undercooked to me. That said, their pan crust is a study in contradictions.
On the one hand, the outer crust was definitely crispy and somewhat buttery I enjoyed those aspects of it much more than a regular Papa Johns crust. Also, the cheese goes all the way to the edge, so I didnt feel like I was left with a half-cooked breadstick at the end of my slice of pizza. The crust under the toppings was chewy without being soggy also good.
But then there was the flavor. Papa Johns says that the dough is made fresh and with only seven ingredients: flour, extra virgin olive oil, cold-filtered water, sugar, salt, yeast, and oil. Yet, there was an odd, artificial flavor that I couldnt quite pin down. Given that none of the ingredients are actually artificial, the best I could come up with was the flavor of spoiled oil. If this was the case, then maybe I just got a bad pie?
I even found an article describing how the pizza is made and they describe it as having a doughy center:
http://www.businessinsider.com/papa-johns-reveals-how-pan-pizza-is-made-2016-10
The result is a pizza with a thick, doughy center, and an outer edge that is less crust and more of a caramelized crisp.
So I've had pan pizza before, but this is Papa Johns either A) trying to get their people to cook a pizza in a way they don't understand and it leaves it undercooked most of the time or B) Papa John trying to sell undercooked pizza.
It's quite possibly the worst pan pizza I've had.