Shakey's 2011

[Jet_deck]

I had Shakey's pizza a few years ago, south of Macon, Ga.  I tried the cracker crust, I didn't really care for it.  But I understand how anyone that grew up with it could really miss it, and I have read the interest on the forum about Shakey's.  I drove by a new "old" Shakey's today.  Seems that Shakey's is on the move again building some new restaurants.

You can type in your zip and see if there is one near you : http://www.shakeys.com/HOME/tabid/54/Default.aspx

I am prepairing for my Varasano's visit and put on my best smile and started asking questions from anyone that would listen.

The flour is prepackaged without yeast, with a "shakey's since 1954" badge.  I've got a picture of the label.

The ingredients declaration: enriched bleached wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid) vegetable shrtening (partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil) sugar, salt, contains less than 2% ammonium sulfate, dextrose, calcium sulfate, malted barley.  Net weight 24.80 pounds.

Mix method: one bag flour, 10# water, 2.5 oz Fleshman IDY by weight.  Mix 8.5 min with spiral mixer.

Sauce- premixed in a bag - Ingredients declaration: Tomato puree (water, tomato paste) dextrose, salt, dried onions, spices, garlic powder, citric acid, natural flavors.

Fermentation: 1 hour bulk, 10 hours refer., here is where I lost track...  Pull from refer. let warm, sheet, bake.? NOT Docked

Oven:  Blodget conveyor, convection, 7 minutes at 485*F

[Jet_deck]

pictures:

[Jet_deck]

more:

[Jet_deck]

My personal guess is that this would be at 3/4 or less than the thickness of a PH thin crust.  Maybe even as little as half as thick.  Enjoy!

[JConk007]

Cool Thanks for Posting. WOW Jet deck or Jet Car ? eating pizza + taking pics @ 80 MPH ! sweet!   Low hydration dough sheeter ... all lead to that cracker crust. What kind of oven where the sporting? any pics of that? Deck? Impinger/conveyer? Pie looks good.  I remember the Shakeys from the 70's  domewhere between the drive from franklin Mass to Hawthorne NJ ( Conn.?) to Visit Grandma Every trip we stopped at Shakeys! The local P Hut just closed maybe the shakeys could grab that location? Rt 17 south
John

[AimlessRyan]

What kind of oven where the sproting any pics of that? Deck? Impinger?

The Shakey's in Redlands, California has a Rotoflex oven.

[Mad_Ernie]

I recommend checking out this thread:

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,10707.0.html

[pizzard]

Jet-Deck...in the LA area, Shakey's always had a cornmeal bottom...the last few times I've been there it seems they've done away with it.  I liked it much better with it, b/c it reminded me of Barnaby's back in IL. 

PS...were you really taking pictures of your pizza while going 80 mph???   

[Jet_deck]

PS...were you really taking pictures of your pizza while going 80 mph???   

Yes, I had slowed down to take the pictures.

[fazzari]

Pizzard
I would guess that if you saw cornmeal you probably were eating a pizza baked in a deck oven.  If you're not seeing cornmeal now, it's probably cooked in a conveyor oven

John

[BTB]

Yes, I had slowed down to take the pictures.

Talking on cell phones while driving has been a nationwide problem and concern.  And now consuming and taking pictures of pizza on the highway at 80 mph!  There ought to be a law! ! !  LOL.

Pizzard
I would guess that if you saw cornmeal you probably were eating a pizza baked in a deck oven.  If you're not seeing cornmeal now, it's probably cooked in a conveyor oven.  John

John,
Regrettably -- in my estimation -- much of the pizza business has converted over to the inferior, "quicky" and cheaper system of baking pizzas in conveyor ovens.  While some I've tasted are decent, in side by side comparisons (like Aurelio's in Homewood, Illinois), I can tell in an instant which was made in a deck oven and which in a convection-like (blown hot air) conveyor oven.  The deck oven was, still is and always will be the superior way to cook a pizza IMHO.  (I don't sound bias, do I?)         
                                                                           --BTB                                       
                         

[Mad_Ernie]

Regrettably -- in my estimation -- much of the pizza business has converted over to the inferior, "quicky" and cheaper system of baking pizzas in conveyor ovens.  While some I've tasted are decent, in side by side comparisons (like Aurelio's in Homewood, Illinois), I can tell in an instant which was made in a deck oven and which in a convection-like (blown hot air) conveyor oven.  The deck oven was, still is and always will be the superior way to cook a pizza IMHO.  (I don't sound bias, do I?)         
                                                                           --BTB       

Not at all, BTB.  Because I totally agree.   

[grotto]

Conveyors SUCK!  I try not to eat in a parlor that uses them .. Yes , Shakeys used gas deck ovens. Rhe key to a great pie is moving around the decks to ensure propper cooking.

This may have something to do with the recent success of take and bake shops.

I worked for Shakeys and Dominos in the late 70's- early 80's and remember how much I hated the pies at Dominos after they went to CTX's from the Bakers Pride gas and slate ovens.
Not to imply that Dominos ever had good pizza... Shakeys was one of "if not the best" pies I've ever had .  (excluding the Boise stores ) uhgggg !!

[Mad_Ernie]

Attached are some photos of one of my repeated attempts to replicate a Shakey's pizza.  The recipe I've used most recently is as follows:


To make one 14” pizza (used 15” to get 14” and 2% bowl residue; I like having extra scraps so my daughter can have fun making pizza bites ):

Flour (KAAP) (100%):       238.15 g | 8.4 oz | 0.53 lbs
Water (42%):          100.02 g | 3.53 oz | 0.22 lbs
IDY (0.9%):              2.14 g | 0.08 oz | 0 lbs | 0.71 tsp | 0.24 tbsp
Salt (1.8%):              4.29 g | 0.15 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.77 tsp | 0.26 tbsp
Sugar (2%):              4.76 g | 0.17 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.19 tsp | 0.4 tbsp
Shortening (3.5%):           8.34 g | 0.29 oz | 0.02 lbs | 2.09 tsp | 0.7 tbsp
Total (150.2%):         357.7 g | 12.62 oz | 0.79 lbs | TF = 0.0714

Ingredients for the dough were combined in a Cuisinart food processor and mixed.  The flour was sifted prior to adding to the food processor.   The shortening was Crisco brand.  The salt was Kosher.  Yeast was SAF brand.

The dough was allowed to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before going into the refrigerator for ~24 hours prior to use.

Sauce was simple:
equal parts Hunt's tomato paste, Muir Glen tomato sauce and Prego traditional pasta sauce 1:1:1 (12 ounces each)  Added 2 teaspoons of Penzy's pizza seasoning, stirred and let sit in the refrigerator over night.  

Cheese was mozzarella, sharp cheddar and provolone in an 70:15:15 combination.  

Toppings were Italian sausage (Simeca's) and ham (Burger's smoke house country ham).

I docked the dough after rolling it out with a rolling pin and placing it on a wooden peel that was covered with semolina.

The pizza was cooked on a 2stone in my Kenmore gas grill.

The final product was pretty good, but I was not happy with the crust texture.  The outer edge was great but the inner part of the crust was too limp and not crisp enough.

[BTB]

Excellent looking pizza, ME.  On a 14" it can be hard to get that degree of crispness in the center, but it still is good.

                                                                          --BTB               

[Mad_Ernie]

Thanks BTB.   

[Jet_deck]

Mad_Ernie, I thought that I had remembered in a post some where of yours, that the Shakeys thin dough spent some time in the refer. docked but not topped.  Maybe you prepaired this pizza this way, but was just wondering.  I'm just thinking out loud here but mabye a docked crust cooked pretty quickly acts differently than a docked refer'd crust.  Anywho, the pizza looks very good to me.

[Mad_Ernie]

Jet:

I don't recall ever refrigerating a docked dough, although my memory has been known to fail me.  I do tend to refrigerate all of my doughs, but I don't roll them out and dock them until when I'm fully preparing the pizza.

Thanks for he compliment. 

-ME

[DNA Dan]

Mad_Ernie, I thought that I had remembered in a post some where of yours, that the Shakeys thin dough spent some time in the refer. docked but not topped.  Maybe you prepaired this pizza this way, but was just wondering.  I'm just thinking out loud here but mabye a docked crust cooked pretty quickly acts differently than a docked refer'd crust.  Anywho, the pizza looks very good to me

I do this. I dock when I cut my skins and put them in the refrigerator. Perhaps it was one of my posts somewhere? I lose track...

ME, sure looks tasty. I think you've convinced me that I need to start putting sausage on my pies. I used to a lot but had cut back for health reasons. It's difficult to make so many pies and test them all! Great job.

[fazzari]

Hey Ernie
I think the bottom of your pizza looks fabulous!!!!!!

John