I'm a chef who ordered pepperoni pizzas from 3 popular Midwestern chains. Here's how they stacked up.

As a chef myself, I've learned that chain pizza is more science and research and development than anything.

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, exactly the pies people want and expect.

Each chain strives to have vast appeal while also separating itself just enough from its competitors to stand out and gain loyalty.

All of that consumer testing and research and investment is important, but there's only one thing that I, as a chef and pizza lover, care about when it comes to choosing a chain pizza spot — taste and quality of execution.

To find my favorite and gauge differences in quality and taste between pizza spots, I decided to do a side-by-side comparison.

All three chains originated in the Midwest: Pizza Hut has roots in Kansas and Jet's and Domino's have roots in Michigan.

Although Pizza Hut is known for its deep-dish and stuffed-crust pizzas and Jet's is known for its Detroit-style pizza, I ordered a large pepperoni pizza from each spot for continuity, selecting the crust style most representative of a New York-style pizza.

At Pizza Hut, this meant its "hand tossed" style. At Jet's, my order was one of its six styles on offer is called "NY style." At Domino's, I got the borough-specific "Brooklyn style" pizza.

Each was right around 14 inches and had nice pepperoni coverage, ensuring there would be meat in every bite.

Pizza Hut's technique of shingling its pepperoni — overlapping the slices — made it appear as if it were the most generous with its toppings. The slices of meat themselves, though, were thinner than they were on Jet's and Domino's pies.

But, as a result of the aforementioned research and development from each chain, the pies all seemed to follow similar standards. They all felt like they were the same weight and used almost the same amount of cheese and pepperoni. The sauce coverage was similar as well.

There were, however, some significant differences between the pizzas.

The pie had an even, deep golden-brown color and the cheese baked onto the edges of the crust gave it a very appetizing appearance.

The sauce — what the chain describes as a "robust" and "hearty" marinara — had a very concentrated tomato flavor. It almost has a sun-dried-tomato flavor profile. The pepperoni tasted meaty and had the appropriate amount of kick.

For me, the crust is the most important way to tell if a pizza is high quality.

Domino's pizza had a very soft crust end to end. Although the soft crumb made the center portion of the pizza that was covered with toppings floppy, it gave the drier, outer portion of the crust a pleasant, gentle texture.

None of us enjoy having a sore jaw from wrestling hard crusts with our teeth, and the texture of this pizza made eating them effortless. I'd eat this pizza from the outside in because of the tasty edges, but sadly, I'd leave most of the limp inner crust in the box.

In my opinion, Jet's pizza is usually set apart from its competitors because of the high quality of its ingredients, which typically gives its pies superior flavor and texture.

This is most noticeable when comparing the mozzarella cheese it uses to the other chain's cheeses. Jet's cheese is whole-milk mozzarella — what real mozzarella cheese should be — and the difference is evident in the great chewy texture and the depth of flavor. (From what I could tell, Pizza Hut often uses part-skim and Domino's often uses a mix of cheeses.)

Its sauce has a fresh taste and you can pick up the flavor and scent of dried herbs, especially the oregano. Jet's pepperoni had a richer, more profound cured-meat taste than the other chains' toppings had, which is exactly what I wanted.

The toppings helped make Jet's pizza taste better than the others.

Sadly, this oiliness can be a by-product of using real cheese made of real milk, which contains real fat. This works great for its Detroit-style pizzas because that fat soaks into the thick dough layer, crisping up the edges and giving a deep-golden color to the bottom of the crust.

On the chain's thinner pizzas, however, that excess fat has nowhere to go but to pool on the surface. That fat also caused the toppings and cheese to want to slip off the crust with each bite, like a silky duvet cover off a bed.

The crust was almost identical to Domino's in that it was extremely soft with little chew. And although the flavor was excellent, the almost mealy texture of the center of the pizza was off-putting.

Pizza Hut's sauce was spicy with some kick. And, even though it seemed to use the same amount of pepperoni as the other two based on weight, the brilliant technique of shingling each little slice meant that part of each round crisped up a bit, while part retained a meatier texture.

Those crispier pepperoni edges tasted delicious. They not only gave the Pizza Hut pie superior flavor, but also great texture.

The center crust had substance and kept its integrity and structure with each bite.

The very best part of the pizza — besides those crispy-edged pepperoni slices — was the slightly pillowy crust that had just enough pull and chew to offer a bit of resistance. Not too soft, not too hard, but just right.

Pizza Hut had my favorite chain pizza with its tasty crust and crisped toppings. I was surprised that Jet's hadn't been my top pick, since it usually wins me over with such flavorful, quality toppings.

Pizza Hut's crust just impressed me more on a whole — and its pepperoni was very well placed.

But really, any of these slices can be a hit when you're enjoying them between ice-cold gulps of Coca-Cola. I suggest it because the effervescent bubbles and kick of sweetness are the perfect way to wash down a pepperoni pie.