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The last time we made pizza, we had tremendous success in using parchment paper to prep the pies. I read about it on the King Arthur Baker's blog and it really keeps the crust crispy and gets them in and out of the oven fast.

I also read a great article in Saveur (Issue #115) a while back where they used the broiler to cook the pizzas (6-8 minutes). Here is their recipe for broccoli rabe, goat cheese & lemon zest pizza - amazing.

I tried to do this sort of party, and it was SO stressful. Too much running around and too much constant cooking. I say do it for 4 people, maybe, but don't do it for a group unless you want to play constant chef.

Parchment paper eases preparation and transfer to the baking stone. I prepare the pizza dough on a sheet of parchment paper that is pre-trimmed to fit the baking stone, with just a little overhang for a finger hold. I slide the loaded unbaked pizza onto the back of a large cookie sheet, then slide it onto the hothothot pizza stone sprinkled with cornmeal. Works great.

I pull the pizza stone out of the oven and then slide the cooked pizza (still on the parchment paper) onto a thick pile of bath towels covered in newsprint. It takes four hands.

I've started making spring/summer garden-inspired pizzashref>, and thought it would be a great idea for a small get together--have everyone make their own garden inspiration on a ready-made dough. We did this in college all the time--everyone pitched in and, with a little coordination, a pizza party is perfect for a Saturday night with friends!

You can let everybody make their own pizza, which makes it so much more exciting (and not so hectic for you). And then everyone can make funny faces with the pizza toppings!

Wow, that sounds stressful!
Last year I hosted a grilled pizza party with wonderful results.
I bought the dough, basic toppings like pepperoni, cheese, and sauce and told everyone to bring a topping to share.
Since I got all the predictable toppings, what other people brought was amazing: homemade pesto, veggies from the garden, caramelized onions, blue cheese... it went on and on!
The prep went very well. Everyone rolled out their own dough, grilled it on one side, took it off the fire and added their toppings, then grilled the other side until the toppings were warm and the dough was cook through.

Even on a small Webber grill we could fit three or four pizzas at a time and didn't have to worry about losing heat.
Outside makes it so much easier, and much more fun!

I throw a summer bbq pizza party for my daughter and her friends every year. I usually use the same dough recipe for pizza and focassia - the basic pizza dough from The Silver Spoon. I usually prepare the dough the night before or in the morning.
The kids get to roll the pizza and scatter the toppings. They can dress the table, run around and play on their bikes while waiting for the pizzas to get ready.
You will be surprise and entertained to see how *imaginative* the pizza creations turn out to be.

LOVE making pizza at home. I just did/blogged a couple of white sauced veggie versions that we loved:
http://splatgirlcreates.blogspot.com/2009/05/pizza-porn.html
One of my big summer projects is building a wood-fired pizza oven in the backyard. I've only just started on it but I can almost taste the forthcoming deliciousness! For parties, I'm thinking I'll do up and portion a bunch of dough and ingredients and set everything up to have pepole make their own. The 90 second cook time in a wood fired oven should help keep things moving. I also think it would be fun to ask guests to bring a favorite or unique ingredient for topping...like pizza pot luck.

Great post! We just did this on Mothers' Day and everyone had so much fun. I did the prep work ahead of time and it was pretty much stress free. Was hoping to grill the pizzas, but will try that when the weather is a bit warmer in Boston!

Another good suggestion is to precook the dough so it's nearly done, then freeze it. I hosted a "make your own pizza" party for about 30 people and made all the dough during the week.

All it took come party time was to lay out the ingredients, and let people build their own. All you do in mind the oven. Less work for you and people like to customize.

http://www.thefoodspot.com/2009/03/15/pizza-party/

I agree with letting everyone top their own pizza--I did this for my girlfriend's birthday in February for about ten people, and it worked great. I had a cast iron skillet and a pizza stone in the oven, so I was able to cook two pies at a time--I just switched racks halfway through cooking so they both cooked evenly. It's such a relaxed way to cook for a crowd; it's inherently informal, and everyone loves pizza!

I've been making pizza like crazy lately with trader joes 99 cent dough and just putting different things on. it is a great party thing to do too. that way you have all kinds of varieties. http://producejigsaw.blogspot.com/2009/05/spring-pie.html

Luke
The New Urban Sharecropper
http://newurbansharecroppers.blogspot.com

I had a pizza party recently. Instead of making the dough from scratch, I stopped by my favorite pizza joint and bought a few loaves of dough. This way, we only had to come up with creative toppings and not worry about getting flour all over the place. The local pizza joint was more than happy to sell me the dough for only $3 each.

the party was a success. We had some strange toppings, from shrimp to peaches (not on the same pie, mind you).

Whole foods sells organic gluten free pizza dough balls in the freezer section for $1.49!
I'm making one tonight. :)

I second the "open all the windows" comment. Ultra-hot ovens can really heat up 500 sq ft.

Yes, baking stones make it much easier. Otherwise, use a large baking sheet turned upside-down. Assemble the pies on parchment, on a peel or rimless baking sheet, and slide them in. Each next one should be ready to go by the time the first is cooked.

People love making their own pizzas. Enlist help cutting up toppings, and let everyone participate. Those that don't want to get to play bartender, and everybody wins. :)

This was the result of a recent 10 person pizza party: http://www.abreadaday.com/?p=569 . It took a while, but we all enjoy each other's company, everybody ended up happy, and many took home leftovers.

http://www.abreadaday.com

I have hosted and led several pizza parties, and the advice above is great! We have tried a couple pizzas at a time and rotated halfway through, and it took longer and didn't turn out as good. So, one pizza at a time is the way to go.

The house ALWAYS gets hot! I did a grilled pizza party last week, and that solved the "heating up the house" problem. I did individual pizzas for everyone (8 people) and had them put their toppings in a bowl. Smaller pizzas were easier to flip, and grilled pizza always cooks really fast!

We often use flour tortilla as pizza bases

We can get 3 pizzas per shelf in the oven, so with 2 shelves, that's 6 tortilla pizzas at a time. By the time we've decorated another 6 pizzas, the first 6 are done and we can eat the first 6 while the second 6 are in the oven.

Each person will eat 1-2 tortilla pizzas.

I've retrofitted my oven with firebricks so I can crank out crispy thin crust pizzas every 8 minutes. It's great for a party because you can keep the food coming quickly. For details on how I did it, check out:
http://www.salmoncabin.com/2009/04/perfecting-pizza.html