Bowling alley pizza

[BowlerDude]

Hey all,

I have spent about 6 hours researching this site and it is definetely going to be a favorite bookmark.  I own a bowling alley in northeast Indiana and i currently sell pizzas that are made for me at a local pizzaria.  The pizzas are frozen and cooked in a toaster oven upon ordering.  There is no profit margin, we can only cook one at a time, and it takes 16 minutes from order to delivery at the lanes.  For parties and other events we order one-topping new yorkers from pizza hut.  I am going to purchase a countertop oven; either Nemco 6205 or Vulcan, and prepare and cook our own pizzas.  I am wondering if I should just go with frozen dough or take the time/effort to prep my own (daily).  I think this would be a great opportunity to have a branded tasty menu item that we could hang our hat on.  All the advice i read only talks about a pizzaria or a dedicated pizza store.  Anyone have advice on this venture?

Thanks,
Chris

[JConk007]

The alley I go to does the same frozen pies and its really bad stuff. 1 at a time into small toaster type oven. Nothing I would ever purchase
Do your own dough its not that complicated.
I can see a cool menu board !
The Ten Pin Pie! loaded with 10 toppings !!
The Split  1/2 and 1/2
King Pin pie ......
good luck
John

[IndyRob]

Those are great menu board suggestions.

Obviously, fresh dough would be better.  I've never been a pro, but I've often thought about how I would do it. I think making the dough is cheap and easy (if you have a big Hobart mixer or the like).  The problem (with someone only semi-skilled like myself - or your potential workforce) is sheeting/tossing.  I don't know if a sheeter would solve that problem or not (or whether it would be compatible with your style of pizza).

Or, if you have periods of rushes and lulls, perhaps rolling/tossing out dough could be a good time filler.

A way to sidestep this would be to do Chicago style Deep Dishes.  Because the gluten is not developed in these crusts, they mash around quickly in a pan.  But the baking time is longer, so you might need more ovens (or a proper deck, or other kind of oven).  I don't know if a longer bake time might annoy your customers or keep them around for another 10 frames.

But should you decide to do fresh dough,  I would recommend getting your new oven(s) in well before you make the switch.  I've posted many times about how wildly different ovens vary.  A perfect pizza in your home oven will require significant adjustments in another oven.

[Ronzo]

Bowlerdude,

If you haven't really made dough before, I would not recommend using your dough until you perfect it. Buy the frozen stuff in the freezer case and defrost it for now. I'd cut the dough balls in half due to their larger size since you're planning on using a countertop oven. The frozen pizza dough is not horrible and it will make a decent pizza for you. ...Or you could kill the pizzas until you can make a pie you'd be proud to have your friends and family eat. Then it'll be right for your guests (customers).

[seles23]

Yet another option is to go to that pizza shop that's making your pies now and buy dough from them. Much better than anything frozen and will buy you time while perfecting your own recipe.

[GotRocks]

Another option for you would be to purchase pre-made crusts from Sysco or any other Purveyor. get samples of what they have forst so you do not waste your money on a crappy brand.

I have had a few pre-mades that were actually very decent, and others that were horrible.

If you do this, you do not need to learn to toss, stretch, or sheet doughs, It is already done, less perishable, and you know your cost ratios and have nearly zero waste or consistency issues.
match those crusts up with a good sauce (Stanislaus) and a good cheese (Grande) and find a local place to make your fresh sausage for you, or learn your own recipe and grind the meat onsite.