It’s So Hot In Phoenix These Enterprising Souls Cooked a Frozen Pizza In the Sun

| © Michael Foox / Flickr

NYC Food & Drink Editor

That old dad joke about frying an egg on the sidewalk? Some Phoenix journalists took it a step further yesterday.
Phoenix, AZ, has been seeing some warm weather this week, and it’s been causing some problems. It was too hot yesterday for smaller aircraft to physically get aloft, so flights were cancelled. The KFC sandwich remains earthbound. And, in yesterday’s 120-degree heat, an enterprising group of newspaper reporters (a profession known for its love of pizza) set a frozen supermarket pizza outside, in a parking lot, on a bed of aluminum foil to see whether it was hot enough for the pizza to cook in the sun to an edible state.
It did.
Reporter Antonia Farzan kept the world posted in real-time via Twitter on the Phoenix New Times’ pizza experiment.
113 degrees in the @phoenixnewtimes parking lot. Let’s see how long it takes this frozen pizza to cook. cc: @aleksandrasks, @rachelleingang pic.twitter.com/PKtiNkPkGV
— Antonia Noori Farzan (@antoniafarzan) June 20, 2017
118 degrees. Cheese is melting nicely. pic.twitter.com/pVAgKTdFZa
— Antonia Noori Farzan (@antoniafarzan) June 20, 2017
Reviews are in. @rachelleingang says it “tastes like gas station breadsticks.” @_KECampbell noted that “it doesn’t taste like pollution.” pic.twitter.com/TNbe6mlhc7
— Antonia Noori Farzan (@antoniafarzan) June 20, 2017

It took about two and a half hours for the cheese to melt and the crust to puff. “If you eat just the cheese, it’s really good,” said one intrepid and hungry newspaper employee. ”It’s not as poisonous as I expected. I’m not tasting the pollution,” commented another.
The overall verdict? Not bad, they said.
The parking lot pizza prepared by @phoenixnewtimes was still better than like half of the fully cooked frozen pizzas I’ve had in my life.
— Katie Campbell (@_KECampbell) June 20, 2017
A Fresno, CA paper’s rival attempt to bake cookies on a car dashboard did not go as well, however.

Cookies on the dash for 3 hrs yielded salmonella lumps so i think phx wins the misery challenge @antoniafarzan @phoenixnewtimes @FresnoBee pic.twitter.com/3zDcTlRUE0
— Aleks Konstantinovic (@aleksandrasks) June 21, 2017

Culture Trips launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes places and communities so special.

Our immersive trips, led by Local Insiders, are once-in-a-lifetime experiences and an invitation to travel the world with like-minded explorers. Our Travel Experts are on hand to help you make perfect memories. All our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.?>

All our travel guides are curated by the Culture Trip team working in tandem with local experts. From unique experiences to essential tips on how to make the most of your future travels, we’ve got you covered.

Culture Trip Spring Sale

Save up to $1,656 on our unique small-group trips! Limited spots.

X
close-ad
Edit article