MEGAN MCARDLE: In Defense Of Kitchen Gadgets. “With all the reverse kitchen snobs proclaiming that they don’t need anything except a chef’s knife, a wooden spoon, and a cast iron skillet, someone has to speak up for the joy of owning these marvelous machines.”
Of course, the rotating pizza oven that’s caught my eye isn’t quite in the same league with Megan’s $1500 food processor.
UPDATE: Reader Christopher “Spoons” Kanis emails:
I wanted that stupid rotating pizza oven since it first came out, but a series of girlfriends and/or wife always rolled their eyes and guilted me out of getting it. Finally, tech lust won out over the other kind (or maybe I just won an argument and figured I had a ‘gimmie’ coming), so I went out and bought the Pizzaz.
Oh, for the lost years of crappy oven-made frozen pizza!
The Pizzaz is the greatest thing since round bread covered with sauce and cheese. It makes frozen pizza MUCH better, and it cooks it faster because you don’t have to preheat the oven. It also does a superior job of cooking just about any frozen artery clogger — pizza rolls, potato skins, taquitos — you name it.
If Dr. Helen won’t give you too much grief, then I highly recommend picking up one of these kitchen marvels.
And reader Paul Curtis writes:
Funny, you recommended the Pizzazz Pizza Oven more than four years ago on the blog. I know because I bought one at the time, and I’ve never tired of it! In fact, this year I bought additional turntables, because I’ve put so much wear on the original.
The device is so convenient, I’ve even started carrying it with me in my car, when I visit friends.
So I’m slightly surprised to read that you never actually bought one.
In any case, thanks for the recommendation; if you like pizza, the thing pretty much pays for itself after just a few uses.
Yeah, but Helen has pretty much vetoed any new kitchen gadgets on counter-space grounds. And she kinda has a point, alas.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Deb Call writes:
As a person who went to the effort of building a clay oven in my backyard specifically for making pizza, I have to give the Pizzazz the thumbs up! It was a wedding gift and I laughed when I saw it and thought, oh boy, we’ll never use that. Wrong! Hands down, my clay oven makes the best pizza I’ve ever had but a close second is the Pizzazz. Just turn it on and it’s ready to go. It only takes about 12 minutes start to finish compared to the roughly two and a half to three hours required to fire the clay oven to the ideal temperature to bake pizza. Get one and find a place to stash it! You’ll use it all the time.
Maybe I’ll give in. (Bumped).