Opening soon, Donaldo's Casa de Pizza

[buceriasdon]

Thank you everyone for the kind words, from people I admire and respect, it's meant so much to me. I showed Alejandra how to divide and ball today, um, she has a way to go yet. Next time I'll have her oil her hands more, but I like to be able to cup my hands around the ball and roll it on the countertop for compression and if the ball is oily it won't work as well. Five balls today, five more Monday afternoon. I have the oven turned up, having cured the stones, now I find out what it can do. We'll also make enough dough for five 14" for us to delivery to my local cause, the orphanage, is that enough for 25 children? We'll bake those on Tuesday. I will take and post pics of the first pies that come out this evening.
Don

[Matthew]

My condolences buddy.  Sorry for your loss.

Matt

[Woodfiredovenpizzero]

Don:

Mi mas sentido pesame.

Edgar

[Polo]

I don't post here much, but have followed this thread. I also wanted to offer my condolences. I am very sorry for your loss.

[JimmyJazz]

My sincere condolences Don!

[franko9752]

Can't wait for the pics!!! Want to see the shop now too, please.

[buceriasdon]

Well the first bake was so so, I have some changes to make to the formula, more sugar, less yeast. My samplers loved them but I know I can do better. I may yet lower the ceiling, I had the frame built just a matter of placing tiles in it, I wasn't happy with the pale crust color.
Don

[Tscarborough]

Adversity is motivation.  Sorry for your loss, Don, you will do just fine (add more sugar).

[RamirOk]

Siento mucho tu perdida Don, estoy impaciente de ver fotos de tu negocio que se que será un éxito.
Animo.

[Jet_deck]

Sorry to hear about your loss Don.

[namssalg]

My condolences to you and family.

I am also looking forward to the photos when you return.

  Um...of the pizzas and shop.

[hammettjr]

Sorry for your loss Don.

[pizzablogger]

Don, my condolences and I hope you can get back to Colorado soon. -k

[buceriasdon]

Picture of the paperwork required to get my license. I leave tomorrow for Colorado and return Sunday.

[buceriasdon]

I've hit rock bottom. Just when I think things can't get any worse, it does. The strain has been wearing at Alejandra and myself, I returned from a trip to Puerto Vallarta to demand their technician come and show my why my oven will only hit 250C. to have Alejandra angrily quit and stomp out. I can't do anything about yet another delay. Perhaps when I return from the USA we can talk things out but at this point it doesn't look good. The technician now tells me I have to run larger diameter pipe from the tank to the oven, so all the money I spent on the installation was wasted. Why didn't the supplier tell me this before? I've emailed the builder numerous times with my complaints about the lack of heat but in all the responses I have received never was this mentioned. My flight is at three this afternoon so perhaps he will show, or not. No other way to descibe it, I'm numb.

[norma427]

Don,

Sorry to hear you are having so many problems.  Hang in there, things can only go up.  I had lots of problems and delays when I was trying to get my small pizza stand together, before I could start to make pizzas.  I was operating on a limited budget and my husband had just passed away a few months before.  First my used oven came with no legs.  The man that sold me the oven was going to try and sue me (because I got eBay involved), the oven had to be changed from natural gas to propane, I had to study for a safe food test, and many other things. You wouldn’t even want to see the list of things that went wrong. My older mother and I were trying to do most of the work of getting the stand together, and I am not a carpenter or floor layer.  It sure wasn’t fun, but finally things came together and worked out.  I think if you would talk to most people that are trying to open any kind of pizzeria they would tell you things don’t always work out as planned.  Things are always still happening that I wonder why something broke down.

Hope you and Alejandra get things worked out too.

At least you already know how to make pizza, when I sure didn’t know what the heck I was doing. 

Norma

[buceriasdon]

Thanks for the words of encouragement Norma.
Kind regards, Don

[buceriasdon]

Got into Denver International late last night, I'm at my dear sister's, bless her, she picked me up rather than deal with car rental. I was able to get the service tech out yesterday morning but was left with more frustration. He says he can change the thermostat but it has to come out of Guadalajara and no answer on how long that will take. Why wasn't a high heat thermostat installed in the first place?¿ I could always turn the oven down, I think I'm being jerked around. I was able finally to convince him the oven is cutting out before reaching proper temperature. He also agreed there is nothing wrong with the gas line installation, it's completely to code. I was able to send out a number of emails to the manufacturer and seller stating my complaint this morning but it's too early for a reply. We'll see.
Don

[Jet_deck]

Any part I can track down here in the states?

[buceriasdon]

Gene, Thanks so much for the offer but I have no idea where the parts would be sourced from or for that matter what has to be changed. I'm awake at my sister's with not much to do at this time of the morning. I did get an answer back from the seller of the oven saying they have contacted the manufacturer of the oven asking why the oven does not perform as advertised and will get back to me with an answer the first part of next week. My back is up against the wall time wise now as we are coming up on Semana Santa, probably the biggest holiday in Mexico with many businesses closing. I've had time to think about Alejandra's reaction to my not wanting the oven if it can't obtain 350 Celsius, she doesn't realize or know what a difference those degrees can mean and if upon my return I am unable to communicate to her that a home oven could do the same job then I must move on and hire someone else. Here is a quote translated from their site:

Pizzino Oven "Gas" is an essential element in business specializing in preparing PIZZAS, thanks to its powerful burners and the refractory floor allows the user to batch production of up to 3 pizzas 40 cm in diameter every 5 minutes. You can control the surface finish of the pizza by opening or closing the side flaps. For all these reasons we consider this product as a viable alternative to costly replacement of furnaces band. "3 pizzas in 5 minutes" the power you need pizzeria.
  • Capacity for 3 pizzas from 0.40 m in diameter.
 • Thermostat 100 to 350 degrees Celsius.
 • Safety valve pilostática.
 • Floor refractories.
 • 2 heat fins for graduation.
 • Stainless steel front.
 • Sides, glazed canopy and leg health.
 • weight: 305 kg.
It seems clear to me that something is wrong, it can barely hit 250 Celsius. I can do better in a modified home oven.