A chef ordered a pizza from 3 Midwestern chains.
The cheese was good, but the crust was okay. The Domino's sauce was good.
The pizza hut's pepperoni pie was amazing.
I'm a chef who loves pizza and I know how much money goes into making it.
Chain pizza is more about research and development than it is about food.
Pizza is a hugely competitive business and the most powerful food companies in the world have invested billions in making sure your neighborhood chain is consistently making and delivering pies people want and expect.
Each chain tries to have a wide appeal and separate itself from its competitors in order to stand out.
When it comes to choosing a chain pizza spot, there's only one thing that I, as a chef and pizza lover, care about, and that's the quality of the food.
I decided to do a side-by-side comparison of the quality and taste of pizza places.
The majority of my city's neighborhoods are close to Pizza Hut, Domino's, and Jet's.
Pizza Hut, Jet's and Domino's all started in the Midwest.
Although Jet's is known for its Detroit-style pizza, I ordered a large pepperoni pizza from each spot for continuity, choosing the crust style most representative of a New York style pizza.
Pizza hut had a "hand tossed" style. One of the styles Jet's offers is called NY style. The "Brooklyn style" pizza at Domino's was specific to the area.
I was struck by how similar the pizzas looked when I opened the boxes.
There would be meat in every bite of each one.
Pizza Hut's method of shingling its pepperoni made it appear as if it was the most generous with its topping. The slices of meat on Jet's and Domino's pies were larger than the ones on this one.
Pies all seemed to follow the same standards as a result of the research and development done by each chain. They all had the same amount of cheese and pepperoni and the sauce was the same.
The pizzas had some differences.
The Domino's pizza had a thin ring of dough that was unadorned.
The pie had a deep golden brown color and the cheese baked onto the edges of the crust made it very appetizing.
The sauce had a very concentrated tomato flavor. It has a sun-dried tomato flavor. The pepperoni had a kick.
Domino's pizza had some issues.
The crust is the most important part of a pizza for me.
The Domino's pizza was soft and thin. The soft crumb gave the outer portion of the pizza a pleasant texture even though the center portion was floppy.
The texture of this pizza made it easy to eat, even though we don't like having a sore jaw. I wouldn't eat this pizza from the outside, but I would leave most of the limp inner crust in the box.
I like Jet's Detroit-style pizza, but this was different.
Jet's pizza is usually different from its competitors because of the high quality of its ingredients, which gives it a better flavor and texture.
This can be seen when comparing the mozzarella cheese it uses to the other chain's cheese. The great texture and depth of flavor of Jet's cheese make it stand out from the rest. Pizza Hut and Domino's use different types of cheese.
The sauce has a fresh taste and you can smell the dried herbs. Jet's pepperoni had a richer, more profound cured- meat taste than the other chains', which is exactly what I wanted.
Jet's pizza tasted better than the other pizzas.
Jet's pizza shimmered with the most residual oil and had an oily appearance.
This oiliness can be a result of using real cheese that is made from real milk. It works great for its Detroit-style pizzas because the fat soaks into the thick dough layer, crisping up the edges and giving a deep golden color to the bottom of the crust.
Excess fat can't go to the ground on the chain's thin pizzas. The fat made the cheese and the topping want to fall off the plate.
It was similar to Domino's in that it was very soft. The texture of the center of the pizza was off-putting.
Pizza hut's pie was good.
Pizza hut's sauce had a kick. Even though it seemed to use the same amount of pepperoni as the other two, the brilliant technique of shingling each slice meant that part of each round crisped up a bit.
The pizza was outstanding here.
The crispier pepperoni edges were good. They gave the pizza hut pie a great texture.
The integrity and structure of the center crust was maintained.
The best part of the pizza was the slightly pillowy crust, which had just enough chew to offer a bit of resistance. It's just right, not too soft, not too hard.
If these pies are served right, they could be a winner.
Pizza Hut had a delicious chain pizza. I was surprised that Jet's wasn't my top pick, since it usually wins me over with its delicious, high-quality food.
The pizza hut's pizza was well placed and impressed me more than the rest.
Any of these slices can be a hit if you enjoy them between sips of Coca-Cola. It's the perfect way to wash down a pizza.
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